The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1901-09-04
BILL ARP ON OLD FRIENDS
He Receives L tiers From Old Men
and Tries to Answer Them All.
Atlanta Constitution

y He Receives L tiers From Old Me,
8 and Tries to Answer Them All.
9 Atlanta Constitution
Ihny are not all dead. In fact, the,
t seem to multiply rs the years roll on
my contemporaries, | mean. rcceiv,
, more letters from Old men than | eve,
, dld, and they write well and Give lopo
eplstlcs. When a man gets along il,
tne seventies he feels lonesome, not
WltnstahdlnS the near presence of
chlldren and grandchildren. The com.
pahions OF his youth are gone, and SO
some OF these old men unbosom them
selves to me for sympathy. | like such
ieltcrs and try to answer them all, but
rheumatism in my atm and hand
cramps my replies. One old gentleman
from Alabama Says he fees better after
he mas written, for he is native Gcor-
Slah ana loves her people and her old
ied hllls and the sweet mem cries of
Emory college and his visits to Athens.
where his Uncle Elizer Newton lived,
ana now he met me there in the fortics
ana John Grant and Dan Hughes and
Jack Brown and Billy Williams, who
married my friends cousin and took
charge of the blind asllum-and how
ne heard Dr. Church preach and was
charmed with the music of the choir.
where Miss Ann Waddell and Rosa
l'rlhgic and other pretty girls sang,
ana now tall, long, high man, with a
Dig hooE ed nose and Il huge /" p0mum
Adamus" on his throat, sang base, and
now he was roommate Of Tom Nor
wood at Emory and classmatc of
bishop Key and Judge a. Il. long
street, the author of Georgia Sccues.n
was the president; and how he removed
TO Alabama in lS49 and married and
mas seven daughters and no sons and
has ten orphan grandchildren, aud has
10 work early and late to support and
educate them, bat never sees and larely
hearS from any friend of his Youth and
Is at times sad and depressed auu longs
for sympathy. Poor old man, | wish
that he lived near me, for | would visit
INN and cheer him up, and tell him
anecdotes and antidoles, and we would
talk over the old times and swap col
lcSe stoiica and brag about the good
oid days when there were no tclegraphs
or telephones or bicycles, and we did
not want any; no sewing machines or
store clothes, and we didn't need any:
no football or baseball or hazlng or
suicides or appendicitis. And in those
days came Toopbs and Stephens and
Judge DOughcrty and Howell Cobb
and Walter Colquitt and spakc to the
people face to face, and such eloquent
men as George Pcarcc and Bishop
Capcrs and Jesse Mercer and DR.. How
and Goulding and Ingcs preached to
| Them. Yes, we would talk about the
! days of our boyhood, when there was
no gas or kerosene or friction matches
nothing but candles to give us light,
and no PrOmctheus to steal fire from
heaven to light. them with. Shake
spcare knew how it was for he wrote: :
How far that little candle throws its
| beams!
So shines, good deed in naughty
| world"
| If Shakespeare wrote by candle
light, why shouldn't we? And he, too,
used the flint and steel to make span k
TO light them. Pick your flint and
keep your powder dry" was General
Jackson's Oldcr at New Orleans. When
was n young merchant gun.flnts
were as common as marbles, and sold
them at the same pricc-l0 cents IL
dozen. " ondcriui, wonderful are the
cha ages, an we old people fall i'm with
Them and adapt them to our use and
our comfort. | wouldn't be set back
to the good old times, if | could, but
would enjoy seeing this generation all
set back about seventy years, lust for
| nlA nt Iu Ia
and other veterans woulu be ticklcd To
death TO see the universal dismay--no
railroads or telegraph, no mail but once
Il wcck--and 20 cents for II single let.
ter. No daily newspapers in the State
AID only four wccklics, with no scnsa.
, tiohs, no suicides or lynchings. rlclt
would bc no cooking stoves, no coal
, nosteel pens or envelopes, or Cigarettes
No milllOnaires or Tree niggcIS.
= remember when cotton was packed il
. roun.i bales with a crowoar. The lon.
a bag was made first and was suspended
D from hole iii the gin house loov an,
| Uncle Jack got down in it and packe,
= the cotton hard as it was thrown t,
h him. He packed two bales day an,
d they weighed 400 pounds each Tw
IL Va tio'h ihicu Iiic Dci vi lllc Dig WdSOl
7. and live more were crossed on tor an
If fastened down with long pol. A
e the little spaces were filled with cor
c and fodder, the big cover put on an
II with four or siX-horsc team we wei
I'd off for Augusta. 1t was tcn-day!
ID trip and we boys were happy to 9
% along and camp out all night and listc
AZ ---- ---
st CA-STo1TA
10 Thoh n