The Atlanta constitution., 1901-12-09
Bill Hrp'S L.etter

| indeed did thev fit his own day with
any distinct lines of demarcatlon pc
/ tween them. They glide into each other
and il is hard to tell where the one
/ quits and the other begins We have IN
/ fants and school boys and lovers. OUT
/ very few are soldiers. and not one IN q
/ hundred ever becomes "A justice OF the
i peace His sixth age does not do Juslice
| to men and women OF three score
years and ten. for most OF them gro"
! fat instead of lean. and our big manly
! voices have not turned to treble. nor
/ do they pipe and whistle in their sound.
| ] can still sing base to the long-meter
dOxOlOgy and my wife can sng Mary
/ had a little lamb to the baby As 10
| the seventh age which he pictures as
second childhood and mere OBLIVION With-
out teeth or taste or eyes or ears or
| anything. we never see them-our oid
! people die before they get to that But
I I'm the life of every man and woman
\ there are epochs events, mile stones.
/ as il were. that stand out prominent
| in memory and mark their progress
/ from youth to old age. MY earliest recoi-
/ lection is the killing of our dog Hector.
! who was supposed to be mad, and IL
/ gseved us. for we loved him and he
| loved US. Next 1 recall the falling or
/ the stars I'm 1893. My father held me
| up and with my feet upon the top rail-
| ing Of the bannisters. I saw them come
/ down in myriads as quietly and soitY
as snowflakes and they went out as
| they neared the earth. They were sep
/ arate and distinct as the stars. but aS
| near together as the sparks from the
! chimney of an oldtime blacksmith shop
George Lester was my playmate ana
lived close by and the next morning
| he and l hunted all over his mother
garden to find some signs of the stars
| that fell but found none. While they
fol
was down on her knees praying. and as
she clung to my mothers night gown
she called on Jesus to come and take
us all to heaven. That night was an
epoch and II is worth being - years old
to have witnessed ii. Ny next remem-
brance of note is a journey to Savannah
with my father and mother and brother.
where we took "A sail vessel for Boston.
I remember the magnificent double row
Of china trees IN the long street, and
wonder now If there is a person living
in Savannah who was living there then
and remembers that row Of beautiful
trees that are long since dead and gone.
I remember that voyage of thirty-three
days around Cane Hatteras where orr
ship was almost wrecked. and mother
held fast unto her children and silently
prayed for deliverance. 7 remember
when we reached Boston and how. af-
ter our visit was over. father bought q
I
jOurneyed by land from Boston TO Geor-
g.a and never crossed a railroad for
there was none to cross. I remember our
stop at the natural bridge In Virginia.
and how we walked away down in the
gorge and looked Up and afterwards
stood on the bridge and looked down
from the dizzy height.
When 1 was about ten years old I had
another epoch for I had a fight on Sun
day at a camp meeting and got licked
and my fine Sunday clothes were all
spoiled with mud and dirt 4 country
boy said 1 was town boy and was
dressed too fine and he was gwine 70
take the starch outen my ruffied shirt.
And he did. I fought as hard as L could,
but he licked me and I cried. I had gone
to the spring to get some water and the
fight came off there. Ny father whipped
me next morning and the school teacher
got ready to whip mesagain. but I showed
him nv legs and he let lne off with Il
talk. Ny next episode has left an in
delible impression We had TO walk
miles to school and about half way
there was a big gully that we used to
slide down IN one morning BIZ Maltbie
and OvertOn Young and Jim Wilson and
myself stopped TO slide down and Bill
pulled out a deck of cards and said he
would show us how to plaE- I had
never seen deck before in my life.
but l had hearn tell OF EN-. They were
mighty pretty and he taught Us how to
shuttle and cut and deal and turn Jack
and play seven-up- One morning Tom
Wilson and Jim Alexander came along
as they were going To school and heard
our racket in the gully and they caught
us playing cards. They slipped up on
us. for we We're completely absorbed in
the game. and Tom said: We'll. you
are the youngest set of gamblers I ever
saw in my life. The sheriff will get you
and put you all I'm jail before night"
never was scared SO bad IN my life. I
couldn't study my lessons nor eat my
dinner at school and watched for tho
sheriff all DAY long But that cured me
Of card playing and I never handled a
deck again until I got to college. Col
lege was Il good place 10 play cards
then. 1t is q good place to kick a ball
now. Tom Wilson and Jim Alexander
We're good-hearted boys and never told
on US Tom died years ago and jim
died last month in Atlanta. He got 70
be "A great doctor and everybody loved
him. When I received the telegram that
told me he was dead I felt like another
prop was gone and that now only one
was Ieft-his brother Tom in Rome.
Maitbie Is dead and Young and Jim
Wilson. All my schoolmates are dead
except one and all nay school teachers
and college professors are dead.
For several years there was noepoch-
no episode Every day was alike until
] began to notice the girls with a pecu-
liar longing emotion and brushed my
hair more carefully and carried a clean
er handkerchief and wore tighter boots
wei polished In fact Z got TO be Il
dandy in my dress. Shakespeare makes
fun Of the lover and dismisses him with
a line Says he sighed and wrote poetry
about his sweethearr's eyebrows. We
beat that in oUr day. I didn't sigh n bit
for my sweetheart was as bad OF about
me as ] was about her, and we We're too
happy 10 sigh. We soon became en-
gagged and she fixed the day away on
in June. but 7 jagged II backwards to
May. and then to April and al last 10
March 10 all a. which she blushingly
assented. / wrote poetry. toO-nOt TO
her eyebrOws-but 10 her from head to
foot. Here is the last verse, which 5
only a sample of what 1 could do in
those halcyon days:
When incense on the sacred affairs burned
Its odors seemed in fragrant clouds to
rise.
So may my wishes all To heaven turned.
Procure rich blessings for thee from the
skies
This is pretty good. I think In 1854
some yankee soldier came along and
stole the album and carried ii off as 4
trophy and gave it 20 his sweetheart. Ihe
kept il twenty years. and married anOtheg
fellow and sent the album back to him.
and he mailed il to my wife with a nice
apology. He is a gentleman, though it
took him a long time to repent and re-
form. OF course our marriage was