The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1901-08-28
BILL ARP'S LETTER.
What Kind of a Girl Should @ Young Man
Lead to the tar
atlanta Constitution.


COED thing that he is, reckless of the
consequences. I was,I know, for I
never though. cs anything except the
pretty girl and how happy I would be
to get her. I had no thought Of trou-
ble, or poverty or grief or war or
death. The time was far. far away
when the silver cord .Ec.ia be loosed
and the golden bowl be broken. AS
for the girl, she is more reckless than
her lover, even though her peril is far
greater. for hers is to be :hc pain and
suffering, the care and anxiety-the
night watching and sometimes the
broken heart. 1t is mystery to me
how the mother endures it all and
holds up her head and keeps her
strength. But love for her offspring,
maternal love, sustains her. It is the
gift of God. There was marriage in
our town the other day, and as the
crowds gathered at the church our
neighbor, Mrs. FELTON,, stopped in the
veranda to rest and see the battle from
afar. She was, as usual, merry and
sad by turns-sometimes the tears
were glistening in her eyes and soon
sha laughed merrily Iand showed her
pearly teeth. When. the bridal car
risge arrived she gave maternal sigh
and whispered 'Poor things, they
little know what is ahead Of them"
Suddenly she branched OF into story
about her little pet mule colt that is
now her daily comfort. st watches
me at the window" she said, s'and
when 60 out it runs to me, and lays
it's head on my arm and almost nestles
Ia my bosom. Mary's lamb was not
more loving. It bites and kicks at
everybody else, but runs to me and
fawns upon me with perfect adora-
tion." She laughed again, but all at
once the corners Of her mouth dropped
to an angle Of As degreesand her voice
trembled 40 she said: 'tBut, major, I
have at last come down to hard pan
and misery in my old age.> No cook,
no help Of any sort, and though yes
terday was my sixty-fourth birthday,
lhad to pull the buggy down to the
branch and wash it. Oh, my ooun-
try!" She cried little, and then
laughed q good deal more. Pearly
tears and pearly teeth are attractive
features in woman. Nevertheless,
between petting mule colts and wash
ing buggies che still finds TO plead for
the education of the poor country girls
Of north Georgia.
But what kind Of girl should a
young man marry? OF conrse, she
must be bern of respectable parents,
she should be virtuous, she should
have good, loving disposition and a
fair education. She should be healthy
and have no. taint Of her lovers an
cestral blood in her veins. All Of
these qualifications have been dis
cussed and treated over and over
again, except tho last. I am inspired
to say something about that because
its. Importance he's long been over
looked neither poets nor philoso-
piers nor scientists have fitten upon
it nor given any warning. A letter
recently received from young man
in Mississippi asks if there is any
thing wrong in man marrying his
cousin. Yes; very, very wrong. The
answer is found in the records Of the
asylums for the deaf and dumb and
blind. Their chief patronage comes
from the intermarriage Of cousins.
These institutions cost our State about
$4,000 a year, and half the expense
could be avoided If the intermarriay ye
Of cousins were prohibited, 1 haze
not the reports Of the blind asylum
before me, but I knew Of three blind
children Of one family who were sent
there. and they were the offspring Of
parents who were cousins. know Of
five children Of one family who were
sent to onr deaf and dumb institute at
Cave Spring. Their parents we're
double cousins. They had but one
child who could hear and speak. She
was good-looking country girl. She
married clever yonng man who haul
ed wood for me. Soon after his mar
riage he moved to Texas and hired to
cattle man, and was so faithful in
in his service that in few years he
bought an interest,;n the ranch and
prospered. 1 met him at Waco six
teen years after he left Georgia, and
he was said to eworth 500, 600, and
his, two elder daughters were at a
boarding school at Waco, 10 miles
from his home. he had six children,