The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1901-03-20
CHAP J l.
rE AprEAnAx,n or 4 s-m,x.nn.

1Nhn.ltIln Etl'.rHHss 4 4 l.FtlHntr'S XIII
had nevo, nrr, Is. .,rl , .,.,p, OF OK.
c,toncnt in outs ,t..,.y
Women ~lorrp-,,.,r .ra r.i,n rolled
nm slocvcs ,p.., vi 81, and fro
ocross Tho tov,.: o'u r.. >t,rp, ar lean
ed from ,h.;r rn ..a,v.s and called
excitrdly heck c,,ih asking q INN
Erol u.r&b,r. .,u. ~, ,,r urrirudrd
10 ,nvwrr r. ,lia,c, huddlnd
about tn.', w.. n... ,,!ny,ur to their
Skirts tL,.,. f.. :.vanporJ tnnir cvcs
wide %..ti ,.,.t AMI r,,r Vbc mon
ownstr-.l,p ,,I to rl nm tho street cor.
nor I'm r,,,, 49,, n~,.,nnHrc md tolk-
cd togr;hpr IN low. lluShcd tones.
The cause Of ali this excitement was
the hcavy booming OF cannon away off
to the south and the barely distinguish
able ra.tir Of muSkrtry which old only
too plainly that Il battle was being
fought ana that men were being killed
and man"!cd by their fcllow men.
1t was in the spring Of 1861, at the be-
ginning of the long and bloody wal be-
tween the south and the north. The
people at Bcckctt's Mill and all over
that part of Missouri known as Postum
NlNSt ll a uiil' VI " oiiii
war, but they had gone on In their
quiet, uncvcntfu, way, giving little
thought to what they heard and feeling
confident that even If war came IT
would not affect them.
And now, right at the beginning, n
battle was being fought almost at their
very doors. Just n few miles away
General Sterling Price and his army of
men in gray were laying siege to Lex
ington and its garrison Of men in blue.
Unused rs they were to war. the pco-
pie OF Postum Ridge saw n dreadful
meaning in the rattle of the musketry
and the booming of the heavy cannon.
AS bad rs war is in reality, to the i'm.
aginatlon OF those people 1t was n thou
sandfold worse. 1t filled them with a
feeling of w and terror that is indie
scribaDle, and they could scarcely have
been more affected had they known
that the end of time was at hand.
One old man known as Pap Snmp.
son, who had long been looked up TO as
the village oracle, shook his head
gravely and predicted sad and awful
things to come.
"As l have said time an ag'in.'' lie re.
marked, "thc people have grown wick.
ed an unruly in their stiff nccicd pride.
an the Lord, he's a-ywinr to humble
'em, an he's a-gwinc to humble 'cm
down into the very dust. I've sec 1t
n-comin for years, an I've knowcd the
mind Of the Lord. | knowed he was
patient an long suiicrin, but | knowcd
he want a-gwine to bear with these
people forever an that sooner or later
he was a-gwinc to humble EN-"
ooh, my Lord, my Lord" an old WON
an walled as she paced slowly back
n forth, frantically wringing her
hands. "Oh. my Lord, jest a-listen to
them a-boomin an them guns
poppl On, Lordy, It's jest awful!
Iheyre a-klllin an a~-slaughterin an
a-slayin EN- by the thousands, an afore
it's over with they'll all be killed an
there wont De nary Il II LEFT. Oh,
my LORD my LORD, It's jest awful!
wen may you say that, Gran'ma
heil'' another woman, n religious e.
lhuslast, remarked, AN well may you
trlnlp,e lor al. them thousands that
ule u-oeih Killed. LOT they are a-dyin IN
lhelr s'hs an never stoppln TO ax their,
sei'es Tue question: Whcre are we
h.s"ihe' us the duty or good Chris
.AnS W pray ior en- an I'm a'gwine
oul'ihs her actions TO her words, the
WOMAN hnelt I'D the street and prayed
"ohg ana lerVently, but she prayed all
alone. Everybody else was too excited
10 listen to her petitions even, much
less take part In them.
It's sholy awful" Jacob Hicks re-
marked with an ominous shake Of his
heaa. Fears Jest like the whole
"orlu Is goin all to smash an that
pretty soon there amt goin to be no
emu 10 nothin. Seems like l can most
near the groans an the cries Of the
thousands that are mangied an dyin.
MY Lore, my LORD! l wonder what
.ne Woriu ID ever goln to come to any
now.
AN the wust Amt begin to como
ylI' EDenezer Sparks said solemnly.
On ,hi. 800 49, Jury got started,
I'LL 10 &c. a. : no'h'n - "nat IL
~ oelooo rs over jest wait TIL
a "' = >e seea IT, Win
In ~ VI, men a-lsht-
thon,a 10y "st'tn hiheu' ihat
M "ai enuse enough
= 'hut "arn git heref'
VII one asker IN trembling and fear.
az dues.lon Tue men ana women
noa ,n "'iul.ns'y ano WIN Wlde
,;,;n "no'hcis ace az il lh-