The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1901-08-25
Bill Arlp's Letter: !.
What Kind of Girl Should Young Man Lead
to the Alter. Love is the Gift of Lord.

When young man falls in love and re-
solves to get married l reckon it is a
good thing that he is reckless of the con-
sequences. / was. l know, for I never
thought of anything except the pretty
girl and how happy would be to get her.
grief or war or death. The time was far,
far away when the silver cord would 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 the pain and
suffering, the care and anxiety-the night
watching and sometimes the broken
heart. 1t is a 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. 1t is the gift of God. There was a
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 she
laughed merrily and showed her pearly
teeth. When the bridal carriage arrived
she gave a maternal sigh and whispered,
Poor things. they little know what is
ahead Of them" Suddenly she branched
off into story about her little pet
mule colt that is now her daily comfort
1T watches me at the window she
said, "and when l go out it runs to me
and lays it's head on my arm and almost
in, Ma 1a mi 1va c
not more loving. 1t bites and kicks at
everybody else, but runs to me and fawns
upon me with perfect alteration She
laughed again, but all at once the cor
ners of her mouth dropped to an angle
of forty-ive degrees, and her voice
trembled as she said: but, major, l
have at last come down to hard pan and
misery in my old age. No cook, no help
of any Sort and though yesterday was my
sixty fourth birthday l had to pull the
buggy down to the branch and wash it..
Oh, my country" She cried a little, and
then laughed a good deal more. Pearly
tears and pearly teeth are attractive
features in woman Nevertheless, be-
tween petting mule colts and washing
buggies she still finds time to plead for
the education of the poor girls of North
Georgia.
But what kind Of a girl should a
young man marry? OF course, she must
be born of respectable parents. she
should be virtuous, she should have a
good, loving disposition and a fair edu-
cation. She should be healthy and have
no faint of her lovers ancestral blood in
her veins. All of these qualifications
have been discussed and treated ever and
over again. except the last | am in
spired to say something about that be-
cause it's Importance has long been over
looked--neithr poets nor philosophers nor
scientists have written upon it nor
given any warning. A letter recently re-
ceived from young man in Mississippi
asks if there is anything wrong in man
marrying his cousin. Yes: very, very
wrong. The answer is found in the
cords 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
$40 900 a year, and half of the expense
could be avoided IL the intermarriage of
cousins was prohibited. | have not the
reports of the blind asylum before me,
but / know of three blind children of one
family who were sent there, and they
were the offspring of parents who were
cousins. l know Of FIVE children of one
family who were sent to our deaf and
dumb institute at Cave Spring. Their
parents were double cousins. They had
but one child who could hear and speak.
She was a good looking country girl. She
married a clever young man who hauled
wood for me. Soon after his marriage he
moved to Texas and hired to cattle
man, and was so faithful in his SER
vice that in a few years he bought an in
terest in the ranch and prospered. l met
him at Waco sixteen years after he left
Georgia, and he was said to be worth
100000 and his two elder daughters welt
at a boarding school at Waco, twelve
miles from his home. He had six chill
dren, and, alas! one of them was a mute
The faint had cropped out in the second
generatio
Prof. Common. the faithful and long
tried principal of our deaf and dumb in
stitution, has tabulated >the parentage of
his pupils for many years. and reports
that in 26 families producing IS mates
the parents were first cousins. In II
families producing 10 mutes the parents
were second cousins. In II families pro-
ducing Is mutes the parents were third
cousins. Altogether there were 81 mute
children of parents closeley related
OF 400 deaf mutes 1913 had deaf pa
rents, and many of these deaf parents
are no doubt the offspring of the inter-
marriage of cousins.
Among these 400 pupils 50 marriages