The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1902-07-16
BILL APPS LETTER.
Sill tirp's Respect For Tradiiiot...
TON; The STORY OF William Tel.

stories and traditions that charmed
their childhood. Good old Mother
Akin came 10 see me and to comfort
me in my sickness. She has had her
share Of trouble, but il; always bright
and cheerful and brings sunshine with
her. Somehow the story Of William
Tell came up. and when ] remarked
that it was now generally set down
among the critics as myth or d
pretty fable she said She would not
read any such heartless scandals nor
did she believe them. The world is full
of these icoroclaSts who break up
every idol that we have :wOrShipcd.
The story Of William Tell is one that
is tit TO be believed and handed down
from generation 10 generation. Vol
taire started that fable theory be-
cause he did not like the Swiss. Many
books have been written on both
sides, but the old family traditions
that have come down to us for geo
years are still as much the faith Of
the Swiss people as is their religion.
William Tell is as mnch today their
national hero and the founder Of their
republic as Washington is OF ours and
the little chapel on the lake where he
was drowned is still preserved to COM
memorate him"
Well, whether it is fact OF fable
it is one of the prettiest stories ever
told and ought to be repeated to the
children of every household. 1t was
in the fourteenth century when Aus
tria had overridden and conquered
Switzerland and had stationed her ty-
rant bailiffs in every canton to Subduc
and humble the people that one Cess
ler placed the ducal cap upon pole
in the public place and ordered every
one who passed to uncover his head
and bow to it. Tell refused and was
seized and condemned to death, but as
he was known to be the best bow
man in Switzerland he was offered the
alternative Of shooting an apple from
his sons head. The boy was his idol
and he begged for some other alterna-
tive, but Gessler refused. Sixty yards
was measured off, the boy stationed
and the apple placed. Gessler and bis
cohorts looked on while Tell bowed his
knees in prayer. Rising lie looked to
heaven and then let fly the arrow and
pierced the apple in it's center. The
boy ran to his father and leaped into
his arms, and another arrow that had
been concealed fell upon the ground.
What was that arrow fOr?:" said
GeSSler. ITO shoot you, you brute,
had l slain my son." For that he was
condemned to prison and Gessler took
him in a boat on the lake, but vio-
lent storm came up and Tell was un-
chained to steer the boat. He made
for the shore, leaped to a rock and
with a pole showed the boat back into
the stormy waters. Hurrying along
the lake he procured bow and arrows
from a countryman and shot Gessler
as the boat passed. TELLS Leap" and
TELLS Rock" are still known to every
child in Switzerland. Later on he
lost his life while saving lad from
drowning. What is unreasonable
about this story? We had a Gessler
in Rome at the close of the civil war.
His name was de la Mesa, Spaniard
who came over to fight for pay. He
did not hoist the ducal cap, bat he
stretched the flag over the sidewalk
and our female Tells (some Of whom
are living yeti would not walk under
it, but crossed over to the other side.
Then he stretched another across the
whole street and they walked around
the block. 1t was not SO much Of dis
respect to the flag as it was contempt
for the foreigner who unfurled it. he
refused to let our wives and daughters
receive or mail letters unless they
came before him and took an ironClad
oath Of allegiance. He had ten OF our
young men and several young ladies
arrested for acting in tableau to
raise a little money to replace pews in
the churches. The pewS had all been
taken out and made into troughs to
feed their horses in. He was fore
warned that night by negro that if
he didn't release those girls he woul0 be
killed before morning and he would
have been.
Yes Leopard Spots" were all around
here just as they were in North Caro-
lima. We had GesSlers and we had
Tells, too.
But was Illuminating about SwitZer-
land, that historical and wonderful
country. Now, children and young
people, listen. 1t is only little scrap
of a country about one-fourth the size
of Georgia, and nearly half Of that is
taken up by lakes and mountains. The
most beautiful lakes in the world.
Lake Lucerne CHATS Tell'S): Lake
Geneva (Calvin's); Lake Wenner and
WeGter and just think of the grand
old mountainS--the Alps and the Jura
and the Jurgfrau. Think Of the hoSpice
the good st. Bernard. where they kept
that fine, breed of dogs which were
trained to 60 out in the most fearful
snow storms in search of lost travellers
and carry food and wine to them and
bring them safely to the hospice. One
Of my first books had a picture of two
of these noble dogs digging in the
snow for a man feeding him almost
dead. One of the dogs had a bottle
strapped around his neck and the
other a basket of food. In another
picture a little boy was on a dogs
back and his arms around his neck
and the dog was barking at the door
of the hoSpice for admission. Those
pictures and the stories about them
were as dear to me as the story Of
William Tell.
But think of little Switzerland, with
it's population of three million people
and all at work except the babies.
About half are shepherds and herds
men on the mountain slopes and
benches. raising sheep and mich COWS,
and in the year 1900 they sold over ten
million dollars worth of butter and