The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-04-12
ALTAR FROM AN OLD ITALIAN CHURCH.

this country. He has been . hrst -class
carpenter, but he Is rheumatic and does
not work with ease at his trade now and
prefers taking charge Of my planting as
head man, or agent as they now prefer to
the keys to my barns where rice, corn, oats
and potatoes are kept. have trusted him,
entirely and il would be q dreadful blow
to think that he was losing his integrity
Though the pressure from the idle. sham,
great, his own son being one Of that class;
he has been able to resist II in the past.
I showed Bonaparte what I had dis
covered and he seemed terribly shocked.
Whether this was real or not cannot say.
pioughed, perhaps he really did not UNDER
stand. When I said: And this 10 Why
the wage rice turned out % badly You
received ploughing like this and paid for
H., he seemed convicted End. and, h .n LED
got up, but as soon as the hot suns Of July
struck it the leaves just wilted. or course,
the roots could not penetrate the packed
unbroken clay soil. The best ricefield
soil Ia a blue clay which the sun bakes like
a brick. For while the roots lived In the
The seed rice I had paid 81 IS q buahel
for and planted two and one-half bushels
TO each acre; the cost Of cultivating and
harvesting it is SIS the acre, 80 that makes
%
bushels of rice, which sold at so oents
What Is to be the result Of this new departs
ure in the way Of dishonesty lido not knows
1t has taken me long time TO lose patience,
A few years ago one could get the valuA
OF the money paid for work. Just after the
war there was a splendid body OF workers
on this plantation. and every one In the
neighborhood was eager to get some OF
the hands from here; Ny father gave
processes. and they felt great pride in
being the prize ploughman or ditcher or hoe
hand OF the year; but now. alas. poor things,
they have been 30 confused and muddled
by the mistaken ideas and standards held
out to them that they have no pride In
honest work, no pride In anything, but to
wear fine clothes and get ahead Of the man
who employs them to do job.
It Is very hard for me TO say this. have
labored SO among them TO try to elevate
their ideals, to make them bring UP their
children to be honest and diligent, to mako
them still feel that honest. good work "
something to be proud Of. Even last year
I would not have said this, but, alas, I
have to say II now.
where two women have been paid for cuts
ting down the cornstalks, 30 that thera
will be nothing to interfere with the plough,
They have only broken on the tops OF
the stalks, leaving about eighteen in che
I shall have TO send some one else to do tho
work and pay once more.
Yesterday I drove eight miles TO my
lower place, Casa Blanca, where the fore-
him and see the inroads Of the last fall moon
tides, and IL was appalling, the forces OF
nature are so immense. 1t makes mo
quail to think OF the necessity Of settinH
my small human powers in opposition.
The ricefield banks are about three feet
ol~ th. laval ~ tho virar Al btOh water.
and each ileld he's . very small foodRate
(called a trunK), which opens and closes
TO let the water In and out; but when a gale
or freshet comes, oil the trunk doors have
and the water in the fields rises to the level
OF the river outside.
must stop writing now or will get too
blue. must 60 out and battle In the gener-
Gus sunshine and feast my eyes on the glory
OF yellow jessamine that crowns every
bush and tree, and revel In the delicious
perfume as my bicycle glides over the
soft, brown pine needles along the level
paths where the great dark blue eyes OF
the wild violets look lovingly up at me.
Ii very beautiful, and we must trust Him.
When these brown children Of His were
wild they were, no doubt, in physical
way perfect, hut when they were broughs
TO a knowledge of good and evil and brorght
under the law, like our first parents, no
struggle within them 81 the forces OF heaven
and hell have been holding battle there
ever since.
Can we doubt which will conquer In the
| endf No! Evil can never have the final
victory, but the struggle will be long,, FOR
! the Prince OF Darkness uses such subtle
emissariss. They come TO them IN the
guse OF angels as elevators and INSTRUCTORS,
! taking from them the simple first principles
| Of right and wrong which they had grasped.
| aud substituting the glamour OF ambition.
| the desire To fy, to soar. for the God-given
| Injunction, What doth the Lord require
| Of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy
aud 10 walk humhly with thy God:' Thank
God. there is one man Of their own race
striving TO hold up true standards OF tho
Cross Instead Of the golden calf OF the
| fear this Is a dull letter, but have tried
| to make you understand something OK
| the situation. PATIENCE PKSSNoTox-
| -CMooRA Woop. sc: ..-.--- - =
49,