The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1904-04-26
MEMORIES OF HOME.
Why They Linger and When They
Linger Longest Fresh
and Sweet.


old friends chanced to meet together.
They formed 4 somewhat noteworthy
group, for. in one way or another
all had won more than the ordinary
measure OF success. They had all
been born and bred in Georgia. and
ali had known one another in boy
hood. The most OF them came from
.he same county, and three had at
xended the same school In the group
there was a successful civil engineer,
railway manager, prosperous far
n.er and business man. It seems
that an opportunity had come TO each
10 revisit the scenes OF his child
hood, and each was taking advantage
oi it. These old friends all met in At
lan1a in the most casual way and
zhey accepted the fact as a piece Of
good fortune. for it enabled them 10
deal generously in "reminiscences
while they looked about the town
viewing the improvements that SEEM
ed so wonderful to them.
They were amazed at the growth OF
Atlanta, and proud OF It. but their
amazement was not strong enough
to smother their "reminiscences. Their
chief talk was OF home, not the new
homes they had built in different parts
OF the country. but the home OF their
childhood Curious!y enough. the man
who had the Snabbiest home when a
boy was more persistent in his re-
unniscences. and dwelt fondly on the
memories he was able to conjure up:
and some OF the others. who were ia
miliar with the. shabby home of his
youth agreed very heartily with all
that he said. and indeed. helped him
out with his "reminiscences when his
own memory seemed to be faulty.
This home that was so glorifed in
the memory of the man was shabby
only in appearance 1t consisted OF a
modest three-room cottage, devoid Of
paint and free from all the comforts
that seem to be necessity OF modern
nome builders. Inside and out every
thing was severely plain. There were
no carpets on the floor. and none OF
the accessories that are nowadays
found in the humblest home: 1t was
apparent at a glance that the home
was under the pressure of poverty.
All this, however. seemed to have
been forgotten by the man who had
been raised there as we'll as by those
who had been familiar with it.
How. then. could home SO bare
and poverty-stricken-so devoid OF
.comforts-appeal SO fondly to the
memories ioi those WHO were familiar
with it? There, is one simple ex-
planation that we. desire to call to the
attention OF every mother and father
in the land namely, that house and
its surroundings. its furnishings. or
its lack thereof. do not represent a
home, A dwelling may be as fine as
money can make it. or as poor as pow
erty itself. and still it may fail to be
a home in the true sense and meaning
of the word. On the other hand,
whether fine or common, it may re-
present the very essence of home.
The little house that the man and
his friends remembered SO well and
talked of with so much delight had
been swept away by time, and another
more in keeping with our modern
ideas had taken its place: but that
fact made not the least difference in
the world to those who had been ia
rniliar with it, for they were glad to
admit that it had been the ideal home.
and their memories played about it
constantly. 1t had been transhgured
in their minds. and occupied place
by itself.
What happy world this would be
if we could order home as we do a
ton OF coal! How many, stuffy pro-
blems of humanity would be solved
if it were possible to have home
made by merely leaving an order with
the architect or contractor! And
what liberal. what an uplifting art
that would be which could guarantee