The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-08-01
Wcn,en and Society.
nY lGas. ,. - m coTTEA
THE OTHER MANS JOB.

Tk1E UHnEn MANS SVns There's a craze among us mortals that
 is cruel hard to name. wheresoever you find a human you will
 find the case the same.
 You may seek among the worst or men
 or seek among the best.
 And you'll find that every person A pre-
 cisely like the rest.
 Each believes that his real calling ls
 Is along some other line
 Than the one at which he's working From the meanest "me too" creature to
 the leader of the mob . There's a universal craving for the There are millions of positions in the
 busy world today,
 Each a drudge to him who holds H. put
 to him who doesn't play Every farmers broken hearted that Tn
 youth he missed his call.
 While that same unhappy farmer IS the A,v en task V You care to mention seems a
 vastly better lot Than the one especial something which
 you I happen zen. to .ura have ws9 got to smother
 envy's heartache and her sob Keep too busy at your own to want
 "the other fellows job"
 THE FIDDLER OF
 FIFTY YEARS AGO.
 The fiddler" of fifty years ago was | great institution and an important parsonage. 4 writer In the St. Louis Post Dispatch says of him:
 When the days of harvest were past and the fruits and grains were safely garnered there was time and need for recreation, but, except for the dance and the fiddler, there was no manner of gNting 1t. The fiddler and his Hier- r,y trp os etood hetwaep the early settler and a long season of dismal dullness.
 Mere skill with fiddle and bow was not the only requirement of the nd dler in those days. He was wit ana 7 | gossip, too. Only the preacher who rode big circuit travelled further than the fiddler in the performance of his duties, and none other met and ments" The fiddler was as much an institution of his time and community as was the cobbler of the blacksmith. If there was any difference in their respective standing it was in favor or the fiddler. His earnings in d day were both larger and surer of pay ment than were those of his friends, the cobbler and the smith.
 Musician was not the name or the claim of the early fiddler. He was not a violinist. He was a fiddler. There is a physical, as well as technical difference and distinction between them The violinist belongs to later times and softer manners He Is thin and nervous and poctical of mien. The fiddler was hearty. jolly, sturdy. One &has "technic" the other had power. The fiddler was born>of peculiar con- ditions and he fitted them perfectly. It was his duty to fire hearts ana loosen limbs, not to cultivate tntelleqts. He E had to fiddle all night. and his tunes \were full of movements that required Strong arms for their proper playing.
 Invitation Travelled Fast. { An invitation to a dance prooaoly ftrayeled faster than any other piece of intelligence in that day. The boys caparisoned their horses-or their mules in Missouri-and rode ten miles for the gals" that were to be their monies" in the reels and quadrfiies. The "old folks" travelled in wagons or sleighs, according to the time or year and the latitude. No one who was not hedridden or a. recent convert to some gloomy form of religion missed the dance. .,... a..,s,s'
 there were some preliminary exchanges of welcome and gossip among men and women. Then there was 'feasting and drinking. A shoat usually was sacri- feed in anticipation of the event. and
 
 "pones," was handed around The young folk baked apples on the logs in the big fireplace and then there was a round of cider or whisky-as the hosts circumstances or his ideas of generosity dictated.
 All the while the fiddler was still to come. He made a point of being late. for no fiddler who set a proper value on his reputation showed anxiety to arrive at the dance early. Two or three important men of the communi- ty usually appeared with the fiddler and shared the reception that was given to him on his arrival.
 Maybe the fiddler had been a youth once, but no one who has any recoi- lection of him will swear to it. He usually was brawny fellow of 45. deeked out in a coat with long tails. a wide hat, a frilled shirt and boots in which the ends of his pantaloons were hopelessly buried from view.
 There may be a tradition, or even a haxy remembrance of a fiddler without wbiskers, but it is generally discred-