The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1905-02-15

'em. cause 1t takes up thar. mind an
is more socinble, though prayin' ailus
seems to me q good deal hketa man
tryin' to lift himself by his boot straps.
1t keeps him busy, though. an its
healthy exercise"
In spite Of his Investment In a mine
he had been frugal and owned most
of the land between the village and
the point and was also Joint owner,
with two other men, in a small trad
Ing schooner that made Remimonthly
trips between the Cape and Boston.
She carried fish, CLAIMS. Holsters, hay
and potatoes and fetched al "all sorts"
cargo useful to the Islanders, from a
paper Of needles to a hogshead' Of mo
lasses.
The most pronounced characteristic
Of Uncle Terry was. his unfailing good
humor, tinged with n mild sarcasm.
He loved his fellow men and yet en-
joyed puncturlpg their small conceits,
but SO droll was his WAY Of doing 1t
that nc one felt the sting. To Bascom,
who kept the only store and also post
office at the Cape and dearly loved to
hear himself talk, Uncle Terry nee
said: you've got the greatest gift O.
CAB I ever heerd, Bascom, an you
could "a made your forth in the :show
business. But If you're ever took with
religion the hull island IL turn in1d-
dle.'
And, again, when Deacon Oaks, the
leader ut all prayer meetings, assured
him how great o blessing religion was
and how much he enjoyed divine serv-
ice, Uncle Terry, answered: your TAX
in the lead at meetin's Is q blessin' to
the rest, for none of 'em has to worry
bout who's goin' to speak next. They
know you're allus ready"
In this connection it must be stated
that the spiritual life of Southport was
OF n primitive description. The small
implanted church at the Cape, above
which hung a diminutive bell, was the
only place Of worship, and to this every
other Sunday came q minister from the
mainland. 1t was furnished with long
wooden %settces, and n small cottage or.
gan graced the platform, upon which
an antique desk did duty as pulpit and
a storage place for hymn books. Four
wall bracket lamps lighted this room
for evening service, and their usually
smoky chimneys lent a depressing ef-
feet to all cxhortation. Mandy Oaks
presided at the organ md turned Cos
pei hymns into whcczy and rather long
drawn out melodies. Most of the audi
encc tried to chase the tunes along and
imagined they were singing, which per-
haps Is all that is necessary. On the
Sundays between the minister's visits
nrI, ON A,.,. ,n, ,.o,, I.oiI .-.l 4.
cry Thursday evening a prayer meet
ing. 1T WAS on these latter occasions
that Deacon Oaks was in conspicuous
evidence. The Widow Leach, n poor
unfortunate woman who had seen bet.
ter days and in whose poverty stricken
life religion was the only consolation,
was also prominent, and her testimony,
unvarying in tenor as the tunes played
by Mandy. helped to fill out the sery-
ice.
cts lucky the widows sure o lots
o happiness in. the next world" oh.
served Uncle Terry once, for she amt
gittin' much in this.
Il can't hear Oaks, though, 'thout
thinkin' o. Deacon Rogers up In VOL
colt, who never mentioned the need o.
rain till he'd got his hay In. He was a
sly fox an allus thanked the Lord for
sendin' rain nights an Sundays so the
poor hired man could rest.
81 used TO have him held UP as a
shinin' example. but he opened my eyes
artcr l began dickcrin' by scllin' me a
lot o eggs that had been sot on two
weeks, an he store man l sold 'cm to
never trusted me ag'in. Twas n case
o. the ungodiy suffcrin' for the sins o.
the righteous that time, which may he
q pcrvarsiOn O. Scripture, but the truth
just the same.
But L got n little comfort finally,
FOR when the deacon died, by some in
advartanCc the choir sang Praise God,
From Whom All Blcssin's Flow an /
want the only one who felt that way
either"
In spite of Uncle Tcrry's mildly na-
vored shafts of sarcasm he made no
enemies, and his kind heart and stcr-
ling honesty were respected far and
near. He was considered Il doubter
and skcptic, and, though seldom seen
at church, as he had originally con-
tributcd his share when that ediice
was built, his lack Of piety was for
given.
There is n sense Of Justice underly-
Ing all mems minds, and the natural
instinct is to Judge others by what they
arc and how they live rather than by
what they profess, and SO 1t was in