Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1922-05-17
More Oil Than Water iin
Oklahoma. s:s ssgi

Dear Advertiser: NJ s. 8
Ny letters consist of what Iseess Or
what I think or in what think about
what I see. There is not much 10 Obj
serve around here, and I have nst q.
nimble wit. However, I have chosen,
to be a galley slave, "s use
newspaper jargon, propelling pen
for an oar and dragging the bails land nd
chain of incapacity in writing
I like, to study human nature and.
the idiosyncracies that chaga5tsrizej
most of us. Yesterday the Sait Pork
river, about mile from town. rose
to such an extent that lpeopl ear
its banks had to leave their homes,
The river is ordinarily SO shalloW chat
the bottom can be seen. However,. 4
was not so particularly interested in
the river as in its effects on people.
A sign from the sky could mot fiaye
aroused them more. The flow ofSasrig-
er is much more exciting, to theasSS YER
age citizen here than the flow OF
The river was SO spectacular andsit
is the spectacular that arouses inter
est in the onlooker. issssg st5s 3
What seemed infinitely more won
derful to me was the announcement
the other day that new oilWeil had
"come in" Some one came in the
house and in the same voice thatshe
might say "It is clouding b, he
said, "Old Jim Smith has a new oh,
we'll on his place today. He now gets
five hundred dollars dayan will
be a millionaire before long. Vow
Jim Smith, as have heard Of hinfgis
an ordinary mortal that had this gollsd
fortune which reads like the stories
in the Arabian Nights" But there;
is more oil here than there is water.
AS the river has been the topic Sof;;
conversation for several days., Walk
ed out in the sun yesterday oseeyits
From the reports I had almost expect
ed. to sect rushing, snp hill I u
me- Instead 1t was flowing sdieceatly
and respectfully along, except that it
had broadened greatly. 1t looked al
most exactly like the Savannah. Some
of the people, / think, thought it
greatly resembled the ocean or the
Gather of Waters" They stood on;
the bridge under which the "river
eddy whirled" and marvelled; so did
I, but in different way. They great
ly enjoyed it for some of them had
never seen anything broader, but l
thought how far was from the ocean
and home.
In the geography / learned of arid
regions, and never thought that |
would live in one, but now I do. It
has rained a great deal lately but
the strong wind dries the roads with
miraculous rapidity almost as soon as
the rain stops. The sidewalks are per-
fectly dry with one strong sweep of
the wind. ~
Almost every home is provided
with storm cave. I am planning to
go down in one just for the expert
ence, although 1 hope it will not be
from necessity.
One day,a part of the campus will
be like a huge pond, and the next day
it will be practically dry. That dry
ness must constitute healthful eli
mate, but the heat is already oppres-
sive, a strange heat with strangely
enervating effect. 1t ripens the wheat
and makes the roads passable, but
takes at the same time all of the en-
ergy from the people.
Tonkawa is the same latitude as
Southern Virginia, but nevertheless
is much warmer than South Carolina.
Well do l remember last September
when the men went coatless to work
and coatless everywhere. I cannot ac-
custom myself to it. I am anxious
for. the South again, the blessed land
of conventions, and I shall have to
learn many conventions over again,
for I am SO used toIexcusing the Wes-
terner's bluntness, his. practical ideas
and his lack of reverence.
When / reach the borders of Dixie
I shall sigh for very relief, ,sfor there
shall find people that talk like do,
] live like I do and think like do.