Year: 1878

"A Sketch of His EARLY Life, With Some


independent Philosophical Refiec-


tions.


A very bittor contest is now going
on Ill tho Seventh Congressional
district in Georgia, between Judge
Lester, the regular Democratic can
didate, one legged soldier, and
Parson FELTON,, an Independent
Democrat, who has already twice
carried that district. Bill Arp has
enlisted III behalf Of the "crutch," ,"
and thus gives his friend lift:


"George Luster was the first boy
ever know outside of home. T
reckon L knew him little better
than anybody-his mother excepted;
and the fact is knew where he was
and what he was doin' heap Of
times when she didn't. Ho was a
busy little cuss as ever you seed, and
could run faster and jump further
and holler louder and turn moro
summersets than any boy in the
town. L lived on one side of the
street and he on the other, and
when our mothers didont want us
to churn or pick up chips or tote
water or nurse the baby we was a
frolickin' together. You see we
wss all poor folks then, and we had
poor folks ways and we've got en-
yet to some extent, for if colt is
scrub, he's goin' to show it as
long as he lives, no matter how
much you curry him or how high
you feed him. We used to play
"Jacky my ring alt" round the
court house Of moonshiny nights,
and pick chinkapins, and top chest
nut trees, and Luster was always
too smart to cut the limb off be-
twlxt him and the tree. L wonder
If nc has got that little hatchet yet.


L said we was all poor, but our
folks wasent rs poor as Luster's.
We had n store and that sot us ND
right smartly. The fact is we
ranked next to tho lawyers and the
doctors, and could put on right
smart airs when it was necessary.
L never saw boy whose daddy had
Il store that didont attach moro
Importance to it than was becomin',
and no matter how much the other
boys got the advantage of him ho
could look like little dog curtin
his tail and say, "AIy pa has got
store" Well, I've thought heap
over 1t, and in my opinion it's a risky
institution to raise q family on
Tor It's human natur to want pow-
er of things, and if they are in the
store they aro bound to have EN-
Tor 1T looks so much like they dident
cost anything, and if they did you
don't have to pay no one hundred
per cent. profit to git 'em, and so
the family bill runs away up yonder,
and the wife and children climb
little higher and q little higher in
the world, and suddenly the old
dog irons git out of the fireplace in
the big room, and pair Of brass
ones git in-and before long that
calls for q store rug with the
plckter of dog on it, and by and
by the rug calls for store carpet,
and then comes new curtains with
brass tops and sofy and a big
gilt~edged lookin' glass and so forth
and so on ct setera ditto. It all
slips along on the old man SO easy
he don't know it, and if he does he
can't hardly help himself, and if he
can these little improvements are
such promoters of domestic tran
guilty he don't want to, and that's
what's the matter why ninety out
of one hundr merchants fail. It's
home consumption and family pride
mighty little sins with no malice
in 'em-but they will cause col
lapse after willie. I've noticed
these Presbyterians a long time, for
they are mighty nigh all merchants,
and their wives can beat the world
a keepin' house and settin' q good
table, and the cookbook amt much
further off than the Bible, and they
memorize it all the same as the
catechism, and it don't matter what
eggs cost they'll have 'em, nor
whether money is tight or loose
they've got o linen table-cloth some
where and napkins and silver
spoons and forks and cbany ware,
and if company comes they'll say
praca Oyel, as GOOD yittles as ia in