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BILL ARP’S LETTER Bartow Man Rsproduces Humor* OU8 Sermon Preached Years Ago. HARANGUE OF A “FLATBOAT" PARSON Expounded From Uncertain Text of "H« Played on the Harp of a Thousand -Strings—Sperita of Jest Men Made Perfeck.'’ I have bad an occasional request to reproduce and save^from oblivion a sermon that went tile round of the couthern press some fifty years ago and was known as the “Harp of a Thousand Strings." Not- long ago 1' quoted a paragraph from It. and a friend writes me from East Feieclaha, La., and says that the author of that quaint sermon lived and died In that parish, and his daughters and grand children live there now, and are his near neighbors. Strange to say, the author was a minister of the gospel, sober, serious, solemn and devoted to his calling, and for a long time it was not known that the humorous writings over the signature of “Zedoklah the Scribe," came from his gifted pen. But preachers can’t help seeing and enjoying the ludicrous side of human nature. Sidhey Smith, the famous English divine, was as solemn as the grave on solemn occasions, but he in haled a great deal of merriment with out a smile. He provoked others to the most convulsive laughter, but gave no sign, save in the twinkle of his eyes. Judge Longstreet, the eminent jurist, the learned preacher, the digni fied president of two colleges and a university, and the author of “Geor gia Scenes,” was of similar type. I met him often during my youth, and do not recall that he Indulged in humor ous anecdote. The last time I met him was during the war in the office of the Columbus Enquirer, when he in dulged in bitter sarcasm against some Georgians, whom he -ailed traitorous obstructionists. I could hardly Im agine that it was he who molded the inimitable characters of Ned Brace and Ramsey Sniffle. Johns Hooper was not a preacher, but always a se date and very dignified gentleman. He was secretary of the embryo con federacy t-.at assembled in Montgom ery, and there was no sign of “Simon Suggs” of “Taking the Census" in his solemn deportment. My observation has been that the best story tellers ' and conversationalists have the least Inclination to publish their own scintillation. It was common to say of my old partner, “Oh! rare Judge Underwood,," but I could never in duce him to put pen to paper in that line. He said that a good story or a flash of wit and humor lost its relish by writing it, for the tone of voice, the accent, the piquancy, the facial ex pressions couict not be recorded. When the Rev. J. T. Lewis wrote this sermon it was not uncommon for amateur preachers to perform up end down the western rivers and thus ad vertise their business, which was prin cipally flat boating and peddling their produce. Lorenzo Dow took continen tal journeys from Maine to Texas, tut he was a pretty good orthodox preach er. These flat boat preachers were a rough and tumble lot, and tangled up the scriptures awfully, but they could draw the crowds and their whiskey was a good card. It was an orthodox produce then and preachers and the people were as fond of it as old Father Noah, who was a preacher of right eousness. Rev. Mr. Lewis does not give this preacher’s name, tut his ser mon has Leen sent me by my friend and I give it to your readers as It was given to me. When it first came forth we thought It Inexpressibly funny. It is not so funny now to the old people, but tho younger generation are more easily amused than thq, veterans and for their sake I append jt. A pretty school girl recited it last week at the commencement exercices of our pub lic school and she d’d it well and brought down the house. This sermon was said to have been preached at Port Hudson, where the amateur divine had “tied up” for the double purpose of observing the Sab bath and selling whiskey. I may -say to you, my brethering, that I am not an edicated man, an’ I am not one of them as believes that - edlcation is necessary for a gospel minister, for I believe the Lord edi- cates His preachers jest as He wants em to be edicated; and although I say It that oughtn't to say It, yet In the state of Indlanny, where 1 live, thar’s no man as gits bigger congregations nor what I gits. Thar may be some here today, my .brethering, as don’t know what per suasion I am uv. Well, I must say to you, my brethering, that I’m a Hard Shell Baptist. Thar’s some folks as don’t like the Hard Shell Baptists, but I had rather have a hard shell than no shell at all. You see me here today, my brethering, dressed up In good clothes; you mout think I was proud, but I am not proud, my brether ing, and although I have been a preacher of the gospel for twenty years, and although I’m capt’in of the flat boat that lies at your landing, I’m not proud, my brethering, ah. I am not gwine to tell edzactly whar my text may be found; suffice it to say it is in the leds of the Bible, and you'll find it somewhere between the first chapter of the book of Genera tions and the last chapter of the book of Revolutions, and ef you will go and search the scriptures, you’ll not only find my tex tbar, but a gre\t many other texes as will do you good to read, and my tex, when you shall find it to read thus, ah: “And he played on a harp of a thou sand strings—sperits of Jest men made perfeck." My tex, my brethering, leads me to speak of sperits. Now thar’s a great many kinds of sperits in tho world- in the fuss place, thar’s the sperits some folks call ghosts, and thar’s the sperits of turpentine, and thar’s the sperits as some folks call liquor, and I’ve got as good an artlkel of them kind of sperits on my flat boat as ever was foch down tho Mississippi river; but thar’s a great many kinds of sperits, for the tex says: “He played on a harp of a thousand strings, sper- its of jest men made perfeck." And thar’s a great many kinds of fire in the world. In the fuss place thar’s the common sort of fire, and then there’s foxfire, and camphire, fire before you are ready and fire and fall back and many other kinds of fire, for the tex says, “He played on a harp of a thou sand strings, sperits of jest men made perfeck." But I’ll tell you of the kind of fire as is spoken of in the Bible, my breth ering, is Hell Fire! and that’s the kind of fire as a great many of you’ll come to ef you don’t do better nor what you have been doin’—for "He played on a harp of a thousard strings, sper its of just men made perfeck." “And that's the kind of fire you can’t dodge, my brethering, ah, for it’s the fire that won’t be quenched. You may fly to the mountains of Hapsldan, where the woodbine twlneth and the lion roareth, and the whangdoodle mourn eth for its first born, but you can’t hide from this unquenchable fire, for it is the fire of hell and damnation, ah! And he played on'a harp of a thou sand strings—sperits of jest men made perfeck." Now, as there are many kinds, of sperits and many kinds of fire, ah! in the world, ah!, Jest so -there are many kinds of Christians, ah! In the fuss place we have the Plscopallans, and they are a high-sailin’, high-roost in’, hifalutin set, ah! and they may be likened unto a turkey buzzard that flies up into the air, ah! and he goes up, and up7 and up, till he looks no bigger than your finger nail, and the fust thing you know, he comes down, and down, and down, end goes to fillin’ hisself on the carkiss of a dead hoss by the side of the road, ah! and “He played on a harp of a thousand strings, sperits of jest men made perfeck.” And thar is the Presbyterians, my brethering, with their long frock coats and high shirt collars and dismal swamp faces, but they hever cleared no new ground nor burnt no Hresh nor deadened no timber, nor killed no bars. They always waits for us hard shells to do that and settle up the wilderness and then they will slip In and go to plantin’ and put on heavenly airs and claim to' bo the only people that are elected and shore of eternal salvation —and they play on a harp of a thorn sfind strings—sperits of Jest men made perfeck. And then, my brethering, thar’s the Baptists, ah! And they have, been likened to a ’possum on a simmon tree, and the thunders may roll and the earth may quake, and the Hons roar and the whangdoodle mourn, but the ’possum clings thar still, ah! And you may shake one foot loose and the other’s thar and you may shake all feel loose, and he laps his tall around the limb, and he clings and he clings urever, ah! for “He played on a harp of a thousand strings, sperits of jest men made perfeck.”—Bill Arp, in At lanta Constitution. GEORGIA. Brief Summary of Doings Throughout the State. Question it Yea or Nay. To take or not to take a Carnegie library is now the question of the hbur in Columbus. Mr. Carnegie has offered the city library, and while indica tions rather point to the acceptance of the gift sentiment on the point is by no means unanimous. Labor unions of the city are oppasing the project. • * * Sanford to Assist Merritt. . S. V. Sanford, of Marietta, has been appointed by W. B. Merritt, nominee for state school commissioner, as his assistant. He will, after January 1, 1003, perform the duties of clerk in the department of education. Mr. Sanford was a strong supporter of Merritt In the race for school com missioner, and besides the two men have been friends for years. -• • * Bolt 8trikes Mother and Daughter. A heavy rain fell at Lithonia Satur day, accompanied by lightning and thunder. At Collinsville, a'suburb, the family of G. W. Guinn, a farmer, were just finishing thei^r dinner when Mrs. Guinn stepped to the back veranda tor a drink of water. A stroke of lightning killed her instantly, leaving not a mark upon her person. A sixteen- year-old daughter, who was standing near the open door, was felled by the same stroke, and 1s fatally injured. • • • Dates of Colored Conferences. Bishop H. M. Turner, by agreement of thfe presiding elders’ council which adjourned at Atlanta last Friday, gives out the following dates for the Geor gia African M. E. conferences of 1902: Southwest Georgia conference, Blake ly, November 6; North Georgia confer ence, Cartersville, November 12; Ma con conference, Augusta, November 19; Atlanta conference, Covington, De cember 3, and Georgia conference at Eastman, December 10. • • • JHill Receives Congratulations. Hon. Hiram Warner Hill, who was the active campaign manager for Hon. Joseph M. Terrell In his successful campaign for governor, which has just closed, has received a flood of congrat ulations, many of them by wire, from different parts of the state, congratus latlng him upon the admirable manner in which he bandied Mr. Terrell’s race, and in not a few of them has come the suggestion that he should become the next chairman of the state demo cratic executive committee. * * * • Reunion of Seventh Georgia. The Seventh Georgia Confederate veterans, familiarly known during the war as the "Bloody Seventh,” has ar ranged plans for Its reunion in Vir ginia, to take place about the middle of July. This regiment was, at the be ginning of the war, a regiment of knee- punts boys. None of the men were over 21, not even the colonel, but they proved -themselves worthy foes more than one hard-fought field. The regiment will visit a great many brttle fields upon which they once faced shot and shell. The Itinerary will Include Manassas, Alexandria, Fredericksburg, Richmond, Petersburg end Washington. NEL80N APPEAL8 TO ALMIGHTY. Exclaims In 8enate: "God Deliver Ua From Trusts.” After transacting some routine busi ness and discussing for a time the bill to relieve shippers from the London dock charges, during which Mr. Nel son, of Minnesota, exclaimed, “God deliver us from trusts," the senate, Baturilay, resumed consideration of the itsthmian canal project. The Gpeene-Gaynor Case. A special from Quebec says: The Greene-Gaynor case was again In court Saturday. Mr. L. McMaster, for the prosecution, began bis argument in support of his motion to quash the writs of habeas corpus. cal and experimental laboratories In i style which will compare favorably with inany of the college laboratories in the country. President Hall Is particularly anx ious to get the remainder of the money as soon as possible in order to begin work on the laboratories befQre It It too late to have them ready for the fall term. • * • The Official Vote For Governor. The official vote for governor ir the coming state convention on July J has been confirmed and stands as fol lows: Joseph M. Terrell, 196; J. H. Estlll, 86; Dupont Guerry, 68. In the foregoing there is only on« change from the figures first published Terrell secured the vote of Greene county, which was given to Estlll while Estlll carried Taliaferro, which appeared in the Terrell column. While this does not change the figures, twe more votes are given to Guerry, be cause in the first report Forsyth wae credited with only two votes, whereat it should have been given four. in will be seen from the foregoing figures that Mr. Terrell has twenty more votes than enough to nominate on the first ballot. Mr. Terrell carried seventy-nine counties, Colonel Estill thirty-five counties and Mr. Guerry twenty-three. One of the most remarkable races of the campaign was made by Colonel O. B. Stevens for re-election as commis sioner. Colonel Stevens will have 340 votes in the convention, as against 10 for his opponent, Colonel R. T. Nesbitt Seldom in the history of the state has such a sweeping victory, been recorded. W. B. Merritt will go into the con vention with at least 220 votes, as against 130 tor both his opponents combined, while Hon. Thomas Eason will have even a larger vote for prison commissioner. The whole question has* bepn settled now and there remains only the formality of an election in the fall. The state convention will meet in Atlanta July 2, for the purpose of mak ing the formal nominations. Owing to the large majorities which the winning candidates have, the nominations will no doubt be made unanimous in every particular. - The general election will occur on the first Wednesday In October, at which time the nominees will be voted for. Congressman Fleming, of the tenth district, ha‘i conceded that T. William Hardwick, of Washington defeated him for congress. The election of Hardwick was a big surprise to the people of Georgia, as for a while things looked decidedly blue for him. So far there have been no charges of fraud at any of the election places in the counties, though the Augusta Her ald says that money was freely scat tered in Augusta. • • • Census Report on Georgia Farms. The bulletin on the agricultural in terests of Georgia, soon to be given out by the director of the census at Wash- ton, contains some very interesting facts about farms and farm properties in the state. Georgia has a total land area of 68,690 square miles, or 37,747,- 200 acres, of which a fraction less than 70 per cent are Included In farms. From the census returns it is shown than the farms of Georgia June 1,1900, numbered 224,691, and were valued at 3183,370.120. Of this amount, 344,864,- 690, or 24.6 per cent, represents tho value of buildings, and 3138,616,430, or 75.5 per cent, the value of land and im provements ether than buildings. On the same date the value of farm Imple ments and machinery was 39,804,010 and of live stock 335,200,507. These values added to that of farms gives the total value of farm property. For Georgia this value in 1900 was 3228,- 374,G37. It Is shown that but 111-2 per cent of the colored farmers own the farms which they operate and the value of MANY THOUSAND OUT Miner? in th3 Two Virginias Obey Mitchell's Order. DROP PICKS WITH UNANIMITY President Roosevelt Refuses to Act as Mediator—Fight Will be to a Finish, Declares Mitchell. A special from Hazleton, Pa., says: Riot proclamations were posted late Friday afternoon everywhere on the property of the Loerlng Valley Coal Company at Yorktown. A special train with steam up Ib at Roan junction ready to carry a car load of officers to any part of the district. lit Wet* Virginia. The strike of the soft coal miners in West Virginia for higher wages, which is to be Inaugurated will be di rected by President Mitchell from Wilkesbarre. He said there are 20,000 men In that field; that 18,000 will Btop work at once and that he expects the others will all be put out in the course of a few days. Mr. Mitchell positively and unequiv ocally denied to the Associated Press correspondent all knowledge of any negotiations for peace. So far as he knows, he said, neither the Civic Fed eration nor any other'organization or individual is at present negotiating for a settlement of the anthracite strike. "Everything Is off,” be said. Will Not Interfere. A Washington special says: After a conference with the members of his cabinet Friday President Roosevelt de cided that there Is no legal ground for Interference by him in the settlement of the dispute between the coal opera tors and striking miners. The resolu tions of the New York board of trade and transportation, requesting the president to appoint a commissioner to visit the anthracite regions and in vestigate the situation, were discussed at great length, but as the law of 1892, which conferred authority upon -the president to appoint such officer, has been repealed, the president has no desire to assume the responsibility which the New York board of trade suggested. Governor Candler in Washington, Governor Candler has been taking in the sights at the National Capital. The following dispatch tells of his risit: Washington, June 7.—Governor Can dler arrived in the city this morning and is a guest at the Metropolitan ho tel, where he made his residence dur ing the eight years of his service in congress. The governor has come to i their holdings constitutes only about Washington on personal business to ! one-thirtieth of the total value of farm get a little rest. One of bis sons re- j property of tho state. < The average cently graduated in law here and he j size of farms of negroes Is 66 acres, has many friends in Washington who as compared with 147 acres of the LUMBER MILL8 BURNED. Large Plant of Bailey A Co., at Mc Donald, Ga., in Ashes. The'little town of McDonald, Ga., on the Brunswick and Western railway, twenty miles from Waycross, was al most completely wiped out and J. S. Bailey & Co.’s saw mill destroyed by fire Friday afternoon. The mill was probably the largest lq south Georgia, employing 300 men. Fire consumed the mill, planing plant, dry kiln, shops, one locomotive, seven cars of lumber, eight small dwelling bouses, and a mil lion apd a half feet of lumber. The large commissary was saved. The plant was well equipped with fire fight ing apparatus, but the flames spread over the whole mill yard, covering 20 acres, In a few minutes. With ene mad rush of flame the saw mill was consumed. A low estimate of the loss is 376,000, Insurance 318,000. The lum ber burned waB valued at 320,000. will help him have a pleasant time dur ing his stay. Ho lunched with Sena tor Clay at the capttol and was warmly welcomed by all the members of the Georgia delegation. Incidentally he was called upon to tell all about the ejection, which he did, with not a lit tle satisfaction to himself and to bis hearers. • • • Spencer Donates to Tech. President Lyman Hall, of the Geor gia Scihool of Technology, has received a letter from President Samuel Spen cer, of the Southern road, informing him of the fact that he would be g’ad to contribute 31.000 to the school, pro vlded the remaining 39,000 necessary to secure the 310,000 donation from ths general education board could be se cured. With Mr. Spencer’s subscription oi 31,000 the Tech now has only a little over 32,000 to raise In order to secure the 310.000 from the general educ tion board and thus equip the electri white farmers. GRAND EDUCATIONAL RALLY. Important Gathering Called to Meet In Montgomery, Ala. Rev. Edgar Gardner Murphy, execu tive secretary of tho southern educa tional board, has called a grand educa tional mass meeting to assemble in Montgomery, Ala., on May 28. The purpose is to roimally inaugurate the campaign of the board in Alabama, and it will be pushed vigorously from that time. 'I MARTINIQUE NEGROES REJOICE. They Hold Orgies Because All the Whites are Dead on the Island. Letters arriving in London describe the negroes of the Island of Martinique as holding orgies because the whites are all dead. The negroes say they have elected a negro governor, who countenances all excesses. LYNCH’8 PREDICAMENT. Fought With Boers and Now Wants to Take 8eat In Parliament. According to a London news agency. Colonel Arthur Lynch, who fought with the Boers In South Africa, was elected In November last to represent Galway in the house of commons, and who, It was announced, In a dispatch to the Associated Press, had decided to go to London and attempt to take his seat In the house, will not be al lowed to carry out bis intention. He will be arrested, it Is said, on the charge of treason immediately after landing in England. A sharp watch Is being kept for Colonel Lynch, and If he reaches Westminster It will be by strategem. P08TMASTER UNDER CHARGES. David Baldwin Resigns New Orleans Office by Request. David G. Baldwin, postmaster of New Orleans, has tendered his resig nation SB-a-regult"of a serious disa greement with the postofflee depart ment at Washington. The letter carriers filed • charges against the postmaster, alleging that he had demoralized the working force cf the office, and had shown favorit ism In making promotions. It was also alleged that Mr. Baldwin has been loaning money to letter car riers through his brother at usurious Tates of Interest