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About Schley County news. (Ellaville, Ga.) 1889-1939 | View Entire Issue (July 12, 1900)
BILL ARP’S LETTER r Talks of the Long Ago When He Was In the Heyday of Youth. HE TOUCHES UPON CHINESE HISTORY — Hoy* Who Were Taught In Old Field School* Were Afforded I.lttle Knowl edge of the Vast Umpire. How fast the earth is shrinking. How far away was China when we old men were boys. It took a three-years’ cruise uround the w'orld to find it, and even then our merchant men only touched at the ports and learned but little of the vast unknown interior. Her immense domain was set down at five and one-half millions of square miles, being oue-teuth of the habitable globe and nearly twice the area of the United States. Her population was in 1860 500,000,000 and is now probably 600,000,000. Her govern ernment for at least 3,000 years has been one of revolutions, internal broils and changes of dynasty, but it has stood and still stands and no doubt will continue to stand. Travelers tell us that the stagnation and ignorance that has long been charged upon China -does not exist; that they are an indus trious, peace-loving people, and all their trouble comes from outsiders. I was ruminating about this China business and the war over there and the cable dispatches that come in a day, for we liad an old-time district school in our town last night and old Mother Felton and myself were the two youngest scholars, bhe had on a draw-string frock and a pair of panta detts arid was sucking a stick of mo lasses candy, and I had on a shirt and one gallus and a pair of breeches that come down nearly to the top of my blue home-made socks. She was Becky and I was Bill. We belonged to the infant class and had to stand up and spell “ba” and “bee” and “bo.” Becky cried because she couldn’t spell “ax” and had to go foot. I cousolated her all I could. Kirby Anderson was the smallest boy in school aud the largest dunce. He was in geography and said China was as big as Bartow county, and that’s how I come to ruminate about China. All that I ever learned about China in my geography was that Pekin was its capital and the people were all heathen and eat rats, aud there was a great w all around the entire country. Our bookmakers ought to have known better, for Marco Polo had traveled all over that country and lived there for twenty-four years and was made gov ernor of a large province, and he says he never mingled with a better people. Confucius gave them laws 2,500 years ago that they still reverence and obey. Families are faithful to each other and children are taught to obey their pa rents as long as they live, Confucius had such reverence for his mother that he mourned for her for three years when she died. How many sous do that iu this Christian country. Of course they have some race traits and customs that seem very bad to us, but they are not malicious nor selfish nor or they revengeful unless wrought np to it by bad treatment. Our Christian people massacred 200 of them out west a few years ago for no crime but because they were iu the way and wanted work aud accepted it at less wages. Who ever saw a more harmless, industrious people than those scattered Chinamen who. are found in almost every town and vil lage in this country. For thirty yea- s I have observed them in my travels from Virginia to Texas aud never heard a complaint. Betting and gam bling is a national amusement, but it is on a limited scale aud makes nobody rich or poor. It doesn’t compare with our stock gambling or high rolling on steamboats or Kentucky poker among the bloods. I never saw General John C. Breckinridge but once, and that was at a faro bank in Richmond dur ing the war. Colonel Towers took me in there to show me how the thing was dono and to our surprise Breckin ridge was doing it. But the great crime against China was the introduction of opium from India by the English. This began in 1810, and in 1828 had gotten up to 7,000 chests. In vain and in vain did the emperor and his counsellors pro test and plead. They saw that the opium habit w r as spreading aud ruin ing their people.;. In 1838 iu had in creased to 24,000 cheats, and its im portation was' stopped by force of anus—aud 21,000 chests were seized and destroyed. This brought on a war and the Chinese government had to pay $21,000,000 for the opium de stroyed, for its value was $1,000 a •chest. Then a treaty was patched up and the opium business increased to "4,000 chests in 1860. I wonder what it is now. But the English merchants now pay a duty, but this amounts to several millions of dollars annually. What will not Johnny Bull do for money? No wonder Chinamen have a suspicion of all foreigners and a con tempt Chinese for our missionaries. The authorities passed a law •against eating opium and gave it a death penalty, but it was smuggled iu all the same and th#y d.e«lar*l that not eveffBuddha eoitM stop it. Ifow as to that great Buddha, my ple readih^tells Aofiof express nte Jhat the great common adoration peo any for him uor faith in him? Asl)r. John son remarked to Boswell, “jt is. neces sary for-every nation to have soma re ligion, whether they understand it not,” aud hence the superstition of the Chinese has taken bold of Buddha as the bdst they oan do. But this un known God has failed them so often in great emergencies they have no uu wavering faith iu him. Aud yet there are over 1,000,000 priests in the empire who make a beggarly living out of Bnddhaism. Buddha has given them a little god for everything. Every thing that concerns their temporal welfare; nothing for the heart or the immortal soul. They do not believe in either. They say that there is no future life, but if there is, then good conduct in this life will ensure safely iu that. If the rice wants rain, they appeal to the god of rain. If the drought continues long, they drag the little rain god out on his wheels and let him stand iu the burning sun until it does rain. They want him to see and feel how hot it is. If the rain comes too much aud lasts too. long and the rice is sprouting in the fields, they get their squirt guns aud drench the rain god every day until he stops the pour down. We ought to have had him over here this June and put our Chinamen to work on him. Bat the government—ihe govern ment of 600,000,000 of people does not cost half as much as ours, with about 80,000,000. The per capita tax is about 7o cents, and all taxes are paid in rice. China has no bonded debt. No revenue from whisky or wine, for none is distilled or drank. Nothing is iu her way of peace and content ment save foreigners and opium. I do not know what is the salary of the emperor or empress, but all salaries are small. The prince who is to suc ceed the emperor gets only $16,000 per annum. Then there are thousands and thousands of officials in every province, from the governor down, but their pay is small. A soldier in the standing army gets but $4 per month. That army is composed of about 1,000,000 of men. The emperor has no arbitrary pow er. He must conform to the laws and must advise with his cabinet, and be hind all is the great board of control that represents the people and is made up of two or more learned and good men from every province. This board does not act often or on crifles, but when any great emergency arises they meet at Pekin and their word controls the emperor and everybody else. That :s not a bad government, is it? The emperor is entitled to an empress and two other wives,who are called queens. If the empress leaves no sou, then a son of a queen is taken, but nobody knows which son until the emperor dies, for Confucius said that if the young man knew that he was chosen it might make him arrogant. Another peculiar and democratic provision of the constitution is that the nobility shall not always be nobil ity. Every generation is reduced in rank aud power down to the seventh, and then they become as the common people. This keeps the nobility on the down grade and keeps the govern ment from being overrun by a pam pered aristocracy. That’s good. Yes, it is better than the English law of primo-genitnre, which gives all Tank aud the home estate to the eldest son and tells the others to go to grass. I saw a number of the grass fellows in Florida. On the whole, I like the Chinese government and I have respect for the people. Bret Harte wrote: ‘•That for ways that are (lark And tricks that are vain, The heathen Chinee is peculiar.” Yes, I expect Bret was trying to win their money and they won his. This is enough of geography. I have written it for Kirby Anderson and Bert Morgan and their sort. Paul Akin called our little grandchild to come out on the verandah and kiss him goodnight. She had put on her night gown and said to her mother: < < Mamma, Paul doesn’t know’ any bet ter, does he?” There are a good many big school boys who know no more about China than Kirby.— Bill Abp iu Atlanta Constitution. We are ready to enter yonr name on our subscription boobs. You will not miss the small sum necessary to become our customer. DAVID II. HILL SATISFIED. Now Yorker Wanted a More Conservative Platform, liut Will Acquiesce. David B. Hill, on his arrival iu New York from Kansas City, speaking of the work of the Democratic national convention, said: “I labored to have the convention adopt a more question, conservative but platform.on not being the financial ou the platform committee, my efforts were unsuccessful. I am, however, reasonably satisfied with the execution of the convention and acquiesce in the result. The ticket is a strong one, and if the enthusiasm with which it is received in the west is any indication of its popularity, it ought to be suc cessful- ” GEORGIA NEWS ITEMS Brief Summary of Interesting Happenings Culled at Random. The HI tin and Gray Reunion Arrangements for the Blue aud Gray upon the battlefields around are progressing smoothly and under the direction of the gen committee, while the committee invitation ha9 practically finished its work. From the number of favorable letters received from the leading officers in both the federal and confederate ar mies who saw service around Atlauta in the ’sixties, it is certain that the old soldiers will be able to greet their old commanders there ou the 20th. Borne fine speaking is assured, aud the occasion will be marked with evidences of fraternity unequalled since the war. The managers of the rennion desire very much to secure the addresses of the surviving children and descend ants of General Hood. Anybody who can furnish them with the desired in formation will please do so without delay. Lawyers Finish Business. The Georgia Bar Association ad journed its seventeenth annual session at Warm Springs after one of the most successful meetings in its history. During the three days the associa tion was in session 102 members were present and all of the papers read were of a high order of merit. The following officers were elected by a unanimous vote of the associa tion: President—H. Warner Hill, of Greenville. Vice Presidents—Charlton Battle, of Columbus; John C. Hart, of Union Point; B. H. Hill, of Atlanta; A. F. Daley, of Wrightsville; J. B. Bum side, of Hamilton. Executive Committee—Burton Smith, Atlanta, chairman; J. M. Terrell, Greenville; Bolling Whitfield, Bruns wick; Lloyd Cleveland, Griffin; A. R. Lawton, Savannah. Secretary—Orville A. Park, Macon. Treasurer—Z. D. Harrison, Atlanta. The Georgia State Agricultural Society. This is an institution of the state— one of the oldest and most useful. The annual convention of the society is looked forward to with a steadily in creasing interest year by year. It does any man good to get out among his fellows, shake hands and exchange views on general topics, especially those in the line of his own vocation. Men who attend conventions are gen erally conservative. They learn to be tolerant of men who differ with them on farm and other topics. The society has adopted the plan of meeting in the growing towns of the state. This year the meeting will be held at Dublin, August 8th and 9th proximo. Two hundred delegates are expected to attend. For years the railroad authori ties have generously given transporta tion to the delegates. Hon. Martin Y. Calvin, the society’s secretary, Au gusta, Ga., is now making up the list of delegates with a view to securing a ticket for each over the various rail roads offering the shortest route from home to Dublin and return. We are informed that secretaries of the county agricultural clubs throughout the state are very slow iu sending iu lists of delegates to Mr. Calvin. This should be done at once. The customary con vention fee of $1 must accompany the application for each delegate from a county. Tne meeting promises to be one of the best yet held. President Brown is making up an attractive program that will embrace the two days’ ses sion. Let every secretary send in his report as to the delegates from his county immediately to Mr. Calvin at Augusta. If you delay, transportation cannot be furnished. Stale Printing Contract. Bids for the annual contract for state printing have been given in and will be opened next month. The Franklin Printing company, Byrd Printing company, Atlauta Lithographing com pany, Foote and Davies, all of Atlau ta. and the Courier-Journal Printing company, of Louisville, Ky., put in bids. Under the law's the bids are opened on the first Tuesday iu August, aud the contract is awarded on the same day. The secretary of state, the comp troller and the state treasurer com pose the printiug board. The c mtract made for the state printiug is usually a large one and the amount of money paid out for print ing each year aggregates nearly 8100,000. No State Republican Ticket. The committee of eleven appointed at the Republican state convention in March, to select electors for the party for Georgia, met in Atlanta the past week and the following electors were chosen: From the state at large—John Oliver, of Fulton; J. F. Hanson, of Bibb. Alternates at large, S. A. Darnell, of Pickens; J. M. Wilkinson,of Lowndes. From the First District—Henry Blum, of Chatham; S. W. Schwarz* weis, alternate. Second District—J. E. Peterson, of Clay; P. J. Boatright, alternate. Third Distriot—W. B. Seymour, of Dooly; F. W. Gano, of Fort Valley, alternate. Fourth District—E. N, Clemence, of Muscogee; W. H. Bagley, Chatta hoochee, alternate. Fifth Distriot—Hugh L. McKee, of Fulton; George H. Glenn, of Fulton, alternate. Sixth Distriot—G. W. Thurman, of Spa ding; A. F. Brumberry, of Bibb, alternate. Seventh District—Charles Adamson, of Polk; W. H. Martin, of Catoosa, alternate. Eighth District—B. F. DeWolf, of Morgan; W. F. Bowers, of Hart, al ternate. Ninth District—A. J. S. Hall, of Fannin; T. W. Scott, of Habersham, alternate. Tenth Distriot—S. B, Vaughn, of Richmond; E. D. Smythe, of Rich mond, alternate. Eleventh District—N. B. Cook, of Glynn; D. E. Piper, of Irwin, alter nate. All the electors are white men. When Chairman Walter Johnson called the Republican state central committee to order the roll call show ed 49 of the 64 members present. In a brief speech Chairman Johnson stated that the committee had met by direction of the state convention, held last March, for the purpose of putting out a ticket for state officers. It was the duty of the committee not to nominate just anybody, but to n imiuate only suitable candidates in case they could be found. On motion a committee of eleven was appointed to consider the advisa bility of putting out a state ticket. The central committee took a recess pending the return of this committee with its report. The committee finally reported this resolution: “Resolved, That in our judgment the aaudidacy of McKinley aud Roose velt will be best subserved by not nominating candidates for governor and state house oflicers.” The report of the committee was adopted by a large majority of the central committee. And the Republi cans will put out no state ticket. Capture of Abscond lug Clerk. W, C. Matthew's, the absconding clerk of Murphy – Paine, in Savannah, has been captured at Juneau, Alaska, after an exciting chase across the con tinent by special officers. According to a dispatch from Seattle, Wash., he will be sent back to Georgia, as soon as the customary papers have been signed. Vetaraus’ Annual Jleunlon. The annual reunion of the Thirtieth Georgia regiment will be held at Tan ner’s church, Clayton county, Friday, July ‘27th. Tanners’s church is on the Southern ten miles from Atlanta. The railroads are expected to graut a special rate. The president aud secretary of the reg iment earnestly request that all sur vivors who cau possibly do so attend. They also request that papers in Camp bell, Douglas, Henry, Butts, Spalding and Bibb counties copy the foregoing notice. Cr«uihaw Elected Chairman. The railroad commission of Georgia met at the statehouse last Saturday morning in special session to consider the matter of a new depot at Jackson. J. Pope Brown, of Hawkinsville, who was lately appointed to the commission in place of L. N. Trammell, deceased, was inducted into his official duties at the meeting. * Thomas C. Crenshaw, Jr., of Car tersville, was selected chairman of the commission to fill the vacancy created by Colonel Trammell’s death. He was nominated by Spencer R. Atkin son. Half of the clay was consumed in hearing the merits of the Jackson de pot case, the Reeves station depot case and considering correspondence and other business of a routine character. The commission adjourned to meet again July 24th, when the foregoing depot matters will be finally disposed of. Full woo<l Gets a Rprth. John I. Fullwood, who figured so conspiciously in the exciting contest over the Cedartown postoffice in 1897, has received his reward at the bauds of the administration by an appoint ment in the census office. He has been assigned to clerical duties in the agri cultural division and has entered up on his new labors. Ordinaries Meet On 18th. Nearly every county in Georgia is expected to be represented at the con vention of the ordinaries of the state, which is to be held in Atlanta on the 18th. The meeting will doubtless consume the groater part of that day, as considerable business of importance is to be transacted. At 10 o’clock in the morning of the 18th the first ses sion of the convention will convene. We are ready to enter yonr name on our subscription books. You will not tniss the small sum necessary to become our customer. V A T i# 2 . -AFFAIRS V *■ U««ful Hint* For Ulna Monday. Clothes soaked over night are mora readily loosened of dirt than if washed without any preparation. Mend all rips and tears before allowing tbs clothes to go to the wash and remove any stains. Prepare the elothos for soaking in ihis manner: Sort them into three piles, tlie tine white pieces that are little soiled, the medium soiled pieces and the dark, heavy pieces. Fill tubs with tepid water, mixing dissolved soap shavings and washing soda well into the water. There should be three tubs, one for each pile of clothing. Allow the doilies to soak over night. In the morning ring the clothes from the water and plunge them into a tub tilled with hot water and dissolved soap shavings and soda, Wash and rub them until they are as clean as they cau he got, then rinse them i» a second tub of hot water and soap and put in a boiler over the lire. The water iu the boiler should be cold at ftrat, and a little soda added to it if the water is hard, Let the water come to a boil in' order to scald the clothes, then rinse them in two wa ters, and then iu bluing water. The bluing water should never be too dark. A good way to test it is to take a hand ful from the tub, and if it is a light blue it is the right color. Flannels will require more care. They should he washed in water as warm as the hands can bear and in strong suds. The water should not he hot. Rinse in waters of the same temperature, and quickly. Do not rub the thumels nov wring them with the hands. Iron them before they are quite dry. FnrnlahinK lh« Parlor. In every parlor there nust be a cen ter of .uterest to which the way is clear. All tire lovers make the hearth the point toward which all the inter ests of a room converge, Sofas are drawn up by it, chairs arranged near it, the best picture placed over it. The question of lights is comfortable carefully^ studied, ami wherever a chair or sofa is placed, some pro vision for a lamp or a light from the window is considered. The grouping of chairs, tables and sofas is another point not to be neg lected, so that different sorts of in terests may be provided for without interfering with one another—that one may sit by the piano, for instance, and others have a tete-a-tete some* where else. When one has no pictures, a flow ered paper on a parlor wall is effect ive. Sometimes relief is lent by a dado of velours or jute running to a height of some four feet, and finished by a narrow braid to match the body color, nailed on the wall witn invis ible tacks. The furniture iu this ease should be covered to match tiie dado, so that all the lower part of the room is left in one tone. Brass scones and mirrors alone should be liung ou the walls. Yellow on the walls gives brightness and cheerfulness and sometimes a sense of uplifting, hut one cannot get coziuess with it. Much white is per missible with yellow. Relieved with a note of crimson, as when a red cur tain is hung at a door or a red cush ion makes itself felt, a yellow and white parlor becomes individual and charm ing.—Harper’s Baza r. 77 333 w i -i n m 3S £ I VSI UfSUI | v ■ .// – ■— I household recipes __ Chicken Mayonnaise—Remove skin and bone from cold cooked chicken. Divide in rather large pieces. Just before serving dip each piece into mayonnaise dressing. Arrange neatly ou a bed of lettuce aud serve very cold. Mexican Cod-Pick fine a cupful >t salted cod and soak in different waters until fresh enough to use. Fry a chopped onion iu a tablespoonful of butter to a rich brown and add the drained fish, with water enough to cover it, a green pepper chopped fine and a cupful of stewed tomato; cover and stew slowly for one hour. Serve. Corn Meal Crumpets-Two cupfuls of buttermilk, one heaping tablespoon ful of flour, one beaten egg, one tea spoonful of sugar, one teaspoonful of salt. Add Indian meal sufficient to make a batter of the proper eon sistency. Dissolve a teaspoonfui of soda in a little warm water and add to the batter. Bake on a hot griddle. Molded Cabbage—Put a head cJ Savoy cabbage into a kettle of boiling water; cover, put in where it will Keep hot—just simmer—for thirty minutes. Drain and chop fine; season with a ta blespoonful of butter, a teaspoonful of salt and one-fourth of a saltspoonful of white pepper. Press into small molds, stand the molds in hot water for fifteen minutes. Turn onto a hot platter and serve with white sauce. Cabbage cooked slowly in this way will be white and delicate. —
