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THE COHSTITUTIOH
CLARK HOWELL '...Editor
ROBY ROBINSON Business Manager
Entered at the Atlanta Poetofflee ns Seeend
('!•■• Mail Matter, Mar. 11, 1873.
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ing list.
I - Cleveland and a Third Term.
It is plainly to be seen that there
Is abroad in the country the spirit of
a Cleveland revival.
Not alone the St. Louis ovation is
the evidence of the fact. Incidents
preceding that and proposals tor the
future in which Mr. Cleveland was
and is to be featured almost amount
to an argument from design that he
is to be promoted as the precedent
breaker and possible first third-term
president of the United States. Such
a design, if it really exists among po
litical managers or a respectable mass
of citizens, cannot but cause serious
concern for the democratic party of
the country.
The Constitution will not essay the
insincerity of declaring that Grover
Cleveland is not a masterful man and
the strong political favorite of mil
lions of democratic and independent
voters. He has marked qualities as a
flunking publicist, a statesmanlike
pose on imminent public issues and a
personality in which the emphatic epi
thets are independence, courage and
confidence in his convictions. For
these rigi ' characteristics he is in
debted for most of the admiration he
receives.
That Mr. Cleveland is impressed by
those recent evidences of iiis personal ,
popularity to which we have referred i
is but natural. Yet he will signally
fail of his reputed perception of situa
tions if he assumes, or permits his
nearest friends* to assume, that be
cause he receives applause for his
presence and agreement with his ora
tions on specific themes he can
achieve a preferment that has been
denied to all other Americans, from
the days of Georgia Washington to the
present epoch. While it is true that
a third term in the presidency does
not in Mr. Cleveland's ease appear
so badly defiant of American custom
and so suggestive of militarism as it
did in the instance of General Grant,
nevertheless we are confident that a.
serious suggestion io elect him pres
ident again will arouse promptly the
seeming indifference of the common
people to that un-American idea.
Indeed, that seeming indifference of
the people which we mention is rath
er due to the declarations of Mr.
Cleveland himself than to any other
reason. Mr. Cleveland has said open
ly and repeatedly that he is “out of
politics’’ and will not be a candidate
for the nomination. When he means
to be understood he can -ay his pur
pose as resolutely and irrevocably as
any man. Mr. Tilden was able to re
nounce a renomiaation in 1880 so em
phatically as to change the purpose of
a national democratic convention.
Mr. Cleveland is a- emphatic as Mt.
Tilden was in saying that the prece
dents against a third term in the pres
idency for any man have hardened
into an unwritten law, all the more
sacred because i. i a pari of the na
tional instinct and not a mere stat
utory prohibition.
The Constitution believes that Mr.
Cleveland means what he says and a<
cepts his declaration of non-perform
ance in any way leading to the belief
that he would accept a third-term
nomination. Il lie is in anything more
worthy of admiration than all else it
Is because he is not a trimmer and a
demagogue. Ami only such a person,
with his knowledge and record, would
flirt with this abhorrent third-term
idea.
I'he democrati< party is slowly and
surely approaching a condition of har
mony that bodes well for it and bad
for its opponents. As an honored and
indebted democrat Mr. Cleveland
could ill afford to intrude his person
ality and preference as obstructions
to this most desirable process of party
unification. He is not indispensable
to a party victory in 1904. Mr. Bryan
is not the man t achieve It. Neither
of them can loyally and safely for his
future in history do less than abjure
his own ambitions and lead whatever
following he influences into the camp
and ranks of a party newly united and
jub -ant, for victory.
The issue of the present with the
national democracy is this—-to forego
any programme centering on either
Cleveland or Bryan, go wisely and
honestly to the work of finding that
third man. who can and will lead tho
party to triumph. He lives and can
be. found, and against him there will
be raised none of the objections that,
would be valid against either Cleve
land or Bryan.
Great Issues are to be presented in
the presidential campaign next year
and it would be the extreme of folly
for the democratic party to enter the
battle weighted down witli the feuds
of past campaigns. Whether Mr.
Cleveland wrecked the party or nor.
the discussion of the Issue now inside
e party, or with its opponents,
would lead to no conclusion other
than our confusion and certain de
feat.
The democrats of the nation must
rise once more to flu great attitude
the party held in 1876 and set its face
as a flint against the appearance even
of adopting the defeated notions of
republicans or preposterous partisans.
The nation needs the reformations
that can only come with a democratic
administration and a president whose
strength is in his character and the
possibilities o<bis future in that, high
office.
The democracy is not dead and im
potent; it is not poverty-stricken as
to men of presidential abilities, or
hopeless as t< its hold upon Ameri
can patriotism. If left free to act
upon the issues of the hour and to
put its banner in the hands of some
new and prescient leader, it stands a
fair chance to win the support oi the
majority of the people and to restore
this great democratic government to
tile ways of the fathers and the an
cient landmarks that should never be
removed.
The Red H. nd in Kentucky.
The details of the dastardly as
sassination of James B. Marcum at
Jackson, a mountain county seat of
eastern Kentucky, are given in lull
in our news < olunins. In this sec
tion of that state it is by no means un
common for men to be picked off irohi
ambush by a rifle ball, for Breathitt
county, the scene of the tragedy, is
one of “The Dark and Bloody
Grounds'” worst, ".eiidisl” counties
and has for years been known by Hie
suggestive sobriquet of Bloody
Breathitt.” The cowardly murder of
Marcum Is especially notable in Die
manner of its occurrence ami in the
light of the circumstances surround
ing the assassination of Governor
Goebel at Frankfort, Ky., some three
years since.
The victim was a well-known law
yer of eastern Kentucky, a I nited
States commissioner, and prominent
ly identified with the turbulent poli
tics of his section. As a. lawyer and
politician he had incurred the mur
derous enmity of a. feudist faction in
Breathitt county, lor months at a
time being reqi.ired to barricade him
self in his home or only emerge there
from with a little child in his arms
or in tho company of women, in or
der to thwart the purpose of the as
sassin watching his human target,
from cover. Professional duty re
quired him to go to the court house
at Jackson early Monday morning,
i and just after he had filed some pa
pers with the county clerk he was
shot down from behind while talking
with a friend in the doorway of that
temple of justice. Os course, no one
knows who shot him or saw him shot,
even though the corridor where he
stood was full of attendants upon
court.
There is nothing clearer than that
there is a political mafia in Kentucky'
and that its rendezvous is in the
mountain precincts. It is not likely'
that one political party is a whit bet
ter than the other, so far as partisan
ship is involved in these barbarous as
sassinations, save to the extent that
the mountaineers are largely republi
cans. Attorney Marcum, it seems, be
longed to the latter party, represent
ing the interests of that party in a
contested local election, and the offi
cial incumbents he was engaged in
trying to oust happened to be iden
tified with a feudist faction—the Har
gises. Governor Goebel, a democrat,
was assassinated as the result of a
cold-blooded, mafia-like conspiracy,
involving, directly or indirectly, the
acting governor, who was a republi
can. He and the other suspects and
known actors in that horrible tragedy'
were east Kentuckians, the convicted
murderer being a notorious feudist of
that region. The plot was hatched
around London, Ky., the home of the
refugee. Taylor.
The peculiar odium incurred by the
state < f Kentucky because of a quasi
political vendetta which Sicily would
hardly descend to does not justify
wholesale condemnation of a really ex
cellent people, but there is the more
reason why Kentuckians should make
extraordinary efforts to hang an im
pressive number of feudists. The
bushwhacking feuds of the hill coun
try are an old problem to the com
monwealth. but the outside world does
not comprehend the local conditions,
; and since the assassination of Govern
'or Goebel ..<-ntucky has been in deep
disgrace.
The pity is that the feuds of the
Kentucky mountains were ever drag
ged into state politics to tho scandal
ization of the state. The armed mob
that Acting Governor Taylor had
brought to Frankfort from the eastern
counties gave the world some insight
into the manner of people who were
his partisans, ami the assassination of
1 Goebel was an inevitable equel in lieu
of bloody rioting. The basis of most
i of the deadly fends of eastern Ken
tucky is political and the outgrowth
)of civil war issues. Indeed, in that
1 remarkable section, hemmed by a con
i stantly narrowing cordon of civiliza
i tion. the civil war resolved itself into
' a guerilla feud of extermination, be-
I queathed from generation to genera
i tion. Goebel, as a matter of fact, was
; the victim of this implacable old feud,
and Marcum, who fell, shot from be
. hind in that country court house Mon
| day. went the same dark way.
It is a difficult problem that Ken
tucky has io cope with, as can well
be imagined. The men from whom
these political assassins come are
' hardly amenable to the extreme force
of law —certainly not ordinary
j forms of judicial procedure. It is but
; a few years since one of these eastern
counties —Rowan —was abolished by
act of the legislature for the reason
j that its inhabitants turned the court
nouse into an armed camp and per
sisted in making the county officers
■ "hide out.” Not even martial law
' could suppress the murderous activi
i ties of many of these outlaws who
simulate the functions of citizenship
■ to Kentucky’s woe.
i When tho truth is known, the state
i of Kentucky' will not be so roundly'
; censured, unless for the reason that,
hangings are too few and far between
up there.
The New Atomatic Theory.
i The report sent out. from Madison
that Professor Babcock, of the Univer
j sity of Winconsin, has made a discov
; ery hailed as “the most notable con
; tribution to science of the last fifty
1 years” is. naturally, being much dis
i cussed in the scientific world. His is
t described as a new theory of atomic
I energy, and the dispatches gives this
j brief summary of it:
"The theory’ is that the weight of
| any substance is effected by the mole
; eular changes which it undergoes as
j tiie weight of a body is inversely pro
| portional to its inherent energy.
“This,” we are told, “reduced to its
logical sequence practically over
throws the old atomic theory' and the
theory of conversation of matter, lead-
THE WEEKLY ATLANTA, GA., MONDAY, MAY 11, 1903.
ing irresistably to the idea that all
atoms are primarily identical, and
that the difference of weight of the dif
ferent. elements is due to the difference
in their energy.”
Professor Babcock thinks he has
found a satisfactory explanation of
the law of gravitation, and he con
fesses lie lias been working on it for
something like twenty years.
The summary' presented of Profes
sor Babcock's discovery may carry
conviction to the scientific mind, but
t.iere has been manifested a disposi
tion on the part of some laymen to
treat it with levity.
For instance. The Chicago Record-
Herald. breathing the atmosphere of
tne stock yards, seems to think we
may find by this law that “the weight
of a pig is inversely' proportional as it
strikes the vat to the inherent energy
of the animal as indicated by its
squeal.” Or. to adopt illustrations
which may' be better understood by
those unfortunates who have never
learned to enjoy the musical beauties
of the pig-squeal under such glorious
conditions, “if a feather were no more
ambitious than a silver dollar, it would
be just as heavy; and if a chunk of
lead were as anxious to do things as
a piece of chalk is, there would be no
difference, in their weight. This theo
ry makes it evident.” continues our
esteemed Chicago contemporary, “that
the man who weighs 246 pounds is
heavier than the man who weighs
150, not because he requires a longer
belt than the latter, but because he
has not so much energy.”
It is now up to Professor Babcock.
Georgia's Peach Outlook.
Now that what is left of the Geor
gia peach crop may' be regarded as
out of danger, it will le interesting
to learn, if possible, approximate esti
mates on this summer’s yield from
authoritative sources.
J. H. Hale, the “peach king" of
Georgia and Connecticut, has been
spending considerable time of late in
canvassing the situation around Fort
Valley, where his great orchard is lo
cated. and bis conclusions, as given in
a letter to The Fruit Trade Journal,
of New York, ought to be. worth some
thing. Mr. Hale states that he made
a careful inspection of his own orch
ard and other orchards in the vicin
ity, representing something like three
million trees. He found that “some
few orchards and some varieties have
full crops, but, on the whole, the crop
will be a light one.” In the Hale
orchards he estimates a yield of be
tween sixty and seventy' carloads, as
against 154 carloads last’ year. The
crop of last season, it will be remem
bered, was but half of an average
crop, and if Mr. Hale’s figures are
borne out in the condition of other
south Georgia orchards, this season’s
crop will bo but one-fourth of an av
erage yield.
However, there are other peach au
thorities who give more favorable es
timates from south Georgia. The
Georgia Fruit Package Company, a
crate manufacturing concern of Fort
Valley, can show orders booked it is
said, which provide for from 350 to
400 cars of peaches from the Fort
Valley district, and from 150 to 200
cars from the Marshallville district.
If south Georgia makes anything like
such a showing as that, there is rea
son lo anticipate a third of a crop, at
least.
The reports from the peach belt be
tween Chattanooga and Atlanta are
anything but encouraging, the moun
tain orchards having practically all
succumbed to the cold snaps of the
late winter. The outlook is but little
more encouraging in northeast Geor
gia, where there are many young com
mercial orchards. Still, a tremendous
amount of tree planting lias been done
in tne last few years all over Georgia,
and the bearing possibilities of now
orchards in so wide an area and under
varying local conditions is necessarily'
largely problematical. These new
orchards are like the “silent vote” in
an election, and sometimes they treat
Hie most painstaking statistician to
some surprises. A singular fact con
nected with peaeli harvests is that the
blight of insect pests and meteorolog
ical damage are rarely universal in
their ravages. Such misfortunes fall,
like summer showers, “in spots,” and
it is often astonishing what near
neighbors success and failure are in
peach culture. In one locality will be
found bearing orchards and barren
orchards. Atmospheric conditions,
by’ reason of elevation or location, or
different methods of culture or lack
of cultivation, may' account for a
great variation in productivity. It is,
therefore, difficult to even approxi
mate a Georgia peach crop at this
time of year; but it is generally safe
to add a substantial per cent to pessi
mistic. estimates. It would not sur
prise some people if as many Iced oars
rolled out of Georgia the coming
peach season as last, though it must
be admitted there are lew so hope
ful.
In the letter referred to Mr. Hale
talks enthusiastically about the qual
ity' of the present peach crop, declar
ing that he never saw larger fruit at
tliis season of the year. “With normal
conditions from now on.” ho writes,
“the fruit promises to be double extra
in size and quality, and big poaches
do fill up crates mighty’ fast.” He*
looks for the crop to be practically
marketed between June 20 and July
10. as the fruit Is so far advanced, and
the greatest yield will be of the mid
early varieties. It is encouraging to
note that Mr. Halo predicts “a good
many more and bolter peaches than
expected two or three weeks ago.”
The Saving of the State Road.
Incidents and rumors accumulate to
verify the 'ft.-made prediction that
railway interests centering in Atlanta
will finally ruin the value of the state
road as an asset of the people of
Georgia.
It is too early to discern between
the truth and fiction in the rumors
of mergers and consolidations which,
whether so intended or not. would log
-1 Ically bottle up the Western and At
lantic road at. both ends. But should
they happen to come true within the
next dozen years the result will be
that at the end of the present lease
the line will be worth scarcely more
to the state than the market value of
unable equipment.
The Constitution has heretofore dis
: cussed these possibilities fully and is
frank to say that events appear to be
I marching to the conclusion we have
above stated. But we are gratified to
know from many sources and evi
dences that the solution of that event
suggested by' The Constitution months
ago has found plenteous lodgment in
the 'minds and favor f a host of our
fellow-citizens.
The thing which the people of the
state must look forward to as their
best, and most profitable esi a
a loss of nine-tenths of the value of
the state road is Ihe extension of it
to tide, water-—by the state itself!
The people of Georgia are even
more vitally interested in maintaining
a public rail highway between Atlanta
and the Tennessee river as they were
in the days when their chiefest patri
ots advocated and secured the build
ing of the state road. Competition in
the exchange of traffic between Geor
gia and the west is of far greater ne
cessity now than then. The only ab
solutely reliable and coal rollable com
petition we can now command as
against railway mergers and commu
nities of interests, is by the water
routes that cannot bo monopolized.
The ocean is freedom’s last invincible
domain and the rivers are the proper
ty' of the people and cannot be trust
blockaded.
In the fierce conflicts for freightages
in tiie future no one need doubt that
tiie steamers of the Mississippi, Mis
souri, Ohio and Tennessee rivers will
not eagerly seek count • tion with our
state road at. Chattanooga, if the
road runs to the sea the tramp and
independent steamers of the world
will gather at Savanna.i or Brunswick
to take and give tonnage from the
state's cars. Goods from the eastern
and European ports <an be delivered
to the state road at tide water and by
it be distribr’ed throughout tho state
at. rates made by our own authorities,
since it will then he internal state
cotamerce.
These plain facts, combined with
the modern ease with which the state
can make the extension, are winning
to tiie project thousands of adherents
in ail parts of Georgia. It will not be
a long stretch before this question of
the extension of the state road to the
sea will become a dominant ami
ning issue in the politics of the state.
WISE AND OTHERWISE.
Progressing.
Punch: She—How’s 1 motor car get
ting on. Sir Charles’’
lie —Well, fact is. r. <■ seen very little
or If. You see. Eve had it: three
months, and when it isn’t In the hospital
1 am.
Moderation Necessary.
Detroit Free Press: Tom- I think a
man ought to try to look pleasant.
Dick—Ye-s; but when r look too pleas
ant some fellow walk, up and tries to
borrow $5 from me.
Knew What He Wanted.
Illustrated Bits: Gerald—May T ks = s
you?
Geraldine—Mother Is tn the next room.
Gerald—That’s all right. Your father
can kiss nert
One for the Ladies.
Yonkers Statesman: Church—l see a
Jersey man is complaining because his
wife thought, more of. a log than she did
of him.
Gotham—Well, perhap the dog growled
less.
A Disgrace of the Ould Sod.
Chicago Post: "Will : go r-round an’
shake hands with th’ prize-fighter?’ he
repeated, "Ntver! He’s a Irishman an’
a. dtsgra-arc to his nut ■■ land, no liss."
"How is that?”
“He won’t fight Ixeipt f r money. ’
An Event Big with Eate.
Tom Johnson will visit Bill Bryan, they
say.
And now all the quidnuncs are dyln’
To know whether .Bryan will Bryanlze
Johnson,
Or Johnson will Johnsonlze Bryan.
—Chicago Tribune.
Entitled to His Little Joke.
Judge: “Ha, ha!" laughed the first
street railway magnate, who was going
through his mall. “Here’s a funny let
ter."
“What Is It?" asked the second street
railway magnate.
"Oh, the usual bunch of complaints
about the service." explained tiie first
speaker; “but it is signed ‘A Patron of
Twenty Years’ Standing.’ ”
He Must Be
Kansas City Star: During a. speech In
the Nebraska legislature Senator O’N- 111,
of Lancaster county said. “Every man
should bo proud of the land of his nativ
ity, whether he was born there or not."
In of his name Senator O'Neil! must
be an Irishman.
Sufficient Provocation.
Detroit Free Press: “Why does Mrs.
Dinsmore hate Mr. Templet. >4 so relent
lessly?” asked Hojaek.
“He once alluded to her as a. well pre
served woman, and someone reported It
to her," replied Tomdlk.
A Sectarian Language.
Little Chronicle: Hellen, a little
daughter of Presbyterian parents, be
came very much annoyed one evening
at the maid-of-all-work for conversing
with her friends in the Norwegian
tongue, and exclaimed. “Why don’t you
talk the way we do? We don’t talk
Norwegian, we talk Presbj terian!"
The Song of the Camp.
••Give us a song! ' the soldiers cried,
The outer trenches guarding,
When tho heated guns of the camps al
lied
Grew weary of bombarding.
Tho dark Redan, In «ilent scoff,
Lay, grim and threatening, under;
And the tawny mound of the Malakoff
No longer Kicked its thunder.
There was a pause. A guardsman said,
“We storm the forts tomorrow;
Sing while wo may, another day
Will bring enough of sorrow.”
They lay along the battery’s side.
Below the smoking cannon;
Bravo hearts, from Severn and from
Clyde,
And from the banks of Shannon.
They sang of love and not of fame;
Forgot was Britain's glory;
Each heart recalled a. different name,
But all sang "Annie Eaurie.”
Voice, after voice caught up the song.
Until its tender passion
Rose like an anthem, rich and strong—
Their battle-eve confession.
Dear girl her name he dared not speak.
But as the song grew louder,
Something upon the soldier's check
Washed off the stains of powder.
Beyond the darkening ocean burned
The bloody sunset’s embers,
While the Crimean valleys learned
How .English love remembers.
And once again a fire of hell
Rained on tho Russian quarters.
With scream of shot ami burst of shell
And bellowing of the mortars!
Ami Irish Nora's eyes arc dim
For a singer dumb and gory;
And English Mary mourns for hint
Who sang of “Annie Eaurie.”
Sleep soldiers! still in honored rest
Your truth aid valor wearing;
The bravest, are tiie tendercst—
The loving rue the daring.
BAYARD TAYLOR.
Weekly Constitutions **£ig ttree
Jrank <£. Stanton,
Eet's Take a Day in the Country.
Let's take a day in the country—cities are
growing so fast
They shut out. the life-giving sunshine,
.•iml all tho blue skies overcast.
Let’s take the road to tiie woodlands, far
from tne lever and rush—
Lulled by the ripple of rivers and the
silvery song o’ the thrush.
Let’s take a day in the country!—all the
green meadows we know,—
The home of the wild honeysuckle—the
banks whore the violets grow;
The mulberry trees by the home-place
the maple-leaves twinkling with dew,
Tho breeze bending all the glad branches
that bow a “Good Morning" to you!
Let s take a day in the country! Birds,
bees and bloom -hear them call!
Life is not bound by the cities, and the
gold that we glean is not all!
Farewell, the desk and the counter—wel
come. the vine-shadowed ranch,
And a rollicking time -dike the old times—
with the b.arefottcd boys In the
bra neb!
He Wanted Rope.
He alius wuz a-sayin’
That life- had little hope;
He had no opportunity—
They “wouldn't give him rope;”
An' he aIIUS wuz a rolling like a barrel
down the slope!
An’ the worried-out community.
They let him have his say,
Anticipatin' trouble
In every wliichaway!
But some of ’em made up their minds
they'd give him rope some day!
.An' they picked ’em out a saplln'—
Made arrangements all complete,
An' tun him down an' out o’ town.
To a secluded beat;
An' give him all the rope they could—
’bout ten an’ twenty feet!
» • » ♦ •
Springtime in Billville.
During the past week we had five mar
riages and six thunder storms.
Very few snakes have been killed, so
far. A better brand of whisky Is being
used now.
Tliis world is bright enough for us, anil
we are inclined to regard a very bright
hereafter with some suspicion.
Spring came in yesterday, shook the
snow from her slippers and spread her
sealskin cloak on a honeysuckle vine.
Tiie Literary picnic was largely at
tended. A jumping match to decide who
was tho b'est literary man in town re
sulted in a tic.
Our summer hotel has opened its doors,
with six boird bill collectors, a mill pond
full of li- i and ten alligators for shoot
ing purposes.
Their Annual Vacations.
The weather's not a jest now—
The white clouds Heck the blue;
The parson needs a rest now.
And the congregation, too.
Farewell, tho hard-worked author.
Who needs a restful trip.
And fare you well, the creditors,
Loud howling at his ship!
But not for us the stormy foam—
Tho rest that Europe makes.
Our sad vacation’s spent at home,
A-killin’ time and snakes!
Just Across the Hills.
“Where are all the green fields—
Where the shining rills?”
Just across the hills, lad,—
Just across the hills.
“Where the flowering valleys
Where song forever thrills?”
Yonder, in the light, lad,—
Just across tho hills.
An ever and forever
That word tho silence chills,
Till silence seals tho singing
Just across the hills.
A Soug of the Morning.
Don't you sigh, believers, wid de trouble
in yo’ soul—
De worl' won't quit a-ro!lln' kaze you
.ell It not ter roll;
Dey's all de joy a-comln’ dat de arms er
, you kin hoi'.
De hilltops is shinin’ wld do mawnln’l
Don't yon sigh, believers, w’en de barrel
gittin’ low—
De seed what make de harves' Is a-fixin’
fer ter grow;
De summer'ls a-slngin’ er de good times,
high en low,—
De hilltops Is shinin’ wld de mawnln’l
Vanity of Vanities.
De win' des know he's pleasant
Ez lie ripple 'cross de wheat,
En de mockin'bird is singin’
Kaze ho know his voice is sweet!
De crow dar. in de co’n flel'.
He des so black, you know.
Ho think he mus’ be purty—
Dat why he take-on so!
It's vanity, believers,
Ez high ez sun en star;
We rnos’ too good fer heaven: —
Dat why so few Is dar!
A Laugh Along the Way.
Care. Is like a bubble—
Melts In mist away;
Here’s a world o’ trouble.
But a laugh along the way!
Solemn, sighing sorrow—
But what's tho odds today?
Joy will come tomorrow—
A laugh along the way!
Seaward we are drifting—
Time is old and gray,
But the storm is lifting:
Life laughs along the way!
* • • * •
Love’s Own.
Love shall lead us where he will—
Nevermore to sever;
Let him kiss, or wound, or kill—
We are Love's forever.
Blood-red thorns, or snow-white flowers,
Still through life Love's way Is ours!
Be a wilderness our lot.
So that Love may share It;
Kind would be a savage-cot
With Love's roses near It!
Golden dreams, or stormswept day.
Still through life—through death Love's
way!
A Fishing Accident.
“Terrible thing Ims took place!" said
the Billville citizen, as lie entered his
gate, disconsolately.
“Mercy on us! What can it be?"
"Alligator swallered little Billy an' the
can o' bait!”
• * + * •
“He Never Did Complain.’’
No matter what the trouble
in the sunshine or the rain.
Es you axed him of his feelin s.
Well—lie never did complain!
'lhotlgh tiie hives had lost the honey,
An' there warn’t a cup to drain, -
Jest ax him of »is feelin's,
An'—he never did complain!
An' 1 reckon it wuz wisdom:
Fer tiie world'll jump a train
To make the glad acquaintance
Os the chap who don't complain!
Jirp.
I AM feeling sick and sad. Another
friend has gone and left me. Jim
Warren was my college mater and I
loved him for near sixty years. He was
only two months my junior and I some
times wondered who would be called away
first. What an awful death was that.
Crushed and mangled and his poor old
body torn and dragged for a quarter of
a mile and his dismembered limbs strew
ing the track and his brains larding the
rails. Alas, itow little do we know
about life or death! Sometimes I watch
the cattle goirg to the slaughter pen and
am thankful that providence conceals
from them their impending fate,but we do
not know much nu re about, our own. How
shall ve des and when? James Warren
was one of my true friends. I loved to
lov him and it g ive me comfort that lie
loved me and always called me Charley
as tenderly as a brother. His body was
killed and that was all. His pure soul
went back immediately to its Creator ami
is now resting In the bosom of God. 'I nut
:s my faith and 1 hope it is the faith of
all those who loved him, for my heart
bleeds with them.
“Strike for your altars and your fires,
Strike for the green graves of your sires.
Strike until the last armed foe expires."
1 used to speak that speech, and when I
got to that part which said, “They come—
they cornc’-the Greek -the Greek!" I put
r.n martial agony and elevated my voire
and shook the floor. I thought of all this
the other day when f read about the
strikers in Atlanta going to Mr. Byrd's
publishing house and trying to seduce
his non-union printers to leave him. His
partner, Tom Lyon, showed light and
vsed sima cuss words awl drove them
off. and they had him arrested and the
recorder fined him for disturbing the pub
lic tranquillity, but if I had been the re
corder I would have excused Tom.
This thing has come home to me
nt last, for Mr. Byr 1 is printing a book
for mo and 1 can't get a copy, and am
fightirg mad about It. The striking in
terlopers get all his printers away, but
two or three and the rascals hung around
the back door and all that Toni could
do was to watch them and exclaim,
“They come—they come the Greek—the
Greek." But Toni is grime anil says he
will whip the fight anti have some books
for me by the last of the week, 'i'he
first edition has ail been sold and the sec
ond is in the press and lias been delayed
and enfiladed and barricaded and para
lyzed by these contemptible strikers, and
if there ever was a justifiable excuse for
using cuss words a man ought, to be
hired to stand at the brick door and cuss
'em by the day as fast as they came.
I've no patience with these strikers and
less with their leaders. One of my boys
has just established a telephone plant
in Houston, Tex., and bad about forty
girls employed at good wages, when sud
denly florae Interlopers came and made
them all strike and he hired others to
take their places and the interlopers w. nt
round to all his patrons and tried to get
up a boycott, but failed. The rich Mr.
Huntington is the chief owner an J he
telegraphed my boy to whip that fight
regardless of expense and he has whipped
it. Last year at Dayton, Ohio, a big heart
ed rich man established a cash register
plant and had two hundred girls em
ployed and he cared for them just, like
they were his children and had batn
rooms on every floor and hot -md cold
water, and mirrors and soap and towels,
so that they could bathe and clean up be
fore they went home and the girls were
contented arui happy, for all this was no
part of the contract, but some inter
lopers came along and ordered a strike
because some poor old women who did not
belong to the union had the job of wash
ing the towels that the girls used in their
batn rooms.
Well, now, that Is one side of the case,
but it Is said every case has two sides.
The war between capital and labor still
goes on, but labor ho.s but little to corn
plain of in this blessed land. We see by
the papers that these union strikers in
Atlanta have plenty 'of money in their
treasury t > live on while they are Idle
and some of them have gotten up a
baseball club and are having a good time
generally. There is no suffering here
like there was in London seventy-five
years ago when Tom Hood wrote the
song of the shirt ami the lay of tho
laborer. It would make an angel weep
to read that poor woman’s song;
“For Its work, work, work—my labor
never flags.
And what are its wages-a bed of
straw.
A crus; of bread and rags,
This shattered roof, this naked floor, a
table, a broken chair.
And a wall so blank, my shadow I thank
For sometimes falling there "
Iler sad song aroused all Lon
don, but there was no strike.
Our own George Peabody was
there tn tiie banking business and it.
aroused him. Immediately he bought
the ground in the suburbs and spent
$2,000,000 in building cettages for the poor
Nice cottages, with bath rooms and hot
and cold water and flowers in tiie front
yard and vines over the door and paid the
taxes ami charged only a. little, nominal
sum for rent, just enough to keep up the
repairs, and m less than a year he had
comfortable homes for over 20,000 people.
That's tho kind of philanthrophy.
Our wisest statesmen ask tor an Income
tax as they have in England and it is
based on that principle that the more a
man accumulates the heavier Ills tax
should be—a graduated Income tax—and
so if he has piled up $10,000,000 in a year,
take half of it for tux. This would stop
Rockefeller and Morgan and Carnegie
and the surplus would be as Bob Toombs
said, “poured back in the jug " It Is no
great honor to a man to give a goifti part
of his profits to charity. It is a sui prise
and that is all. Men forget that all they
have, got is but a loan and sooner or
later they must give it all up and pay tiie
debt. ’ BILL ARP.
How Long?
Out of the south is the chill wind blow
ing.
Straight from the white world of Ice
and snow,
And over the wild sea my thoughts are
going
To a. far country where roses glow;
For, d( ad. unto thee, when the clouds are
flying
Like war-torn banners the skies along.
In mournful measure my heart is crying—
"Oh, my beloved! How long? How
long?"
Low overhead are tho dark mists trailing.
Ami hiding tlo mountains from longing
eyes
And, far beyond them, tho ships are sail
ing
To thy fair homeland Love's Paradise!
But here tiie skylark has ceased his sing
ing
And dropped to his nest witli a broken
song;
Ami ever to thee is my wild erv winging—
" Love Os my heart! How long? How
long?”
—Clara Pinger Poynter, in Chambers’
Journal.
Full of Prunes.
Chi' I . igo News: Aunt Elviry Yes. ya
Is out in the orchard prunin some o' the
trees.
City Boarder- <>h. do you reallv raise
your own prunes? My, how lovely i
THE second Sunday dn May is
“big meeting” Sabbath of the
’’Hardshells” at old Hardeman
church, and I wish that all of Georgia
could bo there.
Hardeman church is among the oldest
churches in our county and being located
in a typical “Hardshell" settlement, it
has never become tainted with any of
the newfangled ideas nor departed from
the primitive customs that were so com
mon with our fathers and under which
sociability flourished, a reverence for
age was the rule and a dependence on
God was the prop to sustain.
Me and my folks «nd Brown and bls
folks are preparing for the day. Tho
second Sunday in May and the second.
Sunday In August are the two Sundays
of every* year, from time immemorial,
that these people have held their big
meeting days, and the occasion never
grows less with those who are raised in
that faith and who have been so suc
cessful in preventing the encroachments
of progress within their fold. Just as it
has been for years, on tliis second Sun
day people will flock there from every
direction, a few in buggies, many In
wagons, some on horses and some afoot.
I hey will begin to arrive at the church
full two hours before meeting time and
as they arrive they will gather in groups,
the men on one side under the trees and
tiie ladies on ths other, and there is
where the great sociability of the occa
sion is made manifest. Saunter around,
from group to group and you will soon,
know of everything that is passing in
each settlement. If any h*ive died you
wiil soon learn it, and you may leat n
of all the characteristics of the departed
one. If any are sick you will miss them
and soon know what doctor is attend
ing them, what kind of medicine is being
i -••<!, how the doctor compares with
(•ther doctors, and, certain, you will hear
of many remedies that cured others af
fected with tiie same disease. All the
niaricagos will be made known, and if
thcr • arc any new babies you will learn
v hether they are girls or boys and which
side of the house tiie baby favprs. Such
as this will furnish a pleasant pastime
until tiie preacher arrives and a song is
started by some of the old brothers an t
sisters which calls tiie congregation in
side the chur'-h. Thus it has been for
j ears and so it will be on this second
Sabbath, and we are all anxious for ths
coming who have felt the delights and
hope that the same old customs may
always attend the meetings at Harde
man
There is nothing strange In all these
customs to old people, for all old people,
whether of town or country, have seen
just such, but that a church should re
tain them in such purity within 10 miles
of the greatest city of tho south is
rather a wonder and may strike some
young and "progressive” folks as not
being the best conditions to be desired,
but the people of Hardeman are satis
fied with it all, and if they are pleased
who should object? Tho very squatting
around in groups and every fellow whit
tling as they do whittle, has a charm for
us, and the song, perhaps—
“ All hail the power of Jesus' name.
Let angels prostrate fall.
Bring- foit.ii th:- royal diadem
And crown Him Lord of All” —
which call.- the crowd Inside Is sweeter
to me than all the music of the opera,
and takes us back through all the years
to feast cm memories that seem so dear
down to the grave.
As already stated, tho second Sunday
is an extra occasion. It Is foot-washing
da- with the Hardshells, and this only
• ■ curs twice in the ..-ear. Whoever may
attend one of these meetings on the idea
of seeing them wash feet will be disap
pointed if they expect to find anything
in the ordinance of a light or frivolous
nature. It Is the Hardshell’s sacramental
occasion and is serious all the way
through, and is more calculated to bring
tears than to create fun for the Idle and
thoughtless who may attend through cu
riosity to see the “washing of f :.-d.“
There is certain to be a good old
fashioned sermon, with several go. t
songs by the whole congregation before
the .sacrament begins, and these are lia
ble to touch any sensible person with
the impression that It is no place for
fun before the rito of washing feet be
gins; but if it does not, then when feet
washing does begin the veriest fool will
discover that it is not at all funny. .
Tiie ladies gather on one side and
men on the other when sacrament begins.
A cloth is taken from the table and the
bread and wine partaken of just about
as in other churches, and with which 1
hope there are none so heathenish as
not be familiar. Then t'eet-washing l>-
gins, and it is just as impressive as tb.j
taking of bread and wine. The nv
wash each others' feet, the ladies wti •:
the ladies'. A man pulls off his -.oat.
roils up iiis sleeves, puts a towed rouri.i
his waist, and then humbly kneeling h<.«
washes the brother's foot that sits ne.-
to him. In turn this passes till al! a:
'washed, and the whole is so serious ■
to put the scoffer to shame and to draw
nearer to <>od tho most thoughtless youth
of the land.
No stranger Is allowed to depart from
the Hardeman settlement without their
dinner. Brown anticipates this with tho
greatest pb-asure, and at dinner is an
other sociable hour. The truth Is 'hat
all the day is a least of sociability. The
pi otile grow up in sociability. Babe., ara
caiiied to the church at everv meeting
they grow up together and learn tn love
each other, and they love the old chur b
and the trees around and the spring
whero they saunter to quench th<!r
thirst or to court mid be with each
other. All these things pertain at the
old church of Hardeman and we r !o!---
that tho day Is at hand that calls )"
there once more. There we will meet o! :
friends, hear of those who have pass-',
awa.x, learn of tho sick and the new
born. Not the least of the pleasures w
anticipate Is to see the babes In the
mothers' arms. They are a prolific no
Ihi 1 thereabout, and the only person
expect to sea happier than'th-’ young
mother with a babe is the one with tv
babes A pretty babe in its mother't
arms at an old-fashioned church Is ,
sweetest thing this side of heaven, a r
b:iko to “fashion” and a promise fort! o
future that can never bo expected fr
children raised up almost strangers
mothers, away from tho church and p.u
taking of such things as the servant
upon which it leans may choose to in
still.
The sociability of such occasions Is a
belli to religion, an inspiration to neh:!’-
borly affection, and charms the hearth
stone of the humblest cabin to surp.-iss
all tho elegancies of tho modern nr a
sion. If such settlements ns Hardeman
are behind on culture, they are ahead
on reverency, ahead on a dependence la.
God. ahead on that, tireside sociability
that lent charms to home and love be
tween kindred. They may not have the
charming books to read that thrills with
stories so pleasing to the taste of the
cultures, but, tliis gives them time at
night around the hearthstone to enter
tain each other, to know each other
better, and to store up in their hearts
a. love so sweet that it remains a happy
memory wherever they may go or what
ever they may do. They may never be
f; sinated by travel nor feel the thrll's
of fashionable dissipation, but this only
makes them like the more the meetings
at the old church and soothes the spirit of
discontent to a better relish of their
country picnics and winter parties. At
, last, when "fashion" has went all tho
gates purchasable by wealth or de
nintided by the "bloods." there is noth
ing in it sweeter nor better than the
customs of tiie good people around old
Hardeman.
SARGE PLUNKETT.
