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BILL ARP’S LETTER
Bartow Man Dilates Upon the
Great Importance of Knowledge.
EACI DAY ADDS TO STORE OF WISDOM
This Life Does Not End Possibilities
of Learning, and William Be¬
lieves There Will Be Instruc¬
tion In the Life to Come.
Lady Montague said, "There is no
entertainment so cheap as reading and
co pleasure so lasting.” The perusal
Of biography is a great comfort. I
wish that every family had a Cyclope¬
dia of Universal Knowledge—some¬
thing they could turn to for reference
Or instruction or entertainment. Cy¬
clopedias cost much money, but the
amount spent in a year or two for all
aorts of modern literature would pay
lor Appleton’s or some other standard
work. I was ruminating about this be-
Cause my friend Murphy told me that
the woodcock did not raise er young
In a nest, but carried them about with
her nestled under her wings and fed
them as she journeyed from place to
place. Murphy is considered author¬
ity on hunting and fishing, but we do
not give full credit to fishermen’s
yarns, and so I turned to the cyclope¬
dia and found it .iust as he had said.
The bird rarely has more than two
young ones and carries them about
with her nestled unuer her wings. This
reminds me that old Tom Price, an ib
literate man of great observation, said
that the big owl laid but one egg and
when it was hatched and the young
bird feathered she laid another egg
and made the young bird cover and
batch it while she was foraging around
lor food for both. Observation and
experience are good school teachers,
and if a man has a good cyclopedia
lor reference he can get a pretty good
education. And there is the comfort
of studying the lives of great or nota¬
ble men and women. In idle moments
it is a recreation to open a volume at
random and to read these brief but
lucid biographies of Socrates, Plato,
Gallileo, Seneca, Archimedes and oth¬
er grand old men of the olden time,
and of Mozart, Handi, Raphael, Bee¬
thoven and the great masters of art
and music. The other day I chanced
upon Cervantes—a Spaniard—the an
thor of “Don Quixote, and it was a
revelation. If he had been an English-
«nan he would have taken rank with
Shakespeare and Milton and Pope. In¬
deed most of the English writers bor¬
rowed from him for they could trans¬
late his bright sayings and quote them
in English without fear of detection.
“Don Quixote” (pronounced kee-ho-te)
Is not his best work, but is the most
enjoyable and it effectually paralyzed
the pompous chivalry and knight er¬
rantry of the time. The knights soon
became the butt of universal ridicule
and yet there Is not a malicious or ma¬
lignant line in the book. One who
enjoys such sarcasm can read and
laugh until he has the side ache. Phil¬
ip III saw a student reading a book
and convulsed with laughter. He said:
“That young man is crazy or he is
reading ‘Don Qultote.’ ” Cervantes be¬
came a soldier in early life and joined
the Christian army against the Turks.
He was desperately wounded at the
great battle of Lepanto and lost the
use of his left arm for life. But he
aoon joined the army again and was ta¬
ken prisoner by the Moors and kept in
prison for five years. He was ransom¬
ed and then began his literary career.
Dante and Tasso had then begun to il¬
luminate the literary world, and
Shakespeare was close behind, but
Cervantes was seventeen years older
than Shakespeare, and they died on
the same day in the same year. For
maxims and epigrams Cervantes nev¬
er had an equal in all the world—we
find some of them in Shakespeare, but
they were borrowed from Cervantes.
“Make hay while the sun shines," “A
bird in the hand is worth two in the
bush,” "Murder will out,” “Little said
Is soonest mended,” “More knave than
lool,” “Faint heart ne’er won fair
lady,” “Look before you leap,” “The
proof of the pudding is the eating of
It,” “Never build castles in the air,”
“Honesty is the best policy,” “The pot
should not call the kettle black,” “A
peck of troubles, ’ “Don’t count your
chickens before they are hatched,”
“Don’t look for birds in last year’s
nests,” Plain as the nose on a man’s
face,” “You ±.ave got the wrong sow
by the ear," and scores of others all
came from Cervantes. To cap the cli¬
max of his character, he was a good
man—good to his wife and children,
and always cheerful and had no ene¬
mies. Once he was put in prison for a
little debt and wrote himself out by
selling sketches to the press. Presi¬
dent Gilman says that the young peo¬
ple read too much and clog their minds
with a mass of trlhes and trash, but
reading the biography of great think¬
ers, writers, inventors and masters of
art and music Is storing away useful
knowledge. The examples set by the
good helps to mold our own characters,
for, as Longfellow said:
“Lives of great men all remind us,
We may make our lives sublime,
And departing leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.”
■What a debt of gratitude we owe to
those who have gone before us. Old
Dr. Johnson said to Boswell:
“We can never pay it, sir—not a
tithe of it, but it is every man’s duty
to do something for posterity. He
should write a good book or invent
some useful thing or raise up a son
who will be a good citizen and fight
the battles of his country. If he can’t
do anything else, sir, he can plant a
tree or a vine that -will give fruit or
shade to those who come after him.
Let no man live a blank and die like
a dog!”
I believe that our education begins
here in infancy and continues through
youth and manhood till we die and
goes on without a recess or vacation
as soon as the spirit reaches heaven—
if it goes there. This life is but a pro-
batlou, a kindergarten, a type of the
life to come. “I want to be an angel;
harp within ^ hand, . „ . a very
a my is
childish id ea heaven and so is that
other couplet—
“Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above.”
Music will be taught there, of course,
but will not be sung by tongues on
fire. I believe that our elevation in
science and art will be gradual and
progressive, just as it is here. The in
telligent soui will be employed in mas¬
tering the mysteries of heaven and
earth and the universe. We strain our
thoughts now to reach the remotest
planet and wonder what is away be¬
yond and where the firmament ends.
Every year reveals new wonders here
that were never dreamed of by our fa¬
thers. Isaac Newton said: “I have solv¬
ed a little, near the shore, but the vast
ocean of mystery lies beyond.” We are
climbing higher and higher and it is
the duty of every one to climb as high
as is possible so as to have a good
start in the next life—otherwise we
will be assigned to the first grade or
perhaps go foot. I have thought that
Moses and Elijah were chosen to wit¬
ness the transfiguration because of
their high rank in heavenly attain¬
ments. It will be all right for little
children to begin at the bottom, but
it will be mortifying to old people, how¬
ever good they may be, to have to go
into an infant class. Yes, I believe
there will be schools there and teach¬
ers, whose delight will be to educate
and elevate the willing minds of their
pupils and witness their expansion as,
one by one, the mysteries of heaven’s
arcana are unfolded to them. What
supreme delight will woman have in
growing flowers into new colors and
forms, in making pearls and rubies
and sapphires from heaven’s elements,
in singing the songs of the angels and
adorning the temples of God.
Yes, I heard Jenny Lind sing once,
and I hope to hear her sing again. I
heard George Pearce preach once, and
i hope to hear him again. I used to
listen with rapture to Dr. Means lifted as he j j
soared among the stars and our
young minds up higher and higher un-
til we almost feared he could not come
down without a fall. He is up among
the stars now, and is happy. Yes, I
hope to see John Milton there and hear
him tell of Paradise regained. But
this is enough, for I am not preaching
now—I wish that I was. If tnere were
no other inducements to draw us heav¬
enward it is enough that we will meet
all the great and good men of whom
we have read. And now, turning from
’things heavenly to those that are of
“earth earthy,” and dirty, too, it is
amusing to see our legislature haVing
a mighty controversy about redistrict-
lng the state. They don’t seem to
know that congress will soon save that
trouble, for the resolution Is already
prepared to reduce our representation
from eleven to five districts. The ax
is laid at the root of the tree. The
New York Press says that congress
will only wait for the census report to
be presented and this report will show
that five states have disfranchised the
negroes by law and three (Georgia,
Florida and Arkansas) disfranchised
them in fact by other methods. Geor¬
gia is put down at 216,000 negroes
practically disfranchised. The pro¬
posed cut will reduce the representa¬
tion of eight states from 58 to 30 rep¬
resentatives. Alabama will lose four,
Arkansas two, Florida one, Georgia six,
Louisiana four Mississippi five, South
Carolina four and Virginia two. The
other southern states have not yet
been sentenced. The Press says that
the house is bound by no rules of court
and it is not necessary to find that the
negroes have been denied by law; but
it is only necessary to find that their
rights have been denied and the cen¬
sus returns will prove this and the cut
will certainly be made. It is about
time now for the blue and the gray to
embrace again.—Bill Arp, in Atlanta
Constitution.
Qeorgia.'.Cullings
Brief Bat Interesting Summary
of Happenings in the State.
A Georgia Diamond.
A peculiarly formed stone recently
found on a farm near Columbus was
sent to Tiffany & Co., in mew York. It
developed to be a one-caret brown
diamond, and for it the northern firm
paid $i>0. Many more like it are re¬
ported on this farm.
• • •
Filibusterers Again Biffed.
Filibustering in the house of repre¬
sentatives received another black eye
when the recommendation of the rules
committee, to the effect that speakers
taking part in the debates during the
remainder of the session be restricted
to ten minutes, was adopted at Fri¬
day’s session. The resolution limiting
the time of speakers was introduced by
Mr. Miller, of Muscogee, and the rec¬
ommendation of the committee was
adopted by a vote of 84 to 27.
New Corporation For Savannah.
A new electric company is to be
formed in Savannah, to be known as
the Savannah Electric Company. In
it will be merged the electric interests
of the city. The Edison Electric Illum¬
inating Company will be consolidated
with the Savannah, Thunderbolt and
Isle of Hope Street Railway Company,
the system that traverses the streets
of Savannah and reaches out into the
surrounding country on three sides. A
petition for the incorporation of the
company will be filed within a few
days. It is said the new company will
be bonded for something like $7,000,-
000 .
* * *
J. E. Estes Wins In Court.
Several days ago there appeared an
item concerning an attack that J. E.
Estes, of Sandtown, was alleged to
have made on his daughter. There
had been some family trouble and
Estes regarded it as his duty to punish
his daughter, he says.
The result was a warrant charging
him with an assault. The matter went
before Justice Smith and upon a comn-
plete statement of the facts the matter
was disposed of without further com¬
plications.
Estes was for many years justice of
the peace, and is well known in Camp¬
bell county.
• * •
Macon to issue Bonds.
A joint meeting of the mayor and
council of Macon, and the Macon bond
commission was held the past week
and a bill agreed upon by both bodies
read and approved. The bill, which
will be presented to the general assem¬
bly at once, provides that city of Ma¬
con bonds in the amount of >900,000 be
issued January 1 to take up all bonds
of the city of Macon now outstanding.
This new issue of bonds will be
made for a period of thirty years and
be payable >30,000 per year until taken
up. The bonds shall bear interest at
the rate of 4 per cent per annum, pay¬
able quarterly.
* * *
Farmers as Bank Depositors.
In his annual report State Treasurer
Park, in speaking of the prosperous
condition of the banks of the state,
says:
^ proper to say that a great ma¬
jority of the new bank depositors are
to be found among the farmers. Our
hard-pressed and industrious farmers
have for the last decade and longer
practiced economy in the most heroic
way, and they have improved in their
methods more rapidly and substantial¬
ly than any other class. The crown¬
ing and indisputable proof of this is
shown in their wonderfully increased
bank deposits. It is a splendid tribute
to their sterling qualities. The farm¬
er’s progress in getting wealth has
been hastened by the growth of our
cities and the increase in manufactur¬
ing. The farmers will soon become the
bulwark of the banks.”
Cold Kills Cane Crop.
The cane crop in the section about
Waycross is hopelessly killed from top
to root. The recent severe cold' snap
ruined it in every locality that has
been heard from and where the seed
cane had not been dug and banked,
there will be none to plant next year.
It seems, too, that very few farmers
had dug their seed cane from the fact
that has been so dry for the pan,
month the planters were waiting for a
rain before banking, it does not keep
well when banked dry, and this time
the cold came before the rain.
The result is that no more than
one in ten farmers will have any seed
cane next year, and many who were go¬
ing to save all of this year’s crop for
seed and plant largely next year, will
not plant any.
Tindall Free at Last.
After having been in Bibb county
jail 129 days for contempt, of court, be¬
ing sent there by Judge John S. Can¬
dler for failing to account for money
held in trust by him for the Macon
Hardware Company, Harry C. Tindall
Is again a free man. Judge Roberts, of
the Oconee circuit, heard the petition
for the release of Tindall a day or two
ago, Judge Felton being disqualified, ,t/
and granted an order giving the
prisoner his liberty.
The outcome of this case has been
awaited with interest by numerous per¬
sons throughout the state.
The prisoner and his wife both testi¬
fied that it was Impossible for the $6,-
000, the amount in question, to be
raised while the petitioner was in jail,
as he was not possessed of property,
nor was hi swife. Other witnesses tes¬
tified as to the financial condition of
the petitioner and his family. It was
stated that at times the family was act¬
ually in want of the necessaries of life.
• * •
Proposed Constitutional Amendments.
The work of the constitution amend¬
ments committee of the legislature has
been completed, and the bill contains
all the amendments which it is proposed
to make to the state constitution.
There are twelve sections to the bill,
ten of these make changes in the con¬
stitution.
In brief the amendments provide for
the following:
Section 1. That a court of appeals be
established.
Section 2. That all pensions be put
upon an indigent basis.
Section 3. That justices of the peace
shall be given jurisdiction in all cases
for the rcovery of personal property
where the amount is >100 or less.
Section 4. That there shall be a
change of venue in all criminal cases
where there is danger of lynching.
Section 5. That the terms of all
county officers shall be lour instead
of two years.
Section 6. That the term of governor
be changed from two to four years and
that he be ineligible for four years
after the expiration of his term.
Section 7. That the governor be giv¬
en the authority to scale or veto a part
of an appropriation, instead of being
required to veto a whole appropriation
or let it stand.
Section 8. That the entire education¬
al fund of the state shall be divided be¬
tween the negroes and whites for edu¬
cational purposes in the exact propor¬
tion to the amount of taxes paid by
each.
Section 9. That there shall be bien¬
nial sessions of the general assembly
lasting sixty days.
Section 10. That the general appro¬
priations hill shall be submitted to the
governor at least ten days before the
final adjournment of the general as¬
sembly.
Sections 11 and 12 prescribe the
manner in which these amendments
shall be submitted to the people and
repealing all conflicting laws.
The preparation of the amendments
to the constitution is regarded as the
most important legislation that the
general assembly at its present session
will pass upon. The committee which
prepared the amendments is composed
of some of the most able lawmakers
among the personnel of the senate and
the house.
HOORAY FOR VANNY!
Intrepid Dutchman, Single-Handed,
Tackles a Horde of Filipinos.
A Manila dispatch says: Second
Lieutenant Louis J. Van Shaick, of the
Fourth infantry, while scouting with a
few men of that regiment, met 150 in¬
surgents, who had attacked and sacked
the hamlet of Siaraca, near Cavite.
Upon seeing the Filipinos Van Shaick
ordered his men to charge them.
The command was obeyed and Van
Schaick, being mounted, reached the
insurgents 60 yards in advance of his
men. He killed three of them with his
revolver. An insurgent fired his rifle
point blank at Van Schaick at four
paces, but missed. Lieutenant Van
Schaick was then knocked from his
horse. He jumped to his feet and en¬
gaged in a hand-to-hand conflict with
the enemy, using the butt of his revolv¬
er. He sustained two severe wounds,
one of which nearly severed his wrist.
At this point the lieutenant’s men ar¬
rived, rescued him and put the insur¬
gents to flight. Van Schaick is in the
military hospital at Manila and is do¬
ing well.
He has already been recommended
for a medal of honor for bravery in a
previous engagement.
CITY TREASURER SUICIDES.
Impending Disclosures Caused Stewart
Young to Blow Out His Brains.
After being offereu an evening news¬
paper by two newsboys -which said his
books were under examination by ex¬
pert accountants, Stuart R. Young, city
treasurer of Louisville, Ky., Wednes¬
day evening went to the rear of a ware¬
house and committed suicide by shoot¬
ing himself behind the right ear with
a pistol.
A great sensation was created late
in the afternoon when the last edition
of an evening paper appeared with a
story saying in substance that ac¬
countants were at work on the books
of the retiring treasurer, Stuart R.
Young and that it was reported that
discrepancies had been found in bis
accounts.
UNCLE SAM’S POSTAL BUSINESS
Postmaster General Smith Submits
His Annual Report to Presi¬
dent Roosevelt.
Postmaster General Charles Emory
Smith has submitted his annual report
to the president.
The following statement shows, in
brief, the financial operations of the de¬
partment for the year:
Ordinary postal revenue >109,531,778.67
Receipts from money or¬
der business ........ 1,668,659.29
Receipts from unpaid
money orders more
than one year old.... 430,755.--^
Total receipts from all
sources........ >111,631,193.39
Total expenuitures for
the year.......... 115,554,920.87
Excess of expenditures
over receipts $ 3,923,920.48
While the expenditures in the ora:
nary development and through various
extensions of the service are >7,814.
652.88 greater than for the preceding
year, the deficit is $1,461,961.22 less
Under present prosperous conditions
the annual increase of receipts is for¬
tunately larger than the inevitable in¬
crease of outlay, and for several years
the deficit has been steadily growing
smaller.
“HELL-BOUND HYPOCRITE ’ 1
.Is Granted a Divorce From His Noto¬
rious Hatchet-Wielding Wife.
At Medicine ~odge, Kans., Wednes¬
day David Nation was granted a di¬
vorce from his wife Mrs. Carrie Na¬
tion, “the joint smasher.” The court
exonerated Mrs. Nation from the
charge of cruelty to her husband and
divided the property.
In reply to questions of the court,
Mrs. Nation said that one reason she
fought the proceedings was that she
wished to continue to share the pen¬
sion money drawn by her husband.
Mr. Nation, in support of his peti¬
tion for divorce, cited a letter from
his wife in wh.ch she had denounced
him as a “hell-bound hypocrite.” he
charged that she did not attend to his
wants.
Judge Gillem granted the divorce on
the ground of gross neglect of duty.
When Mrs. Nation first started out
on her career of joint smashing a year
ago, Mr. Nation seemed to be in sym¬
pathy with her raids. But when she
spent all of her time away from home,
crusading or serving sentences in jail
for destroying property, he went to
the home of his daughter in Indiana
and lived. He was Mrs. Nation’s sec¬
ond husband and is nearly 70 years
old. The couple lived together for
many years.
BANKER IN TROUBLE.
Federal Grand Jury Indicts Cashier
of Defunct Eufaula, Ala., Bank.
At Montgomery, Ala., Wednesday,
the federal grand jury returned an in-
dictment against Colonel E. B. loung,
cashier of the defunct Eufaula, Ala.,
national bank. Colonel Young imme¬
diately gave bond in the sum of $7,-
500, as required by Judge Jones. His
bond was signed by F. W. Jennings,
his brother in law, and Mayor G. Dent,
of Eufaula.
The indictment is the largest per¬
haps ever returned by a court of this
state. It contains ninety-six type-writ¬
ten pages. There are in it forty-two
separate counts. It goes deeply into
the affairs of the Eufaula national
bank.
Among the serious allegations
against Young are that he made two
false entries in an inactive ledger on
ex-Governor Oates’ account, one last
November for $5,423 and one last
March for $7,214. The money was
never paid out, but it was merely a
false entry. Other false entries of
money paid out only two days before
the failure are also alleged, and it is
charged that the money was simply
abstracted.
Many Cotton Bales Burned.
At 11:30 o’clock Wednesday night
fire broke out in thet rock warehouse
of Dunn, Lyle & Co., at Winder, Ga.,
in which was stored about a thousand
bales of cotton. By heroic efforts about
150 bales were saved.
BLOOD FLOWS IN COLOMBIA.
Government Forces Compelled to Fall
Back With Heavy Losses.
Advices from Colon state that the
government forces, 300 strong, under
General Alban on appearing at Buena
Vista Wednesday afternoon, opened
fire on the liberal forces under Colonel
Barrera.
The fighting, which was of the most
savage nature, lasted several hours,
when the government forces, owing to
the great loss they had sustained,
were compelled to give way and re-
treat toward * rijolos.
Over a hundred men were killed or
wounded.