New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1858-12-09

faction a communication in Memphis paper fn.,.
M'. Ii. Il. s. " Ilams of Hickory Springs. F,r.u.
County Tennessee. In this communication. N,
Williams restes the arrival at his house. on A cs,s
rsiny nsb,. " of couple of sprehtly. h,rdy.,o,t.
- my little Yankee boys, bsre-footed, badly c..1
g aid without budget" They had come a. la.
ssid, 10 search of home and work all the ~,
from the town Of Paterson, n. j.. where they ~
been foctory boys lei, orphans two years befom 4,
the death Of their fathers. Being badly treat a. s.,
had struck out for the South, without "a cent =,
money" and had worked their way alon,. b, a.
Kindness Of rsilrosd conductors and stesnb,., A..
tains, till they reached Memphis. Thence the, ~
followed up on foot the track Of the Memphi, A..
Ohio Railroad TIL they arrived at toe ho,pitsb,,r.;
deuce OF Mr.. Williams, With whom they nssdil, fr,a
both bone and work, aud with whom they no. A..
the 4" bsppie.t little fellows you ever saw"
Parallels to this affecting incident occa,ioo.n,
happen also at the North. II occurs now and ,...
that "boys, varying in age from SIX to si,ty AL
upward" spriebtly," "hardy looking" "b.r,.
footed and badly clad" and often witbou, h,A.
gets or cent Of money-startine from F,yst..
County, TepDes.ee, or some other Southern J,.-
trict, and helped along BY underground, r.,lro,d
conductors and otherwise, arrive in the v.;n,, -
Paiersop, New. Jersey. and other Northern town
aud cities, in search Of work and home.
These Southern boys are worse of thaa msrsl,
orphans. They never had any fathers, the Law 4
the South c of permitting them to have any; xhiIs
under the same laws, they are sometimes separated
from their mothers while scarcely able 10 walk
alone. As to beng badly treated, on that ,ciat
they can generally, we doubt not, male out ouh
az good ca,e as the Yankee boys from Paterson
These Yankee boys, it seems, however, were not
exclusively indebted to the kiud-bearted Mr. VIII
lams for the good home they have found. Follow.
ing up the OHIO and Memphis RslIrosd on 5,. a.
far as the Fayete depot, it was their good luck to
meet there :" email negro boy" belonging " Mr.
Williams which boy b. tells us, hesrng their
story. politely and in the spirit Of true Southern
"bo.pi.a lity, invited them along with hin to bic
"masters house." Similar good offices are often
rendered by cur Northern colored people to wan.
derng ard homeless " boys from the South; but
such acts of kndDt S. when the! happen to get into
the newspapers instead Of being applauded by our
Southern brethren, are apt TO be received by them
with q spiteful growl aud hiss, very much like tast
of hungry cat at having the bird she has jas
caught spatched from her mouth. Surely, oar
southern brethren ought not TO claim such q stries
monopoly of politeness ard true hospitality.
Surely, on these points the North aud the SoasA
ought to be allowed to maintain generous
rivalry.
Let us suppose now further to illustrate mat
tiers, th1t these runaway Yankee boys were
able to show all over their bodies the marks Of he
cruel chas tsements they had received, and let 70
suppose that some day or other there arrives u
the Wy the Depot, in the near vicinity of the gen
erous Mr.. Williams's plantation, en- iconditioued
and Unlocking fellow, his breath srnellos
strongly of brandy. and his face bearing every
mark of stolid brutality, claiming these tao boys
as bis runaway apprentices and in fact recognized
by them as their Paterson master, and let US
suppose further, that this Paterson scamp comes
attended by the United States Marshal for the
District of Western Tennessee, the said MsrsAd
hayiog IN biz pocket the warrant Of some connie
siOner of the Circuit Court of the United States
for that district, perhaps of Mr.. Justice Catron
himself, for the arrest of these two boys, on tho
oath of the vsgabODd above described, cnm'os
them under the act of 1890 and the Constitution
the United States, as fugitiveS from service
which they were bound BY the laws OF NeSJersy.
Pray, now, what would the hosptabe Mr VIII
lions do under these circumstances Womb 10
volunteer as posse eomitaius to the Marshal, and
hasten to deliver up the terrified and weeping sF
prentices into the hands Of their brutal rnasterf
Or would be, - in the spirit Of true Sonthern hos
"pitaliiy and hospitality, we believe does n.'
vary with the latitude, but ia much tae same IN
New,,Jersey and in TenDessee-tiP WINK 70 ns
q" small negro boy " to pilot them into the woods.
or TO some other safe place Of conce ament' out
the reach of both Marshal and caimant'