Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1860-11-15
A Florida i.Cracker.D

In letter from FloIida TO the New
York Commercial Advertiser, bv Fit
Hugh Ludlow thus describes parsonage
indigenous to the section.
And see-what portent is that coming
Florida alone could produce this creation
1t is landed proprietor from the interior
but people TO the manor born do not call
him BY this respectful name. They style
him "piny woods Cracker" He is riding
his own horse-a small native pony, whose
only currycomb is the most convenient
thornbush-whose ears are of the half-lop
variety-head abased-and tail-but no
it is not fair to speak slightipgly of the
absent. 1: is 10 be hoped that an equal
regard to fairness moves the landen proprie-
tor to take turns with the pony in carrying
their united weight, for the sand is deep,
and wehther horse or man be the heavier is
not obvious. The man is arrayed as for a
fancy dress ball. An immense sombrero
of braided palmetto shades his ratty little
black eyes, long rueful cheeks, and bronzed
beak-like nose. Beneath the palmetto
long grizzly locks straggle down upon the
torn aud particolored shoulders of what
may ages ago have been blue sack coat,
but is now so shrunken or outgrown that its
pockets come close under his arms, and
its tails lutter about the small of his back.
His trousers are blue and white bedtick.
A calico shirt, whose pattern is black spots
on red ground, cost originally six cents
per yard besides the trouble Of making up
by the laden proprietress are lady Crack
eress of the backwoods cabin whence it
emanated-and is thus too valuable to be
concealed by any vest. The man who cut
the bedtic pantaloons was generous, but
they are short, and permit us to see so
much of an original Florida pair of legs as
is comprised between the neighborhood of
the knee and that of the ancle. At this
latter. point the member disappear from
human view in pair of marvelously roomy
shoes, home manufactured of the alligator's
curiously cheekered hide. These last re-
ceptacles rest on the thills of cart attached
TO the detected pony by cotton ropes mir
aculously knotted-the said cart apparent
ly knocked together out of yellow pine
boards by violent thunderstorm, which
occurred in the early youth of the landed
propritor. The only objection to this view
of the case is that the cart has wheels
but Florida is the country of rare products.
and these rotary phenomena may be ac-
counted for on the supposition that they
originally grew and were added on to the
boards as an after thought. Certainly no
wheelwrght of our acquaintance could
ever saw out these singular pieces of tim
Der and stick them together under the i'm
preston that they were wheels. The land
ed proprietor sits on his horse in heap
like human bag of meat-has short
pipe in his mouth-a rope attached at the
lower end to his animals neck in one hand
"a long black whip of bullskin in the
other, with which at ever step he expresses
his dissent 10 the sentiment of the old
poet:
If had a donkey and he wouldn't go.
Do you think I'd wollop him? Mol Mol No!ll
As he jogs past "a Ia position"
look into that fortuitous concourse of
boards-lhe cart. 1t is about the size of
a candle box, but it carries freight-one
small bundle of cornstalks 10 serve for the
pony's fodder. And with this, he has
come thirty miles through the sandiest
roads of the piny woods! Fancy a yankee
goin to see the ''ta-owu"-even with such
a vehicle-and not carrying even three
cents worth of garden sass to trade far a
pair of knitting-needles.
Yes! The production is original. We
are in Florida.