Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1861-07-11
Niggers ssis,, Cheap.


Russell the correspondent of the Lou
don Times, describes the slave auction at
Montgomery, Ala. AS follows:
"The crowd was small Three or four
idle men, in rough, bomespun, makeshift
uniforms, leaned against the iron-rail en-
closing small pond of foul, green-look-
ing water, surrounded by brick work
which decorates the space in front of the
exchange Hotel. The speaker stood on an
empty deal packing case. A man in
cart was listening with lack-luster eye to
the address. Some three or four others,
lin sort of vehicle which might either be
hearse or piano van, had also drawn up
for the benefit of the address. Five or six
men 10 long black coats and high hats,
some whiting sticks aud chewing tobacco
and discharging streams of discolored sal
iva, completed the group. "N-i Ne hun
dred and fifty dollars offered for him." ex.
claimed the man in tone of injured dig
nifty, remonstrance and surprise which can
be insinuated by all true auctioneers into
the numerical statements. "Will no one
make any advance on nine hundred and
fifty dollars?" A man near me opened
his mouth, spat, and said, "Twenty- -fveH
"Only nine hundred ard seventy-fve dol
lars offered for him. Why, that's radak-
alous; only nine hundred and seventy five
dollars. Will no one," DC, &.
Beside the orator and auctioneer stood
a stout young man of five and and twenty
years of age. He was n muscular fellow;
broad shouldered narrow fanked, but rath-
er small in stature; he had on broad,
greasy, old wide awake, blue jacket,a coarse
cotton shirt. loose ard rather ragged trow-
sers, and broken shoes. The expression
of his face was heavy and sad, but it was
by no means disagreeable, in spite of his
thick lips, broad nostrils, s,snd bis high cheek
bones. On bis head was wool instead of
hair; his whiskers were little nocculent
black tufts; and bis skin was as dark as
that of tine late Mr.. Dyce Sombre, or of
Sir Jung Bahadoor himself l am neither
sentimentaiist, Black Republican, nor ne
gro worshiper, but Iconfess the sight caused
a strange thrill through my heart: Itried
in vain 10 make myself familiar with the
fact that l could, for the sum of S975 be-
come as absolutely the owner of that mass
of blood, sinew, flesh and brains, as of the
horse which stood by my side. I have seen
slave markets in the East, but somehow
or other, the Orientalis ism Of the scene
cast eoloring over the nature of the sales
there, which deprived them of the disa-
greeable harshness and matter of fact char
acter of the transaction before me- For
the Turk of Smyrniote, or Egyptian, to
buy and sell slaves, seemed rather suited
to the eternal fitness Of things than other
wise.
The turbaned shawled, loose trousered,
pipe-smoking merchants, speaking an un-
known tongue, looked as if they were en-
gagged. One knew that their slaves would
not be condemned 10 any very bard labor,
and that they would be in some sort the in
mates Of the family and members of it.
Here it grated on my ear to hear the ia
miliar tones of the English tongue as the
medium by which the transfer was effected
and it was painful to see decent looking
men in European garb engaged in the
work before me. The negro was sold to
one of the by-standels, and walked off,
with his bundle, God knows where. "Nig
gers is cheap" was the only remark of the
bystander. Another auctioneer, fat fab
BY, perspiring, puffy man, was trying to
sell a negro girl who stood on the deal
box beside him. She was dressed pretty
much like London servant girl of the
lower order out of place, except tina: her
shoes were shreds of leather patches, and
her bonnet would have scarce passed mus
ter in the New Cut. She too, had IL
tie bundle in her hand, and looked out az
the buyers from pair of large sad eyes.
''Niggers were cheap still here was this
young woman going for an upset price of
S6lO but no one would bid, and the auc-
tioueer, after vain attempts to raise the
price and excite competition said: Not
sold to-day Sally; you may get down.
She stepped down off the box and
walked off down the main street without
further notice, while the auctioneer saun-
.u.,x c,otb,, J,r,ot,or.