Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1867-12-06
From the Galaxy.
Small Planters in the south-In the
Good old Times" before the War.

From the Galaxy.
Small Planters in the south-In the
Good old Times before the War.
The small Southern planter who own
ed few slaves and q COnsidera bIe tract
of land, but acted as his own OveFseer,
did not possess anything like the aver
age intelligence, nor enjoy the average
comforts Of our Northern farmers.
He was most aptto be found in the
''Uplands." His house stood in the
middle of yard, badly shaded, grass
less and surrounded by a poor fence
In the rear we're the kitchen and a few
mean negro cabins in front the pile of
t'fat'' pine knots, or HghtWOOd, that
served both for fuel and candles. The
stranger was greeted by a pack Of
hounds directly prOpOrtionate in num-
Der, if not in ferOCity, to the poverty
of the owner, and suggesting, at the
present time, the necessity OF stringent
dog-laWs as among the first fruits Of
Reconstruction. While these sheep-de-
vOuring Vagrants are permitted to live,
the Injunction, s'Be We clothed" !" is a
mockery and delusiOn. The small
planters house is everywhere of the
same pattern, raised a couple of feet
from the ground, on blocks of wood or
piles of brick, an Oblong, with a wide
hall in the middle, and a yerandah in
front, the ehimneys built outside, the
windows very generally without sash
or glass. bus closed at night with board
shutters; the rooms neither papered,
plastered, nor ceiled, but the beams
whole establishment completely desti-
tute Of paint and whiteWash. The fur
niture is scant and mean. Most of the
chairs are bottOmed with stretched skins
A shelf in front Of the verandah holds
the water-pail, which "ittle niger"
totes from the adjacent spring. In the
Gulf States there are no cellars, and
the cisterns, if any are used, are gener-
ally above ground. Under the latter
are often little receptacles for articles
which it is desirable 20 keep cool. The
clothing is composed largely Of home
spun, coIored with "dyes" from the
neirhbOring woods, of su bstantial tex
ture, aud often neat in appearance
The rough table, frequently bare, and
too often covered with a cloth looking
as if the swine might have been driven
over it on their way to Gennesareth, is
spread with food not lacking IN guam
tity, but of such kind and quality as
account in good measure for that phys
icaI type peculiar to the South, Of which
the lank form and pallid face are the
chief characteristics. The ordinary
corn bread or hOe-cake is composed OF
meal, salt and water, frequently baked
in the ashes the extraordinary slight
/ v
and iDdigestible biscuits; thu butter is
pale and frOthy; the coffee is wretched
usually taken without milk, and some
times in the backWOods the guest is
asked whether he uses A'lO2g sWeeten-
ing" or ''short sweetening" (mOlasses
or sugar. They fry the Inevitable
1 salt fat pOrk-that aboundiDg curse Oi
American Civilizations dish SO abom-
Unable that even the impOstor Moham-
med denied it to his followers, and
which would certainly have been in
| terdicted to Christians had il been sup
/ posed they would ever relapse so faI
/ into barbarism as to use it. Sometimes
/ the planter butchers q ''steer," whose
/ flesh is apt to be placed on the table the
/ same day, or fresh ''shote, - killed as II
\ runs in the woods, is served as wild
/ hog" as if that pleasing fiction could
j add a ''gamey" flavor to the dish. The
I cooking, on the whole suggests the ques
tion whe ther a people living upon sucI
| food are morally responsible for partiei
/ pating in the Rebellion.
The planter treats his guest with
/ whiskey which he himself always takes
I "straight." The wife is apt to do a lit
tie "snufdippingh In private, and il
not always careful to conceal the imple
ments and the results of that fine art. ,
He does all the talking she says scarce
/ ly a word she and the grown-uI
| daughters look scared and bashful, RnC
after meal-time stink away to theil
room, contrasting remarkably, in thii
respect, with the intelligent, wide
awake wives and daughters of on,
Northern farmers.
The manners of these small planter
are not what Mr.. Emerson calls 9Th.
happy way of doing things" Like thu
"pOor whites" and even the largl
planters, who do not have to 20 out Il
the field with che hands, their lRnguag