New-York tribune., 1871-05-12
IPRoM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

IPROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
,RT,SBURG, S. c., May Cit is 32 miles
from Greenyle to this place, across lonely, dreary
country moro than half Of IL wilderness peoped for
tho most part by "lowdOwn Whites, whose cabins are
,n,le or two opart along the road The dwellings Of
these people are Of logs or unpainted oods aho are
rrisornIv without glass Windows the ngbt coming IN
throrob sonare aperures abOut three fcet py TWO III
sze closed at night Ivy rude board shutterS A1'"s'
the road is the highway between TWO OF tle n'os
siderable towns IN the up country 1t Is an
track nearly mpassable In some places by reason Va ~
e1es washed by the rains, and III others h'nost i
the woods where the rare passage Of hoofs and WheeS
makes but little impression upon the ra'A We
/ was eight hours in traversing It, on "e"hcS''s /,
with n stout team Ny driver was a strange specnru VI
mingled sbreydness and ignorance, from the mouhiih'
of Western North Carolina. He told me th"' h0 "s
possessed OF n stick cut by soldier from tne er'o
Napoleon, in Virginia, he Thought; put ho u'' '
Brightly know whar" asked him why the peop'e aioHS
the road were SO poor and why they did not cultivate
more land He "aowed" that 1t was because they were
"too derned lazy" and the profoundest philosopher
could not have answered the question with moro ""o
Laziness Is clearly their besetting SIN Inc men "Pp
10 have ambition, and contcnted II they can r'o
corn and enough TO eat and bale oi co'on
with when to procure little money ana puy store
things" such as a little sugar, few yards OF cotton
cloth and an abundance Of cheap whisky; rs Tor te
their happness consists in sitting the dirty
pazzas in front OF their hOuss and sucking snuh rol
the CHI wed ends Of pine sticks At nearly every mousse
we p,ssed two or three saterny creatures were en-
Gagged in this disgusting amusement, staring at u.s. stick
in mouth, with lis;less, stupid curiosity
Eleven miles out from Grernvile passed two cotton
factories driven by waterpOwer; around them cIuseu
two or three dozen log cabins, store, and few frame
houses beonging probably the mill owners. went
into one OF the 9ctories found all the operators were
white girls and women, except the oyerseers IHe pr"
prctor said that he made 1900 yards OF coth day from
oco spindles and that he employed 70 hands paying
them 80 cents day. Can people live on so cents Gay
here % asked "oh. yes' he replied, 1T costs them
only 50 week for board, and that leaves them
week to buy their clothes with" " But 40
you have no trouble in hndlnS women VIM
will work for such low wages y Iroupief why
could get ten times many if wanted them" low
many hours a day do they wOrkF :" Wen, NJ thIs uino
of the year. we work from light TO Hight stopping
for e" Tie poor creatures who are on ther Ieeo ior
"A hours day tending the machines, we're thin Sallow'
fat-cbested women and pTematureY old girls, al
dressed the cOarscst cotton eoth sueh as planters
used TO furnish to their negro Held hands Ihey were
al plain even ugness It seemed. though, that ther
hard life OF constant TOLL and their wrecEed surround
ings had rot destroyed in them the woWans love OF
adornncn for not few had roses IN their hair ana Oh
their dirty gowns
We drove into Sparanburg in the evening, In the midst
Of cold drizzng rain. TIE place had dlsmal IooR'
with it's dirty streets and unpained buildings with
broken windows, aud it highly suggestive OF hu-
Klux procvites. The muddy water rushing along the
cutters seemed to gurge "KuKlux," and the crowd OF
Ioafer, engaged in song hotel piazza by profusey
expectorlng tObaccCjuce, looked IKE members Oh TIC
Klan high up IL the degrees man VINO proved 70 re
the landlord s the carriage stopped tha servant
would soon out to take my portmanteau but as none
came carried it in ana asked for room Ihe landlord
made no reply but went uR wait some customers
.no harh hcln he
backward and pounded triangle which finally brought
| a negro, who told to set room IN ofetr'
| In an hour the negro came and took me 10 "a
| damn and unwlOlesome room, into which little light
managed penetrate through ten years deposit or art
upon tho window -paueS. piece Of moldy, decayed
mating that covered part Of the floor gave forth
cIanuy SMELL and n colony Of mice, which disturbed
beiud the washstand, scampered Of to safer retreat
under the short tour of inspection through
the hotel (Which was the dirte,t ever saw convinced
me that was of than other dodgers, ana tha
there was nothing TO be done but TO put up with the
accommodations offered; so returned to the piazza, 10
shiyer and wait for supper. was not little pleased TO
see cavalry sergeant and four tall troopers up the
street and mount guard in opposite building. where
some militia arms, much coveted by the Ku-Kux, were
stored 1t was cheering ind that the power Of the
United states If not its civilization extended into this
remote region.
Next morning found the camp of the cavalry com
|
skirts Of the town. The captain said that the KuhluX
hands roamei the country every Saturday night taking
rooroes from their cabins and rutay whipping then,but
that he had no authority tOmocst the outlaws he was
satisfied that he could easily caplurea party OF the sed
ruians il his orders would permit learn that before
the roops came, two months ago, the few Republicans
in the town did dare sleep in their separate houses
but that each night they assembled armed at one OF their
hon ses prepared for attack. One night party OF
nearly 200 mounted KuKlux camped mile out Of town.
and both parties threw ont rlckets, bat no attack
tnok place The acts Of violence began on the
d,v of election and .hayc continued ever since am
told that three been killed in the county
from 20 TO 40 have been wounded by ball, and hundreds
have bcen whipped. No arrests have been made save
i, one instance; then the Grand Jury found bill, and
the Justice a white man. who caused the arrests 10 DC
made was driven away from his home, ten miles from
town and has not velturcd b. return. Many white men
have been whipped and forced publicly to reEounce the
Repubican party by cards in the Democratic paper or
declarations made from the Courthouse steps. have
tbo names Of several Of these but have been entrcaed
not 10 publish them fear it would provoke more vo
lence against them Their narrations are so much alike
that an account Of Will suffice. About the mid
die OF March old man OF 60 years. member
of church, and in all respects worthy citizen, was
dragged from his bed by masked men, who broke into
hi, house. mealsack was pulled over his head aud he
was taken into the yard and whipped until he promised
10 20 up on the House steps next Sales Day
and publicly declare that he would never again vote
Republican ticket. II lie did not do this they said they
would kill him. He kept the secret until the day az
preached aud then in great agony Of mind, he came to
town aud told the officer commanding the troops OF the
who promised to satona guard at his house.
The old said that sooner or later the guard must
be removed. and then he would be in greater danger
than before II it not for his family. he said, the
Ku-Klux might Kill him before he would abandon BIS
principles. but duty tn them compelled him TO seek
safety. So when the day came he went up the steps o'
the Court House. and In the sight OF the officers on 'he