Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1871-06-07
ADVERTISING RATES.
A Southern Load of Wood.

Returned soldiers or, tho.e who have
travelled in the south, will at once recog.
nize the following pen picture of speci-
men of "poor white trash"
l walked out to the east OF the city
having no objective point IN view, except
to get into the country. In the suburbs
of the city l met concern that always
attracts the attention of stranger. 1t
was South Carolina load of wool
This load of wood was on a ricke,ty
wagon, tho wheels of which wabbled and
bobbed about over the road in as
unsteady s-manuer as so many drunken
men. The tracks that il made were fear
full to behold. On this wagon WAS
rack, and in this rack were four pins,
each about four feet big d.. They were
distant adart from each other, some fonr-
teen inches one way and four feet the
other. Within these standards, gentle
reader, was the load of wood. Honestly
there was not enough of it to make u
fire in fire place of even moderate di.
meusions. One Of the old fashioned SOFT
would swallow wagon, wood aud all.
and then call for more. Hitched to this
wagon was an animal, which, in the
better days of the republic, might have
been a horse. Now it was portion of
a horses skin, filled with boxes. The
horse himself did not seem 10 be there.
This bundle of some skin and considera
BILE bones was hitched to thu wagon by
means of two pieces Of clothes line rope,
and an armfnl of straw tied into some
thing that might pass for a villainous
burlesque on horse collar, by means of
a strap cut from an old boot leg. The
bride was made out of scrap from the
same boot leg that had entered SO largely
into the construction of the collar. There
we're only two pieces of it and the bit.
This last was big army affair. aud not
having shrunk away with the horse, it
looked, by the side of his famished jaws,
like lightning rod twisted into fantastic
shapes. The reins were on q scale of
grandeur commensurate with the rest of
The turn out, one of them being made
out of what appeared to be old shoe.
strings, and the other of several articles,
starting out with small chain next TO
the bit, or twisted lightning rod then a
short fishing line, then few feet of some
thing apparently cut from the edge of
piece of cotton bagging, and ending with
a bit of clothes line that was left over
from the traces.
The driver and apparent owner of this
turn out was tall thin, lean, sallow,
spindle-shanked. lantern jawed, cadaver-
Gus looking cuss, who appeared as if he
had not had square meal since 1850,
and could eat up the weight Of his wood
and horse. if presented in the shape Of
meat and bread, at a single sitting.
looked at this moving panorama OF
poverty SO intently that the proprietor
thought l wanted to buy, and brought
his animal to a halt. 1t was no trouble
TO do that, as the bones in the dried skin
suddenly stopped waddling even before
the word of command was fairly ont Of
the drivers mouth, or there had been
the slightest jerk on the twisted lightning
rod.
DO yer want to buy this ERE woodf
he asked.
What's it worth9'
.Wall, SEEM that Pm hurry, and
hits good bit back home, and I'm a
a needir' syme money powerfully bad,
I'll jest take eighty cents for the load
rs that the usual price for loads of
that sizel'
Wall, can't say for certain that tits or
faint. lis cheaper n most loads for the
money, for it's bigger. The price of
wood in Columbia depends upon things.
you know; that is, sometimes hits
scarce, and agin good bit will come in,
and then you see we can't always under
stand how things will work and come
about conearningof the supply of such
nesds as city people has to contend with
which is different from the way we do in
the country about things of the sort, you
know. Have you got any tobacco
bout yer?'
/ did not use the weed.
Wall. talk up pert bout this ere
wood. My old nag's bout to lay down,
and if l don't move on he'll lay down
10 spite of the devil, and when he once
gets down it takes work for 10 get him
up, and I've found that the surest way
to understand these little ways this here
horse does is to keep him on the move,
for when he's on the move, the fact of
the business is, you see, he can't lay
down, for he's all the time agoin'
ahead 2
/ told him did not care to buy his
wood, at which he raised whoop be-
hind his hand that would have caused
any animal half way fed to have ran
away, then pushing his wagon against
him as further incentive to get along,
and the panorama slowly moved on to-
ward the city.-Coluna6ia. S. c., Cor.
Cincinnati; Commercial.