The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1875-08-19
OLD VIRGINNY.


Extinct Chorooi,~ -Pcw'o,i'io of the Pa,
Richmond whiP
Before the war Virginia YVES famop
for great number Of marked opd quee
chara ,tars. Iney abounded throughou
the state. Every city, every t)wr
every county, Oud every neighborhoo
had them, They we've worthy to adol
and illustrate comic almanacs. Nc
only were they queer in their dispos
tlops, manners, notions aud talk, bu
they were queer in appearance. Excen
tTicity was expressed on every part o
them. Many of them had such face
as are seen on old.lashioned door knock
ers or umbrella handles. II the who'll
number could have been taken in
group they would have formed col
lection that would have been the won
der Of the world. Somo had hooked
noses, hollow cheeks, sharp eyes, auc
pointed chins. Some had noses lik,
Baroolph, and mouths that could TAX,
IN whole dish at n moutbful if it wai
to their taste, Just like the old Virgiui,
county iire-places, that could take in 4
half.cord of wood ut time. Some were
so fat that they might have sat for pic
tures of Falstail. They "lardcd the
lean earth AZ they walked" However
variant in appearance, nearly all OF
them had two things in cOmmon-the
love Of liquor and the love of country
We put liquor first because the iuspira.
tions Of patriotism were generally the
results of liquor. The writer has before
him as he writes the picture of seveI
such characters that he once saw ut
fish fry-all living within range of
five miles. They were indeed strange
lot. Some of them had considerable
property, others had none, but lived
upon their friends. When they tired of
one honso, they would go to another
and they went to no house that did not
furnish good grub ana plenty of
liquor.
But there were queer characters Of
different sort, who cared nothing for
high living-mcn who had some pet
theory that thoy were everlastingly
preaching up. Then there were the
newsmongers, who would go to the
country store, gather up all the news of
the neiRhbOrhood, and stnrt off to give |
it circulation. There were men who did |
nothing but fish all day long others
who spent their time in hunting SOUR
reIs aud other varmints. There were |
people who went through a rauge of |
counties mending clocks, who abounded |
in gossip. The peddlers were univer-
sally distrusted, but as universally well |
coined, for they had the very articles
that were needed in every household |
and that could not be procured at the
neighboring stoic. Every noighborhood |
had its pet beRRar, as well established |
as was Edio Ochiltree, "thc kings |
bedesman."
Neary all these odd characters have
disappeared. Iu those good old times
Of Which we speak, almost everybody
was well off, and society could afford to
maintain small army of these queer
people, who afforded general amuse.
mcnt. They were like strolling players,
going from place to place, ana welcomed
wherever they went.
Where are they now? II is the rarest
hing to see one nowadays. They have
ard no one can tell where
hey have gone. They certainly were
rot killed in the war, for they were non.
Perhaps their accustomed
rub failed them, pud they died OF
tarvation and broken hearts" fruclcl
nd c)rroborate," as Pistol said OF Fal-
tail.
Such characters are the products of
plethora of prosperity, Of tho "caukcr
# long peace. Iu times Of difficulty
nd poverty there is no place for them.
Var and trouble eradicate ecceutrici.
les, smooth down sinuosities, aud re-
luce people to common level. Those
Who cannot undergo tho process Of as,
ilmilation pass out of sight and die off.
There is no room for then.
The time may cOmc-wc hope it will
when some of those characters may
eappeor. They break the monotony of
ife, and some of them are not only en-
)clishmenta to society, but supports
o it.
One character, higher than all the
est stands out from tho canvass-a
haracter quite common half Il cen
ury ago, rare just anterior to the war,
nd now extinct--that of the real old
'irginian, the cock of the walk in his
whose virtues were in
rgrity, hard-headedness, aud love of
tate, and whose characteristic embel-
shments were ruilled shirt, a gold ,
eaded cane, blue coat with brass but
)ns, and u buff waistcoat. Those re. ,
and influential old codgers ,
ere autocrats. They were generally
Magistrates, frequently members of the ,
and were authority in all
and county matters.
hey had true grit, and would have died
efOre they would have surrendered {
lelr rights in the territories. " "They
elievcd in the resolutions of '98 3d." ,
rank the best brandics and wines, and
chawod" excellent tobacco. Their
rejudices and opinions were immov-
bic, aud their selfreliance and
elfrespect were such that they would ,
carcely have deferred TO kings. AS
oliticians they We're as bitter as
Dot. Some we're Wings aud some
Democrats. The former read the
richmond Wing as they did their Bible,
nd believed every word it contained.
he latter swore by the Richmond En-.
uirer as the great sheet-anchor OF the
ountry. Those good, brave, hard
eaded, hospitable old gentleman have
ecomc extinct, like the mastodOn and
ne dodO.
"A curious episode in the railway
tation at Lincoln, Nebraska, the other
ay, was a Mennonite divorce. The
ian was anxious to go to Dakota, and
is wife equally anxious to remain, SO,
fter long argument in Russian and