The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-02-17
"reminiscences Of a HOOSier.

Edward Eggleston tells this: In the
southwest corner of Indiana, between
the Ohio and Wabash, is POsey County
Nearly ten years since taught winter
school in the center of POsey. | re-
member it used to be said that just
north of where | taught people run
down their children with dogs once a
month to pat clean clothes on them, and
in the maps we used to draw at school
we laid POsey off in four divisions,
marked thus in childish comedy: "Civ-
ilized tribes,'' Yahoos," ''Munge-
rooms, :" 9 'Unexplored regions" had
sixty-five scholars on my list, and my
private record shows eighty-iive "cor-
poraI punishments inflicted" and the
bulk of that fell on three boys. click
in and larnin'-Hckin' and larnin' -
was the alliterative philosophy Of Cen
ter Township, in Posey County.
In this part of Indiana and Illinois
the original Hoosier flourished. Flat
Creek, Hoop-pOle, Dog Hollow, and
Lick Skillet are all here. No stage carl
cature ever represented the HOoSier to
one who knows him. He Is SUI gcHeTtS,
gaunt of person, pale-yellow OF halr,
loose of Joint, long drawn out and shaky,
with inimitable voice, and foot which
is destruction to cut-wOrmS. L know
the Hoosier well, for l was born with
him, partially brought up with him; l
narrowly escaped being one of him.
his language is a derivative and com
pound dialect, consisting of equal parts
of literally translated Pennsylvania
Dutch idioms, Carolina and Kentucky
niggerisms, and good stocky English.
Webster has no vowel sounds which
will fully represent the HOOsier dialect.
Its grammar may be partially illustrated
by the conjugation of the verb "to
do" As thus:
Present Tense-Regular as in Eng
lish.
imperfect done it, you done it, he
done it.
Plural-We'unsd done it, yOu'uns done
it, they'uns done it, etc.
Perfect gone done it, etc.
Plural-We'uns gone done it, etc
Pluperfect-I been gone done it, etc.
Plural-We'uns been gone done it,
etc.
First Future-I gwine to do it, you
gwine to do it, etc.
Plural-We'uns gwine to do it, etc.
Second Future-I gwiAe to gone done
it, etc.
Plural-We'uns gwine to gone done
it, you'uns gwine, etc:
The Hoosier enjoyed corn shucklngs,
circuses, and "spellin' matches - ms
greatest dread was the ''fever'n ager.
| In nv boyhOod this terrible scourge was
both epidemic and endemic, both chron-
ic and sporadic. InsOme neighborhoodS
it came only at the ''turn of the season"
along in August-when the vegeta-
ton begins to part with its juices to the
air; in other places it was to be expect
ed at any season of the year, any hour
of the day. These last were specifically
known as the ''ager naborhOodsi" new
corners were solemnly warned not to
oet in such, and every village cherished
traditions of some other village not far
remote where the ''tOwn bell runG
every two hours for folks to take their
quinine."
Now one may live foryears in almost
any part of Indiana before seeing case
of a0ue. But it comes back sometimes
in rather a startling way, and this ap-
pears to have been one of the years for
il. met young people of my acquaint-
anee who had never seen a case oft be-
fore their own, it had so nearly vanish
ed; but recognized it in minute as
the same old, mean, sneaEng, freezing
disease. Cognate with the eager" was
the ''milk-sick," that strange. unac-
countable affection which seized upon
milk kline, and through their milk, but
ter. and flesh upon men.
That, too, seems to me nearly extinct.
, Indeed, never hear it mentioned now
but it was the cause of many painful,
lingering deaths, and still more shatter-
ed constitutions, twenty-five years ago
A thousand times L have heard farmer;
discuss the various theories, as tC
whether it was in the water or the air
or vegetation, or all three, and, fol
aught 1 know, the question is unsettled
vet. The Hoosier, too, is almost extinct
and since the school law of 1886 Wen'
into operation, young generation o.
, educated people has come upon tn'
stage