The Hickman courier., 1877-06-29
TILE ROUST4BOUT.

Tile RO OUST4BOUT.
| 4 Grgphtc Pen Picture Of rhe Roustabout
ofthe Bluff city.
The Memphis Avalanche paints this
well known character in the following
glowing terms:
lie Is character of clear, distinct in
diTidueIity-that factor in the making
up OF the census of Memphis knownlAs
the. eroustabout +" One glance at BIS
psgs 5nnel gives convincing proof of the
eternal fitness of name and the un-
psralleled injustice Of history in not re-
coFdsng the nameof its inventor.
lie roustabout" is a gentleman of
coier varying from extreme sable to palli-
dity u buff; and, to use his own proud
dessfiption, "a ba-a-d man. His life
- sin the glare of the sun on the
" zleyee, or the steamboat
= - ~ rscrcation IN thedingys,
s-of q Heii's Half Acre, y
Nat fringe the landing. His
- his own and fashions fckleness
beats against it about As efectualiy as it
does against the drapery Of a tombstone.
Hard times in the shape of disease or
dullness in steamboating may reduce this
dress to a dilapidated state in which its
unique originality is lost, but with the
resurrection of luol the old attire comes
back again. a sombrero of felt covers
the close clipped wool of his head. a
shirt of wooden, blue, black or checked,
encases his brawny chest, its collar
thrown open, revealing similar garment
of gaudy hue beneath. This pair of shirts
is thrust into jeans pants, which, fitting
tight at the hips, broaden, and widen,
and stretch out, and bulge in the legs to
an enormous width emily TO recede into
a comparative nothingness at the
ankles. Then the reustabout" al
ways rolls up his pants at the bottom.
Whether this is to show his socks or not
is probably not known to the "rousta-
bout" himself. 1t is one of those sacred
customs which the roustabout" clings
to as the bad grammarian does to
writing poetry. That all roustabouts"
must roll up their pants is a fact long
settled. AS to socks, he sometimes wears
them and sometimes he dosn't. His
shoes are the 'roustabout's own shoes,
with tall, slender heels, and thin soles,
the very shoe in which the 'roustabOut"
can least conveniently follow his vocation.
a towel with blue or red border always
encircles him at the waist. Some of the
profession have been known TO wear
leather belts, but anything but friDged
towel is deemed heresy to the established
toilet. In this girdle he carries his cot
ton hook The weapon OF the "rousta-
bout' is the white-handled razor a razor
with a horn handle, or even a gold one,
would not do. 1t must be white to be
orthordox. You can hear the rousta-
bout" allude to this steel companion
with n blonde attachment as he kids"
his felluw. on the levee where hundred
OF tfie esail -fofr 1azily in the sun watching
the curing SMOKE Of the steamer com
ing from around the bend.
Git of dat foot, niger; ef you don't
I'll be onter yer wild my white handle
razer."
'' Yer will, eh Jes' come long. Pm |
a Phil AlLin (his favorite steamer) mig
ger, I am. Pm a b-a-a-d man, sho' Pll |
cut yer gwine, and I'll cut yer comm,
and I'll cut yer deep, an I'll walk all
'roun' yer an see why yer don't fall
down. Oh, I'm b-a-a-d man. am"
Each roustabout" has his " pardner,"
for whom be is bound to fight or steal so
long as the partnership exists. These
" pardners' load and unload cotton To-
gether, draw their pay together and assist
each other in MASKING up any negro who
may interfere with their concerns.
DeSots street is the roustabout's'"
headquarters when not at work. As il
is one of the unwritten lawsof the broth
erhood not to marry, their loves are pro
miscuous, and have associated with them
in their Individuality a class of lewd,
drinking negro women, who go to meet
them when the steamers arrive, and to
whom the roustabout's" greenbacks go
with a lavish hand.
This character, thus briefly sketched,
is familiar to Memphians. When work
ing, he of great service when idle, of
great annoyonce-the roustabout."