The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1878-07-25
How They Keep House.

en- eIy reside the poor whites of the
South rarely live more than mile or
two apart. Each householder or head
of a family, builds himself a little hut
of round logs or pine poles, chinks the
spaces between them with clay mixed
with wheaton straw; builds at one end
a big wooden chimney with tapering
top, all the interstices being daubed as
above, puts down puncheOn floor and
a loft Of ordinary boards overhead; fills
up the inside of the rude dwelling with
few rickety chairs, long bench, and
a dirty bed or two, spinning-wheel
(the loom. if any is outside under a
she'd, a skillet; an oven, a frying pan,
triangular cupboard in one corner
and rack over the door, on which to
place old "Spittire, "the family rifle, and
both the cabin and furniture are consid-
cred complete. The happy "owner"
then clears some five acres or so of land
Immediately surrounding his dOmicile,
and these he pretends to cultivate,
planting only corn, pumpkins, and a
little garden truck. He next builds a
rude kennel for his dog or dogs, prim-
itive looking stall for his nag, ditto for
Beck, his COW, and a pole hen-house
for his poultry. This last he covers
over with dirt and weeds, and erects
on one side of it long slim pole, from
the upper branches of which dangle
gOurds, for the martins to build their
nests in-martins being generally re-
garded as useful to drive off all bloody
minded hawks that look with too
hungry an eye upon the rising genera
ticn ofdunghills, Being thus prepared
for housekeeping, now comes the tug
of war. Whatever may be said of the
poverty of the poor white, of his igno-
rance and general spiritual degradation
he rarely suffers from hunger or cold.
As a class, indeed, they are much better
off than the peasantry of Europe, and
many poor mechanic in your city-to
say nothing of the thousands without
trade or occupation wandering through
the North and West-would be most
happy at any time from December to
March to share the blazing warmth of
the cheerful pine knots which glow
upon every poor mans hearth in the
South; as well as to help devour the fat
launches Of the noble old buck, whose
carcass hangs suspended from one of the
beams of the loft overhead, ready at
all times to have slice cut from it's
sinewy bones and broiled to delicious
juiciness upon the glowing Goals. In
deed, the only source of trouble to the
poor whites is the preservation of his
yearly "craps" of corn, owing to the
sterileness of his lands and deficient
cultivation that sometimes fails him,
running all to weeds and grass. But
he has no lack of meats. Wild hogs,
deer, wild turkeys, squirrels, raccoons,
oppossums--these and many more are
at his very door and he has only to pick
up "old Spitfire," walk short distance
out into the forest and return home
with enough meat to last him a week.
And should he desire to purchase a
little wool for spinning, or cotton ditto,
or little "Sweetning" to put in his
coffee or "sassefrack" tea, or few cups
and saucers, or powder and shot, salt,
meal, or household necessaries, a weeks
successful hunting invariably supplies
him with enough game to procure the
wished for luXuries which he soon
possesses himself of from the nearest
village or crossroads store. Having
obtained what he wants he hastens
back to his barren solitudes; his wife
and daughters spin and weave the wool
and cotton into such descriptions of
cloth as is most in vogue for the time
being; while the husband, father, sons
and brothers betake themselves to their
former idle habits-hunting, beef
shooting, gander-pulling, marble-play-
ing, card-playing, and getting drunk.