Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1878-07-05
The Poor Mhl,e. Of the sou,n.
AN INTERESTING SKETCH or THEIR PEcULGAGI-
TIES AND CHARACTERISTICS.

AN INTERESTING SKETCH or THEIR PEcUL1AEI-
TIES AND CHARACTERIsT1cs.
70. W. smallcy in Philadelphia Times.l
To form any proper conception of the con-
! dition of the poor white trash one should see
them rs they are. II is true that the war,
emancipation and the establishment of free
schools has helped their condition somewhat,
! but they yet retain many Of those character
! istcs which distinguished them in slavery
times. The poor white trash are about the
only paupers in the Southern States, and
they are very rarely supported by either the
! State or community in which they reside.
! They are found nowhere but in the country,
in hilly and mountainous regions generally
| in communities by themselves and far re-
moved from the more refined settlements.
Why it is they always select the hilly and con-
sequcntly unproductive districts for their
| homes is unknown. In the settlements where
in they chiefly reside the poor whites rarely
live more than mile or two apart Each
householder or head of family builds him
self little hut Of round logs or pine poles,
chinks the spaces between these with clay
mixed with wheaton straw builds at one end
big wooden chimney with tapering top
all the intersices being "dobbed' as above
| puts down puncheon floor, and loft of or
dnary boards overhead fills the inside of the
rude dwelling with II few rickcty chairs, a
long bench, dirty bed or two, a spinning
wheel (the loom, if any is outside under
! shed), skillet, an oven, frying pan, tri-
angular cupboard in one corner and n rack
over the door on which to hang old 'Spittire,"
the family rifle and both the cabin and furn-
ture are considered as complete. The happy
| owner then clears" some five acres or so of
| land Immediately surrounding his domicile,
and these he prctends to cultivate, planting
only corn, pumpkins and a little garden truck.
He next builds II rude kennel for his dog or
| dogs. primitive looking stall for his mag"
ditto for Beck, his COW, and a pole henhouse
| for his poultry. This last he covers over
with dirt and weeds. and erects on one side Of
it a long slim pole, from the upper branches
of which dangle gourds for the martins to
build their nests in-martins being generally
regarded ns useful to drive of all bloody
minded hawks that look with too hungry an
| eye upon the rising generation of dunghills
Being thus prepared for house keeping. now
comes the tug of war. Whatever may he
said of the poverty of the poor white, OF his
! ignorance and general spiritual degradation,
he rarely suffers from hunger or cold. As Il
class, indeed, they are much better of than
the peasantry in Europe and many poor
mechanic in your city-to say nothing of the
thousands without trade or occupation wan
dering through the North aud West-would
be most happy at any time from December to
March to share the cheerful warmth of the
blazing 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 ohave a slice cut from its sinewy
bones and broiled to delicious juciness upon
the glowing Goals. Indeed, the only source
of trouble TO the poor white is the preserva-
tion of his yearly crop" of corn, which, ow-
ing to the sterileness OF his lands and deficient
cultivation sometimes fail him. running to
weeds and grass. But he has no lack Of
meats. Wild hogs, deer, wild turkeys,
squirrels raccoons, opossums-these and
many more Mt his very doors and he has only
to pick up ''od Spitfre, walk few miles
into the forest. and return home with meat
enough 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 'sassefock' tea or few cups
and saueers or powder and shot, salt, meal
or other household necessaries, a weeks sue
cessful hunting invariably supplies him with
game enough to procure the withal for lux
uries which he soon possesses himself of from
the nearest village or crossroads store. Hav
ing oItIined what h. wants, he hastens back
TO his barren solitude : his wife and daughters
spin and weave the wool or cotton into such
descriptions of cloth rs is most in vogue for
| the time being; while the husband, father,
sons and brothers betake themselves TO their
former idle habits-hunting. becf-shoOting,
| gaudcr-pulling, marble-playmg. card-playing
| and getting drunk. PanicS, financial pressure
and the like are unknown among them. and
about the only crisis of which they know any
| thing is when poor fellow is called upon to
| shuttle of this mortal coil. Money in fact
| is almost an unknown commodity in their
midst, and whether our currency is gold,
greenbacks or the dollar of the "daddies'
concerns them not Nearly all of their traf-
| ticking is carried on by barter alone In
their currency a COW is considered worth so
much, horse so much, IA dog so much, a fat
buck so much, n fat turkey so much, a coon
skin so much, etc, and by these values al
| most everything else is rated. Dollars and
dimes they never bother their brains about.
The chief characteristic the crowning en-
hlem of the poor white, however, is laziness,
lie is the --latest two-legged animal that walks
! erect on the earth. Even his motions arg
slow and his speech sickening drawl worse
a great deal than the most downeastern of all
the downeasters while his thoughts and ideas
creep along at n snairs pace. All he seems to
! care for is to live from hand to mouth to
| get drunk provided he can do so without
! having to trudge too far for his liquor to
| shoot for beef to attend gander- -pullings to
| vote Mt elections to eat and sleep; to lounge
in the sunshine of bright Summers day,
and to bask in the warmth Of roaring wood
| fire when Summer days are over. In religion
the poor white is generally of the hard-shell
persuasion and his parson is of the 'whang-
doodle" order. He is also very superstitious,
being firm believer in witches and hobgOb,
Inns, haunts and spooks in fortune-telling
after the ancient modes-such as palm-cut-
ting, or the revelations of coffee-grounds left
in the bottom of the cup after the fluid has
| been drained of.