The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1879-06-26
Moses Among the BuIlrushes.

That innocent soul: the funny man of
Old Virginny, 'Mozis Adums,'' so-called.
which is short for DIR. Geo. w. Bagby. p
B.-paid a flying visit to Reidsville the
other day to lecture Capt. Tom Evans and
the rest Of the Reidsvillians. His report
isn't so very" funny but We print a piece
of it =
| want to write something about Reds
vile. Before my visit there 1 knew but two
men IN North Caroilna-GOv. Vance and
Capt. Tom Evans. With Vance, Hone. and
CorDrew l spent a merry morning In Norfolk
some years ago, and to the Governor | owe.
we all owe, a debt OF gratitude for his elo-
quent defence OF The Scattered P~eople.'
They are coming up, these Jews, it is a
literal ground-swell, and, whatever Won may
feel about it, l AN getting woiully tired of
his superabundance Of pronounced Hebrew
faces. Let us wash out these noses with
some nice christian snubs and pugs-let's
marry their money and plane Town their
p~hysognomles. 1t IL do EN- good, and us
10. BY the way, odd thing the Romans
conquered the Jews, but lett their noses in
the hands OF the conquered party.
Soon after supper, Tor | had not eaten at
Dundee, | perceived that somewhat was
toward, Us Carlyle would say. Upor In
quiry | found that a runaway couple were
about to be tied. Poor, deluded souls and
not white souls either, only half SO. Might
| see the ceremony? Assuredly. After "A
little waiting we repaired to the office Of
j Justice , l can't recall his name, and
soon the couple appeared, a good looking
mulatto man, with a girl OF the same hue,
who seemed to be pretty, but her white il
fusion veil, tied closely about her face, pre-
vented us from telling whether she really
was pretty or not. Figure good, dress plain
but neat. Several friends, all males, .ac-
companled them.
In making out the needful papers, the
Justice had to ask d number of questions.
| All went well till he said to the girl:
Nv hat is your age?'
Seventeen, sir, was the modest reply.
'The law forbids me to marry you if YOU
are no older than that"
Commotion. The groom expectant and
his friends gather around the would-be bride
and there is much talk. The whites in anx-
ious expectation await the result of the talk,
one OF them saying out aloud:
judge, it would be a pity to stop the
thing at this precise point.
1t Is my duty, SAID the Judge. gravely.
Finally the veiicd lady, with som tremor
in her voice, said, in pretty good English :
l. uoh 1 hhON lily oSS CAdCtN1 I'll. DuC
| Know that | got me a brother that is six
teen, then there was another betwixt me and
him that died; SO | think | must be
eighteen, or may be twenty
All right said the Justice. three dol
lars - which the groom quickly paid, and
in tv o minutes the knot was tied.
Dear young yellow friends. | was once
mixed up myself in a runaway match that
turned out in a way that YOU would hardly
fancy. | wish you mighty we'll, but.
\ little later, they appeared III front OF
the Labarbe, and a friend stepping forward,
said de lady and gentmen would like to
git 'commodated eff twill only train time. =
No accommodation could be had; So, arm
in arm, they slowly wandered away in the
moonlight, and, turning a corner, disappear
ed. We al felt 50 sorry for them, but the
night was warm.
The mex day was also warm. DIR. Scales,
a tall, lively-eycd apotheco-physlclan. who
ought long ago to have made some womal
a good husband, was kind enough to intro
duce me to a number of the citizens, and
among them to Messrs. Reld and W%osten,
toba GO men on a large scale. From these
gentlemen and others | learned that Relds-
V lie has a population OF 1000 to 100,
tnrce warehouses. eight to ten factories,
twelve to fifteen stores, three newspapers,
two hotels, and churches Of the usual de-
nominations. 1t is In Rockingham county,
half way between Danville and Greensboro,
and just upon the dividing line between the
dark and the bright tobacco producing coun-
ties-a point in every way favorable tor the