The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1879-01-20
game brings in the way Of food. The meats Of the
coon. opossum squirrel. rabbit &C.. are all valued
hinhlv

game brings in the way of food. The meats of the
coon. opossum, squirrel rabbit. &C.. all valued
highly.
EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES.
These people have very limited means Of educa-
| ton. The two or three months school which come
every few years are poorly conducted affairs and
are poorly attended by the children. The school
inconvenient and rudely made. Their furniture
consists OF slab seats, made OF the halves of logs
hewed on the face and mounted legs made of
round poles driven in anger holes bored near the
ends of the slabs. Writing desks made by
placing broad planks wooden pegs driven in
the wall in an inclined position The teacher sits
the fireplace and has his classes approach and
stand near him during the recitation or lesson.
Lessons in spelling and reading are simply repeated
by the student who looks on the books during the
recitation. There is drilling in reading. A
stantly carried by the teacher. the policeman car
ries his club. to punish violators. At the present
rate of progress in mental culture these people VIII
remain ignorant for many generations.
suPERsTITIoNs.
They are filled with superstition and are guided
by great number of signs. &c. On Good Friday
they plant beans. Watermelon seeds arc planted on
the first day OF May before sunrise Potatoes grow
larger when planted the dark OF the moon"
Corn grows tall when planted on the eight of the
MOON. II a house is covered on the light of the
moon the boards do not lay smoothly, but cup up
and pull Off There will be as many SHOWS during
winter as there are fogs in Augugt. II
the hornets build their nests the
ground. or il the corn l,nsks are very thick hard
winter will follow. When large amount OF fresh
dirt remains after the burial of corpse mem
Der of the family will soon also be buried To turn
back after starting on journey bad luck except
cross mark be made OH the ground If whippoor-
will sits the door step ut night to sing of the
family Will die The Sabbath day is regarded more
as u suitable time to go on errands, make visits,
gossip, &c., than a day for worship.
MAPLE sUGAI--socIAL INTERCOURSE.
The sugar maple abounds i'll tho forests, and from
1t Is made maple sugar and syrup. The manner OF
making maple sugar has its romantic charms
camp is built in the susar tree grove. and kettles
for boiling the sap are hung on poles. Small troughs
placed at the roots of the sugar tree for catching
the sap which from the tree by reason of a small
anger hole having been bored or two inches deep
into its body. Into this hole is placeda spite for
veying the sap into the trough below. BuXom females
and romping boysand young men gather the sap rom
the troughs in vessels and carry it TO the kettles
The sugar camp at night during the boiling season.
is the resort for funloving young people, who meet
to enjoy themselves by playing social games, singing
love songs. romping and filling the wild woods with
the echoes of their mirth.
The social intercourse of these people is of type
peculiar and romantic. They dance slab floors
and in brogan shoes or homemade moccasns. The
party the most universal social institution
of playing social games which lead to
great deal of kissing, romping. love making, &c.
These meetings continue. generally, all night. The
mountain fiddler is All indispensable element in all
social life. He plays all tunes from memory. A
small number of favorites constitute his list "Ar-
kansas Traveller "Old kentuck," Cumberland
Cap" &C., among the favorites.
favorite sport among the men is the shooting
match. The prize most generally commended for is
either a beef, mutton, turkey purse of
money. The match always occurs at some secluded
place in the forest Each sportsman comes on the
ground provided with his outfit, which
consists of rifle gun and the necessary material for
loading it, and also board made black by being
slightly burned on the outside. A white paper, the
size of man 8 hand, is tackled this board. This
paper has fork in it from the lower end and the
point of this fork rests on cross mark on the board
This is the The six best shots out Of eleven
usually win. If the prize is beef the hind quarters
constitute the First CHOICE; fore quarters, 'second
choice is shot for separately. Matches are made at
ten twenty-five, forty and sixty PAGES. Ten-pace
matches are made ''otfhand the longer ranges with
rests. The position of shooting from rest is by
laying fiat upon the ground and resting the rifle upon
chunk fwood so as to steady it. Experienced marks
men often drive centre, and very close measuring is
required to decide whose ball is winner. Fighting
often occurs these decisions. Very little money
ever finds its way into the mountain wilds Among
the marketable products eggs, butter, ginsang,
chestnuts, the furs of animals &c.
THE AMUsEMENTs.
These people are vindctive and desperate in an
encounter. They are muscular and do not hesitate
to knock down and drag out unscrupulousy when a
free fight occurs. free of intoxicating drinks
often adds to the mischievous dispositions of the
mountaineers, and they commit some horrible deeds
No species Of deviftry seems too bad for them at
such times. They visit churches and fight during
services cutthe saddles and brides and shear the
names and tails or the horses hitched on the
grounds. If the coat tail of pious brother who
sits inside the church happens to be near
crack in the wall it Is quietly pulled through and
clipped of for sport Citizens often find their
have been stolen out. or they find wheel taken OF
and hid away. Small stones are placed under men
horn behind. &C.
Books. are seldom read and newspapers never reach
laton, since they costless and give directions as
to the the weather and the of all the
ills that flesh is heir to.
VIOLATIONS OF THE REVENUE LAWS.
These uneducated superstitious, vindictive people
TO take peculiar pleasure in violating the
enue laws Of the government. More than one
race distillers sprituous liquors The pioneers
of these wilds made and drank whiskey and
brandy, in ante-bellum days, and it is a
contracted both the habit Of making and the
love of drinking these intoxicating beverages.
Now that times are hard they are unable to
buy. at the enormous rates. the liquor they
love WELL They are also pecuniarily unable to
comply with the revenue laws in setting up dstil-
eries; hence they must abandon the bottle hunt
ripping stream OF water in dark ravine OF the
mountain where they can manufacture. undiscov-
cred, enough for home consumption. And no people
well qualified to carry into
ton such determination. They consider
the execution of the revenue laws by
the officers of the government dastardy
wicked species OF persecution, and they ready to
oppose this persecution with the same patriotic zeal
which would characterize them In a battle for their
country liberty. Ignorant they cannot see the
cessty for government tax spirituous liquors.
and they listen to every demagogue who prstes to
them of their great wrongs. The leaders in these
violations of law the hardest and most desperate
characters in the mountains.
PRIMITIVE DrsTIIIERIEs
They band together and select spot for building
distillery far out in dark, secluded ravinc where
no human eye unrrienuiy their Is
look upon them. With vows of secrecy these hardy
woodmen dspel the slumbers Of the widest haunts
they can reach by telling trees and erecting rude
log house. IL such IL be properly termed.
Its walls unchinkcd, its roof made of
clapboards, its floor of mother earth and its
doorway unfaced and unprovided with q shut
ter. The hxtures-still, cap and worm. tubs
&c.-arc carried to the spot under cover of night A
rough furnace into which the still is be fitted. is
erected the centre of the building The mash
tubs placed around the walls. Meal and fruit
are carried stealthy by the moonshners and placed
in the tubs for fermentation. This generally requires
six to ten days. and during this time every article
which can be movcd-tne still. cap and worm, &c.-
are hid away and the still house Is deserted. When
still beer is placed in a stiii and boiled the steam
arising from it is condensed in the still. cap
and out through the still worm. This still
worm is copper pipe made into coil and placed in
a tub called fiakc stand. Into the fake stand
acontnuous stream of cold water conveyed TO il by
long trough This fac makes IL necessary that dis
tillery be built stream OF running water. with
sufficient fall to convey IL by means of wooden
troughs into the Jake stand. The FIRST fluid which
is produced by the distllaton OF the beer is called
"singlings and again placed in the still for second