The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1879-05-08
GOING HOME AGAIN.
A Talk With Some Of the Louisiana Negroes at
81, LOulR,

Talk With Some OF the Louisiana Negroes &C
~. Louis.
From the ST. Louis Globe Democrat, Repl
"Well now" said the gentleman at the desk,
tell the reporter why you left the South"
"Welln,' said Chapman threatening to wipe
his black nose with the rim OF his hat ~ dunno.
wuz hyeanin' de people all talkin about COM
In an gittn ready fur to come, an dey wuS q
sayin' wat nice place Ka.ansas Wuz an 30 ies'
bundled up my things and come along"
"Was tina. the only reason for leaVlngH' asked
the reporter.
"Dat's de only reason know for It," said VII
liam.
mo one ever harmed or threatened you In the
South, You had no fears Of the whites 2"
"0h no, no no, indeed, Bless you, no white
man ever ha'med me,'
"And you never heard Of any troubles with tho
whites2"
'Deedn didn'. Dar wuz no trouble bout in
| our pars but hearn say at over in y other par
ishes dere wu2 some shootin' or sich."
you're not afraid to go back South ?"
"Nah, I'm not 'fraid Wat got be 'fraid uVH
Ef dere amt no much shootin and KILN dar
wen we lef, can't see nullin to be RSkeaIed
on"
"Then you are anxious to go back"
"Deed'n is De souf is good 'nuf TO me.
| amt ahed no health here since KUN. I've bin
mos; bilin' to do. Nah, nah, tell you, amt
fraid to go back. l had nice place down dar
and wuz liyin with Mr. CrRndel for over nine
yeaT-Mr. Crandell was nice man No, indeed
dere amt no KILN where l cum fom cause IL
dere wuz bet you wouldn't want ter get back"
Chapman went on to rattle Off a lot more irIele-
want stuff, and incidentally stated that although
he had been up here little more than a week he
earned FIVE dollars whereas he had not made
more than ten dollars year in the South. He
couldn't get on to Kansas he said. and didn't
know that he wanted to, as Kansas, he said
might be just as hard on him when he struck
/ II as this country was.
At this. juncture Henry Watson and Natha-
Robinson came In Henry was. II degrees Of COM
parison were possible the worst clad of the three,
and he looked like creeping hospital. His eyes
were watery, as If he had suffered from a long
siege of cold, and his looks were wild and hag-
gard, and he was very much inclined to double
up, Henry was the most talkative of the three,
as well as the most piable. He had left the South
for no other reason than that everybody else was
going Kansasward
"They said, " remarked Henry, sadly, "dat we
wuz to get land an $500 an HOSES an plows an
we all thought we wuz goin right straight to TO-
tunei but tell you I'm mighty sick ofit amt,
bin day well since got hyere, an do b'lieVe
Of wuz to stay hyere nuther week I'd be dead
niger"
"You seem to be pretty sick, suggested the re-
porter.
II guess l IL sick. Fl you wuz to see the .dif-
funoe between me wen wuz down dar and up
hyere, you'd say mus "a bin putty sick. Sick
amt no name for it, child-I'm dyin'."
Whereat everybody in the office laughed.
"You needn't laugh; I'm telin' you de Gods
ackchal truf. Dey ain'noly about dat emmy
Of emil tell you So"
"Weer not laughing at you, Henry" explained
one of Sells q Co.'s men, go on and tell the
| rest of your story"
Henry said he had no fear of going back South
knew of no killing, shooting or intimidating Of
any kind.
~ tell you, gemmen" said Henry enthusias,
| tiCally, Il want to go back so bad that wuz a
comm down right away dis eVnin' to telegraph
somebody to come right up hyeah TO- mean
wuz gOin' to say didn't expect to be live wen
dey got hyeah an so dey couldn't come any too
quick"
The darkios acknowledged that they had worked
year after year without being any the richer for
it; that they were charged exorbitant prices for
supplies under the credit system Of the planters,
and they were only going back because they
could live easier and more lazily in the Madison
parish. They strenuousy denied any threats or
violence, and all three said they voted whenever
they pleased and whatever ticket they took no.
ton to. Nathan Robson said he had always
voted the Republican ticket. Watson and Chap
man had not voted at the last election, but be.
lieVed they voted Republican.
They said they were going to use their utmost
eloquence to dissuale the remaining darkies in
the South from emig ating