Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1880-10-14
The Hoosier.
Type. to he found In Indiana
N UNINyITING PICTURE OF LIFE n TIE |
BACK SETTLEMENT.

N JNINyITiNG PICTURE OF LIFE N TIE
BACH SETTLEMENT.
\ correspondent of the New York Tribune
who has been travelling in Indiana, writes
that Ilooser OF the primc,al Sor,-and no
other Is worth talking nbout-Iives in
half ruined log house, with the clay crumb-
ling from it, crevices He "staggers, his
windows, a. an architect would say. His
chimney Of mud and sticks, essence Of laxi-
ness, stand. on the outside Of his house
80 does his ladder for going up stairs He
ha, no gates grandmother and all have to
climb fences. Inside of his house is rag
carpet. bed on the floor and a parlor or
gan that has never been busted Foreign
cooking recipes. with their weighugs and
soakings and chopinss and pourings from
one bowl to another are not useful to the
lady OF this mansion. Nor i she interested
III ranges and sauccpans. Her stove stands
out Of doors, perhaps, with nothing but the
SKY over H. She does her work quickly and
easily, displaying superhuman energy in
making the least Of il. Her cooking and
her beds-but here We come % a painful
point, aud, ike Sterne when he drew his
captive, are forced 10 20 on with different
part Of the picture In a little hamlet Of
such houses everything, inhabitants and all.
are dust color The children play in the
dust OF the road ,craping il together and
throwing it up TO fall on their hair and
down their necks Those young ones"
-. =. i 4 4
the teams go along. The village NAV be
only three Years old. but it looks a. il the
sweeplngs OF three centuries were blowing
about is streets. the villagers have a
mania for building lit,le sheds aud using
them when half blown down, and there they
stand IN the mellow Indiana sunshine which
lrradiatcs them with its peculiar, melting
mIstiness The street j. strewn with sticks
and chips. The enormous weeds and
grasses have never been cut there are no
lawn. nor trim parterres The men are like
Mr.. Feeblcmind in Pilgrims Progress. .'.of
no strength Of body nor vet Of mind" They
are mostly occupied in what DeQuincey calls
the ''velOcty and contagious artlors Of con
versatlon' at the grocery. The women sit
on their thresholds. elbows on knees, chin
on palms all lack the industry that makes
beautiful homes.
The village tavern keeper is butcher and
justice of the peace. His sitting and din
ing room and kitchen are one. When he is
drunk his guests 20 on few miles further.
The doctor OF the neighborhood is six feet
three; he wears plug" hat, seedy black
clothes with split on one Knee, gum shoes,
green with age. and worn out boots inside of
them. lie stalks about, hands behind him,
with an indescrlbable air Of professionalism.
He never has fire in his office, has nothing
to make one with nor any business to make
one for. If you're "bilious as a frog pond,
he is the man that knows what to do for
you.
Go into one of the shapeless hOuses-they
have a dim sense of form here and ask if
they have any buttermilk to spare. YES"
says the oldest girl
I'VE hain't, YOU hound Don't YOU know
what a bulldog your father is for buttermilk2
Don't give none away" says the mother.
Il amt a-gunter,' says the girl. The girl
sits with her chair tilted back, swinging her
bare feet closely about her chair legs Her
legs are shaped like coffee-pots, big end
down. Her feet look like something that
has been buried and dug up; their form
itScmbics q StputAiS SURVEY VI =" "tstcfi
America-vast plains with hummocks here
and there. Her head is frowsy as sleeps
back.
''You're the no-'countest girl, Where
was you at all the morning. asks her moth
er.
al was at Miss Jim Pelrs," answers the
daughter.
.'Who all was there 81
Nobody but Miss Tom Lett from Hog
Hollow"
''Id say (astonished) | lowed that Bud
Fowler was there you always have some
trifin' feller at your heels. want you to
get shed of him." says the mother.
81 hain't seen him this week, and am
not no lyin,' onnery fool" replies the girl
s'Hunker down. Don't talk to me that
away" says the mother.
When this girl goes on the cars she gets
into the smoking car. This is the smoking
car. Miss" says the brakeman. 81 don't
care. I'd take smoke myselfif had pipe"
says She All Hoosier women are not Of
his type. l never saw anybody who could
walk her skirts and sunbonnet cape into fy-
ing back to such degree as an energetic
Hoosier woman. All Hoosier villages are
not like this. Indiana is rich in villages,
whose citizens are Of the highest cultivation
and whose local newspapers are superior to
almost any other. Such are Kokomo and
Crawfordsville.