The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-09-21
Editorial Correspondence.

see from the papers that the weather
was exceedingly warm on the continent
last week. We had one or two days here
when the temperature was remarked on,
but they were not warmer than we should
feel it to be in Richmond at 500 or So
The nights are always cool enough to re,
quire most of the windows in the bed
chamber to be closed.
Sharks.
have not caught any sharks here, ut
it is very common for the visitors to Go
so. 1t is rather too late for them; l
went out one day, off Sagotay Head, and
had a bite, but no results. The shark
bites Contrary to previous Impressions
very much like our fresh-water suckers.
and, judge, it requires little dexterity
to catch them, particularly when the sea
is disturbed. The fishermen in the boat
told me that they had caught 800 sharks
this season. One, weighing about $50
pounds, lay dead on the beach, where il
had been left the day before They are
without value, except the liver, which
contains oil.
A Lesson for our Southern People.
[ wish our Southern people could have
the lesson which have learned since
have been here; it would wake good
many of them up. Nobody is idle here.
L notice the strictest economy and every
body at work. The first thing I was told
at my clearinghouse, was that 1 ought
to buy a box of backing and brush
this in reply to a question as to who was
to black my shoes. have BACKED then
myself. They keep no servants, excepl
an old decrepit woman whom they call
the drudge" The Nantucket ladies
(many of them most deliberately educated
do their own cooking, wash their own
clothes, clean up their own chambers,
scrub their own floors. 1t is in this way
these people have grown rich; there are
no drones and no extra mouths to feed
You will see colored woman with two
or three children sometimes) in Vir-
ginia kitchen; and a man to wash the
front steps; and couple Of nurses; and
a washerwoman and a chamber maid
The Nantucket family would perform all
these duties themselves, and spend the
winter evenings reading. I was walk
ing out yesterday afternoon, and saw a
nice, portly gentleman, with stiff white
hat on, with a long broom in his hands,
and bucket of water on the pavement.
lie was washing the pavement Gin black
frock coat). Many of the families here
take boarders in the summer; they en-
ploy little or no "help, in many instances,
even at this season in the winter, as
they tell me, they consider it mere play
to do the house work. I happened to
hear of lady near me who had fifty
table-boarders this summer. She is an
educated lady, but she cooked for the
fifty boarders, with the aid of "drudge''
to wash up the dishes "Who waited on
the tablet" asked the person who men
toned the fact to me. "My step-daugh-
ter, was the reply.
The lady across the street is repre-
sented to me to be one Of the most liter
airy ladies in the town-a contributor to
leading magazine "a visitor here told
me that she saw her few mornings ago
in soiled calico, with her head tied up
in a handkerchief, and her sleeves rolled
up, washing her front porch.
Nobody leans on anybody else. Every
man and every woman is expected to
stand on his own, and her own, feet.
The daughter is reared with the under
standing that she is to look out for her.
self when she leaves school.
The social distinctions seem to be based
on education; so far as I can Judge they
are not materially influenced by per-
sons occupation. The most elegant per-
sons are engaged in the mechanical trades.
/ merely speak Of Nantucket; 1 do not
know whether it represents the average
New England life in the country and
smaller towns.