The Portland daily press., 1881-01-10
The Southern Negro.
Anew Of His Characteristics as Detected
by Tom Hughes.

Tennessee Letter to the London Spectator
am coming to the conclusion that wher-
ever work is to be had, in Tennessee, at any
rate, there will the negro be found. He seems
to gather to contractor like the buzzards.
which one sees over the tree-tops, to carrion.
And unless the white natives take to 'putting
In all theif time" whatever work is going will
not remain long with them. The niger will
loaf and shirk as often as not when he gets
the chance, but he has not the same craving
for knocking off altogether as soon as he has
couple of dollars in his pocket, has no strong
hunting instinct, and has not acquired the art
of letting his pick drop lstlessly into the ground
with its own weight, and stopping to admire
the scenery after every half-dozen strokes.
The negro is more obedient, moreover; and man.
ageable-obedient, to a fault, if one can be-
lieve many stories one hears of his readiness
to commit small msdemeanors and crimes.
and not always small ones, at the biding of his
employers. There is one thing however,
which IN equally unanimous testimony agrees
in declaring that he will not do, and that is,
to sell his vote, or be dragooned into giving it
for any one but his own choice. He may, III
deed, be scared from voting, but cannot be
Squared" a singular testimony, surely, of his
prospective value as citizen. Equally strong
is the evidence of his resolute determination to
get his children educated. In some southern
states the children are, l believe, kept apart,
but in the only school 1 have had the chance
of seeing, black and white children l. ere to-
gether. And everywhere, 1 hear, the blacks
are forcing the running, with respect to edu-
cation, and great numbers of them are show
ing. thrift and energy which are likely to
make them formidable competitors in the
struggle for existence in all states south of
Kentucky at any rate
In one department Ia very small one no
doubt they will have crowded out the native
whites in very short time if NAV Judge by
our experience in this house. We number two
ladies and six men, and our whole service is
done by one boy. Our first experiment was
with young native, who "rea-ed up'' on the
first morning at the idea of having to black
boots Ihls prejudice, was removed for the
moment and he stayed for few days. Soon
after Amos Hill arrived with almost pathetic
apologies and negro boy short of stature.
huge of mouth, fabulous in the apparent age
OF his garments. named jeff. He had no
other name, he told us, and did not know
whether it signifed Jefferson or Jeffrey, or
where or how he got it, or any thing about
himself except that he had got our place at S5
month-at which he showed his ivory
"some!" From this time all was changed
JUL, II 10 tIuo, dltcr urSI Two QayS, gave
proofs that he was not converted, like the
white housemaid who had learned to sweep
under the mats. His sweeping and tidying
were decidedly those of the sinner and he
entirely abandoned the only hard work we set
him as soon as it was out of sight from the
asylum. 1t was path leading to a shallow
well which the boys had dug at the bottom of
the garden. The last 20 yards or SO are on
sleeper incline than the part next the house.
so jeff studiously completed the few feet that
were left to the brow, and never put pick or
shovel on the remainder, which lay behind the
friendly brow of the slope. But in all other
directions, where the work was mainly odd
jobs, respectable kind of loafing, jeff was
always to the fore, acquitting himself to the
best think, of his ability. never could find
out whether he could read. One evening he
came up proudly to ask whether his mail had
come, and sure enough when the mail arrived
there was postcard, which he claimed. We
thought he would ask one of US to read it for
him, but were disappointed. He had habit
OF grooming over and over again all day some
scrap of song. One of these excited my curl
soity exceedingly, bnt 1 never succeeded in
getting more than two lines out of him.