The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1882-04-05
North and South Before and After
tho War.


tributed by Mr.. Henry Watterson to the
Century for April, the author hits off In
the following happy manner the changes
In sectional feeling since the war:
In those days there were no bloatetl
bOndhOlders. We had not even risen to
the dignity Of the insurance agent. Cap
ital WIS really tinlid, and, for the most
part, was represented in the South, as
far as the Fast was concerned, by the
peddler, the colporteur, and the ventler Of
lightning-rO(ls. These, who made them
selves familiar with Southern thorough
fares only, were impressed with the
manners Of our staggering hero; they
stood abashed before his bullying; they
were amused by his vulxar,ty being
for the most part unversed in the ways
of the world, except that OF trade, they
were bound to fall into mistakes Not
unnaturally, therefore, they mistOOk
the Southern swashbuckler for the
Southern gentleman, and carried home
Il daguerreotypc of Southern life taken
from their adventures, which, as We
may conjecture, were rarely OF the
nic1st. The South, on its part, got its
view of the North from the wandering
middlemen who were best known to it:
and thus mutualnliscOnception spr:ang
into cxistence-taking its ideas and ex-
amples, not from the better classes Of
society, but from the worst. The truth
Is, that behind these the people, the
good people, Of the North and South
lived, moved, and had their being in
the one section, relying on personal
thrift and industry to build up fortunes;
in the other section, victims to c;rcunl-
stance rather than design, accumulate
ing debts as they accumulated slaves.
am sure that I am not mistaken in this {;
and, indeed, events are verifying it. Az
ter years of contention and war, the Ob-
structive forces are passing away, and
what do We see::' Why, iii the South,
looking NOrthward, we see u race, kim
dre<l to ourselves, q little less cffi,sive.
but hardly less genial, already di~ci-
plined and equipped to struggle against
the winds and the waves. In the North,
looking Southwark, the philNsOphic OBJ
server sees, not huddle of lazy barbar-
ians, composed in large part Of of inur-
dcrers and gamblers, but u great body
Of Christian men and women, who have
had hard struggle with fate and for
tune, but who have stood against the el-
elnents with f0rtitudc that contradicts
the characteristics formerly imputed to
them; he sees the master Of yesterday
the tOiler of to-day; he sees the mistress
Of the mansion, still gcntlcwoman in
the truest sense, striving and saving,
patching, piecing, and pimching to make
both ends meet he secs, in short, peo-
pie. born to the luxury Of u rich soil and
walnl climate, and Injured tO nothing
except the privations Of disastrous war
and unexPectSl- tx,verty, throwing
themselves bravely into the exigencies
oj real life; nowhere indolent and idle
nowhere denloralizssl; cverywhcrr
cheerful, active and sOl,er.
1t is not Of these, however, that I
shall speak of in these pages. The home
~ story ct their ups and downs will
pass into the humOr Of the future.
wish to introduce here lower order
tO talk Of the co,.licalities and whiinsi..- =
alities Of Southern life embodied in the
exploits Of the ''howlim:s r:,cc.,on Of the
mountains" and the musings "f the epic
hero who, dcscrihin. himself, said: ~
ain II fighter from Bitter Creek; I'm II
wolf, ami this is my night to howl. I've
three rows Of front teeth. and nary tooth
alike; the folks OH Bitter Creek are had;
the higher up you go, the wu<< they are:
aud Pm from. fk: hr0>f-1wiC,*." This
type is the offspring o: Il class, and, aS
hui,,or itself springs from the netl,cr
side Of nature. H.. must needs play com
siderable part III the vcracin,l> clironicl,
nf Southern lie.