Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1882-03-30
North and South Before and After
the War.

In oddities of Southern Life" con-
tributed by Mr.. Henry Watterson to The
Century for April, the author hits off in
the following manner the changes in
sectional feeling since the war:
In those days there were no bloated
bondholders. We had not even risen to
the dignity of the insurance agent. Cap
ital was really timid, and, for the most
part, was represented in the South, as
far as the East was concerned, by the
peddler, the colporteur, and the vender of
lightning-rods. These, who made them
selves familiar with Southern thorough
fares only, were impressed by the man
ners of our staggering hero; they stood
abashed before his bullying; they were
amused by his vulgarity; being for the
most part unversed in the ways of the
world, except that of trade, they were
bound to fall into mistakes. Not unnat-
urally, therefore, they mistook the
Southern swashbuckler for the Southern
gentleman, and carried home a daguer-
reotype of Southern life taken from
their adventures, which, as we may con-
lecture, were rarely of the incest. The
South, on lis part, got its view of the
North from the wandering middlemen
who were best known to it; and thus a
mutual misconception sprang into exist
ence-taking its ideas and examples, not
from the better classes of society, but
from the worst. The truth is, that be-
hind these the people, the good people,
of the North and South lived, moved,
and had their being: in the one section,
relying upon personal thrift and indus
try to build up fortunes; III the other
section. victims to circumstance rather
than design, accumulating debts as they
accumulated slaves. l am sure that /
am not mistaken in this. and, indeed,
events are verifying it. After years of
contention and war, the obstructive
forces are passing away, and what do
we see? Why, in the South, looking
northward, We see a race, kindred to
ourselves, a little less effusive, but hard
ly less genial, already disciplined and
equipped to struggle against the winds
and the waves. In the North, looking
southwark, the philosophic observer
sees, not huddle of lazy barbarians
composed in large part of murderers
and gamblers, but great body of Chris
tian men and women, who have had a
hard struggle with fate and fortune
but who have stood against the ele-
ments with fortitude that contradicts
the characteristics formerly imputed to
them; he sees the mistress of the man
sion, still a gentlewoman in the truest
sense, striving and savings patching
and pinching to make both ends meet
he sees, in short, a people, born to the
luxury of rich soil and warm eli
mate, and Injured to nothing except the
privations of diastrous war and unex
pected poverty, throwing themselves
bravely into the exigencies of real life
nowhere indolent and idle; nowhere de-
morallzed; everywhere cheerful, active
and sober.
1t is not of these, however, that
shall speak in these pages. The homely
story of their ups and down will pass
into the humOr of the future. / wish Il
introduce here lower order-to tall
of the comicalities and whimsicalities O
Southern life, embodied in the exploit
of the "howling raccoon of the noun
tains" and the musings of the epic her,
who, describing himself said: Il am
, fighter from Bitter Creek; I'm a vol
, and this is my night to howl. I've thre
rows of front teeth, and nary tootl
alike. The folks on Bitter Creek ar
bad; the higher up you go, the wus
they are; and I'm from the head waters.
This type is the offspring of class, anG
, as hnmor itself spring from the neithe
. side of nature, he must needs play
considerable part in the veracious chror
icle of Southern life.