The Ouachita telegraph., 1882-12-16
THE SAND KILLERS OF SOUTH CARO-
LIMA.
frank willSeson in n. Y. Sun.l


South Carolina. They seem a distinct
type. From whom they descended no
one knows. Morally they are wrecks
beyond redemption. They are mirer-
ably poor. They are d. 5pised by
white and blacks alike. They have
no ambition, no hope, no thought OF u
higher life.
"A sand hitler is 4 raw-boned, gaunt,
cadaverous man. He is put together
loosely. He shambl' in his gait. He
is humble in spirit, and looks down.
ward IS though searching for lost coin.
There is a peculiar side glance from,
the corners Of his eyes, furtive,
timid, abashed glance that thoroughly
expresst s the craven spirit of the crea-
ture. His wife is generally a depres:-
ed looking female much given to pipe
smoking, tobacco chewing, and occa-
sionally to the pleasure of clay eating.
His children are simply young sand
hillers. Some of them, of tender years
are slaves of the clay habit. These
people live in squalid novels hidden
from the sight Of passing travellers by
trees. Many of these wretched dwell
ings stand in ravincs where there is a
little level land fit for agriculture. n
few chickens stalk sadly around the
yards. A pig, lean, active, straight
tailed, walks with hungry briskness
about the house. The sand hitler who
does not own a dog does not live in
South Carolina. They generally have
more than one-mean, sneaking ours,
NANCY, fea-bitten, and always tired.
There has been II weak effort at agri-
culture around the houses of the sand
hillers. A few acres of the sandy soil
have been scratched with a light
plough, having wooden mouldtoard,
and drawn by single mule, steer, Or
cow. A few vegetables, some corn,
and occasionally a little patch of cot
ton, a very small patch this, as the
true sand hitler is not given to work
ing the soil, are planted. They raise
enough to feed their families, general
ly. If they do not, they supplement
the supply by stealing, or by selling
wood. They hunt, they fish, they sit
in the sun. When they are tired of
ference the resinous heart of the pitch
pine, called light wood. 1t takes
long time for sandhiller to cut the
eighth of cord of this wood, pos cibly
an entire week. When Saturday morn
ing comes the torpid animal dresses
himself i'll his best clothes, bitches his
single animal to his cart, which is
loaded with the wood, and slowly
travels over miles of sandy roads to
market. Arriving there, he sells his
wood, receiving from fifty cents to a
dollar and a half for the load. This
money he promptly invests in whis.
key, which he carries home. lie does
not linger in town, preferring the soli-
tude of the sand hills, where, surround
ed by his squalid family, he canquiet-
ly get drunk and thoroughly enjoy
sand hill society.
This part ofSouth Carolina is a coun-
try of one-horse wagons. 1t is rare to
see two horses harneSsed and hitchcd
to farm wagon as they are in the
Western agricultural States. One
mule or horse hitched to wagon or a
cart is the prevailing rig. The sand
hitler has soberly burlesqued this con-
veyance. He, finding, or begging, or.
stealing, or it may be buying, though
the latter is highly improbable, pair
of wheels and an axletree, builds a
cart. The cart is a rough affair, pinn-
ed together with wooden pins, and
imprecsing the Northern beholder with
the belief that it will shortly fall to
pieces I have stopped on the street
several times to see tht sc carts tumble
into kindling woo /, but they hung to-
gether, and creakingly rolled out of
town in the direction of the sand hills.
To this cart a small bull, COW, or steer
is hitchol. Three.quarters of the sand
hillers have but a single animcl, n So
ber, sad-faced animal that doc; not
chew the cud of content; indeed, !
have yet to see them chewing any
cud, either of content or discomfort.
The harness used is home made, con-
sisting of bits of leathern straps, ropes,
and short chains. Many of the ami
mails have collars made of corn husks,
and are harnessed as hoIseS are in the
North and West. Othel.s have sim
gle yoke, such as are used on self-suck-
ing cows in the Northern States. The
cattle are we'll broken and remarka-
bly, docile. They stand stanchly when
left on the road, or, when they are at
the end of their journey, they lie down
and blink kindly at the by-passcrs.
That there is anything ludicrous in the
appearance of these teams and their
drivers never seems to strike the
Southern men. I thought that the
sight of the "one-horse farms,' on the
streets might have made the dominant
class thoughtful, and that the tremend-
Gus imperatively demanding attention
arose before them. Not so. They are
used to the spectacle, and carelessly
damn both negroes and sand hillcrs