The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1883-12-27

IO"if DACelU, AIOA CfCh NOiILhOh oolO
was upon this frugal board. A SIM
pier feast could not be imagined; a
less inviting and satisfying one | have
never heard of, out of a long-belea-
guered city. The potatoes were not
what the Americans call "Irish pota-
toes, from excess Of politeness or
from botanical ignorance. Those be-
fore me were ''sweet" potatoes, a sort
of yam. had tasted them before,
and had been content with limited
experience. Now they were all I had
to dine upon. AS | was not invited
to join my friends in disposing Of the
feast, [ fell into Cracker modes, and
helped myself to a couple Of the sod
den roots, and followed their example
in stripping them longitudinally and
throwing the skins upon the table,
which I need scarcely say had no cloth
upon it.
bit the yellow, sickly, sticky, star
chy mass, and endeavored to make the
best Of things. But | was new to
Cracker cuisine. [ believe I could
have swallowed as much soap as easi-
ly. Whether it was the earth adher-
ing to the potatoes that caused the
vile flavor, for l do not suppose that
they were washed before cooking, or
whether the kettle or the tin vessel
were filthy with accumulated impuri-
ties, | cannot say; | left the table
hurriedly, evoking thereby all the as
tonishment that my entertainers were
capable of. When [ returned and
begged for a drink Of water, they
were still suffering from acute amaze
ment, and really stared at me without
reserve. But they did not hasten to
give me water. Either through neg
ligence, or because it was not the
family custom to drink at dinner,
there was no water upon the table.
The mother bade the agirl fetch
some. Now, filial piety is not vehe-
ment in advanced American society;
in the most retarded, such as [ then
moved in, it is inappreciable to a
stranger. At any rate, the young la
dy paid not the slightest attention to
her mothers request, but went peel
ing and eating sweet potatoes with
much relish. At length her father
rose, and without further rebuke than
that of example, he took a singularly
unclean-looking pail from under the
dining-table and gravely quilted the
house. ] felt grateful for his oblige-
ance; but further experience of Crack
er conduct induces me to believe that
I was bestowing commendation upon
an undeserving object. My hosts in
dividual thirst was most probably the
cause Of his journey to the lake. Soon
he returned, placed the pail upon the
table, and forthwith helped himself
therefrom. Then his wife drank from
the tin can which supplied the place
of glasses to the diners; then the
diners; then the young lady partook
of copious draught, I waited to the
last. 1t was well that I did so, for l
made another breach of good man
ners. I had again to hurry outside.
The water was positively loathsome.
1t was warm, brackish, and turbid, as
though the pail had contained milk.
Swallow it | could not.
Such was the dinner to which white
people Of my own race and speech had
sat down and eaten. [ do not think
that omnivorous man partakes, Of any
food that so degenerates him as the
sweet potato, when it becomes the sta
pie, as it is said to be, Of Florida
Cracker households for large part Of
the year. It's nutritive value must be
small, and it lacks the flavor of the
tuber that is found upon the tables Of
British households. But it is easily
cultivated, is an almost sure crop, and
yields prolifcally. In climate like
that of Florida, moist and hot, sever
al crops can be got in the year.. No
doubt, this wretched diet is largely
the cause of the physical deterioration
of the Crackers. The solitude Of their
lives, their apathetic Indifference to
all things external to their narrow
sympathies, their suspicion o;e strane-
ers, and the contact with negroes and
indians, are sufficient to defect them
into avenues of being far apart from
those pursued by white people in the
more settled parts Of the United
States; but their repulsive and monot-
onous food intex.giRes their degrada-
ton, and makes amelioration almost
Events how taking place
however, will probably arrest the
downward career Of these people, and
compel them to play vigilant part in
the civilizing Of their native State, or
perish in the vigilant onrush Of an
invading world.
Florida is the winter sanatorium of
and it is becoming dotted
with orange and lemon groves, wher-
ever these fruits will flourish. Rail-
ways, steamboats,, stage-wagons, are
penetrating further into the peninsu-
la each year, and vast amounts Of cap
ital are flowing into the State. This
brings with it Northern people, who
are the antitheses of the torpid, fur
tive, unsocial Cracker, and with whom
they cannot have any but hostile rela-
tions. Ere this century be spent,
these mean whites will either be ab-
sorbed into the ranks of the new Flo
ridians, or they will be confined to
the irreelaimahle swamps Of their ma
tive land. The downfall of negro
slavery included the abolition Of the
poor white semi-savage. Slavery Gre
ated the Cracker; freedom will de-
stroy him; or rather, let us hope, will
win him back to the civilization from
which his fathers lapsed.