The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1883-12-04
Village Wlnttlers

TO which public attention has bee
attracted by the cruel murder of th
young and pretty Ada Atkinson. ha
some eight hundred sou]s-mostIy SLOW
contented, hospitable, stupid, Hoosie
souls. And they ali whittle. Ever
store has its wooden box sitting befor
It, and every box has its whittIers sii
ting upon it. Near the public squar
Is ralilng--a long soantling on thre
posts-ev'dently once intended to pro
tect pedestrians against q yawnin.
excavation, but now risen to the i'm
portance Of free whiting post. Her
one may study whiting as a fine ar
and science. Here one who has moth
Ing else to do-and what else oan on,
md to Go in Oxford?-may study til,
! chnracters OF men by their wh1ttllng-
Know the carpenter by his chips, as i
were.
nero Is wee, pearl-handled pen
knlte with blade not an inch long, hello
IN clean, delicate fingers, while q tiny
slv' : Is broken from the scaptling aud
poised, pointing toward the breast. as, o
woman holds pencil That she yainly
hol - to sharpen. The whiting is
done towards he thick of the thumb
that steadies the end of the little silver.
and mites OF shavings timldly fail at the
feet of "dude" whittier, who does
no. belong in Oxford, but is probably a
traveller from some Boston millinery
house and charges his cigarettes to his
expense account. How different from
the genuine Oxford whittier! He whips
ont huge bone-handled knife-a good
handful of a knite-and throws open
1~Io l.
sharp click that proudly proclaims:
'Ihere's backbone in our family, I'd
have you to know" Striding con-
hdently up to the railing this whittier
rubs the blade back and fourth over
the soft, weather-drabbed pine, and
makes the assault. B-r-r-ripl and he
has stick large enough for any school
masters rod as large as any school
master should be permitted to use
and the whiting begins.
The stick has otboen cut from the
scantling; the knife started it and the
sheer force OF the whittier tore it off.
And 80 also he whites. His knife ,s
not sharp, for this whittier is none of
your lazy fellows who sits around the
house all day with nothing to do but
wear out whetstones and keep knives
sharp. lie is q vigorous, active man.
who, although there IS nothing worth
doing, is never idle. He forces the
knife into the stick and prizes off silver
after silver as he begrudginglY STAYS
long enough to hear the latest VILLAGE
gossip; and when his stick is thus brok-
en- into bits he hurries on to the post
ntfica for nlthnngh -.hn has not n oor.
"'"c =: gu pvst nnckago sirue-.-,,ss
ago last Valentines day, he goes to tie
post Office on the arrival of every mail
and, with the others, complains that
the postmaster is slow in making the
The justice of the piece Is n thought
full whittier. He made dollar and six
bits in feos last year, and whitfield away
$3 worth of wood. His knife is neither
sharp nor dull. It is like his wits
dull over the straightest-
grain questions, but wonderfully keen
when knotty problems get in the way.
He breaks off piece of wood with his
stumpy fingers, and sits Oh the edge OF
the sidewalk rs if lie had como to stay;
and why should he not stay sin he
has all the time there is, and can do
nearly as much business there on the
sidewalk rs in his little temple of Justice
bard byP Before proceeding to whittIe
he thinks it over long, long time, and
turns the stick end for end, and end for
end again. Finally, breaking into a
low, soft whistling OF old "Coronation"
or "PleyeIs Hymn" he outs a notch
in one end of the stick, and, half LISTEN
ing to the gossip of his fellow-villagers,
he goes OH whiting and whiting,
whiting and whiting.
Now and then he slices long, even
from the stick, and squints
along the surface to see if it is straight.
Then he sits and looks at the wood and
thinks, and thinks, and tbinksl What
will ne make OF that stick? Simply
He will squint along It's sides
and make 1t as Lowell rs the villagers
suppose his head to be; md he will
smooth it down until 1T is as glossy as
the elbows of his coat. But, after all,
he will have only smooth, straight
stick. Does it symbolize his thoughts?
Is he sitting Oh the edge of that side
walk dreaming OF the now Jerusalem
and reminding himself that, notwith-
standing tho gloss of vnrnish on the
tortuous paths of woo, the straight way
is the smoothest way? Nobody knows.
He only whittles and whittles, and
speaks not his thoughts.
And here comes the young man with
the brand new knife that his visiting
uncle has just brought from tho city.
He is III breathless haste to show it to
the villagers who, each in his turn,
takes its German silver handle in his
hand-actually takes it in his own hand
and looks from tho knlfo to the
sparkling eyes of the villagers who
cluster around and tip whlnks back at
him, as if to say: "Ain't she daisy,
thought He turns up the handle and
roads tho name Of the maker, q famous
ono, and every villager says: "G Will
likens!" The owner stands close, first
on one foot, then on the other, anxious
that every yillager see the knife and
envy him, yet impatient to get to work
Oh tho scantllng with 1t, and moro than
half afraid that somebody will cut with
it before he does.
Men come from the other side of the
square, even the siiff.backed whittier
from tho post office, and tho fat Justice
gets up with much exertion aud many
gruntE--all to join in the excitement OF
the day. Tie own.r takes his knise,
and, with the air OF a man who has been
elected chairman pro tempor of q grange
meeting, approaches tho soantIing, the
anuinI nf of WAL ~ l>,os,o