Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1883-09-07
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Life In the Arkansas woods.
Life and character, as it is exhibited amidst
the wilds of Arkansas, presents to the practl-
cal mind theme for the most profound med
itaton.
Many of our readers will, no doubt, ven
ture to say that these regions are uninhabit-
ed that human life could not find endurance
in such isolation; that no living pers IN would
ever attempt to procure the nece9saries OF
life in a country that seems to be particularly
adapted for nothing but as haunts for the
wild beasts of the forest. But such is not
the case. People do live here, and it is not
exaggeration to say that the population is
comparatively large. Indeed, in the remot-
est wilds, in the deepest and darkest corner
of swamp or wilderness, where there is
nothing to greet our senses but the silent
majesty of chaotic nature, one need not be
surprised at any moment to stumble upon
some rude battered shanty, where dozen or
more human beings live-live, heaven only
knows how.
Take peep in at the door of one of these
ancient domcies, reader, if you please, and
briefly notice the quaint interior and its hu-
man tenants In general outlines you will
observe a sort Of sameness in pretty much all
of them. There is the rough plank hoor-if
perchance they can afford 80 great a luxury
that creaks and groans in a sepulchral man
ner as you walk over it, There is the great
smoky fire. place, that serves for both heating
and cooking purposes, and also as an illumin-
ator when daylight has merged into darkness.
The FIRE that burns brightly upon its hearth
stone affords the only visible aspect of cheer
fulness-a something strangely in keeping
with the gloomy surroundings Glancing
upward, your vision comprehends crazy
collection of gnarled logs twisted limbs and
fragments of boards, with here and there
little heap of straw or brush, the whole
rather suggestive of a roof but bearing no
marked resemblance to the article known by
that name. Here and there you will observe
where a move has been made to stop up the
chinks between the logs, but the effort is so
small in compass and leaves of so abruptly
as to lead one to imagine that the workman
either wearied of his task, or else was seized
by sudden impulse of laziness and hope
that tomorrow would afford more suitable
opportunity for the completion of the work.
You will also observe a total absence of all
articles of furniture-chairs, tables, beds and
all the useful commodities of household are
luxuries never dreamed Of, much less enjoy
ed by these wild nomads of the forest. What
need have they for such articles-the floor
is plenty good to sit or lie upon, while in the
matter of a table whereon to eat, an oak
slab admirably serves all such purposes. When
| this is not available, why what would you
| do without. One thing you will find, how
ever, and that too in every house in the land
the medicine shelf. Yes, here it is, whole
apothecary shop in world of quaint bottles
and curiousy shaped jugs, almost hidden
| from view by thick crust of mingled cob
webs and dirt. Each contains some remedial
| power especially adapted for the cure of
some one peculiar disease, for be it known
that these people are afflicted not only with
| the ague-or shakes, to use a native term
| but with all the ancient and modern com
| plants humanity ever fell heir to.
But it is the natives themselves that more
| especially attract the strangers attention.
| There's the head of the family, prodigiousy
tall and unganly-quite interesting objects
they are, too, with their thousand and one
mental and physical peculiarities. The chill
| dren also, always q dozen or fifteen of them
ragged, sorrowful looking urchins, of all
sizes and shapes. And the dogs-bless me 1
came near forgetting to mention the dogs
great they are in numbers, and so thin and
bony that it is little wonder the greater por-
tion of their existence is spent lying before
! the old fire place, never changing their posi-
tion save when compelled to do SO. A strik-
ing sense of willingness seems to overshadow
the whole group, as they squat about the
| dingy room in all imaginable attitudes, each
wrapped up in the narrow confines of his
| own lllllG btAl huu tAt Vulh Vi dOBlSB bObhS-
co. Tobacco is their only solace-a home
made article it is too, meanest and vilest stuff
to be found anywhere in the land. The men
chew it, the women chew it, the children
chew it, and even the dogs chew it. It's
chew, chew, chew, spit, spit, spit squirt,
squirt, from morning till night and from
night till morning, and if you are not eau
tious enough to get of at a safe distance you
will be compelled to dodge numberless mis-
siles of amber colored juice that are shot
about in every conceivable direction irrespec-
tive of persons or things. Sometimes their
jaws become weary after long term of ser
vice in the art of mastication, chewing re-
quires too much exercise for their indolent
natures to withstand Something must be
done to relieve these overworked members of
the human organism, and the characteristic
pipe is at once brought forth from its hiding
place in the chimney. Aud such pipes =
great black, filthy things strong enough to
wreck the constitution of a 9TH ward politi.
clan. man who can stand before one OF
those pipes when it is in full blast is proof
against anything. He would certainly need
no life insurance
The diet of these people is a remarkable
thing in its way, not only in quality but also
in quantity. Corn bread and bacon consti
tute the bill of fare and in the meagre com
pass of lis life-sustsiniDg qualities it com
bines all-and the only-delicacies of the
season, and is never out Of season. lti
corn bread and bacon for breakfast, corr
bread and bacon for dinner, corn bread anC
bacon for supper that is all the year round
To moralize upon the ingredients of that corr
bread would be as hazardous as to attempt &c
solve the mysteries that cluster around tha
world-famous dish, boarding house hash.
know it is a horrible mixture of corn mea
and water but am innocent of anything
else it may contain-utterly devoid of salt
ssleratus or soda. This is poured into
small rusty iron pot half buried in the ashes
where it bakes and dries until it become
, hard enough to knock a hole through bric
wall provided the aforesaid wall isn't NOR
than 10 feet thick. While the baking proc
ess is going on the family squat about tn
: fireplace in languid listlessness and fire ran
. dom shots of tobacco juice at the fire. Wha
; if they do hit the iron pot and the slim
! Juice oozes in around the edges of the lid an
mingles with the precious contents. n
, matter, it all travels the same route they say
and in that consoling thought they are N
doubt content.
= The bacon, too, is an article worthy G
comment, inasmuoh as it imparts a sort c
: flavor to the corn bread and thereby render
= it the more palatsble. You first discover
in huge slabs of fat with little or no lean
= its composition, and almost completely il
|. crusted in the accumulated filth of weeks an
q months. One glance at it would make
! health officer sick; but to eat it, oh, horrors
!, The corn bread being baked to the prop'
It extent is placed upon a stump outside II
door to cool while the dogs form circ
j. about, lick their chops in silent hunger, an
: bestow wistful glances upon the, to then
> delicious morsel. Slices of bacon are the
:. placed in the great iron pot, where they 81
Il ze and splutter until finally resolved into
T number of little dried-up chips floating abo
=, upon a miniature sea of slimy grease. Tn
horrible mess-grease and all-in conjuetiC
b with the corn bread, is eagerly devoured
g. the SO rapacious natives, and on this meag
Al diet strange to say, but nevertheless tru
"a they manage somehow to keep the sands
life in motion. Truly one-half the wor
u knows not how the other half lives, Corr
d sp0RdeRce Kansas city Times.