The Osceola times., 1883-08-18
OLD POINT COMFORT.
Sights and Scenes In the Neighborhood
Of Fortress Monroe.

Of Fortress Monroe.
Cor. Chicago Times.
81 tell you what il is, de sun is shinin'
right at every mans do now, an dem
as don't open de do and let it shine in
for rainy day, it's their own fault.
That's what makes this one of the big
gest places in Virginny. You can Jest
ketch yo' livin' right out of the river.
There's hard crabs and soft crabs and
spots and tsylors and CLAIMS and oysters,
and then you can get everything right
out of the fields. There's peas and
strawberries and aspberries and any.
thing else you want. Why, my little
girl gete her own money-5O or 80 cents
a day"
l had never thought of Old Point Com
fort as one Of the greatest places in vir-
ginia, but it was gratifying to learn that
business was good. The optimistic view
of the situation and the economical OBJ
servations quoted were addressed by
Aunt Peggy to another person of color.
The wharf is a daily confirmation of
Aunt Peggy's cheerful statement. Every
afternoon it is loaded down with sea
fruit and land produce destined for
tables in Baltimore and Washington.
Just now the staple is green peas. From
till o'clock there is constant stream
of carts and wagons, drawn by bulls,
steers. mules and horses, and loaded with
from two to q dozen barrels of green
peas, pourint down to the wharf. A
good many strawberries keep the peas
company, and the other Old Point Com
fort consist of crabs mostly hard-shelled,
of which scores of boxes are shipped
daily, turtles, surgeons, and small fish.
Among the latter are the spots and tay.
lors mentioned. The former are not
knocked off but caught out of the sea.
The latter are the delicious blue fish
under local alias.
Small schooners and rotund sloops
come in here every afternoon, from the
York river, Hampton creek, the James
river, and the southern or eastern "sho"
with the products of land and sea, and
the Washington boat which leaves at 5
and the Baltimore boat which leaves at Z
clear the wharf. One would suppose
that Old Point could supply Washington
and Baltimore; yet this is the only a
way station on the great garden truck
line. The main shipping point is Nor
folk.
The wants of the inhabitants Judged
by the general appearance of those who
bring peas in from the country, are few,
and the balance of the trade must be
decidedly in favor of Old Point Comfort
or rather Of Hampton and the rest OF
the region for which the Point is the
port.
tits diverting procession that brings
the delicate pea to the wharf A small
cart, on wheels that threaten to come of
at every turn, is drawn by one dwarf
steer of scraggy appearance. The poles
of the cart. which are from two to foul
inches thick, are tied to a rude neck.
yoke; two ends of rope are tied to the
beasts horns; the slack of the rope is
in the hand Of grizzled old darky or a
fat, and 'peart" "young mig" sitting or
one of the two or three barrels of peas
in the cart, and the outfit is complete
Sometimes the cart is wagon and the
dwarf steer is bony horse or mule, ol
or pair of oxen, and the charioteer il
often white man. But the harness is
usually primitive, and the reins seldom
other than rope.