Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1884-09-26
Ssh-CCS HOME LIFE,


Ger san Francisco Chronir,o1
Not tie least interesting question to
he solved Is the status Ot the co,ored
popIlatIon. HaGibp owns his little Int.
his twenty or forty acres. as tn case
may Ge. and only works for ste white
folksc>'' when he wants 10 lay taX..>, or
by some coveted piece of furniture or
a now garment Tor Ms sam o. The
"chilHns" In Il few miles ride one
comes across several of these cabins v:5h
their clusters Of BEAUTIFUL Wild orange
trees. their banana plants. their iigt.r.rS.
the pigs running everywhere, tie ci,ii-
drcn OF the same color dOr n" native pi.
is as black as your hat, i.,tlo grinu!n2
imps. showing al their iyorlcs. $t:ut,n.
s5out tie door, almost always beginning
81 dance and sEout with characteristic
gestures when While 'fo!ksCs' come III
sight. The father of the family is over
yontlcr among the cotton, Tccing Up his
melancholy ittIr oxen. 50 small that
they look like liiiiputia,iS beside uIr
strong northern oxen. Sometimes the
whole family from Mrs sam, with her
bare. splay feet and hcadecar Of tower
ing rcd or white, IN In" smallest knock
knccd little 2-year old. are ont i'll tia
field working Ike black automatonS. II
would surprise You 10 St" our black 10y,
Tony. a IL or IL year old urchin. drop
and cover orn. could scarcely follow
him, and my admiration hoIicti over in
adJcctly'S oi the supcrlatlVe order and
the most i"rvid intcrlcrtioilS
why, Tony" said, ''wi"rc did YOU
learn To plant corn in tha; fashion,
bono, says Tony.
Glow long lave you been planting1
Mos cbicr scncc Is bawn," says
Tony, i'll drawing tone.
"llow old are You, Tony"
Laws, | do-no, miss, is his reply,
after moments study.
where do You live, Tony"
ION de hamilton riace''-by the way,
his name is Tony Hamilton. name of
note in the south. | ask hin, yai lous
other questions. to which he answers III
the same old fashion, ''do-no, miss. and
| stop at last, dcspairing of el!ciiing
further information.
suppose we enter one of these log
shanlics. There are three rooms and in
every room a bed. Two black babies
with owls eyes sit sucking their thumbs
in the middle of the hut. Over the fire
place a kettle is boiling, i'll which the big
boned, big-lIpped woman who presidcs
over the household tells lis is the dinner
of boiled meal
1--WE all likes de meal an hacon.' she
says, lifting the youngest baby by the
arm, "an its lucky we does, ease that's
all we Kin git
why, don't You grow ricc!' | ask.
Laws, yes, honey
"And don't you plant Vegetables"
eyes, miss, We does kinder sorter
sometimes. but dc cotton is what we
ponds on"
Don't you eat your rice?'
Laws, no, miss; we sells dat to de
white folks, dat and de vegetables all
but de sweet po;atrr, or 'scharreS it fer
pork an meal al de stJ. Give we mig
gers corn an lasscS an ives happy
You sees Yves bred up to it. an we don't
take to nothin' else. honey"
The Africans here, fortunately, hold
the whites in great respect. They have
not yet reached 10 that round on the
ladder of civilization which inciincs
Them TO believe and act upon the saying
that white man is as good as a Niger
if he only behaves himself" He neither
pushes nor elbows his white friends. hut
stands at a respectful distance while he
unblushinsly demands three times the
amount of the worth of his labor. lie is
aware of his value from the money
standpoint, or thinks he is. \ little
while ago a good workman could be
hired for 80 cents per day and his keep,
which, considering the limited amount
Of work performed, is quite enough. for
he always has five miles to tote" here
and FIVE miles to tote home 40 Gle
lawd.' Now they unblushingly demand
81, and since the northern people have
tiocked here they get it, to the great
chagrin and anger of the old settlers.