The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1884-04-09

/ rom the deepest ftc.szes of my heart,
thanked mr. mother for making th4i
speech.
From that hour forward everything was
put in notion for crop. leave much
ia the readers imagination simply re-
marking that he is likely 10 exaggerate the
real story of our hardships. With a great
deal OF toll, few acres Of ground was
cleared and fenced The eIesring meant
/ cutting down and burning the cane, and
under brush, telling the smaller trees. and
killing" that is girdling, the larger Ones
! F. neing was done with brush, piles and
i few rails. There was no attempt to move
/ the fallen timber from the land; corn was
4 planted, by making hole in the ground
with sharp stick, dropping in the grain
| and covering with the heel of bare foot
! There was no chance To use plows, and
the cultivation was done exclusively with
hoes
After the crop was laid by my father
turned his attention to building house.
How this was done | will not consume
space in relating.
There were no mills in the country of |
any kind, and our only chance for meal, |
was to pestle rhe meal in a rude contri- |
vance cailrd a wooden mortar, which |
caused my father 10 tell US that we ought |
to be satisfied as we had pound cake every
day.
A year or two later an old gentleman
named Flowers erected "a horse mill,' few
miles away. A picture of that mill would |
he d great .hiug fer the Graphic, or any
ether pictorial newspaper. Funny look
Ing as II was, il caHsed me many a bitter
tear. livery seou became my business to
go TO mill. There was no water to swim
in, and no boys 10 play with. II got to
the mill bs fore the old gentleman went to
his work in the morning he would put the
grist alsout two bushels, in the hopper,
hitch in the mule, and leave me alone to
grind IL cut. Ii ! succeeded in getting
through th~ job by the lime he was ready
10 go ont from dinner he would fill up the
bag, mount me on the mule, and start me
houe, and then | was happy. But if {
faiied as often happened, | would not get
it for home until after the old man come
N for the night. He was a Baptist
preacher OF the old school, and would as
'oan have bal.iized an infant three days ]
I'D, as he W0uld have left his work to put
lp my bsg. lie never thought of charging \
my default to the mule, but would insin- I
.ate lh,t ] had ijled away the time.
nr-ive the poor OLD man. He didn't know 7
ack We II H. | did.
Jack, that was the mules name, was ,"
lever IN IL hurry when there was anything =
> dn, bu' il yoH could have seen him hnr-
wing I'll alter be had piled me and my =
neal bag u, by the roadside, yoH would II
Ii. hought him the most go ahead sort L
i male to b.. found in the State. >
When We went home in the day time, e.
.tek b-haved well enough, but if he went II
night, often happened his conduct n
d. silieable lie would shy at some eI
hing in this brush when there was nothing b.
iere, and then ne wonld pretend to see p
1mGIhinE ia his front, make that an ex- al
use Tor bowing hi- head and roaching his ct
ack. In either ease, and the bag went ~
, the gror'-d. Jack would then gallop off i,
ume ta sl"y. d the news, and leave the =,
z nd / 90 w3tch off the wild hogs =,
here Is wher. the tears always come in. ~ ~
have long since forgiven the good old a a
reachfr. but have suspicion to this = ~
ay that Jack was rather a tricky mule. ~
The foregoing is true, and not over
rawn story of Early Life in Mississippi III
We'll, say the old grand d-father, what of
It? Ddu't | and my folks see just the RI
lmeW Exactly; that Is Just what | was 20
beat to say. Al. tie early settlers went ~
,raush about the same ordeal. But how - -,
it now? That II the question which = ~
,ints thr ne Il. pe
We have railroads, trading towns, tele- ca
'4phS, mail facilities, market roads, III
.idgcs, cleared lanes, and comfortable 10
tuses. Well, about everything that any We
asonabie people ought to ask, and yet We pr
ar complaints on all sides of hard times as
ow Is this? Has the present generation of Sh
ople no kno@ ledge Of The trials through tn
nich their fa,bers went? Are they tie
varied? Have men lest their courage, SCI
omen thrir adhcrance TO duty? Boys he
II girls their will aud their ability to WI
axe themselves useful? Heaven forbid. cir
The Ysnkess say slavery enervated the Of
en of the Souih, and made dressed up IN,
lis OF the wolnen deny the soft i'm no
ach.ent. B,H ii it be true, | would ex- 10 ho,
rt my countrymen to thank God every -
Y OF their lives on Bonded knees that 1l u
lavery is dead" io0
| ant to ste revived in all its power, the 70
ergy that gave vitality to Mississippi, OF
d especially to Copiah fifty years ago. 70
lere is cloud ever us. But there is also the
bow of promise. There is life in the old to-
1d vet" To the fathers | would say, Eli
fy ihe storm; to the wives and mothers, cul
II up the hands of your husbands and
lin your children to habits of industry
i economy To the daughters, prepare OF
nrselyes to become what your grand the
,thers were, exemplary wives and moth has
!; and 10 the sons, who, liter all, are to all
come the solid support and main-stays de-
ihe country in after years, PLUCK, my ch;
- pfuak aal