The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1885-03-27
THE LOG-ROLlINo.
An Old-Time Concluding Demonstr.s.
and Banquet.

An Old-Time Concluding Demonstruts.-
and Banquet.
Reader, did you ever form one of .
party of old-time log-rollerss To tn.
city folks and the latter-day people Of
easy habits, the very name may sound
strange, but assure them that nothins
else ever done afforded people a nom
genuine admixture of fun and hard
work than log-rolling. To-day, the
generally accepted Specification of tho
term is to the effect that somebody ia
tampering with Congress or the Legis-
lature to secure the passage of some
personal measure. In the good old DAYS
Of pioneer simplicity it had another.
A man purchased a heavily timbered
tract of land and set about reducing il,
to a state of meek and lowly subm,s..
sion to the pillow. He and his sons and
nephews and brothers ground their
axes and went into the forest to sweat
to the low bass notes of ten degrees be.
low zero and hew out farm Thew
chopped all winter long and carried OH
the best timber to the saw-mills, and
split some more of it into rails With
which to fence in the clearing, and left.
the tough and gnarled logs lying where.
they fell, and the brush piled in great.
heaps to be burned. All through the,
chill and biting winter, the trees fell.
and logs were trimmed of their brush.
and with ths first promising days Of
spring, came the log-rolling- grand
concluding demonstration and banquet
of the season.
The word went out that Sam Smith
would have a log-rolling on a piyen
day. There were no gi1t-edged, blue
bevel invitations with the words ..at
home" printed on them in type which
nobody could read, but Sam Smiths
boy was sent around to tell the nearest
neighbors about it and their boys spread
it at the singing schools and spelling.
| schools, and the announcement was
read from the pulpit of the country
| church on Sunday, and so everybody
was Didden to Sam Smiths log-rolling.
the women to aid in cooking, the.
men to aid in gathering the useless tim
Der into great stacks to be burned. The
women brought kettles and dishes.
knives, forks and spoons; the men
axes, chains, yokes of oxen and strong
bodies. By sunrise the clearing was
full of busy men. The seductive .'whoa-
haw" of the OK engineer smote upon
the morning air, and the 1ogs
were snaked along the muddy ground
to the place where the heaps weres
to rise. The men and teams were DE-
vided into squads, each squad to erect.
one heap. Sam Smith bossed the Job
and did not lift a pound. His principal
duty was to sit on q convenient stump
and shout "heave, o heaver which he
| usually abbreviated to .he he" to
encourage the men when they had
an extraordinary heavy log to be put
upon the already high heap. The Ell
que.te of these gatherings did not per-
init him to lend hand. although when
twenty men could not lift an unusually
heavy log to its place. it was his duty
to declare that he could easily do it
himself. This was generally accepted
as challenge of strength, and the men
lifting would strain their lights out to
place the log.
BY two o'clock. the logs were all in
and the clearing looked bare and
stumpy compared with what had BE- en-
its appearance in the morning. Sam
Smith mounted the highest log heap
made, and delivered himself of a tor
rent of thanks to his neighbors, closing
by inviting them to 90 to the house
and eat s.snack." The snack was usu-
ally one of the most bounteous iinners
ever spread. There were no frosted
cakes and fine CONNECTIONS, but
there was plenty of chicken and
as good bread and rich gravy
as were ever made, and mashed
potatoes, and beans and hominy, and
ham and eggs, and canned tomatoes.
and dried green corn, and pickles. and
stewed, jammed, marmaladed, jellied
and preserved fruits and berries. and
lucious green apple pies. and pumpkin
doughnuts, and as good appetites to
eat them as were ever sharpened by
hard work, and when all were so full
they had to unbutton their vests. the
box of home-spun. smoking tobacco
was brought out and the jug of old rye
| was passed, and the men fell to spin
ming yarns while the women ate and
cleared away the fragments of the
meal. At four, the men again repaired
to the clearing. and the torch was ap-
piled to the heaps of logs, and when
darkness came on, the old folks went
to their homes and left the young ones
to enjoy burning the brush and spark
ing. The next day there were some
sore muscles in the neighborho0d. bus
no headaches like those experienced BY
the jewellers of to-day, and Sam Smiths
clearing was ready for the plow--
Through Mail.
rL~ c.. IS C>t;t.n