News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1885-05-14
THEY WERE NOT PEN BOYS
NEGRO LABORERS IN THE TURPEN.
TINE FORESTS HANDICAPPED BY
CONTRACTORS.

NEGRO LABORERs IN THE TURPEN-
TINE FORESTS HANDICAPPED BY
CONTRACTORS.
And They Appear to Enjoy the Thing as n
Good Joke.
One half of a second-class railway car
on a road that runs out of the turpen-
tine forests of southern North Carolina,
says local letter to the New York San,
was filled with negroes, who were hand
cuffed. They did not wear striped suits,
however, and they were excessively
| jolly. A white man, whose bootlegs ex-
| tended above his knees, and whose
hat brim tapped down so as to hide his
face and neck, had them in charge, and
he was as jolly as they were. He
addressed them as "boys," gave them a
bottle of whisky, exchanged rude jokes
with them, and merrier company you
| never saw.
ooh, nav, they amt Pen boys" he
said, with great laugh, when / asked
if they were criminals, and the negroes
| themselves ratified the chains on their
hands with gleeful gesticulations, and
laughed SO loud that they drowned the
noise of the running cars.
swell, boss, t'ink we done come ter
dat ?" said one.
she amt never seed a turpentine mig
ger afore," said one.
"Jes gwine ter Gorgy ter make de
pine tree yiel," explained third.
BY this time the man in the boots and
hat had recovered his composure, and,
after an apology for laughing at me,
said:
sit did seem Gurus, stranger, and
folks afore has axed me the same ques-
, tion."
He then went on to explain, the
negroes meanwhile listening attentively.
"You see, stranger, the pine trees in
our section are now mighty nigh skinned
so high that the law of gravitation's got
all she can do to fetch the turp'tine
! down into tho box-skinned clean up
outen de reach of de highest niger and
de longest back. So we are now gwine
to make war on the Gorgy pine. These
boys is old hands at the business, and
they's gwine out to Gorgy with me to
work. Use hired EN-"
Still, that did not explain the hand
cuffs.
"Cuff 'eml Yes, sab, every time p
"Say, boss, you don't know er turp'-
tine Niger" one OF them exclaimed,
and they all laughed boisterously again.
This man had been into the partially
exhausted turpentine region of North
Carolina, wherefore many operators, as
the turpentine workers call themselves,
have of late years gone to the fresher
forests of Georgia, and had employed
these skilled negro laborers to go there.
There he distributes them among the
operators who need hands. No negro,
of course, has enough money to pay his
fare from North Carolina to Georgia.
The contractor, therefore, after he en-
ploys them, buys their tickets. Being
afraid that some of them will suddenly
take it into their heads to stop in South
Carolina or upper Georgia, with their
own consent, he handouts them. Their
wages for the first month go to repay
the contractor for advancing their fare,
and the operators who need negroes pay
him so much per head for bringing
them.
The contractor, therefore, is practi-
cally dealer in negroes, much after the
fashion of the old times. These negroes
work a season in Georgia, where they
receive as much as 500 per
month, and then return to their old
homes. Many of them leave their fami-
lies in North Carolina, and many, of
course. have no families. The time of
their return is q rich harvest for the
pine woods groggeries. A negro from
Georgia who has $50, or perhaps even
500, in bis pocket comes back to his
old home as a capitalist-for a few
weeks at least. Riotous living, then a
period of the old poverty and humility,
then another trip to Georgia-this is
the circle of their lives.
Yet these turpentine negroes scorn the
domesticated darby who works for Sl2
month on farm. They have q noble
savage scorn also for such effeminate
things as beds and crockery; of anything,
indeed, that hints of the tame monotony
of civilization; but they can drink liquor
with any civilized being in the world.
They work by the piece and receive their
pay weekly, and, in consequence, have
more cash than any other negroes. But
they seldom work more than five days a.
week, and Saturday they spend at rail-
road station. The liquor is vigorous and
sometimes leads to tragedy. When
negro in this remote region kills negro
there is no sell timentality or philanthropy
conveniently near to make moan or in
luiTY. The murderer goes away before
the Sheriff comes; and there is simply
one negro less, that's all. During life
he enjoyed no clearly defined individual
ity, and 80 who misses him ?
During the idle season of the year,
when there is no boxing or chipping or
dipping to do in the forest, many of
these untamed laborers get employment
on the ditching and wood trains of new
railroads. The boss of such train is
regarded as an extraordinary man, and,
indeed, he is. He has fifty or more of
these men to oversee, and among every
fifty there are likely to be few who, in
his opinion, need occasional reprimands.
The same negro who will agree to bar
gain whereby he is to be handcuffed may
be pugnacious fellow. The boss of
the train therefore emphasizes his
authority by wearing pistol. He sell
dom uses it, but he wears it, to give his
own explanation, to prevent the neces-
sity of using it.
1.-THE way do, an think manage
the rascals purity well, said one of these
bosses, sis to knock down niger when
ever l git a new lot O hands. That
sort of boss they've got. My old uns
always stan up to me, and I've got the
repetation of KNOWN how ter deal with
EN-"
These railroad negroes sleep, cook,
eat, twenty or more in one box car. Their |
rations consist of a peck of meal, four
pounds of bacon, and quart of molasses |
week. At night the banjo, dance, and |
song fill at least the hours from shutdown |
till midnight with good cheer, and on |
occasions of unusual hilarity they in
dulge in wrestling, boxing and running.
These sports follow twelve hours work |
with the spade, often in mud ankle
deep.
In every car cabin there is one, some
times there are two or three, sedate fell
lows who spend their evenings in solemn
meditation over a spelling book. To
hold their dignity and be guilty of such
an effeminate taste they must at frequent
throw or fog or outrun the best
man of the Car. Then they can again
pursue their studies in peace.
In every car, too, there is miser,
who is the money lender. AS a rule,
three days after the monthly pay day
every negro except the miser has spent
all his money, and for twenty-seven days
will not have cent. Most of it is spent
Tor liquor, gingerbread, brass watches,
musical instruments, and other such
things. If there is necessity before the
next pay day to buy more liquor or
ewelry or musical instruments, the