Wichita daily eagle., 1886-08-01
THE SOUTHERN NEGRO.
SCENES WITNESSED At A COLORED
REVIVAL IN SAVANNAH.

REVIVAL IN SAVANNAH.
Season of Religious Interest Lasting
from November TIL May-Breakina
Out in Rapturous Songs-"Dipping in
the Golden Sea''-Waees,
On these moonlight evenings the stroller
toward the west end Of the city will see ali
the sidewalks thronged BY cheerful darkies,
pressing toward the center Of town at an
early hour, and toward the western suburbs
at later hour. Moving In that direction q
few blocks al the streets and houses take q
different look; the former are narrow and
unpaved, the latter set in bunches, un-
painted and dingy. Every little dwelling
swarms with colored people. A cabin, too
small for small white family in Indiana,
holds two or three colored families; their
furniture is not worth IS to to family,
their home life is painfully bare, and nearly
all their leisure is spent in the open air. The
banjo and violin are heard on every square,
The little dark saloons are marked by red
lights, and the narrow alleys and open
spaces resound with riotous merriment
Every saloon that is big enough has a pool
table. and fairly exciting article of tan
gle foot is retailed at 5 or 10 cents q Zig
GER" according to the wish Of the customer
Restaurants abound, each about six or
eight feet square, with little two-by two
counter displaying candy, cigars and sand
wiches
STRONG ON REVEALS AND FUNERALS.
Colored churches also abound, Of all sizes,
from the large building, which will seat
thousand, down to q mere board chapel;
and In various private houses prayer meet
ings are in progress l should say that one
half the colored people are now attending
some kind of religious service every night in
the week. In one evenings walk through
their section l found six meetings, large
and small, in progress There is seldom q
time from November till May that "glo-
rious revival is not going on, and often
three are running at once. The negro is
strong on revivals and on funerals he is
simply immense. In the country every
black person who knew the deacesed negro
in his life goes to the funeral If one dies
in the forenoon the fact is known for six
or seven miles around before night-shoutsd
from field to field by the laborcrs, and the
report sent by swiftfooted children to
houses too far away for shouting the news.
From field to field thus runs the word: d:"O-o-h,
Fannie! Gwyne to set up to-nights' why,
who-o-o's dead!" "Aunt Polly's Susie
gwyne" "Why, shuah"' "Werl send de
word on.''
Just at present "powahful revival" is |
devastating the congregation of the big |
church bere and evening after evening the
scenes are wonderful The vast edifice |
crowded above and below with blacks, the
loud and long prayers in q tone of moving
energy, the fervent responses, and the groans
and cries OF forty or fifty "mourners" make
up panorama that thrills the blood After |
each reported conversion the sisters break |
out in rapturous songs, and when there is
delay orsan apparent tending to coldness
the appeals In song are startlingly vivid, as:
Jesus my ali to heaven is gone
Is anybody here gittin' ready!
He whom fix my hopes upon
Is anybody here gettin' ready.
600, sinners come! Goo, sinners come!
Is you gittin' ready to die.
1 fell to de door wild my load of sin
Is anybody here gittin' readya
But Jesus come and hope [helpedl me in
Is any body here gittin' readys
600, sinners, come, etc.
DIPPING IN THE GOLDEN SEA.
But when the harvest has been great and
the time for exultation has come, then there
is music:
/ see Sain' Petah a-standin' in de do.
Dip in &c golden sea,
And al my friends dat went befo'
Dip in dc golden sea-
He say to me, sistah, how do you dos
Go set right yondah in de ivory pew.
Chorus: ., dip we, bathe we, sisters you,
o, brothers, won't you help us through!
Wen all ride behind de milk white steeds.
And dip in de golden sea-
1t were worth while to be poor and ignor.
ant il it would insure one to see supernal
things as clearly as they seem to; but the
seniors complain bitterly that the "oh
spirituals" are no longer sung as once they
were. The educated young negro can not
roar them forth with the fervor the slaves
did.
And how do all these people live' Well.
for eight months in the year there is plenty
of work, and at fairly good wages the men
earn from IS cents to 81. SO per day at the
commonest labor, and many in avocations
requiring some some skill got 81 day from
October till April There is first, all the
heavy handling of ship stores on the long
wharvs oaded with Georgia pine, tar,
rosin, and turpentine Cotton handling is
the negro's monopoly. 1t is never too hot
for him about the compress or the wharf
Fish and oysters employ hundreds All the
draying is done by negroes At least half
the crews Of the many little sail vessels are
black OF course there are no white bar
bers hotel walters, bootblacks, scavengers,
or porters have yet to see white nurse
maid, and white house servants are very
rare Four-fifths Of the dealers in the
market house ars black All the wood,
coal, ashes, fruit. and provisions l see in
transit are in charge of black men. And
scores Of lines l lack space to mention they
monopolize --"Parkes" Savannah Letter in
Chicago Times