Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1886-10-03
M5eeIia9 Reeister
H%UCKLEBERRY TINE.
THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN THE
MOUNTAINS AND PICK BERRIES.

e,tham's Particular weAkness-On the
Huckleberry Grounds The Piokers'
Powers of Endurance-A Big Days
Uork-A PeriIouS Ride.
New York city folks have one par
rcular weakness it Is a fOndness FOR
brckleberrieS and, Notwithstanding
thousands Of New York city folks spend
the months Of July and August u OF the
rity. enough remain at home TO consume
nOOO bushels Of huckleberries, which are
n;cked on the mountains Of northern
PENNSYLVANIA and New Jersey and south
ern New York. This does not include the
large shipments from points in the east
pra states, and from others further west.
Probably in no locality in the country do
IucSlrberries of all varieties grow In
Greater ~prOfusion or Of q better quality
imam taey DO in this wild mountain region
from which New York draws. IL Is no
thing for the united Work OF q
family to bring them in $40 q day for
every day the season lasts, which will be
seventy days on an average. That is more
than the head OF the family, at his usual
labor as chopper, bark. peeler, tie-cutter
or the like, could earn in ayear and a half
Of hard work. One season in the buckle
berry woods has given many q family the
means to purchase a snug little farm or
set them up in other business. t
Up THE MOUNTAIN PATHS
AtsunriSe every morning, from the time
the season opens until il closes, the pickers
gather in crops at their various rendez-
yous and from there hurry up the noun
tain paths before the sun Is high. The
stronger Of the pickerS carry a pine box,
which holds a bushel, strapped to their
shoulders. Children carry baskets and
pals, which hold from ten 10 twelve
guarts. In northern Monroe county,
Pennsylvania, or the POcOnO mountains,
the huckleberry crop is handled almost
entirely by one man, Thomas Merwine.
Thousands Of acres are picked over by
those who sell him their berries, and he
carries scores If his pickers to the bowers
in large wagons, which in turn carry the
berries to the town nc the end of the day.
The berry grounds are entirely bare Of
timber and the piCSerS axe exposed all
Jav, not only TO the ~ScOrching rays Of the
sun. but to a dry AMI SuffOcating heat
that rises from the rocks and bushes.
There are numerous cool retreats among
the ravines and patches Of woods, where
there are lakes and springs, but the pick
es waste no time in the.r refreshing COM
pan!ouship. They are picking for profit,
not pleasure, and q few minutes snatched
from their work to eat a lunch or get a
drink in some cool place are all they can
afford 10 spare. The skill and rapidity
with which boxes and baskets are filed
-. -. I,,.l-1.l.Nr~ pf,kars md Tho vNyrar
Of endurance manifested by the women
and children on the hot barrens and in
carrying home the results Of their days
work. are truly marvellous.
BIG DAYS wOEK.
Il is a frequent occurrence for these
Pix. county female mOUntaineers to 20
out 10 the barrens in the morning, pick
all the berries they a carry, walk ten
miles with them to the station, sell them,
ami walk back home again the same day.
Sometimes they are accompanied by three
or four wild looking children, each bear
Ing Is family stock in trade. These PeO-
pie usually take the price Of their berries
out in store goods" the purchaser of the
berries being the village stOrekeeper.
The abandoning of the gravity or in
CliuedIplane railway Of the Pennsylvania
Coal company between the coal mines OF
that company and the Erie railway at
Hawley. Pa, was his season a great
blow 70 the h~uckleberry pickers OF the
MOoSic mountains. The wives and children
Of coal miners and others employed about
the mines make up the army of berry
pickers in that region. The long trains OF
coal cars that climbed the mountains by
the gravity system formerly offered q
quick although dangerous medium OF
reaching the berry barrens. Women and
children by the score chung 10 the sides
Of the narrow cars, standing On the mar
row board that ran along the edge, and
holding on with one hand while they
chung to their baskets with the other.
There was great peril in the ride, as the
train dashed through narrow rock cuts,
with but little space on either side OF the
track. along the face Of high cliffs and
around the Sharpest OF curves; but the
berry picScrs took all the risks Of the
trip. as il landed them in the heart of the
localities where their work for the day
brought them in money Of which they
stood IN necd.-New York World.