New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-01-24
A FLORIDA SKETCH.
THE pRFSS-GANG.

nY,o oraaton was asked by o tall Fat negro
II etood at her own dOor and surveyed us,
,n,h,o o,,licauts as we held position Ill the SAND
waiting for an answer. When we iooheu az nc
o,d saw how indifferent she was We ioi. ,nav "
weuld be almost insulting to her TO say oo'uS 'iia'
we wanted her to tote and to SCRUB. NJ! 'o'NP
spoke gcutly. yet with decision .,.;no
aWe want clothes washed. aud general clo"i'ns
dome. We can hire you two days III "eeA' II
you'll come" .o., ,a;h,v
aDo,,, IL, M cen'ral ceanin hyar, she said, anu
.,.;d.,,tlv wished to shut the door upon u.s. "'i
~. ,ersistel with the persistence OIL ucSpor"V0
people. ,,,o,;ao Smith s,id
.We must have some one. fioriu" 'Ni''n OAHU
you went out to work ,, 9TH
sWhat Floridy Smith know Don't oa' wiz"
indignation. ,o,,i,g
And now she turned round ana lett u.s. waiAinH
into her house. with head IN the air.
q Che does wash and do housework for people,
7 asserted augrily, and then added with increaseu
;paiqnatiou but we can't make her work LOT us
a..;don,Iv ! snppose she thinks are low-dowh
white trash, and sue wont oos'"''
earning our money ,o,.
Wo want TO four different negro hoVeiS,
Tho occunants of these houses al iooAe"
walled. aud had an air of unconcorh 'ni' So"
vary exusperating. They "didnt KNOW toi 'no
some on em Inought wash couldn't say ior 'no
At last one woman, a young, good-iookins eiii'
80 no her word she would be at our mousse Wy
savsn the next morning. Oh. YES, LOT s"o ''V
cams She knew where we lived Close ny '"'
"Carrollton.' - ....o, rbIle
But she did not come. Inc forenoon PI''o -
- n.;.orated that we should think these people
would want to earn money. But no. ihoho' ~ ~
w. aaoo, a pecssstv to them. At least the working
,r Il ia mt [ have wished since nave poch
bro that I conld find the secret of living Ill e"se
and idleness To be sure. L should not ""n' "'
home to DO a board shanty with ono uoo'' NY
,vndovs and no chimney. | have been euuc"'ou
with different tastes, bot the negroes ha'o NV no"
the same education, and they seem happy pu' '
a real mystery to every enc whoW na'0 "0
sneak OF the subject where they get tho uoo0n
clothes nay. oftentmcs the really eo'u anu
comfortable clothes, and the FOOD which lniN0'
them look so plump and SHINING 0o'i0 y. '-C 'i
.ork most of them do not, save III a CASUAL anu
sitor,, fashion But there is little OF WHAT we
,r.or .t the North by the word squalor certainly
os;,a from their ordinary lodgings, WHICH arc
ronu,siva enough to u.s. there is no evidence OF tho
nnbanniness which shows plainly enough III w"
Door at the North. IL, r
am not going to enter into that Vie't quoS'0.
Che condition and future OF the negro III '''
country l only have IN mind the super"oi"i view
Of the subject from our standpoint sihce we nav"
been in Florida. No one can stay here huch moio
than twenty -four hours aud have any lht'ie'" VI
oyan observation concerning the affairs oil MOUSE
80 1v;,ho,t seeing how hard IT is TO get help
hare With hundreds unemployed poor peopio "a
anont this seems almost incrediDle; i,iI no.
snealing of exceptions; am only teli!Ds 0uI on u
sroaps.nn notice IN advertisements OF hotels
fiat one Important advantage Is eaineu II thoS Gan
Gay Northern servants empoye" Of five Northern
al 0'' there has been since established our
selves here continual stfnggie 10 ni" ,h
to do the heavy nG yUas have at last bit upon way
when has had partial success. o.s b;rtln sS ;
constantly annoys us as Delhg sum SUM" o,1G engage
a man ar a woman to do a certain piece Oh laooI Oh
certaIn iay In only one case mas me lstJoinGGo
Isen kent la all the Others we have lhuuleeu d
poem H. 49, The nerson woad come and SO we nave
missed of irving for any enc else 10 tho a.oiaSo
Yankee mind tbs IS extremely 'unoS ms ~ "
baa as naiai esUnk into an expe1ient which would
have vent the soul of Miss Ophela heh Tue in
uoua o,,s of oar party salies out on the man
street lingering near the shops parteniariS , tnD
stand daT Tas3S sSd yet a any eating
thciT fingers as they lean i'll the sun against NV L
walls of buildings. Men and women are on s .n ~
s.rset in that happ, -go-lucky manner wnlch 50 ~
s.re er,a Monday morning We look at the faces
Of the women We see aud decide what one OF them
W W,ii yor come home and work for US to-day "
She Looks up brightly or duly as the case may De
j and always asks What TO yo' want mel 10 to1t
VI We 20 sxnlan and she says she will come the mex,
mornine No, that won't do. she aiilrius WIZ
fervor that she will come then anu Ia h Ho 1
Yweeks AGO we should have left her after s9ch MS
conracenents, but now we still persist, anu hno"
better than TO leave her even for moment. -, -
We succeed in making her walk home with us
and she works there all day long, falthiulIy AM
we'll If she not what se H. we Than 70 -
fhronph that form In two days more we are on
on the street in search Of man to cut WOOD ana a'
various odd Jobs dc does not wnlr " S@ain W.
nersist and take HIM with us: we always pay
them we'll more than we would pay 1or tne saln
rvork at lie North. They have no judgment VINO
10 not strange and are usually very eAor1ltant II
tbeir charges But lavish price seems TO De M
incentive to them to come agai4 Of an sxpsdton
We generally call 1T kdnapplnR, OF Sous 80 ~
the and the last charge tne one OH .n,
GRAND receives Is. Don't peheNe "oi" 'hOS '"'
but bring one with you r ,; h,+ >. (;
II is a slipshod, tedious way oil lying put IL =
the kind Of life more ore S OF less H0uin0u Which, -
hOusekeepers mus we mere -. 49,. -
There are good an faithful servants, but they ar
in painfully small minority 80 tar as wear Yea 70 y
the work Yourself than to go through these tri
weekly scenes. but there are some xmas oi "orA "
last week went down stairs to find, sitting o
the lower stair, figure OF negro ehiid VINO o, wa
sfree years old she said HeI mother was wsst
peryade the house during the mothers stay. Oh
did peryade it, from top to bottom. like pLesenc
absoutely beautiful. have heard of pretty negr
Children but quite besyed ,; such ste store
tiacr she was not bright cOlCred." as they ga
here. so that she did not owe her beauty to tia
admixture of races which sometimes produces sue
marveious results in feminine face IRON
Tones had eyes like stars in the midnight sky Of
tropical land II you had seen them' you N Wopi
NOT call INV expression extravagant. She had
ronnd face with velvet cheeks. and mouth curve
perfecty, and red as the darkest red rose you sha
see in tho corsage of belle; not pale PINK. U.
mil of richest blood that suggested for the years
come tho storm and the sunshine OF tropics
nature. 1901 ,;.o as ioo,
aud her hcad was covered bv thick frise mat