Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-05-30
NEGRO LIFE ON JAMES ISLAND.
How CoIored Folks Exist on the Sea -Girt
Isles Near Charleston. =. &.


II was communion SUNDAY, and the mu
latto preacher delivered sermon well
worth hearing, judging from the last part
"i IL As suoa As they were outside, how
ever, the laughing and chattering was i'm
menSe. Everybody laughed, every body
shook hands and smiled and chattrred
with How a, how a. Miss Lucy, gwyne
long ouah way" Not 'smornin', Mr.
.lettahs gwyne 'Sessionville way wild
Aunt Polly" How you uns long o dis
week. tnCle Rcubrn.' "So't O pnahly.
tank you, Ben. but strlvin' step in and
see Aunt Polly tonight Try to. uncle.
God willin," and 80 on. by the hundred
And As walked on / could hear them Cor
mile or more as they laughed in childish
glee. But | could understand their words,
which is more than | can say for those on
the south side Of the island, whose talk
little more than a barbarUus cultural
The common life of the negroes is indie
scribahly rude and cheap. Not one cabin
in ten has & worth Of furniture in it.
Every article in many Of them could not
be forced 10 II sale in Indiana In some
there are no bedding except a quilt for
each one, and with il a pile of cotton, rags.
or dried moss. Frequently there are no
dishes in the house except guurdS and the
cooking utensils 1t is very rare to see g
book or paper. For chairs they generally
use box picked up at the nearest store
But they have sunday clothes"-the eX-
ceptlUns are very few-and make their
best appearance on that day. The abund
ance of fish, oysters, and clans helps them
greatly, especially in these hard times No
whisky Is sold on James island. There Is
no school for whites, but the CulOred
schools are fairly well conducted and run
three months, teachers salaries e. pei
month. The advances male by factor
on last years crop are not yet repaid, "
the cyclone destroyed the cotton: so ad
vances are slow this spring Even the
carts and mules are mOrtgaged, and the
poverty Of ordinary times is now intensI
fled. Pearl grits cost the labOrer
81 ~ per bushel, one huShel lasting
man a month when he uses no bread, a.
many do not \ rather poor article of
bacon is retaIled Ht cents Groceries
retail as with us; but the negro buys very
little now
Only the better families ever use coffee
Butter ranks a luxury. The iank cOws
which Craze on the salt marshes yield
thin article of milk-six or seven quarts n
day in the season; in the coldest weather
they go dry. \ stout woman can earn ~
cents a day in the field, and man -
There is very little home life among the
COlOred. Their cabins are generally So
small and uncomfortable that the family
is never - them except when it rains or is
extremely cold. The past winter was the
coolest ever known on the islaBls. and
following the losses by cyclone caused
much suffering In more than one
family the bread and bacon are now re
served for those only who work in the
field; the children and older people, the de
crepit and the idle, live on grits and the
products of the creeks, such as oysters,
fish, clans, and even muscles. One hears
very little merriment on a working day.
The people cheer up when they meet on
Sunday and chatter like a flock Of parrots;
but the prevalent feeling seems TO be a sad
one. On the whole the experience of a
day and a half here is rather depressing,
and do not admire the prospect Of jour
ney from here to Beaufort. rt.-"Parke's"
Letter in Chicago Times