Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1886-08-03
SATURDAY IN FLORIDA.

/ by magic the town becomes alive. ihe
streets are crowded with negroes. III.
dressed. well.dres.ed and ragged. all jolly
and good .na,ured. all ben, on having a
good time. The female posiion are radi.
an, with ribbon, and impossible howers.
Trade and pleasure join hand in hsad.
The peanut vendors ply their trade and
the wooden sidewalk. are covered With
sheds. Red lemonade. entirely innocent
Of lemon. .psrkles on the lips Of dasky
belle. and bsAux. The stores are full,
the bar RON. ATE full and many Of the
negroes are full. Strings Of melancholy
mule, change owner.hip. Some Of the
negroe. here brought chicken. and egg.
to sell. O,ken hides Of all kinds, and
their dieksring is shrewd and adysnia.
g.ou,--io the merehsn, buyer Some
time. they g.,he' around the bsnjo play.
cr and have a song and dance. for.
Uncle Rsmu," Haui. TO the cot,rsry.
the bsrjp 4, the fayoriie instrument OF
the negro
In the b,r.room. after the seductive
aaid has taken possession of it, de,o'es'.
the principal smuemen, consists Of gro
is,que and incohofent Conversation. In
the store. the trading !. brisk anil 'sn'i.
bic The wiser. s,eadier negroe. avoid
the b.r.room. Liquid insanity has no
charms for them. Their money goes for
clothing for wife and little ones aud the
nscevaiie. and Injuries of food The
resro il a good liver and In many In.
STAGES .i,s down TO a better furnished
table than bis white brother. The pale
face i. satisfied with hominy and bacon.
Slmbo delights In .ugsr.cursd ham. juicy
beef. canned stuff, and the f.h that swim
in the grsa, waters. lie will have them,
too, 90 long a. he has the neees'ary da-
cats. lie take. no heed TO the morrow.
being only sure Of TO day. Il be not
wise In hi. generation
Saturday il oouring day also to
S.mbo. Here he meets the Winsome.
fascinating Dinah. redolen, OF hair oil
and opalent Of lip and foot. lie can
reA, her TO lsmonde ihA, s,ingeih aud
and the peanu, ,ha, eon',iP,,e'h. Tie
can speak love TO eyes that speak again
in unmi,,,k.ble language. lie can give
apd receive gentle prsssurss Of the hand.
lie can stride by the side Of bis darling
away from the dusty streets TO partial
ob.euri,y. which permits him doing the
w.i.,-eneiicling act. and sometimes the
meeting Of eager lips. Many match
h,. been made on ,hi. jubilani day. AZ
the white. 90 the black many and are
given in marriage. Though the bride Is
given away. the groom Is no, 30 often
sold a. the Cauca,ian, witness the rec
ord, Of the divorce courts.
Early in the morning. also, does the
white man from tie country make bis
APPEARANCE. The cracker" |. he De.
lights to be called. !. the sui seneri' race
Of the .oil-.bort men. tall men. gsun'
men. A IA, "erAeker i' an anomaly.
Hard work. spare. unhealthy diet. mia''
matte condition. OF re.ideney, all have
lef, their trace. Little struggling beard,
like corn silk. innocent Of razor. nearly
% Of comb. complexion like beef iAllow.
heightened with tobacco juice for most
Of them are lu.,y ehewers OF the weed
Some Of them are diamonds in the rough,
With heart. Of gold. ho.pi,Able as Arabs.
Deligh,ing in horeas'h and unrivaled
As horemen. they keep their CRITTERS
swim. IA, and strong. and can ride
better when drunk than mos, northern
men can when sober. One can hardly
blame them for drinking, their life IL 80
hard and forlorn.
Let u. enter ,hi. bsr.room. |, is fall
Of crackers. all trying TO talk at the
sane time. They are ell abou, half
drunk. bu, jolly and full Of wild. rough
fun, ban,enng one or the other TOT
"ho.s trade" or bOa.,ing Of their prov.
e.. in field or forsy. or the value OF the
coming crop. Now, one little inhsm.
ed by repeated po,A,ions. lifts bis hand
high above hi, head and declares ,ha, he
isl native Floridan and ain, "'keered
Of anything ,op.ide the earth. To him,
an exile Of Georgia. addresses himself
"I'll tell you how you can aller' tell a
native Fluridyan." "How" says the
eager crowd drawing near Wal, you
un. may be sgoin' through old 'Fsye,te
or Taylor eoan,ie. some day. Now. ef
YOU runs across a cabin with slab chin.
bly,. broken OF eibOu, two fee, below the
roof. the from, yard full Of gourd vines
Std Of flowers. the woman plowing the
little patch Of land with steer. the ole
man goin' ou, hun,in' with 4 dozen houn'
dog. an the from, door full Of children
why you kin r.k hi, ,ha, hi, Is whar
native Fluridysn lives" There is up
roariou. laughter at this and all hands
take another drink.
Sometimes the whi.key Is unusually
fiery and then the devil comes TO the
front. There Is a ,umult Of wild and
blasphemous language. elimination and
expo.,ula,ion on the part Of the bar.
keeper and a surging out OF the bar.
room into the street. Here the quarrel
is renewed aud crowd assemblies.
Friends plead with them. bu, to no pur.
pose. The crowd separates and two
ferce.looking men stand facing each
other. Each has long. sharp knife in
his hand. They get at one another like
wild beasts, their faces red with evil pas.
.ions and worse whiskey. Bot hesi,a.
,ion steps In. and the man who hesita,e'
is lost. Friends again intervene, per.
hsps the town marshal, a s,al~art man,
we'll known TO be ''on the shoot" Is seen
approaching. A truce Is hastily patch.
ed up and ratified with fresh draugh'' Of
the. poison. Sometimes tie parties are
un.rmed. and then = roush..nd.tumble
fsh, Is the result. ending in vows OF
friendship. and huge swallows OF "Old
red" Generally. however. peace reigns
and the Wild and staggering talk seldom
ends In fight.
As night comes on the crowds separate
and put out for home. Flasks are stow.
ed away in pockets easy Of access horses
are mounted and of they go 10 Wild
race to the music Of pistols fired IN the
air. On Sunday comes the swelled head
and the fevsred tonkue, but Monday