Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-07-17
TIE SUNNY SOUTH.
GREAT BLESSINGS, RESULTING
PROM TERRIBLE WAR.
Caste Broken Down With Fortunes
and Homes-Ex-SlavesC Caring for
Former Owners-Strange Facts

EDS. RECORD UNION In view OF the re-
cent demonstrations at the South, and the
manifestations of loyalty extended to JEFF
Davis, and his second triumphal appear
ance, as it were before the Southern peo-
pie, have thought that few remarks
upon the characteristics of the South and
its people would not be out of place. To
the casual observer, or to those who live
away from the South, and to those whose
opinion of her people and institutions
have been formed by hearsay, and through
the medium of opposition newspapers and
politicians, these recent manifestations
would seem to indicate that the spirit of
rebellion is still alive and rampant. and
that, like the coiled snake upon the old
State flag of South Carolina, it was always
c1iled and bidding sll beware how they
stepped upon it. This is certainly not the
case, and yet to all who do not know the
Southern people, this assertion, in the face
of all that has recently transpired, would
seem paradox.
POPULARITY OF SOUTHERN PEOPLE.
In spite of the we'll known hospitality of
the Southern people, it has always been a
hard matter to understand them properly;
to get, as it were, on the inside of their
thoughts and actions and the motives that
actuate them. ! for one have lived, ate,
slept, hunted and worked with them, and.
had been old enough, should in all prob
ability have fought with them, just for pure
love of them.
Born in foreign country, brought up in
detestation of slavery, with great deal OF
pity for the "poor, down-trodden black
man." whom / had always thought of as
being loaded down with chains, and whose
life was one continual round of being
bought and sold, and of their masters as
men whose chief amusement in life was
hunting ringers men who, like the
popular representations of stage Southern
planters, were always armed with a cow
hide, and whose inseparable companions
were q brace of ferocious bloodhounds,
who eyed each negro with eager eyes and
watering lips in anticipation of the meal
of raw niger" they expected TO get.
How many people are there living to-day
whose sole
IDEA OF SLAVERY
Aud the South is poor, decrepit negro.
heavily irOned, whip, & few pairs of hand
cuffs, several terrible-looking dogs and a
planter armed to the teeth ? Or negro
woman kneeling at the feet OF a slave
driver, who is in the act of taking away her
infant by force? Such are the ideas con-
yeyed in lectures and poems, and while
very effective as sentiment, as matters of
fact they are all bosh.
1t will be easily seen that, with such
ideas as the above, / had no inherited
traditions to conquer, but rather TO eradicate
feelings opposed to the people with whom
l was to live. l have simply written this
Introductory to show that am not disposed
by birth or education to look at these mat
tiers from an inherited or acquired preju
dicial standpoint.
That slavery was wrong and secession
mistake are facts that are more generally
conceded down South than Northern peo-
pie are aware of These two facts were
forced upon the people more by time, rea-
son and experience than by force of arms,
and many thousands of men who fought
all through the war as matter of principle
would never have done SO had they pos
sessed the experience the results of the war
taught, even without the suffering and de-
feat.
THE WHITE TRASH OF THE SOUTH"
There is class of white people at the
South who have derived n ore real imme-
date benefit from the war lin which most
of them participated without knowing ex-
actly WHY than the negroes. This is the
class of poor whites, or, in negro vernacu-
lar. "white trash" or "po' white man."
Before the war these people occupied
position really less desirable to an intelli-
gent man than that held by fayorite or
trustworthy black domestic They (the
whites) could only occupy one position,
that of overseer, and in that capacity had
no chance of any other intercourse with
their employers than that arising from
actual business. As a class, however, this,
to them, was no drawback, for they were
very illterate and, as a rule, knew moth
ing, but exactly how much work "nigger
and mule" could do and live.
Those who were less fortunate lived in
the woods or pine barrens, in pole shanty,
Is by II or Is feet, with one door and q
wooden shutter for window every piece
of furniture in the house was home
made; the doors were fastened with home
made hinges of wood, and fastened with
hickory pegs for screws; every shingle was
fastened on with wooden peg, and the
chimney of clay and sticks. The floor was
usually of clap boards rough hewn and
undressed The interior was even less de-
sirable than the exterior; q set or two of deer
horns, upon which to hang the shotgun
pouch, powder-horn, etc.; a homemade
bedstead, bed tick filled with picked wool,
chairs, home. made of hickory, and seated
with cow-hide. generally completed the
domestic decoration of these homes. In
these cabins, surrounded by small clearings
OF from two to ten acres in extent, the non
slave-holding ana non-overseeing portion
of the community lived, slept and had
their being.
GOING TO BED UNDER DIFFICULTIES.
Often when travelling have been invited
outside to "look at the stars" and upon
our return found that the female portion of
the family of all ages had taken advantage
of our absence to get into their several
beds aud the pitch pine fire scattered, 50
that very little light was left. and all that
was visible was a row of heads all directly
turned from the FIRE and towards the wall,
thus giving to the weary traveller a chance
of getting to bed.
To the NOVICE, this mode of retiring was
embarrassing, at least In fear and trepi-
dation he would remove one after the other
each separate piece of his wardrobe, and
invariably get into bed with at least part of
1t on. In the morning upon awakening
the girls would be found busy getting
breakfast. and while they went to get chips
to cook biscuits. the experienced traveller
cody got up and dressed.
The diet of this class OF people generally
consisted of corn bread, hominy, bacon and
peas. In summer few melons, and in
winter little fresh hog meat constituted
their living; of fruit they raised more
worth speaking of. Their farms, generally
of from three to fifteen or twenty acres.
covered with stumps and dead pines,
yielded from six to twelve bushels of corn
TO the acre. A few sweet potatoes few
peas and melons were all they cared to
raise, and yet they could have raised nearly
everything i'll the shape of fruit, etc, that
is desirable The stock was few cows,
that wandered over the country TO seek
their food during summer. while in the
winter they were fed mostly from fodder
raised during the summer; pailfull of
milk from fourteen or fifteen of these kind
of cows was considered q very fair yield.
The hogs were of the razor-baeked variety,
and were hunted by dogs during the fall.
and fed little corn and then killed and
cured. Of home comforts they knew
nothing no music, no books, no pictures
nothing but work. work, work. In the
winter some of them would rise before day,
breakfast off coffee. corn bread and bacon.
walk two miles Tor wade two miles would
be better to work, get cypress shingles in
the swamp all day. eat cold corn bread and
bacon and drink cold COTE or swamp water
for dinner, and at dark walk back, to eat
another meal of bread, bacon and coffee.
and then 10 bed, and the same routine next
a Ia otrN, avrrn ft,r-~x II