The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1886-06-26
OUR SOUTHERN BUDGET.


SOUTHERN PINES, N. c., June 10, SO.
"Hiute! hiute! hiuter' The call rang
out like bugle blast.
The accent was strongly marked on
the last syllable. 1t sounded more like
"shootP' than anything else. At first
we paid no heed to the call; but as it
continued we investigated and found
that it was the call of negro who
wanted some information, and in that
way attracted attention. That was
when we first came South. We have
heard it many times since-heard it
from colored men, women, ami 'n;,tIa
nigs" no larger than little blue churn
on thU pOIon vi a country store. And
we have even heard the call from some
native whites.
The word 'hiutew seems to take the
place of our Northern mode of calling
attention which finds vent in the "hel-
lo!' which is so common in all the Mid
die and Eastern States. The word ''hel-
loP' is seldom used down here excepting
by people from the North. Indeed. it is
regarded as vulgar and almost, if not
quite, WICKED.
To me, one of the most abused words
in the English vocabulary is the word
"at" as it is used in the South. The use,
or misuse, rather, of the word seems to
be quite general. Here are few sample
sentences, and they may be heard on all
sides, from all sorts of people:
"Where is he at?" "N hat is he atp"
where is he stopping atP' "Where is
it at"' Where is he working at?"
"Where is he preaching at .o-dayP"
&C., &C., &c.
Then there is the word "up." This
word is generally abused all over the
United States. Ihave noticed here that
the word is almost invariably used to de-
note elevation, and not to denote geo
graphical direction. From the South
Carolina line Raleigh would be North
according to direction and the course of
the rivers. Yet it is no uncommon
thing to hear people talk of going down
to Raleigh. Southern Pines is more
elevated than Raleigh but it is South of
that place; yet people speak of going up
to the Pines.
For genuine, uncouth, yet real music,
a band of negroes working together take
the hoe-cake. They are all pious-
every one of them. And the way they
will make the very air tingle with their
wild melody at times is caution to
good lungs and sensitive ears. The 9TH
er day good old uncle with white top
knot and quavering voice made the air
vocal with his music as he sang some
thing like this:
I'm In. a Pil-" pil-a pill grim,
But ole satan totes myload
I'm boun' to tell de story,
De story, story, sto-o-ry,
While on my way to glo-o-ry,
IL olllS dlOuS ue IOau.
"You seem to be happy, uncle"
"Oh, yes, sah. Deed is. sah."
''Sing great deal, do you?"
"Most all de time, sab. You see Use
gittin' ole, and dat's bout all de good |
can do is jest to sputter roun' a leetle."
And the old fellow hobbled away
singing:
I'm I'm a Pil-a Pil-a pilgrim,
Wonder is sometimes expressed that
the South is so backward and behind the
age. The States are old. The lands
have been titled for years. And vet there
has been little progress made. New in
yentions and labOr-saying machinery are
comparatively unknown. A clothes
wrlnger and a washing machine are
novelties. But the lightning rod ped
dler has been all through the South
The trouble is that the people in the
South have been moving in circle. Its
outer edge has hardly reached beyond
Portsmouth and Norfolk, Virginia As
soon as il reaches Baltimore and New
York, rapid progress win be made.
There never was better opportunities
for producing all kinds of garden truck,
honey, fruits, poultry, and general lux
uries, and getting them into the large
and paying markets. The people In the
South, generally speaking, don't kno W
how to reach these markets, or knowing
how, have no faith in finding a arket
SO far from home, Men from the North