San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-10-19
QUEER LIFE IN THE PINE BARREkS
OF LOWER DELAWARE.

|
Trip Through the Peach Region te
Loves and Among the Primitive People
Who Live The<e-Wsestling with ''th<
Agy"-Civilization-
Journeying southwark over the Delaware
division of the Philadelphia, Wilmington
and Baltimore railroad ono gets fairly in.
telhgent impression Of the magnitude ot
peach cultivation in the Delaware peninsula.
A few miles below New Castle an abundaH,
| growth Of trees aRd the large number Of
wagons and mon scattsred here and there in
the open folds Indicate the commencement
Of tho great peach belt. and as the train pene-
trates still further there is greater density
of trees, hemming In the track upon either
side until they seem to expand into an intsy-
minable wilderness Of INTERVENING trunks,
| boughs and leaves, weighted down with
| f:rlIc Long lines of cars are side tracked at
the different stations, loading with crates
AID baskets tor shipment to Philadelphia,
New York and The eastern markets, the
fruit coming not only from the prolific
orchards skirting the min STAN, but from
the numerous f6cGASs which ramify the
country
Every mile the train covers You get deeper
and deeper INFO t2e regioa- Il is psachss,
pcaches everywhere until You become ALSO
lutely surfeised. The very atmosphere Is
impregnated with sts aroma that Is waited
through the car wiadovs FROM ME depshs 81
the orchards NEneros htsls uSchins, al
most before the Wheels have ceassd to 9y-
rate, are clhIiiaials en- tho cars IKE pirates
boarding an oaeas i:.ssa. Thsy hnpudsnsly
thrust bLetr h~sketS HI your faes and voc&
ercusly importans you to buy Of their stock.
Every ot'ier '2ai, ep t!a cor Is q grower, q
buyer, worker Of = .,<'etssatsr, or IN SONS
way interested in tbs bsssiness
''HarrinStoaI Change oars for LswssI"
shouts the brakeman.
A. twilight the train oomas 10 q haIt ct the
station at Lewes, the historic old town of
Sussex county, with it. ANTIQUE, moss COW
ered houses, almost hidden from view in the
:,~idst Of grand old forest Of oak and pine
/. oes. While looking about for suitable
conveyance a vcaerahle looking negro. driv
iag cadavuguu, OK attached to a rickety old
burfhoafd. cane Gag. | found the old
fellow TO be quite communicative, and read
lily agreed to take me for q consideration,
and in q short time we were off for the Capes,
leaving crowd Of people gazing curiously
after US
At last we reached open country and ar
rived at Cape Henlopen light house Here
for miles, stretching along the ocean front
is n great pine forest inhabited by a comma
nifty of people whose manners and customs
are similar to thoSe Of the crackers" Of
Georgia Near the light tower the road di
verges to the right and runs parallel with
the ocean beach for a long distance. W.
followed it for a mile and half. when we
turned abruptly into by path and plHnged
into the dismal looking place. Suddenly Ne
were greeted by the shouts of troop of dirty,
ragged looking children, who seemed to have
sprung up out Of the bushes. The driver ex-
planned that we had struck the "slarIls,"
which l interpreted as meaning the clear
ings, and so they proved to be-
These clearings are located at short inter
walls, and consist Of from ous-haf 70 sp acre
Of arabic land IN a comparatively good state
of cultivation Upon this ground s raieA On
abundance Of Vegetables and cabbage; Sweet
and round potatoes are slowed away n la9se
quantities for winter use There are cherry,
apple, peach, pear and PLAN trees, and some
Of the more aesthetic and intelligent dGliglS
in ollina in the shade of the silver maple or
gathering exquisite bouquets from tbe Axu-
rious flower beds set of in one cornar OF the
clearing. The manner in which the houses
aIc constructed is from which the arc3llatinn
Of ''pine shattor" is lsrived, and. i:Geed, it
is no misnomer. The houses are Cae story
hi;h. built OF pine slabs, some with and SOHO
without the BARI. and are put together sub
s:antiallv The roof is constructed Of pine
s,,atS These shafts ore the, refuse fgorn Pike
:lc~;. sch ~ cones. leaves, twigs &C, which
y. mixc,i with Il composition Of Leaked sea
.,a;cr aGd clav, which forms compact r,ass
-,,1.utely impcrvious to water. To- chiEl-
=. il # hard clay and aseends from tie ous-
@. The hOusa.
'Gc:r ieoPlc ere evidently great ecoao-
-. =: O: space. for hero in one Of these small
roo-,,,, a whole family, frequently consisting
OF six lid seven p1.so1S, eat, sleep am cook. =
largo opsn fi!'r linr2. with a swinging crane,
from which is SUI. ended the old fashioned
iron dinner pot, an antique bedste2a two CT
three chairs and an immense chest 90 -rplete
the furniture There is no sign Of CARPET, and
no attempt Is made at interior decoration,
except that the slabs have once upon tim
been wuitewashed, for they are now so be
grimed with SCOT and smoke it is hard to dis
tinguish the presence of the calciminer. i
few pictures, cut from national newspapers,