The Iola register., 1889-11-15
swAPP,Nc WIVES.
4 Community IL North Carolina Where
Women Arc Traded Like Horses.

Women Arc Traded Like Horses.
The writer. while riding across the
State some months since. stopped at
the cabin of one of those settlers OH a
small creek at the foot of Big Smoky
mountain. The head of the family
was a Aght-haired, heavily-bearded
man OF fifty or sixty. dressed in a
paE'of linen'trousers, and shirt OF
the same material. both of home man.
ufo TIre. The woman of the house
was tall. raw-boned, dark-visaged fe-
male of forty or more. There were
eleven children of all ages, all OF
whom were clad in course shirt and
pantaloons except the smaller ones.
who wore natures garb from crown to
toe. None of the family wore either
boots or shoes.
Simpsen-that was the name of the
host-in reply to the professional
query. rs there any thing new GO
ing P'' replied:
'.Nuthin' ever happens hyer,
stranger. 'ceptin' it's the Mormins or
a swappin' match"
.'What do you mean by a swapping
match?"
.Wal. eff that don't beat all. Say.
Nance" turning to his wife, ''he un
don know wot swappin' match is. "
''Humphr' calculated the woman.
He un dom know much. Why, stran-
ger, a swappin' match is where folks
swap hosses. muels, wives and sich. "
"Wives! You don't mean to say that
you people trade wives do you?"
"Thet's jes wot l mean" replied
the man, "an' there's goin' to be big
swap over to Bill Suggs' to-morrer.
A ride of abo.t two hours over the
mountains brought us to the residence
of the Suggs. 1t was. like that OF
Simpsons and every other habitation
1 saw in that loc ,lity, log structure.
but, unlike Simpsons. it had two rooms
instead of one. In the yard and under
the trees there were about dozen
horses and mules. two coons. and about
ten or twenty sheep and a number OF
hounds.
There were eight men and seven
women, all clad in course, homespun
linen. Such women as wore any head
dress at all wore long poke or sun-bOn-
nets. One or two of tho women were
fairly good looking, but the rest OF
them, like the men, were coarse. raw.
boued, and any thing but handsome.
We had not arrived moment too
soon to hear the preliminaries of the
business for which the appointment
had been made. Bill Suggs. the pro-
prietor of the house. was the first to
broach the subject, which he did in the
following language:
1--WE uns hev met here to swap an
trade. l hev been tryin' to swap wim-
min with Jake Long here fur some
time. i hev got my woman here. an
so hez Jake, an I'm ready to trade.
What dye say, Jake?"
Jake, a big, gawky young fellow,
said: There's my gal. Bill" point
ing to a raw-boned, dark-eyed woman
OF forty-five. ''She can dig more
'seng, chop more wood, an ken beat
any thin' shootin' on the creek. I'll
take yer woman an yer old mare to
boot"
Suggs had led his wife-or woman
up to that ofLong. The women seemed
to be almost utterly Indifferent, or if
they did object they spoke no word or
made no sign.
That's morn I'll give, Long; that
woman" pointing to his wife. "is a
good cook, and kin hoe rs much corn
as any woman in the neighborhood,
an she's val'ble. I'll trade even up
and no boot"
There was considerable talk and a
dozen propositions, which finally
ended in Suggs swapping for Longs
woman and giving red COW with one
horn and one sheep as a premium or
boot.
This settled, two others, middle
aged, red-whiskered fellow. with q
rather good looking young woman for
wife, traded with younger man
for woman who was old enough to
be his mother, but looked as though
she could perform almost any
manual labor. The young man turned
over his property and took charge Of
the one he had bartered for. He
seemed somewhat pleased by his bar
gain, and his new purchase certainly
did not seem to have been sorry for
the exchange. The name of the young
fellow was Bledgett
There were six bargains or trades
successfully closed during the day
one of which was between an old fell
low of sixty or more and a much
younger man, in which they had mere
ly exchanged for the woman the other
man had in his possession at former
time. They both seemed pleased to
get their women back. There was no
boot or premium in the trade. e.-Chica-
60 Times.
ELECTRICAL SCIENCE.