The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-09-03

z
fallen snow. the butter was churaed yester-
day, and the preserves and jellies are mira
cles OF delicious sweetness. At such feast
you forget your bodily limitations, but eat
as If you are a spirit that occupies all space
and can never be fillel You never think
of quitting until you see one after another
OF the family leaving the table-some-
thing they will certainly do without apol-
ogy as faSi a they are filed. Then the
melancholy truth begins to force itself upon
you that in all human probability the time
Will come when you, too, must stop for lack
OF capacity; that, sooner, or late",
it must become impossible for you
to stay there, as you wish, and eat forever
and ever. You console yourself for
these sad thoughts by eating two of the
biggest pieces of the best pie ever made.
Oh! what piesi every one of which is, re-
greet to say, destined to be eaten with a
knife. The fork is never used to convey
food to the mouth. our Pennsylvania Dutch
friend having a remarkable dexterty in
the use Of the knife. With the skill of a
D'Alvini he whips upon his knife a good
tablespoonful of green peas. for instance,
carries them to their destination, and open
ing his mouth, dumps the whole cargo
without losing single pea or cutting OF
his palate. Only those to the manner born
can accomplish this feat. All that stran-
ger can do La to look on and wonder
THEIR IDEAL HOMES.
These people have retained all the admir-
able, domestic, home-loying. characteristics
of the race from which they sprung. No
wives are more loyal, no mothers more de-
voted to their children than these. Among
the young people the singing school is a
weekly entertainment during the winter,
and dancing is held in favor. But the great
social event of the year, In every family, is
the "schnit zen." "Schnitzn are sliced
apples, and the fruit in that form retains
the name after it is dried, stewed and baked
into pie. ''Scbnitzen" etymoligically con
sidere1, Illustrates very we'll the way
in which many German verbs turn
up in Pennsylvania Dutch. without any
modification, with all the--seffect of
the English participle. The German verb
''schnitzen," to cut or slice, becomes the
Pennsylvania Dutch "schnitzing,n pro-
nounced without sounding the "g;" but
SOC ally it denotes the harvest-home a COM
oination of easy WORK and pleasure the
time when all the pent-up gaiety of the
year is turned loose. And so it is that
when the apples are all schnitzed, and the
young people have feasted on cakes and
cider, the fun begins in earnest. Games
and dancing turn into general romp, con-
| tlnuing until long after midnight The
| green schnltz are afterward strung on stout
cords with q darning needle, and hung in
| great loops and festoons about the kitchen
walls to dry.
No other event calls together so large a
number of people rs a funeral. The mo-
ment one of the family dies the survivors
begin to bake and cook and gather supplies.
There is little time for grief; the funeral is
but three days off at most, and If there
should be any skimping of the feast, to
VIII CHI the minister will be authorized to
invite from the pulpit all the friends of
the family, it W )uld be disrespectful to the
dead and discrediGable to the living. And
| there, too, must be prepared the midnight
lunch for the watchers who will guard the
| remains. Two young men of the height Dor
hood will be detailed for this purpose, and
it will be their privilege to select the two
young ladies who are to help them
while away the long hours In room
adjoining that in which the body is lying
these watchers amuse themselves in what
ever way they choose. Every hour the
young m On enter the death chamber and
look upon the features of him who sleeps
the eternal sleep; while the two girls, awed
and nervous at being alone so near the
| visible presence of death. ire nblingly wait
the return Of their gallant companions. 1t
is a beautiful custom, that of watching
| over the dead, and charater of d
reverent and affectionate race. Yet it
| must be confessed that owing to the
presenceM of the young ladies the
WdICueIS RoueTdlIy manage 10 64DraCC more
| pleasure out of it th an is consistent with its
solemnity 1t will be found that the abund-
| ant preparation of If uneral baked meatsn
has been timely enough. AS soon as the
service is ended at the grave all the assem-
blage returns to the house, and the feasting
ends not until the last neighbor has gorged
himself as only Pennsylvania Dutchman
can on holiday. Hundreds of them par
| take of these funeral feasus, and they regard
it as a matter of pride when the number is
larger than usual
THE YOUNG WOMEN OF THE COLONY.
The Pennsylvania Dutch young man
rarely takes a lady TO church to a
"schnitzen," or singing school. When the
meeting is ended the young mon hurry out
and stand in a row, or a double row on
o lch side of the walk When the girl of his
| choice comes by the young man steps up
with assumed boldness and display of COZ
| fidence not warrant d by his feelings and
| shoves out his elbow Sometimes she pulls
back her arm with contemptuous lit lie
| Jerk and a saucv toss of the head, to the
gr at joy of a luckier fellow further down
| the line; while the rejected swain steps
/ back into his place to undergo an unmerci-
full guying and wait for another with whom
he hopes to be more successful. But as a
rule they know what they are doing, and
the throng melts away with few sucn in.
cidents.
The young man as somewhat more than
the pleasure Of walking home with the
lady. He is gener ally invited into the
house. If the old people have not already
retired, they will obligingly do SO very
soon. Etiquette would hardly permit him
to leave before 2 or 8 O'clock in the morn
ing but, etiquette or no etiquette, he rarely
leaves before the first named hour. This
| performance is known as ''settin' up" with
each other. 1t does not imply marriage
engagement between the parties, but i
rather the method by which the desirabilit y
of such an engagement is determined. It Is
| proper to say at this point that the Penn
| sylvania Dutch word for kissing is
'schmootzing," derived, no doubt, from
the German verb Schmattze1s, to tarnish OF
soil. 1t is, of course, inevitable that the
custom alluded to should often lead
to very serious results. The court
| calendar at every session il
burdened with the complaints OF
young ladies who have loved unwisely. To
the curreat term of the quarter sessions OF
this county alone, sixteen Borrowing dam
sells have brought their grievances. Such
cases are so common that they attract n
special attention. A young lady would not
lose her reputation in the slightest degree
by taking a trip of a week, say to New
York, Philadelphia or Washington, with a
| young man. 1t Is by no means unusual
And it may be said. too, as rule, that the
| young people are worthy Of the prodigious
confidence reposed I'm them. Few other,
| could so cast off all safegard to the morality