The morning call., 1891-02-22

Special Correspondence of THE SUNDAY CALL.
Many are the curious relics of the "old
regime" TO be found in the black districts
of South Carolina. Wherever The whites are
in the majority progress has modernized the
customs; new ideas and new discoveries
have been adopted, and the good old fash
ions are memories only. But on many of
the old cotton and rice plantations in the
BLACK districts long since deserted by
their former owners, but still occupied by
gray-heGded remnant of eX-slayes, their
children and their children's children-the
condition Of affairs is very different. There
has been no progress - quite the oppo-
site, indeed-and there many of the prim-
tive usages Of thirty years ago are still in
vogue.
But before speaking further of the relics,
a word for the old plantations on which
they may he found. The old plantations
are interesting enough because of their
former beauty, and the luxury of their
former appontments-bec of their pres
ent dliapidation and the wild picturesque
ness that surrounds them. To begin fit
tingly, here is the big gate" at the entrance
OF the long avenue, bOrdered by moss-man-
tied century oaks-there was the gate-to-day
1t is gone like the fencing, for only a ZiZ-Zag
ridge Of rotten plank and post winds through
the riotous thicket and marks the line of
the old fence. The avenue is knee deep in
dead leaves, the oaks are fettered by grape
vines, dropping under tons of moss, ana
and from long neglect look like a company
of bushy-headed giants drawn up in battle
array against the genii Of the wierd soil
tudes ABOUT them. The once handsome
a of l,a of
ing to the fail; shoTn Of steps, shutters,
windOw-panes; piliased of every portable
ornament, Iotting and ruined. The smoke
house, with its hundred diamond-shaped
eyes, through which clouds of snowy smoke
was wont to Ooze, after developing the
freshly dressed hams hanging from the cell
ing inside, and thus help to cure" them;
the kitchen, wherein 800 feasts per mum
were prepared in ''the good old days; the
stables that once harbored many blooded
courser; the barns, the dwellings of the
house servants-all leaning, falling or fallen.
Say that a stranger is approaching the
Quarters" (Which in slavery days meant
that long row Of negro cabins far a-feid In
which the tield-hands dwelU. He would see
quaint little settlement OF diminutive,
dilapldated houses, patched and prOpped in
every conceivable fashion, and surrounded
by little patches OF turnipS, cabbages and
potatoes, a few fowls and pigs, a host of
gaunt ours. piles Of oyster shells, stacks of
fodder, potato banks fenced III with rails,
all occasional peach or pear tree-all these
with the Inhabitants lie would see at a
glance and While approaching. Bus what
Is the sound that he hears? That whiTring.
whlzzi"g, grating, rushing, yet not I'M
pleasant sound, accompanied by lusty
voices chanting the most uiOnOtOnOus of
tunes. He does Lot know. The initiated
would tell him lit is the old mill''-aud so
it is.
Not long since the writer, accompanied
by photographer and TWO burly blacks to
carry the camera and pull the oars, jour
neyed far into the country, over water and
over land, for the purpose of obtaining 4
picture OF The only antr-bellum stone mill
within many miles OF the city that diligeut
inquiry could locate.
Let US examine it III detail.
First, the large square frame over which
the two men are standing, supports two
heavy circular stones. Their surfaces are
rough, ike coarse sand paper; the bottom
stone Is stationary, the top stone movable.
In the center Of the lower surface of the
upper stone there is a scoop" like the i'm
preston OF Il cannOn-ball on the soft earth,
chlseled there to fit loosely over an iron
cone. This cone Is attached, or fits loosely
over the top CT an iron rod, which runs
loosely through the center of the lower
stone, and on downward through the heavy
wooden crossbar beneath. The iron rod is
tHItdutu ana Hulleu DOlU ABOVE ana
beneath the wooden bar, making il possible
TO lower or raise the cone, for Il purpose
which VIII soon appear. The SIDES OF the
cone are gTOOYed TO facilitate the grinding
process. III the center OF the upper stone
there IS a round hole which, after passing
half way through the entire thicknees OF
the stone, Widens into the scoop" before
mentioned, to lit loosely over the cone.
Through this hole the corn is fed" to the
mill, a handful at time, the grain passing
through the grooves in The sides of the
cone, and on between the two stones, TO be
ground into grist or flour, and musk. The
two stones are separated by perhaps the
thirty-Second part Of an inch OF space, the
two rough surfaces almost touching. But
this space may be Increased or diminish he'd
by manipulating the nuts already described.
Near the outer edge OF the upper stone
there is notch an inch deep and an inch or
more in diameter. Into this notch fits the
upright pole which IS grasped by the hands
OF the grinders. The top OF this pole runs
through a hole in a horizontal plank sup
ported by two uprghts at distance of
about four feet above the stone, The hole
through the plank is much too large for the
poe, leaving plenty OF room for tue "play"
which is required.
And now, when all is ready, let it be re-
membered that the cone fits loosely over the
top Of the iron rod, the upper milestone fits
loosely over the Gene ana the bar runs
loosely through the lower stone.
The rest is plain. The men, as they stand,
exert their strength-One pushing, the other
pulling; the upper stone reyolyes, slowly at
first, for it weighs several hundred pounds,
then faster and faster, until it PUSHES around
with speed that would take it across the
country at twenty miles the hour did it sud
denly jump from its position and strike
terra lrma at the proper angle.
No prentice hand " can feed the "mill."
Only those who are adopts ever venture to
try it, for the speed OF the rushing stone is
never slackened in the least while the mill
is being fed With the utmost ease and
grace The accustomed hand drops the grain
into the mouth The hole in the center OF
the upper stUne-Without allowing the rap
idly revolving pole to strike his arn-a
catastrophe to be dreaded as one would
dread the blow Of a sledge hammer. And
the feeder does his work with one hand, be
it remem bered, while he helps TO turn the
stone with the other.
The better to comprehend what becomes
Of the corn after being "fed" to the mill,
let us imagine the upper milestone wheel;
the mouth" then, would be at the hub
and the tire, around the rim of the stone.
The corn disappears at the hub and flies
out in the shape Of grist, at the tire, from
between tue stones, being shOwered against
the f0ul sides Of the miil-frame as sand
flies from rapidly moving wheel.
But what of the mill songs?
From the long, long ago, there comes to
me even as L write, that rushing sound
which nothing can initiate and its energetic
accompaniment. With the eye of memory
see again the old quarters and the old mill,
and Minda Nina, Pompey and Peter grouped
around II.
Nh AsINz1