Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1892-11-17

HIDING OUT AT Tanned WITH HIM THE
RANK OF A PROFESSION.
A Figure of tho Old Soutli--No Was N
Born Woodcrafts man and Cave Dwcllcr,
and He Climbed tho Trees Monkey
Iashion--How He Managed to Live.

o and He Climbed tho Trees Monkey
Tashion--How He Managed to Live.
Among the many picturesque figures
with which the old south teemed most
striking one was the runaway negro. Not
the occasional "hider out"-the one who
sought temporary refuge in the woods to
escape punishment for something done or
left undone, or for fear of being sold to the
spectators, nor even when the crop was
grassy and the work hard, but the one
who chung to wild life as instinctively as
an Indian, and who might almost be
termed the professional runaway.
Your genuine runaway was n born
woodcraftsman. The habits of wild ami
mails and ways of taking them seemed to
be his by intuition. lie had no difficulty
in varying his menu of pig, lamb and poul-
try with all the rabbits, squirrels opos-
sums and fish that he wanted. Sometimes
he carried his dog into the woods with him,
although of course it greatly increased his
danger of being taken. But this was more
for companonship than anything else, for,
single handed, with his snares, traps and
gums" he was more than match for
wild game of all kinds.
Discomforts which would have driven
the amateur back to the snug chimney
corner Of tie plantation quarters and a
whipping had no terrors for him. Like
the rest OF his race, he cared not fig for
wet, while cold, the negroes dread, he
knew we'll how to guard against. The art
of producing the maximum of fire with
the minimum of smoke was his to perfec-
ton. He knew exactly what kind of wood
and bark to select, and how to combine
them to this end. No matter how hard
the rain, low sodden the wood, all that he
asked was Il ''chunk,' or lacking that. II
coal of fire to be as happy as l.ing-the
ideal, not the real king, | mean. From a
cOnl which, in uuskilled hands, would
scarcely have suGced to light IA pipe, he
could, with even the wettcst and most i'm
possible kind Cf fuel, soon call into being
the rareyc of roaring fires, while in the
preservation and transportation of fire he
could bave given lessons to Prometheus
himself
in the mc.U essential feature of cave
architecturc--se crccy-h" easily surpassed
all inlitators Between two SUNS, and
oftcner than not with only the wornout
stump of hoe, the runaway would dig
and conceal cave which dcfled detection
from tire eyes of lynx. At the same time
several cubic yards of upturned earth had
10 be whisl,ed away and hid under distant
leaves, OF, better still, consigned to the safe
keeping q some running stream.
For several reasons TIE wornout cold
fields" of the southern states were the ia
vorite site of the cave digger. These dreary
wastes, given over to gulleys, broom sedgc
and scrub pines, being deserted 10y man
hood<jn general. were Of course his safest
retreat. The soil having been over ex-
hausted and ';urncd out," and the sappy,
twisted pines being held worthless for
/ either rails or fuel there was no danger Of
the woOdmau'S aN coming that way again
for many a long year. Nor did the squirrel
/ or fox hunter have often to seek or follow
( lis quarry into this terra ncOgnito-where
! Indeed the dtuSc screen of the low, thick
! pines would have confined their vision TO
! very limited space
Here this Lsau of the SOUTH whom in
! deed every mans hand was against, and
/ whose hand was against every man, found
an ideal dominion. every feature of the
/ surroundings adding to his sust enance or
( safety, The werdness and virtual barren
ness drove off other men, The deep, water
worn gUlIeys, barriers to the ordinary
traveller whether mounted or on foot, of
lered him highway whose firm or gray
prints to be read by curious or hostile eyes.
Nowhere old he display more ingenuity
than in contriyinE means to approach and
depart from his burrow and leave no sign.
AS hpve said, the gully was his favorite
path, though occasionally he had recourse
60 the Indians highway--a stream. Some
times he would sever at the ground long,
stout grapevine, che other end being Sc
CUrely intcrlaced among the tree limbs
many feet above. BY graSping this vine he
was able to swing clearo Of the ground many
+ feet or even cross a considerable ravine
and drop just at the mouth Of his cave
Again, when the pines We're thick, he
might climb Il tree and passing from limL
to limb, monkey fashion, Slide down n tree
/ trunk at the proper spot. Still another
which could sometimes be practiced, was
to mount stray OK, and forcing him tC
the proper place spring off. One very orig
1nal old darby, little dreaming that history
was repeating itself-with a variatiOn-is
said to have fashioned to his shoes an ole
pair of hOrseshoes reversed, knowing that
10 runaway hunter would ever think tC
notice horse track.
Amid the swamps the malaria proc
negro found little difficulty, if so minded
in passing lifetime "hid out" But VI
among the hills Of the central portion
where there were no retreats impenetrahl'
to all but the initiated, where the farm
houses were close together and compare
lively little land unclearcd, it took no lit
tie skill and cunning to play the ruuuwa,
successfully for any considerable period
Yet Johnson's surrender brought in NOR
Than one ragged "varmintlike" creature
who had spent perhaps the better part of 1
long life in this manner. There were ever
women ruuaways, and sometimes very sue
cessful oneo \ few children were born il
The woods | knew Of one Instance il
which the close Of h" war brought upa con
siderable family Of whose existence the lie
s;al owner knew nothing. David Lodge il
Kate Fields Washington.
A Tideless Sea.
For practical purposes the Mediterra