The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1892-01-27
"Shethatdo!"
1Greerville News

However careful we may be in obey
inc the rules of grammar and pronun-
ciation, however punctillious we may
be in conforming to all the demands OF
courtesy, we Of the South inevitably
come to it. We may begin the winter
with carefully arranged formulas-"Be
good enough -o..close the door'-"oollge
me by shutting the door"-''shut the
door you please"-with voices moou-
lated according to the demands OF gooo
breeding. Before the glad harolngers
of spring have begun TO peer tlmldly
from the bleak, brown earth, to f1utter
upon the branches, TO throw NANTES
of delicate green about the bare limbs
of the trees or to blow upon Us softly
from the South, We have always reach
ed the abbreviated form represented by
the strange device at the head OF THIS
article, with the accompanying eXcIa-
nation poin,. Unhappily, many OF US
learn to incorporate prefix or addl-
ton which would make theinjunction,
reported geographically, appear as
"dammitshethatdon or ''shethatdo-
dammit but this is not invariable.
The views of the cverage Afro
American servitor on the subject OF
doors would be interesting and in
structive If they could be obtained in
intelligible form and appropriately
elaborated. There may be among our
fellow citizens of that race, OF both
sexes, an Inherited tendency TO regard
the door as contrivauce for venti!a-
ton and light as well as for egress and
ingreSs, for in the endless summer of
Africa the door is merely a hole in the
wall and performs the functions Of
windows and chimney. Or it may be
that the mind of our brother or sister
in black, by beautifully simple pro-
cess of logical reasoning, grasps the
idea that if the door is closed it must
be presently opened again, involving
waste Of force which is most easily
avoided by never closing it at all.
Whatever The cause or motive or
purpose may be, it is certain that IN
the breast Of the average colored person
there is an ineradicable hostility to
closing of doors in the residences OF
white persons and that fact must be
taken into special consideration in
these days of grip and influenza. No
statistics of the number Of illnesses and
deaths caused by doors left open have
ever been prepared, but they ought to
be as illustrative of the mortuary re-
suits Of local and racial tendencies. We
build our houses as snUgiy as we can,
lay in great stores CT fuel and look for
ward. each recurring winter, 10 sea-
son Of warmth and comfort and def
ance Of cold winds and icy blasts. Each
recurring winter. from November to
March the process Of leaving the door
open goes on. The Intelligent Afro
American will with profuse putting
and infinite pains build fire supposed
to be for the purpose Of ditiu'ing its
genial heat and making room COM
Portable and then withdraw, carefully
leaving the door spread wide and the
incipient blaze TO mainta an unequal
contest against the chilled air Of the en-
tire continent of North America. If
any of us have shut ourselves in and |
by patience and lightwo0d raised the |
temperature to an endurab!e degree |
there will presently enter on some in
scrutable mission descendant Of Ham |
who will DO nothing visible, leave no |
evidence Of his or her presence but 4
door ajar. Through it will come rush |
ing stream Of chills having much the |
slue effect on tie human back as the !
application Of 8 circular saw II twelve !
lu ldred revolutions - Tie minute 50