Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1893-09-21

\ Phase of American Life Little known
in the North.

We were driving in buggy through the
pine forest from Kings Ferry, ST. Mary !.
RIVER, 20 Jacksonville, Fla. distance Of
sixty miles. Adam and l. Adam was s
darhey ms guide. A good-natured. pleas.
ant-spoke prosperous darkey. the owner
OF the horse aud buggy, and also Of fine
farm several yokes Of oxen aud consider
able other tangible property.
~ We drove through the vast stretches
OF yellow pine trees we occasionally came
To clearing, where was usually built 8
shanty Of pine slabs and refuse lumber
l"caI!>, ttc.). The most striking feat
nrc> Of these simple homes in the forest
were; absence OF ali paint. scarcity Of
furniture and abundance Of children. A
poor man for ch!ldren!" The latter usually
wore hut one garment If a boy, It wa. a
par Of trousers, IL girl loose gown.
something between a night gown and a
Mother Hubbard"
Now-snd-then | would ask the squat
ter" or one Of his children how far it was
TO the next house or 70 the next settle
ment. The invariable answer wa,:-"Oh 3,
about a Peep', or "a pap lad a halt'.
or two lf1ps". soon learned that "a
peep Is a far as one can see through a
Clearing, or from one forest 10 another
As night approached we drew near to a
small stream.-I think they called 1t a
"crjok" down there. 1t was lou, of It's
banks, 50 We were told, due 70 a fre-het
up stream, ard we were warned no, TO
attempt crossing after dark s. we
looked about for shelter for the night
Seeing "cracker" in front Of forlorn-
looking house we asked him II il would be
safe TO try % make the ford" that night
He said No, that we could stop ali nigh.
at Ii, home and cross in the morning. So
We put our horse iu his she'd and entered
his house.
II consisted mostly OF one very large
room, with an enormous fireplace that oc-
cupied almost all OF one side of the room
and loCmed aloft nearly to the roof beams.
There were just four other small rooms.
one being used as kitchen, three as bed.
rooms. The crackers" little family com
prised fifteen children, a wife and moth
er-in-lsw
Our supper consisted Of Florida tur-
Key I. e., salt pork Of the saltiest and
toughest nature, and corn bread cooked in
fh.a Q-la q
common white beans and sweetened with
cheap molasSes. 1t did not take long to
satisfy ourselves with this Delmoncoish
repast, and then we adjourned to the big
diving room
huge fire of big pine logs and resnous
pine knots was flaming high in the vast
hre- place and lighted up every corner Of
the harn-like room. No candles or lamps
were used The big fire was a. good as
an electric light, far better aud more poet
ic. OF course there was not particle of
plaster on the walls Of the house, there
never j. in any Of the tcracker" homes.
The house was built Of rough slabs. ..out-
side cuts" from big logs, and the chinks
were tlled in with mud. From the huge
rsfters that loomed aloft, supporting the
roof, hung striugs of onions, red peppers,
and few ,qna,hes. Over the fire. place a
long rife hung on hooks.
There were only two chairs in the vast
mother of the numerous flock, the other
was given 10 me as their guest. Pater-
familia, sat on one end of long tool chest t
that stood near one corner of the fire.
place, and my Afro-American friend
pefched himself on the other end of the
chest. | was pleased TO see that no un-
pleasaniEess ensued between the repre-
sentative Of the Caucasian and that OF the
Ethiopian race. They were as amiable
ard friendly to each other as two bugs in
a rug
watched with delight the movements
of the crackers wife. There was charm
about the woman. 1t was not her beauty
she had about as much of that quality as
MIR. Crowley" in the Central Park monk.
ey-house. 1t was not her conversation
her loquacity was very limited, in fact she
| did not speak dozen words during all the
evening. 1t was not her ''queenly air. II
was not her brilliant flashes of silence
| for she did not "flashr-she was oil "si
lence"!
1t was not her imposing toilet, nor the
elegance Of her robe,-all she wore was q
calico Mother Hubbard" and a pair oi
carpet slippers, nor was it her ''air dis
tingue". No. 1t was none of these that
fascinated me and held my gaze riveted or
her the greater part of that ever.to-be-re.
membered evening. 1t was this: She