Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1894-05-12
IN RURAL FLORIDA
Arp Describes a Section Where Me-
groes are Scarce.

Arp Describes a Section Where Me-
groes are Scarce,
Not Enough to DO the COOKING enhse-
~oucntly Very Little Is Done-bit Did
Not Get Many Invitations
Out to Dinner.
The place | visited last in Florida was
Wildwood. The name does not hit the
town but il does fit the country adjacent
on the southwest. | never was III Just
such 4 deep tangled wildwood as that
wherein the famous King orange grove Is
planted. The giant monarchS OF the Tor
est are there towering toward the sky,
many of them eight feet in diameter and
one of them twelve, and all apparently
solid and their immense limbs stretching
far and wide and their evergreen foliage
hiding the sunlight and casting over all Il
shadow and a fear. Underneath them
was found a chaparral of wild oranges,
and of these the larger ones We're cut
down and the smaller ones were budded.
This produces a luxurious growth "
large trees whose foliage is a dense dark
green and the fruit of fine color ana quai-
ity. The King grove now stands AT the
head of the list, both for acreage ana
quality. The amount of labor h 4 1t
has taken to subdue this wilderness must
have been immense and it still goes on
ditching and clearing and prunins-64o
acres in oranges does not satisfy Mr..
King, and he has 240 more coming on
1t is just such plants that show the value
of the negro. His muscle, endurance,
good health and contcntment while doing
such work is admirable. | remember
hearing an old blunt-spoken member of
the Legislature say, Mr.. Speaker. these
railroads may fool some people, but they
| can't fool me. One of EN- goes right
by my house and never stops to say how
dy or good mornin'. | watched 'em wheh
they was buildin' it and | know who done
it. The company sold common stock ana
| preferred stock. and issued first mort
gage bonds and income bonds and they
| got the cost up to $4,000 a mile, but
| most of that was greasage and stealing
| The real cost Of the road was the sweat
of that niger at a dollar a day
There is much truth in that. Inc
| sweat of the Niger is the cost of most
| all the railroads, and down here now Is
the cost of all the phosphate plants, hnt
| outside of the large towns in FLORIDA the
negro is rarely seen. i saw but lew IN
Wildwood, and there are not twenty-five
in Clear Water. There are hardly enough
to do the cooking and washing. Most
of the families serve themselves. They
do their own cooking and, therefore, not
much cooking is done. You are not in.
vited out to dine. The people do not at
tach much Importance to their appctlies
as they do to other pleasures, nor are they
bound up by the rules of society as they
are in cities and old settled towns. II
they wish to 90 anywhere they walk oi
else ride in the little farm VIZ on. There
are some buggies, but no carriageS-nc
darky sitting up with a beaver on hi
head and a robe over his knees, a mar
can sit in his piazza with his coat off ant
n woman can wear an old straw bonnet
if she wants to and no remarks. Mothers
take their children to church. baby AM
all, and why shouldn't they? Whel
would they hear preaching if she didn't
| heard a man say not long ago that !
always made him mad to see a woman
in church with a baby in her arms. Well
Of course, the child does sometimes dis
turb the congregation, but not long, fo
the mother takes it out, but that woman
has perhaps been tied to her house da,
and night for weeks sewing and cook i'll,
and nursing while her husband can g
about and talk and chat with the neigh
bors. No doubt he is a very clever, indus
trious man and means to be kind, but tn
wife who is a mother of young children
is bound hand and foot to the hcarthstone
Then let them 90 to church, and if tn
baby cries let us be sorry, not mad.
How old father time does slip up on US
Verify the years are all coming this way
I found at Wildwood Andrew Harvey, tn
son of my old friend, Judge Harvey, o
Rome. When | last saw him he was bu
a boy going to school with my boys, AN
now he is the father of Il family, Il pate
familias." He is a settled man and hi
wife is a settled woman, Of course, she
settled. for five little children will settl
any m but motherhood is her natul
al condition, and the women who dodge
hnsrow IIarror :. n loading cit;zen .
49, .ea., anl ,ho srnorintnnJont of IN
cnnaor sohnoI III homo il inc. what
Lnma sh.ni1 10 ana h;s vito ;s n hol,
meet as well as a helpmate. l was the
n,rhon nnJor tboir roof and esnecia,ly q
thair t,hla cooi cr,cious, What
,Ian,,a dinno mas snrno1 hoforo us an
,.hat " t"ri,or ana what rnhro an
tnttou";,ri W.T. ora,m was that a
.ha anann sr,;t Thoro was rnviy,
- roina on IN tho p,nt;st Cbrrc
ny oa1 nuonoh;nr IN thn do,
,;n'o and ,bo ,roachors oil snsnonde
nc ~ n;vh. on1 ho,nroJ mo ui,
,ha;, nrnsorna and hroucht thn concror
l ,;nn - hoom n'o tni,. TSnt wos L;nJ a1
nna for non,otimos T havo h.
: "n'peN," ,n,,in ano.. an,,|
ran;n. tho snir;, hr hoor;nn Pill 4,
Y .sau, H., ,hanps 70 Tor Ar portor ar
Nm ror,,on and 70 ,hn GOOD .noonlo
t yun,"d A' e'N pN'p
n "nn"ov.' c,... v..o. w.. w.,,o.,,
4 W. lei' olg". ""'ol ''ss Meunoa
;, ~. pave anu .he poop.e Law law n", Tn'
, ulctlons' loI our so5ourh UNITY n"' 'u'
! nus uelsn.iut' anu We WI nu'e r r"'
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Neie nv opeias VI ,neat.is "oia' law
y VI ohsen, y VI eiues' ~, W. ~ sMe
o q"'e. VI .he .own anu 'le plasiu way
y nv pas WIZ eno"sn " nm NO !,
caill anu serene ~ r"s anu " ns.
uooa hes'tn, soou s'e.p' sJo" "ppeu
a an' eoov 10 0"1n. " "n'oo'