Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1894-05-12

botleris still to be found and has, so far, retained all his romantic peculiar. ties
 When the sabotier changes his To- cality-which he does as soon as his stock of suitable wood has given out he begins by looking out for a tract of woodland on which he will find suffi- cient beach and walnut to give him at least four or five years work. He then chooses site for his dwelling, which is generally built where there is under growth beneath tall forest tress He clears space large enough for his house and yard, in which he will erect some small outbuildings. The sabotier then hires man to build his habita- tions, which, entirely finished, cost not more than hundred or hundred and fifty dollars. The walls are made of turf and are not over two yards high, surmounted by very spacious pro- jeeting thateh roof of genet or the broom plant. Through this roof the smoke drifts in every direction, for there is no chimney. There are one or two tiny apertures cut in the mud walls which are intended for windows; and these, containing only one small pane of glass attached to the rudest of frames, are perfectly opaque from smoke and dirt and impenetrable to the brightest sunbeam.
 Several trunks of trees are left stand. ing inside the hut. They reach up to the roof and with the rough bark left on, have the appearance of being pill lars; they also have their use, for nails are knocked in all round within reach, on which various household articles and clothing are hung-hats, watches, kitchen utensils, tc.-in fact anything that will hang. There is at one end ot the house wide sort of hearth, on which huge heaps of leaves and damp brushwood are made to shoulder for the purpose of smoking and drying the sabots and giving them bright ma' hogany color.
 The sabots are hung by the heels for few hours only on longstielzs fastened against the wall at the back ef she fa'e. The smoke at these times Is SC deass that one cannot see across the little apartment; yet it does not in the least inconvenience the sabotier or his fam fly, who sit around the hearth on low blocks of wood. The women sew and the men contribute to the thick pail of smoke from stumpy clay pipes and the worst quality of tobacco. When these huts have been occupied for few years the rafters and furniture are so pene- trated with smoke as to be perfectly black and shine like ebony.
 The entire family live, eat and sleep in this one apartment. Their beds are much like cupboards with two shelves and little sliding carved doors. There is small ladder by which one climbs up to the bed on the top shelf, and there are very smoky curtains which 1 hang down in front; indeed, the whole l appearance of these beds is anything but inviting, the linen from the gen. eral atmosphere being about the color l of pale cinnamon.
 In front of the main dwelling stands rustic shed of the same materials as the house, under which the men carry on their work, with the queerest of i'm plements, that are never seen out oi their ''ateliers," or workshops-inex- plicable tools without names. Some are like long knives fastened down at one end by ring passed through an. other ring which is inserted in large block of wood. This is used to finish and smooth off all unevenness in the sabots, which have been coarsely cut into shape with hatchets They are then scooped out with a nondescript tool; but before using these two round holes are made in the wood, one down into the heel, the other forward toward the toe. This Is done with kind oi l gimlet. and is meant to prevent the gouging instrument from splitting the sabot. The patient workers never think of measuring the two little blocks. A casual glance from time tc time at the first is all they require to help with the second and yet they are | always exactly alike.
 The men are rough in appearance and manner, and are seldom seen away from their homes. Like the gypsies, they nearly always marry among themselves, consequently all the sa botiers in the country are acquainted with each other, and are more or less nearly related. N Y Tribune.