Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1894-05-16
darkey's superstition and philosophy
combined. He said:

OH their backs and frightening them
nearly to death. When it passed ON
the two darkies took out their mules
and led them on towards the house,
each too much frightened to say a
word to the other. On the way to the
house they passed their corn field,
which was in the immediate track of
the cyclone, and as they looked over
the wreck and ruin of their corn,
stranded and torn to pieces and de-
stroyed, they both stopped and looked.
Still frightened, they looked at each
other and looked at the gr, at field of
corn which the cyclone had riddled.
Then one, speaking to the other said:
Jim you look at that corn, or rather,
look at that place where the corn once
was. jim, you take thatman they call
Mars God up one side and down the
other and he does nearly as much harm
as he does good"
The darkey is philosopher in giving
consolation to the discon ISOLATE. During
the late cold snap, with its biting
winds and killing frost, devastating
fruit fields and berries and gardens,
the old boss knew that havoc had been
played with all the fruit and he
wouldn't go out TO see it, but sent old
Uncle Tony. By and by Uncle Tony
came in to report, and the boss said:
''How is it, Uncle Tony?"
"a clean sweep, a clean sweep,
boss"
The old boss hung his head in silent
despair, and with a deep groan he
thought over the ruin of his prospects.
The old darkey, in deepest sympathy
with him, said:
Boss, Is got dis consolation to offer
you."
What consolation have you to give
me, Uncle Tobyp"
II think it 8 gineral, boss"
The negro is a philosopher in the
management of the mule. The negro
and the mule work together better than
any forces l know. God made the
negro and man invented the mule.
Gods creation and mans invention in
this case goes hand In hand.
The good old colored man was driv-
ing his time worn mule along a level,
sandy road when the old mule took the
sulks and wouldn't go backward or
forward. right or left The old darkey
exhausted all his resources in whipping,
in trying to lead him, in trying to con-
Jure him With a bundle of fodder, but
all to no avail. Finally, completely
exhausted, he raked up big pile of
leaves and trash under the mule and
set them Oh fire. When the fire blazed
up under the mule, the mule moved I'D
just four feet and stopped the bed of
the old darkey's buggy over the fire
until it was burned up all except the
irons. To have killed that mule then
would have been clear case of justifi-
able mulicide.
The negro is weather prophet
When ne sees the sun drawing water
he knows it's ''gwine to rain" When
his corns hurt him he knows there is
going to be change in the weather.
When he sees the hogs toting straw
and leaves, he knows it's ''gwine to
turn cold" When his joints ache he
knows that we are going to have a
spell of weather.
These latter day extreme blizzards
we have he lays to the weather bureau.
He says we never did have these awful
times out of season like we have had
since they started those weather bu-
reaus.
When the ice factory was started in
my town a few years ago, we had late
spring and the 6arkies said:
Lessen dey stop dat ice factory,
there won't be no more seed time and
harvest in this country. Our taters is
gwine to be frost bitten in July, and
corn, by reason of the cold season,
won t never get knee high, and if dem
white folks with their inventions of
bureaus and ice factories are gwine to
fix this country so no negro can live in
it,
But, in all, the negro is good citi.
zen, kindly neighbor, forebearing,
forglving fellow.
A friend asked me the other day if l
didn't believe all negroes would steal.
l said:
mo, don t believe all the white
folks will steal that would steal, and I
do sometimes think that if the negro
owned the property as we white folks
do, and the negroes were to hire us at
the same wages we now pay, we would
have stolen all the negro had long
ago."
A gentleman from Yankee Doodle
asked me the other day if didn t think
there was great difference between
the instincts OF negro and white
man. said:
mo, the negro differs from the white
man more in his outstinks, perhaps,
than in any other way"
All in all, the negro is growing in
intelligence, frugality and good citi-
zenship. l wish him we'll.
SAM p. JONES.