The evening world., 1894-01-02
THEY ALL WANT A CLOCK.
THRIVING TRADE DONE AMONG
NEGROES ~ THE SOUTH.
Tbey VIII sacrifice Anything to
Possess n SNOWY
Timepiccc.

hands already this reason for that man
over there" said the cashier OF one OF
the ban In an interior Southern town.
says the Philadelphia Times.
u was about to ask who he wGs." re-
spondcd his companion. regarding with
interested eye the prosperous-looliing
person across tho street. what Is his
business? always see him Btrolllng
about In the most l~cisurcly fashion,"
The man referred to was well known
as the clock man. and his mode OF
conducting his profitable business is
unique and interesting. lie employs a
litRe number Of men, furnishes each
with n horse and road cart and sends
tt m out into the highways and by
wIrs, through remote country lanes and
p~inc-woods roads where the trace OF
wheels Is so dim as almost to be I'M
discernible. TO sell clocks to the negroes
ard such OF the white ba"ckwoodsmen
as. can be induced to buy them.
These clocks are estimated as being
worth only about 81, but are sold at
from Sl2 to N4 apiece. The agents go
round in April or May and sell them,
taking n mortgage on a COW or an OK,
a. wagon, q hog, poultry OF various
kinds. anything which can be sold and
converted into money-even bedsteads,
bed clothes, cups and sauccrs and mat
t~resses are accepted as security-and in
tho Fail the collectors follow and re-
ccivo the payments.
One thing In noticcable-the man who
presents the claim for payment Is never
the same who sold the clock the pre-
vious Spring. Thus any little lrregulari-
ties In the papers drawn up at the time
of the sale are unknown to him: he
only demands what was agreed upon.
Every, negro house, no matter If the
bench Or two, II hidc-bottomed chair,
cooking utensils and the water pail.
with the most meagre provisions for
sleeping, boasts one of these snowy
LOOKING tinepieccs on the rude shelf over
tho clumsy chimney place.
vi .vomnlonest wood, shiny as long as
new. and Ornamental with II little cheap
gilt. these clocks possess one delightful
charm In the eyes. o. rather ears, OF their
owners-they can strike. They afford but
little knowledge as TO the flight OF time.
because their owners do not know the
meaning OF the letters on the white face
Of their much-pfized or the sig
niicance of the little slender "hands'
going ever round and round. The pos
SCISSORS of these clocks can tell the time
much more accurately by the SUMMARY
they have grown accustomed to notice
on the floor of their cabin, but the tall
every hour with 4 loudness and an aban-
don unrivllled by any clock, in q more
pretentious case. and In doing this It's
Il kin we're him strike cen de night"
said one old aunty In defence OF her OK
trayagance when asking her, landlords
assistance In paying the clock man, to
whom she had given n mortgage the
previous Spring on the only feather bed
and al the quilts she possessed. Had
not her benefactor advanced her the
money the old woman would have seen
her precious and most necessary belong
lngs traded" for a little cotton or corn
to her ne!ghbors. ana would have had
nothing TO comfort her during the long
cold nights of the approaching Winter
hut the knowledge that she possessed just
as fine and tall n clock as anybody of
If the clock seller finds a rare instance
where the besieged hesitates about In
y%est'ng, and claims that he won't make
SSG% S"G to- se, to him naor out hi% N, Debt Ge cot a1G
doubts If he can afford to give sl+ for
Il useless ornament. the shrewd persuader
has but, to suggest, that, were any of
the family taken sick and n doctor sum
moned, there would be no timepiece In
the house by which to administer the va
rious powders and doses to be given
two, and his task Is an easy one.
The head of the family cannot longer
hold out against such an urgent reason
signed. With his ""X S'"'N marx m'o or, p per ,'ma
with his nalnr II he has learned to
write It. in which document he agrees
to part with some household article or
domestic animal, now much priced.
should he be unable when II certain day
comes to pay FOR the beautiful clock
which now appears to him AN i~ndispens-
A COW which had ploughed the entire
crop of one small farmer. aud had at the
same time afforded milk as nourishment
order to possess this fashionable article
Of bric-a-bruc. which would, apparently,
remind It's possesSors how long II was
since they had had milk to drink. Mean
while the head of these various agents
lives n life OF indolent ease-drive5 "A fine
team, wears flashing diamonds OF breast
and finger. and regards the world about
him with satisfaction and himself as II
person OF consequence and distinction.
Down on Jehossce and other islands on
the Carolina coast. densely populated
with negroes who but seldom have COM
municatlon with the main land. thou
sands of dollars have been made from
the sale OF these cheap but dear. clocks.
The. landowners who rent their acres
to the victims of these clock men feel a
resentment towards them or their EN-.
ployer, for many II pound of cotton or
bushel of corn goes to them which should
lori who has provided them all Summer
with provisions and farming tools and
seen to that their families did no,
want for bread.
Many a family gathered around, the
supper table hears the sound OF wheels
outside and the familiar '"hulloa' which
apprlses them OF an arrival, and upon
Inquiry learns the somewhat, unwelcome
fact that one OF these clocltmen must
be afforded entertainment for himself and
horse for the night. 1t being too far to
any town, hospitality must be extended.
This business Is somewhat new, but APP
parently most successful.
"reminiscences. too are another necessity
rendered Indispensable to the negroes
by the march of civilization" For
merly their dead We're buried beneath
the trees in the little country graveyard
laid to rest In homemade collins.
made by the friendly hands of n~eighbors
and relatives. the grave marked by head
and foot boards. simply carved, from
wood; but now collins and tombstones,
cheap and snowy. must be provided out
OF sCant incomes.
The stones are common little affairs,
lettercd in striking black letters, which
seem a mockery set up beneath the
majestic pines where the dead are al
rest The negroes are peculiar in this
respect. They will pay an eXorbitant
sum for the satisfaction OF erecting one
OF these slabs, the hin white coating
OF which will peel of before the buyer
gets through paying for It. and when,
perhaps. the living members OF the fam
lily are sadly in need OF proper food and
clothing.
They do not always procure n tomb
stone when u recent afiiction has be-
reaved them. II when the agent ONE
round they can think of any one. no
matter how long dead, to whom they
might put vi a stone they do 50. feel
ing a certain sense OF importance when
realizing that their names are printed