Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1894-11-08

watchmen or patrol Of the toU)
started on their rounds, when every
slave found on the street was stopped
and questioned, and II found without q
pass was arrested and locked up The
ringing OF the fre bell was, therefore,
q signal for . general scampering, and
in every direction belatad dsrkies
could be heard pounding the sidewalks
with their generous feet In an effort
to reach home before the night watch
started out. This we'll understood
feature of Southern life 1t was that
gave rise to the once popular song,
shun, Niger, Run, the Patrol WIN
The diversions OF the plantation
were very simple. In the season pos
sum and Coon hunts were In order, the
slaves who joined In the sports often
being accompanied by members of the
owners family, who went for the mere
pleasure OF hunting something. With
the slaves, however, the expedition
was strictly q business enterprise, for
then, as ever since, the fat 'possum
was esteemed most toothsome dainty,
and lucky indeed was he who managed
to secure one of these much-coveted
animals for his own exclusive eating.
The preparation for the table was q
matter of much interest and no little
care. After the 'possum had been
made ready FOR the roasting, large
pumpkin Was split In two and the seeds
taken out OF one half, which was de-
posted before the fire and filed with
peeled sweet potatoes. The 'possum
was then hung up by his tail before a
roaring fire, directly above the pump
kin. and slowly twirling around, he
was equally roasted on every side,
while his fat, forced out by the heat,
dripped on the sweet potatoes and
pumpkin, potatoes and 'possum were
all cooked ready for consumption at the
same time. and feast was thus pro-
vided which, according to darby esti-
mate, was fit for the gods.
The life OF the slave, with its inter-
walls of relaxation, was not, in the
main, an unhappy one. There was q
complete lack OF responsibility. The
old-time negro slave lived only for the
day. The morrow troubled him not.
He was sure of a living, for he knew
his master could not afford to let him
starve. He was not allowed to learn
anything. All books to him were
sealed. But knowing nothing OF them
he never missed the information they
contained. His greatest satisfaction
was to have a good master, and when
he had any ambitions, the highest
was to run away and 60 North, where
he would be free. It was often graft
fed, too, for II any one will take the
time to look over the files of any news
paper published in the border States
before the war, he will find that one OF
its most conspicuous features was the
picture of running negro with a bundle
slung on a stick over his shoulder,
and description of the slave supposed
to have run away. But instances are
also not lacking of slaves accompany
ing their masters during long JOURNEYS
the North and remaining as
devoted on free as on slave soil.
The slave and the freedman are two
es entially different persons. Since
the emancipation the Southern colored
people have sustained change so rad
ical that it can not be considered but
as a change OF character. They have
lost much of the careless happiness of
slavery, but have gained in knowl-
edge of the respon Utility of freedom.
The change is Unreasonable, and even
the most radical advocate Of the old
system would not now venture on a re-
turn to slavery and the overseer, or to
affirm that the freedman Is not inf
nitely superior in every respect to the
aloya