The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-07-02
WATERMELONS GALORE.
TIE COLORED BROTHER GETS HIS
FILL EARLY IN THE SEASON.
They Left the Church aud eisted without
Money and Without Pr'ce-All Caused
by sunday Wreck.

When the ncrth-bound freight train on
the Richmond. fredericks burg ana oto,
mac puifed blew, and screamed, anu
rumbled along the track Just lhls sluc OF
Glen Allen at an early hour sunday
morning all the farm hands, lnciullh5
the antc-bIlum darKeys and COOKS anu
servant girls In the vicinity were sleep
ing peacefully. Nothing broke tie SUI
ness OF the approaching dawn but the
occasional wall OF a yellow cur dob OF
the shrill clarion OF d proud COCK an
nOunclng the coming day. A gray, 'ulHi
streak IN the east announced that rosy
fingered dawn" was en- route 10 tnls part
of the world. and each and every negro
was dreaming OF the forthcoming nan
over watermelon.
They didn't know what was In store
for them. All at once there Was ter
rife humping, followed by a deafenins
rumbling that came near stopping JHcle
Ephrams SHORES. heavy crash fol-
lowed, and then there was q kind or
dense settiing-dOwn. as though the JIG
was up And 50 IL was. y glance from
a passing pedestrian showed that there
was an ugly wreck. The tralnineh knew
it. The snOck was all the warning they
wanted. some Of them icapcd FOR eheir
safety, and "A few moments later all hahdS
had collected around the wreck;
Three heavy freight cars had Jumped
the track Two of them were badlV
smashed up. and the track itself was
torn up for some distance. thfd car
which was loaded with watermeions from
the South billed Tor northern inaIhtts,
looked as though "a Kansas cyclone hai
struck il br0adside il was in a thorough
ly dilapidatcd condition, the truck shat-
tered. half the sides torn away, ana
some portions Of the car scattered up
and down The track for quite distance
WATERMELON CARNIVAL.
Up and down the track for seventy-iive
yards were watermelons without unit
There were big striped melons. with
white spots, made by contact Win the
earth. dark green melons. win monde
script stripes. round melons with no
plugs in them Oval-shapet melons, melons
green. melons ripe. melons with red
meat. and melons with white meat,
melons with black seed and melons WIN
yellow seed, melons crahh-Sideh ana
melons symmetrirally shaped, melons
whose ancestors caused many "A beOr-lsl
negro TO wear stripes, and melons Such
as appeal 10 tnat side OF the daikey
nature that takes refuge i'm IN, process
Familiarity known as whipping Inc d'Nh
around the stump. melons tl.at rev
alongside of S cel-traps, and melons thhl
escaped the purlOiner through "A thick
foliage. melons with prhlSrfcs ana
melons that just sprung up Spontaneously
amid the pea vines. melons with snort
stems and melons with little Negciahie
pig-tails; melons that caused tears 10
Sambo's eyes when he stored them In the
boX-car and "water-miilions.' Never be-
fore was such "A collection OF melons
seen in that section before July 9th
PARDIsE FOR sATBo.
All these melons lay piled up in chaotic
confusion some whole, some split in
twain many far separated from their
covers ana hundreds accommodating
enough TO save Sanbo the trouble OF
carving Here and there train OIL, gravel
and coal dust got mixed up with the
melons rendering them unit for IN pie
use. quite an area was covered only WIN
choice material for miuce meats nut
iHIf rfI .ff
the Georgia fruit lay wide open. the seed
furnishing q beautiful artistic coior.ng
70 the tempting interior that whc,ted
SambO's appetite.
Was there a feast2 Never before AID
the African representatives. Of that sec
ton enjoy such a banquet Inc menu
was amply sufficient These dellcacies
were the first Of the season. soon after
the accident occurred the Information
spread like Wild-nre. Everybody added "A
word TO The satisfactory SITUATION, ana
il didn't take long 10 have enough negroes
around the feast to darkcn the vicinity
The feast was kept up till lO o'clock,
when crowds Of negroes en- route 10 me
mcetint.-house forgot all about the
preacher and the service. and IN they
waded They kept up the carnlt al tlH
away late IN the day. Nearly two nun
dred negroes devourcd watcrmelons until
buttons were seen lying around loose pH
the tracks for seVentN-iiVe yards w nrn
the religious services were cNnilui-i
ana tNtlARDH Ihu FAlplNfA WIN iAtti'
than ordinary fervor. back to the melon
carnival they went and Jared sum3tIous-
ly again. Big. vOluminous Peals OF laugh
ter rcvcrbcrated mp and down the track,
and the fun was kept up TIL late hour
For once nearly every negro in tnat See
tiOn of Hanover mad an ample suiii 'icncy
Of watermelOns for one day. AMI they
were happy. Their faces had the word
written out in great. big letters.
THE ACCIDENT.
At the time Of the accident the three
cars deliberately jumped The track on
straight shoot. The train was moving AT
moderate rate The damage WAS con-
siderable. and it took quite a while 10
Cct the debris out of the way. a force OF
hands were Immediately sent 10 the
scene and all haste was made 10 clear
the track and repair matters Trafc
was delayed for quite while The north
bound train that went around the Belt
Line about 2:40 A. NJ. was delayed until
10 \. ~. as was also the nOrth-bOund
train that leaves Byrd Street station at
A. NJ. and the south-bound train due I'm
Richmond shortly before a. NJ. At 10
\ VI. traffic was resumed. and all trains
after that time went through on sche-