Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1897-09-17
O THE PINES.
ODD THINGS ABOUT THE NATIVES IN
NORTH CAROLINA WOODS.

Socks on the Bargain Counter and the Mer.
chant-He Kept the Store Strange
Method Employed For Computing Dis
tances Points.
Tho s%ojourner roaming in the piny
woods of North Carolina will be fve-
qIeatly confronted by IL sign OF Il
noul.ccment printed i'll stencilcd capital
letters on Il beard 2 Or 3 feet square and
nailed to a pine tree, whereby the way
faring man is told of the manifold
things lie may buy at q ''bargain store"
at Southern Pines, one item in the list
The other day Il visitor, curious to know
what manner CT "sox" it might be that
could be purchased fer 8 cents u pair,
went over to %patroniZc this bargain
counter He found the store. 1t was a
frame building fully us largo as Il freight
train cahcosc. 1t stood OIL tho edge at Il
big lot, the remaining area boirg cccu-
pied by d vineyard and strawberry beds
Il blackberry patches. A strCEs fence
surrounded it. F;cing the frcnt Of the
store was a gate heavily barred against
"a OAilC4 Il Sop1 VI tllC UolC was
evidently locked, and there was no sign
of life about the establishment. The
would be customer made up his mind
that here was IL case where advertising
had not paid, when lie saw a placard on
the door which gave notice to the public
thus: ''In the Back Yard. IT You Want
Me, Holler."
Acting OH this advice, the scarcher
after 5cent socks "hollcrcd. Presently
a man appeared from somewhere back
of the store.
do you want to git in?" he asked.
Being told that such was the visitors
wish, the man came forward, unburrcd
the gate, unlocked the door and let his
customer in.
"I'm workin NJ lny garden" said he,
''and don't Want folks foolin round un.
less they want to git i'll for bargains"
The socks were worth the money.
You may be travelling for the first
time somewhere through a North Caro-
lima backwoods district, and, not having
q clear idea as to distances, you natural
~ stop and ask the first native you come
to how far it may be to So-and-so's place.
Expecting to hear him reply that it is a
mile, two miles, or whatever the dis
lance is in miles, you will undoubtedly
be surprised and puzzled when he says,
after due deliberations:
"Well, sub, it's about two looks from
hyuh, sub, I reckon. May be two looks
an a peep, though, sub. It's q right
smart ways, anyhow, subj"
You are obliged, Of course, to ask for
a solution of this puzzle and will then
learn that q "look," as a measure Of
distance, is the limit of vision ahead of
you from the spot where you are, and
it may be q turn in the road 100 yards
away OF a point a mile or more distant.
You travel to the end Of that ''look,"
and from there take another look to the
farthest object in sight as your course
lies and travel on to that. If you have
been told that your destination is two
"looks" ahead, when you get totheend O
the second look there you are. If it il
two "looks'' and ''peep," you peep of
to one side Of the road Or the other from
the second '.look'' aud see the place yor
are after.
One time q New Yorker went dow
W &NOlG1 SoAOAA4h W JUL 6OAAO 4IxC0Ol
who were hunting wild turkeys in thu
piny woods. They had gone out for {
days sport when he arrived, and hi
started to hunt them up. Not having
found any sign of them after trampinf
about for half a day, he met a native il
an old road and asked him If he hat
seen anything Of tho party.
eyes, sur" he replied. "They're NJ
this road yonduh. three looks and
hcot, subj"
The New Yorker thought the nativ,
was guying him and started on in
huff. He went on until he came to
bridge, where he met another pin,
woods denizen at work, and he asket
that DIG the same question. The ma
looked up tho road. The farthest thin,
in sight was IL big pine tree, nearly
mile away.
eyes, sub, I see 'cm 'smawnin, sub,
lie said. ''They was jes' bout one lool
an a boot from hyuh then, suh."
The stranger glared at the man an,
went grumbling OH his way. Just bcfor
1 he came to tho big pine tree anothc
native came out of the woods, and tn
New Yorker, with much misgiving
! asked him the question he had put t
the others.
"Oh, yes. suit" was the reply. "The.,
only jes' i'll hyrh IL hcot, suh."
The native turned toward the woods
put Il hand on each side of his moutl
and shouted Il lusty:
"Hoo-o-o-o-oo-hcot!"
lii q few seconds ~ similar cry am
back from the woods.
L Thar they is, subj" exclaimed til
native. "Tlat's them, suh."
j. And it was. They were two Clocks
S and q "hoot'' from the place where Il,
: New Yorker had first inquired for then,
. New York Sun.
Here's Your EnsthOund Train
: : H8ES$