The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-07-11

sowing machine With their extra cotton bale,
and IL is said that the peach tIee slips they
Of tho garden. means that they, ono day expect
to buy the land about their cabin. Tho letter
iSigurses. He has the reputation Of being able to
inditc and send n lOttcr anywhere and got an
answer hack in swo weeks time, an achieve:
inent I'LL the moro marked because SO many Of
his compatriots have written and mailed docu.
mems at great pains aud expense. without ever
The 'iEo"Sai way and tho Nihnirod Of tho place.
athletic, s9uare-ehopldorcd, tall and spare, sits
nSSl 70 Of ' Wagon S5S'a tiTos az . SSS Siactsmith' snS qor tHs
The big miller is out tonight. tempted for onco
to lot the PARTICULAR head Of w"tSE he hDs on
much, makes tho care OF the water his excuse,
hut this opcn.air. undross meeting In the niRht
arbor every hour or 80 and run down to the dam
and SEQ II my mill above his on the stream
is letting on water on him unnwaros. The mil
trio care OF the biggest head Of water in tho
county. He would not change places even with
that he sleeps moro than half tho time by his
biggest. mill gate, and with one eye open at
thu; JIG sInin's apt to get stirred up mTT on wi With
the holy dance when tho spirit e on en-"
granny, At once councillor. vonfldantc, midwife,
and cnrn,ail Of the plantations. who gives tho
night. 70 use her own words. the day before,
TO tho bed and hold her back from the July
mectin', Cause look like the sperit move--bottcr
abio to sneak through hor than through, them
other women what, is p~estered with notionate
hus bands and one thing and nnother.,
" l amt got no man pendent on me-" she says,
" and any time 1 gifts ready l can throw myself
l Miip eomS To tn m rns nH TSs ct % hST make ' I sl che a 'P Peod
a and% euro Masf tho !Ot wi ROs eye n Il 81 weeks. II tthSy,T!
ST. Studies Hs' my herbs and roots and Keeps up a good
heart. cause there's no KNOWN when the
do you do the holy dance. Maum vicey D.
you ask, looking ut the stalwart. t~hick-waisted
joints as once, but whom the sperit got me
nin't feel my weight. I jist like a .saplin' gal
to dance iess'n You cross your legs; All do rest
is iist pure Christian ligion. same like see your
mar h,i res ,hn , in &c Sh thrrn book book on y n Snnanyds,n ush
like the expectant calm that p%reludes the burst
ing OF q storm, That, meaningless hurly.bprly
OF the assembly as no measured intelligent
sentences Just as a wordless shout. or sigh,
ries moro expression than all tho cut-and-dried
phrases in the vocabulary.
In the stillness-a stiffness SO intense that tho
cracking of the burning brands on the fro stands
is noticed and the rutfling of the leaves by the
night brecze-urannie bounds up from her seat
with a blood-curdling shrek and sets off, arms
akimbo. down the aisle, assuming a half.minc-
Ing, halfdancing step hard to initiate.
Oh! you better sit to prayin',
~ III hota
she shouts. jerking hips and shoulders In pune
%tuation, and clappinR her hands in time:
Oh! you better eit TO %prayin'.
With her mead thrown buck and her face
ablaze with enthusiasm:
oh, you better git to prayin.
Do ny Lord!
By the time she is half way down the assembly
others have taken up the refrain and sit rocking
backward and forward, patting, their feet and
tinc. The bass voices OF the men and the high
pitched trcbles and plaintive seconds Of the
women make no Emphasizing combination.
tho tumnlt She has raised, she starts in with u
becionins With 1fishtnins %rapidityy. sputtering
unintelligible words Of cxaltation and discard:
ing hat. handkerchief. neck handkerchief. and
apron one after the other, in excess OF abandon.
Finally. after keeping this up until hoarse with
excitement. she staggers and sways like, n spent
top nearing the end of its spin, and topples over
into the arms Of Daddy Kane. who has stood
waiting to catch her. The gaze Of lookers-on
borne to a bench for resuscitation, but the
younger women who have taken the Moor are
f t;ma b ise b aeiy e dans e IKE in al .o% PossIi sseqa,a rhe
way. without losing the rhythm, and Grannie,
prone and gaspiinE on the bench. is FORGOTTEN.
poetry of motion! No no matter
how perfectly acquired, executed under what
ever circumstances of inspiration, can exceed in
unstndied harmony and ease OF motion those
cornfeld hoe.hnnds doing heel and toe. and lila.
gree work Of the muscles, to the measured mol,
Those are not hymn tunes that they dance
to. at least not tunes set down in
measures that the world is aware of. They
sing OF being Down by the river. tish'in' all
ARK and it's be Being nSA "6etter further o n 'n and ali
such homGly. every day smiles that Gre in touch
with familiar things about them. Tho variety
and melody that they %contrive to impart to the
refrain Down b. the river droncd out over
and over, to the inevitable ~clapping and pat.ing
Better Further Or" Is a revelation in the way OF
staocato intoning. half wild, half gay.
Passion, superstition, spiritualism. each in
turn, is interpreted in these mad balancings and
caperings and supplications, and throughout all,
whether In the shntliing and zigging OF the mcu
n sensuous abandon and a brute grace that come
Of unbounded health and physical yiRor.
stilted. for she has probably p~ractised her
initiatory postulant dance AS a. sequel 10 tho
sermon ever since shc began to be aleader. but
the younger amateurs are all untutored and
moved by no common emotion as they pulsatc 10
the measure OF the rhythm. They have never
dancing that they do, and one sees the inherit.
ance OF savage ancestry, i'll their movements.
ibc oa G1ahn mes a : r qOGs aGr w InTt h nydr so we III a. a
with a sense ofthe occasion. Just here among the
neighbors, when she Is feeling particularly good
II you chance to spend the night in a house
not half a mile away you will .waken In the
small hours 10 near inc NE tSurcu tRttO0 OF those
tapping feet on the bare boards Of the flooring
under tho arbOr. and the voices singing, now
inonotonously, now plaintively,. again as though
chanting. a pGan OF praise, will come to yor
adf%sfs ane dr 1esasv sapefs. a lion. d %0s { M Vt Si
not, that rouses these black skinned cotton
growers to such heights md depths Of trans
port, 1t 10 a demonstration worth seeing and
one seen by few. because they are as shy as deer
and would never dream Of so abandoning them
selves to unfriondly or critical eyes.
WATERMELON DUEL IN GEORGIA