The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-09-04
THE NEW SOUTH AT WORK.
rOUNG MEN VINO LEAD COTTLL0Hs
AND RUN ENGINES.
And Young Women Of Fine Breeding Who
Teach and Manage PlantHtions-rhe Old
Eamiiisa AdaotinS TbounSelyea En- the

~" bNAAU W. ANNA
Aparty Of travellers on the way home from
Florida last winter switched of from the regu.
lation tourists track to visit q %low-country
Carolina plantation, whose before-the-war hos
pitality the elders had tested and held in nigh
regard. The detour entailed q stopover at the
main hotel Of q little seaboard town. where, as
it happened, the country club was that night
giving q ball In honor Of certain Government
officials. The strangers we're prevailed upon,
In the open-heartod fashion OF the country. to
spend the evening In the ballroom. where.
somewhat to their surprise. they found them
selves In ton assemblage seemingly dispropor-
toned to the size and resources OF the town
q one-horse place, %antiqunted. listless-look-
ing-nnd In q social atmosphere 30 refine and
distinctive as, to use the words Of the senior
and most critical member Of the party, to give
q new Interpretation to provlncialism.
THE girls look 80 fresh and unspoiled in
their simple gowns and ac~coutrements, yet 80
at home and at ease in a ballroom. that it
seems hard to believe them rustic bellies, /" the
visitor commented as he looked on at a eotll-
lon. danced as people dance who like what
they are doing and 50 put verve and spirit into
the accomplishment. THAT young fellow
leading has the grace and bearing Of a Ches-
terrified and manages his forces with q firmly
accustomed hand. Very pretty cotillon. even
II the favors are OF the simplest, and the music
makes UP in vim and rhythm what It lacks in
other respects"
The entire party. from the seniors wife and
her spinster sisters to the lively young girl
relation. whose motto n-loving instincts had
won her to join in the fun, voted the evenings
depression most p.easurable. and on their next
days journey amused themselves by discuss
ing the peculiar conditions and attributes that
haI lafk on ofNOp mn fnonrna M thn nhtI1rnR
Of these old-customed townspeople and plan
tation folks; a hearty YET delicate courtesy and
cordially Of temperament that might almost
seem effeminate and overinRenuous. but for
the known courage, even to hot-headedness. OF
the men. Later. while waiting at o little
sandy lands railway station. where some
shaggy cotton bales awaiting transportation
and an engine putting spasmodically on the
side track were the chief objects in view. the
escort Of The party, WINS aroused from the pc;
BY, an exclamation Of his wife:
For PHYS sake. Albert. who is that rough
ali Il his ilIssy, / really i thifn1ti we ought H;fS" to Be
The senior glanced in the girl relations d.
~rection. but already the, overalled person was
being piloted toward them; Annie. with an
her face. explaining that this was Mr.. So-and-
SO, whom they had met at the ball, and who
nuu given neE SUCH u ROOu IlIne, anu, WASH I IL
funny, he was the engineer Of the very train
that had been pulling them over the country
all morning.
young man easily. THE accommodation train
Sn w sa1s GSa9 fh fs9 sfdinEy u 1aShi PI e Roes b SnS l have
There was no trace OF embarrassment in the
young mans manner; he made no allusion to
his uncouth dress or occupation, seeming TO
take 1t quite rs q matter of course that there
could be no social discrepancy between him
tinguished figure he cut at the ball the pre-
vious night. where he was really a. SOCIAL
power, the ; re n y Tide W which ( resulted in Miss
a cerain odd interest for the travellers. Later.
ton home referred to, it developed that the
young felloW had exceptional social position. al
snsSsih IT, Ei'f he M had 90bts een hssaT TP to 81 say ye that he he
might be a bootblack Il necessity compelled.
snS rob %GSls th tb,n L a aS62 2SS l IN h ii; b RI15ticular
in the the s SsSfDA a. It or once seD did." % said a .n so %fn
H5eIR1FP w MsT re fi q Hrh ThG eart h ef dld D fhis
where was the most sticking for the dignity Of
6 aomSar of aiaves be snd fns IF If ssSe jSsas q
of its theories in this regard as effectively and
"The old South. In those sections hardest hit
BY the war. for all its seeming drowsiness
H iIafIS dyed m in e09bs s4d iscas of a as9PefG ail is asSim,
truths to-day than any, other part of the Union:
For all the country looks as II sidetracked
things. Just like the young aristocrat ("blue
blood was the old slave name for that and
the 9ndercurrents. a looking square in the
eye of things on the part OF the younger peo-
pie OF much Significance.
Only those. familiar with the ms and outs
of the situation" he continued, can esti-
mate just what It means for the South to fore
Sa t5S S SGd n put up Fs sGmIeabIgy TsRR the ahe c SGGRe
enforcement OF conditions that now obtains.
It's no mere matter o., piece, work or lacking
out and building In from the bottom up. a
process that takes time. but that will be most
ciai issues and considerations have never had
the hold In the other parts Of the country that
obtained In the south: The West, with its
time to take social matters much to heart.
stocks and in ranching and railroading ext
gencies. is too mutable and ,fiuctuating to
stiSsls % TEa Ea asf 1 aibSIpIltKt S SRa the secjssi e Presr
tige and preferment. has ever been too inter
ested In practiealities to make such things a
tied parts Of the country has had its clearly
defined social edlcts and held them OF vital
t tbRporf az arst thb5 SnS from 5m'G Ike a aaya fh,p' cG Gie nnisf:
and Welding strict adherence for genera
tions. In proportion as the ideas in this re-
people who felt, merely a reflected dignity in
sustaining the ladder for their betters. is the
uPheayal wrought by wrestling them ava
The planter and the men In the professions.
tinctly from the tradespeople, and these, in
turn, from the menigl workers. as though a
engineer who wore the dirty, oyeralls and
worked with his hands. had had this accepted
social gauging schooled into him from baby
hood. And Tor him and his compeers to take up
agents. and any such subordinate work de-
mands. grit and q revulsion OF sentiment that
1t could never mean TO men reared In any other
part OF the country.
"Why does a young fellow, young and strong,
Of good. even exceptional address and p~ersonal
attractiveness. consent to do such humdrum
work with ,scant chance OF betterment?
Well, State allegiance. is strong in the South,
kindled In the expiring embers of the old
States rights theory. eXtinguished long ago.
Family ties are strong there also. and q love
for the country that Graded them. / know
as well as l know anything. that that young
mans mother would urge him t. hold to his
home elsewhere. Doubtless his brothers are
two or three, doctors in the different, branches
DOWNRIGHT nrantinal work and ahaNVad his