The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-20
COUNTRY LIFE.
SCENES ON AN OUr-oE-THE-
EIN1S" TIT PLANTATION.

r.,,r from the Lire seen at
verJ ..,,,,-T The visitors and what They
the ht-s,sbts and sounds Of tho Pian-
fa'h -. DoIishts or winter Hunts'
undissulsed drawbacks, the
,.h,d roads, the distance from oon.,oe Va
W. IN, climate, which tor the pss' S"o y.
cut...sons had made the OLD innaoitNnt ana
tn w. inhabitant, too, take an uhwon'eu lh'
.noy e .toyes and furnaces, winter INC Gown
u". IA. its attractions. NO matter "h@s
oou'ss Tho weather plays. or TO wn"t oeptns 'ne
pie, y ~ cotton falls; no matter "h@' proo.
priv ID, he faced and solved, or staVeu
e~' the case may be, the i've OAK
on .,osn. the pine tree keeps on whis-
Eeep' S.'r.,s TO its neighbor from q heart
perins All NJ gum, and the negro Keeps on
oufs'n .sou which means laughing and shout
oems ,.,ho-vi.c entertaining himself in sheer
mEsNS ~ .nirits, which may not DO kept back.
oVe'nO.s doos not sing near tho big hotels, nor
Inc r.urood stations on the roads that
apOu' Uc ia oycrawed by strangers and
IeAurnaaos and unaccustomed splendor; but
IN The country, or in the fields aboutthe
M. where quiet reigns and no reels him-
VIZ a, bome, the Southern negro, middie-aged,
y - voune. sings as naturally as he eats or
w, and with a voice TO DO remembered.
'-,S,.r Iifc st the South has come to be asso-
..,,d in the public mind with the great hotels.
- for luxurious appointments, where the
"-'m, and the pleasure seeker 20 with their
lit. N ride and drive In soft, languorous
',.. ~ ash in omen waters, and get o bowling 40
~s,a,.rco with alligators. These nomads take
s,mosphero OF tho North along with
- oven though they do not take the
-. Their lite at the South. socially
"a nhvsically considered, is only another
~. NJ tho life they led at homo.
80 ,he cbambcrmaids and pantrymen who
~, Al, them. and the milk. buttor, and beef
80. ara homo products. This fact Of itself
IL ,trope attraction to the majority. for peo-
ME BIZ habit sybarites would never up Win
,,h..o-oalled slouchy ways ottheir Southern ous-
ina Occasionally, nevertheless. a lament 10
hard from one OF these birds OF passage that
svsrything is SO admirable and conventional
and Northern.liko.
"Tho first few winters that ! went down I en-
;or,d myself immensely" said n Connecticut
woman who bought 3 wintor homo in . Florida
,own. "Now, however, instead of getting rest
s,d a change Of environment I find myself in
tina midst Of precisely the surroundings that l
,,tt at home. Everything characteristic and
,ntsre.tinR has been modified off the face Of the
earth. Everything now is conventional and
imuroyed-modernized. l think, 10 the term.
pieturesqueness has fed the place. What
with the pruning and trimming and sticking
for good form and conventiona!ity, even the
native ideas have been turned undor and
ouly crop out occasionally. Any one who goes
there now hoping for a character sketch might
ssvell toId up MS dsI fahvni an an rs o ws seido Ms s sos
them. They are off the trunk lines OF the rail.
road, generally hard TO get at. and, II one did
get at them. without any place to stop. have
sometimes wished for an invitation to a genuine
plantation where the people would not dream
o. taking boarders. or course one might. be
bored to death in a week. but I'd like to try It"
The glimpse Of country that the winter tray
eler on q south.bound car gets from the train
window Is not prepossessing. Wide rangeso OF un-
titled swamp and field. big bare spaces. patches
Sdu ss'' mako nslfi up 'hs tsI piasu aea t SeStiy shs MisE
smoke begrimed habitations, called cabins in
stead OF hutS merely because they are
built OF boards and not made out Of
BY the railroad stations tho stooped-oyer
obaceochewinS white men and the motley
darkies in divers garments who stand gape on
The platforms give no inference Of prosperity;
They are bent on " seeing the y%estibulc 60 by"
They sec 1t go BY at the same hour each day, but
thsy like the thrill of excitement that the swish
hnQ rOAr tenub tIiTOuEn tn6lr veins. AS the
train goes past q score or more OF these stations
II seems hard TO believe that somewhere out in
those barrens live people with urgent interest
In llfe, people fairly well dressed and well housed
and with manners noticeably gentle. Cotton and
corn planters who read something else In the
euitsnt Journals besides the market reports.
Cooneis and Majors and Captains who don't
make the gulping down OF mint iuleps the chief
oo1tet Of existence. and are occasionally known
lopay their debts; women OF delicate percep.
iioa.who can talk ~aSsceptably on general topics
s ana arc wei up on al The now stitches in fancy
work and the latest steps in dancing; women,
young and old, who are quite sure that their
In the land.
The charm OF Southern country life is Its gen.
uihshess. its comparative leisure. and the
Wholefhearted intere t in existence common to
M ages There is also an element Of primitive,
oown.tothe-ground vitality about 1t that has q
certain attraction. 1t may DO weeks before the
christmas remembrances from the LIS on the
tno'nrock plantation reach the Rs at the White
ith pace; the distance Is fully fifteen miles, and
oae Is have had sickness in the family. But
one bright. sunshiny day the new carryall
y. inc Ls looms in sight, and the first
p pnaG 70 descry J. has a match put to tho light.
movl Joys IN the fireplace In the big parlor, and
senus a message that the cook somehow inter
lnen.s.
NO. don't carry off do coffee not" the cook
ul!s her chief aide-de-camp. who il for getting
aeeaiess things out OF the way. "SomctInR tell
T Iasr Ist Miss anna l. herself Is a.comin' in dat
Yon kfn S n"o o'""ys uocs love my Gomez.
bon Hh draw some tea for dem gals and do
nUase people, but | always does make coffee
", particular fashion for Miss Anna. She low
9 Toes give her do heartburn"
mnn oag and baggage come the LIS, with
bsr \" az y tneir own work as q gift for each mem.
thsre n Az lahllIy and profuse apologies that
tbe b vIas ocei no previous acknowledgment OF
"sSo'nay hamper that reached them.
NO, we won so back tonight" says Mrs.
n, a. sue sips the coffee made especially
y, yer oeIleft. 1T is SO long since we've beeii
ua G' r n sae ROADS are 80 washed with tho jan
ntook US Just three hours 10 get here" she
iSbsSd ,Shsalting her watch. "Eioise quite an.
To- ~ ,oc story we have been reading together
Want u last week. as We came along. We
r r"m.ea you to have the pumpkin chips while
csss tbJI s was here. They were n great sue
nave ever made" '"' NJ W.
Fa sGe meantime, Eloise is asking about the
Noelshs dance, and hearing what tho Girls
wy ana who we're out. ~
The '" ~ wanted TO 60 she says, but one OF
nervous ahse horses IVES sick. and Mr.. L. is
NJ except Just with those grays."
hannv one secs u human being hearty and
hartpDs, anu dppreciating effusiyeIy the mere
wear VI something 10 cat aud somelhinV to
the cri reVcrts almost unconsciouAly 10
the h. no,inR crowds or enlightened folks in
Low" u't!lhg In hot haste TO distance Ih.ir feI.
yalne NV sot possession OF things OF douhtful
'a.qe or no value at ali. ' " uouo'iui
how did Won SyH Mehl TO Augusta awhile, Numa;
The H." IKE llVing In ihc city r.
has ~ n'Nck So Nrc'shDuldC. ch rlolvh h,,d uho
thon vone 10 pay his respects ma cs - r"s,u w u
Of Ib% III 70 pray for d llycrancc, and tho uhJ,ooss
,RRicles grow prominent, "n''0'
Of H. H. v'oul hctrt, mt,sIc. lncver like no mart
'lesn ySn n"e's promptly, y wood TO burn.