Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-01-14
The Negro and the War.

The Negro and the War.
TO the average Southern negro the la.
4 war. because Of its remoteness. was
/ mystery. Even now that II Is all owe
| the cause and the foe against whom "
| fought are unknown quantities 10 then
| In the remote rural districts. reachf
| only by fragmentary reports. some q
| them got an idea that II was the Old wa
'of secession being fought over again. an
| a vague uneasiness possessed them les
| slavery was to be the result. But ;hi
| feeling was quickly dissipated by the as
| surance that IL was "A foreign war. j
| which men Of the North and men OF tn
| South We're lighting side by side. an
that the negro question-either IN tn
| phase of slavery or that forty acres am
| a mule" for which some of the olde
| one~ had been waiting Tor thirty Cd.
| yedrs-did no. enter remotely into tn
! conflict.
cared no more about the war. but some
| of them took "A keen interest in thing.
military, their ignorance of geogra ph,
| forming no barrier 10 prolonged discus
| sions and oracular opinions: and it wa,
amusing to see show they mixed the
names Of men, places and nations In ont
grand tumble. After the news of Dew
eys victory was received one sable
statesman remarked TO another 'Well
| reckon Mr. Spain will be gwine long
back TO his Turin country and let we all :
folks erione. cafSe dey say Gen I'll Dewey
he went straight fru de coal mines wild
his ships. an when he got ter wnar Mr..
Spain was err Settin' on ne sno, he jes'
bowed him pretty nigh off on de face
of de yearth. Mr.. Spain. he couldn't fisht
much. c.,ise his Phillistines all done
ruined erway. Later on. when interes I
conferred in the West Indies the colored
orator was again in evidence, "Gen'ul
tuby must De er powerful sharp one.
clise dey tells me Samson done re from
de daid and come back wild cr hundred
ships on er line and den he cairn ketcli
de gen ul." And SO to the end Spain and
Cuba remained, in the minds of this col
ored board of strategy. the generals who
led the "Spaniards. the "Resurrection-
lists and the "Phiis;fnes' 10 battle
against our troops.
One day the keeper OF certain country
store, who usually disseminated the news
through that particular neighborhood.
was approached by negro whose whole
appearance al once marked him as a
doubling Thomas. Mr.. Blank" he said.
lis it true dat you done tole it dat we
ais men put de Spaniards in er bottle
and driv de cork in? My boys say you
said ii; and Parson Jones. who ought ter
know. caise he can read coarse print. he
say he done seen it in de top-side. right
hand corner of 20 paper: but | amt be-
levin il. fur dar never was er dimmy-
could git into Another morning a field
hand from one of the plantations came
Into the store much excited. Boss" he
said. when de gov'mint gifts through wild
dem dogs err war deys usin, doan you
think you could git one of 'em for me? |
hears dey is yaller and stump-taied. an
! lows dey'd make de best coon dogs in
de world. Cairn you git me one boss?
I'd give you six bits for him.
But although the anxiety concerning
was soon gone, fear in an
other form began, to harass the negroes 4
when it was whispered about that the
government intended conscripting them
and sending them 10 the war as substi-
tutes for the white troops Nobody knew
how they got this information-as. in
deed. nobody knows where they learn
many things. the birds and winds seem
sometimes to carry the ruInors-but il
was curious to note how suspicious of
strangers they grew, and how fond of
staying at home they suddenly became.
The arrival of the enlisting officers in one
OF the small towns was speedily made
known throughout the adjacent country
and the streets of that town knew bu,
few of its sable habitues during the OFF,
GERS stay. In vain the explanation was
made that no one could be taken with
out his consent May be not: but den
dat man mought take me unbeknownst-
l!ke, was the reply of the sable solons
In a small Virginia town two venture
some young negroes, dazzled by the war
glory talk OF the enlister. made him a
verbal promise to meet him at the depot |
on certain day and sign their papers
and go away to the camp which he repre- |
Sented. The day came and a huge crowd |
OF their people went to the depot to see |
them OFT. The two lads We're the heroes |
of the hour and bore themselves with
mucn staggering jauntiness. until a |
preacher called the crowd to order that |
they might all pray for their departing |
brothers. In that prayer he held out no |
nope OF "a return. but resigned them
Wholly to death and the Spanish bullets
Oh Lord, desc boys is been mighty |
lancin'. banjo-pickin young uns. bur. Oh.
Lord. when he shells is a-bustin' round
EN- sabe dey souls. even if dey bodys is
'wine down to de black pitt" The excit-
DIE crowd caught the spirit of the pray
II and began to wall as If already at a
leath scene. Funeral hymns took the
)lace of jests as in solemn procession
hey filed past the two heroes and mourn
ully bade them farewell forever at the
anne time loading them with messages to
departed friends. "God-by Jim, eff YOU
Ices happen to go to heaben an you sees
ny mann dar. jes' tell her howdy fer me-"
Farewell. Dick. farewell: we gwine to
Mss you considerable when de possums
hts Fat; an when ives eatin' water
milton we gwine wish We could drap a
aetle of de juice onto your burnin' tom
ne way down yOnder in torment" The
rdeal was too severe for the would-be
ons of Mars. They wept as loudly as
nyone over their supposititious dea tn
nd punishment. and gazed longingly
ack the way they had just come. Under
ne wailing admonitions military honor
,st its charm: a sudden beauty budded
bout their cast-Off hoe handles and
aloed their forsaken plows: and so, con-
.ssing the error of their recent choice
an occupation. they turned their backs
pom the tented field and went instead to
re cotton patch. The chagrined enlist
= oincer' having no signed papers to
I'D them. was forced to submit to their
test decision.