The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1899-11-08
A WAR STORY OF BILL ARP.
HOW HUTCHINs SAVED HIS MEAT
Hid 1T In the Hearth of an Old Black
smith Shop-Advice to tho Cotton

Hid 1t in the Hearth of an Old Black
smith Shop-Advice to the Cotton
tots.
a friend writes me from Florids
that bacon will not keep we'll In thai
climate, and that the old settlers SAY
1t always gets rancid. He wants tC
know II there Is any remedy for this
Yes, | think so, unless hogs fattened
on pinders are different from those
fattened on corn.
This reminds me of q war story.
In 1864 my wife and half dozen lit
tile children found refuge from the foul
Invader at her fathers plantation on
the upper Chattahoochee river. There
| was no white man there or near there
save her old father, Judge Hutchins.
There were about a hundred negroes,
more than half of them too old or too
young to work. Food for our soldiers
Vas getting scarcer every day and
orders came that every farmer should
be tithed-that Is to say, he should
give up to the government agents q
portion OF his corn and meat and beef
cattle. A mounted detail from tho
nome guard was sent out with wagons
to enforce the order and gather in the
supplies. There was nobody to resist
them, for everybody was in the army
save old mon and invalids aud women
and children. Late one evening q
company of thirty men came to Judge
Hutchinss house and rudely informed
him that they came for bacon and beef
cattle. The judge very calmly told
them he had none to spare. For a
while they parleyed with him, but
finally demanded the key to his smoke
house. My wife and children and two
other little grandchildren listened in
fear and anxiety. They knew that the
Judge was fearless man, but there
were so many well armed men against
him, the odds were fearful, and when
he refused to give up the key, they said
they would arrest him and break down
the door
Then he pleaded with them in
trembling voice and said to the cap.
tain !: Here is my daughter and her
little helpless children and here are
two others whose mother is dead and
their father Is in the army | have
but four sons and they are in the army.
My two sons-in-law are there. Here
on this place are fifty or sixty negroes
who are too young or too old to work,
and 1t is struggle for us all to live.
l am alone and getting old. have
done my share for the Confederacy and
cannot do more. Now / know that
yOu Gull ONCFpOWcT ulS or XIII me ana
take away the little meat have saved
for these helpless ones, but let me tell
you, captain, the first man who goes to
that door to break it down will be a
dead man before he can do it.n His
black eyes flashed as If lit up by sparks
of fire and his voice no longer trem blcd
He was desperate. Lightly he as
cended the stairs, where he had two
double barreled guns well loaded and
planting himself by the window that
overlooked the smokehouse, he said,
Now break that door If you dare to-"
and the percussion lock went click,
click. The captain looked at the door
and then at the judge. There was an
awful silence for few moments. My
wife and children had heard it all ana
trembled. Some of the negroes had
gathered at the cabin doors, and old
Sam dared TO exclaim In q low, husky
voice, Better not-better not-old
massa kill you-kill you shore"
The captain suddenly reconsidered.
"Come, boys" said he "it's getting
late, and there amt no ne in fighting
about little meat. We can report
the case to headquarters and If we are
ordered back we can try it again, l
reckon" Without saying goodbye or
farewell they left.
That night about midnight the Judge
called up old Jack and Virgil, whom
he knew he could trust, and had the
joints of the meat and part Of the
sides carried quietly down to the old
blacksmith shop on the bank OF the
river. With pick ard shovel the
cinders and earth In the old hearth
were soon excavateG and chamber
fashioned that would hold ard hide a
Thousand pounds. 1t was buried there
np nd hn hnn n,.fh
1T had been. Some scattering charcoal
filled In the spaces and some was left
on top and the black old basket placed
where 1t long had been. With shovel
and wheelbarrow the surplus earth WAS
taken down the river bank and tumbed
in and then all was quiet on the ChatSa-
hoochee. The burial OF Sir John Moore
was not moro silent. In January, 1865,
joined my family at the plantation
and not long after the judge furnished
us good mule team and wagon and
we returned to our home in Rome.
The day before we left his hospitable
mansion he opened the cache and found
the meat all sweet and sound apd we
brought good portion OF 1t with us
and 1T was as precious as gold My
wife says the charcoal purified 1t and
kept it from tasting old or rancil.
Now then l have answered my
friends question. He must get up an
other civil war and hide his meat in
the hearth Of an old blacksmith shop.
Earth and charcoal are both good dis
infectants and preservers OF flesh, and
If was In Florida l would pack my
meat in charcoal, not dust, but small
crushed coal. Before putting the meat
down | would powder 1t from pepper
box with borax. Borax Is almost uni
versally used now. 1t Ia sure death to
shippers and other vermin, and
druggist told me that the sale OF it had
increased a thousand per cent within
the last five years.
When my family got home we found
that 1t was not good to live By meat
| alone and we had to send down the
river q hundred miles for a few bushels
of corn and hid it near mill in the
country, because the outlaws and de-
serters were patrolling the land and
taking everything they could find. A
good friend brought us half bushel of
meal at a time on the sly, and so we
got along. The memory of old Row
land Bryant Is still precious to us for
his kindness In those days OF tribula-
tion. 1t Is encouraging to know that
Armour 81 Co., have not abolished all
the smokehouses in the land, nor