Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-11-23
Old lDina>h' g
7 turkey


Lyne.D
"a Dlnah 50; by her hoarth-s:onc
,strr corn-cob pipe. while the rank
=, e3ar Of tobacco pcrvaded the atmos-
-, Though al asa-cake baked on
=" i-rot Goals, there was mcditaftVe
Wv g ;he coIored woman's eye. amount
," s.Tnast 20 sadness. for Dfnah was per-
l.h an \ state OF bewiiderment as she
Iil 20 the chatter of her offspring
,,,.v Jane had the floor and Mary
20, as Dinah's educated granddaugh-
"a" ~, was speaking with an affected
% q language differing vastly from
~ l-oocuiar lisped at her grand
n. sr,s knee. 1t WAS The English Of
nv instead Of the Afro-American,
,h!ch Dinah was fluent.
@."sg--a-sday." observed The girl, is
ms giving
an in ae name OBJ glory. what's daf!
,.erA Dinah,
ss So, Grandmamma. The IDEA of such
s.,.nr. But then being born slave
surprising that you are not en-
i,-a5 Thanksgiving Is the greatest
~, calendar OF New England. II
oh, -ancaratcd By the Pilgrim Fathers
W. ,,hanksEiving. continued Mary
vjib enthusiasm. every household,
to,,,r- poor, Is expected 10 feast on
tu-kcy ,. n,,,, ..+,,,,,,
,s.ut turkey minds me oh Chris mas an
,q-r,-.v. Name er Cord. whaTs gwine
f,,Ykey fron-way here ut dc Norf-
RIOS; dat ! know bout? Chile,
- e,r neber hearyd: 'Ier's got ter
~, 40. yer bird fore yer can cook IN?
go ~ me hook-larnin' don't teach yer
N eau1ucn sense.
49, 10 add emphasis to the philoso-
- n he's remarks. finished with s!tnt
5isrs-st Though Immensely pTouc OF
- lanes education and lady-nhe at
rn+s she never Teiished any SUR
marks relative TO slavcry--for TO
-,P.r rreedcm was a doubtful Blessing.
L--e-.e,tly. though furtively. she sigh
-, thasa haicyon days. when like ut
-. ,bf5 she had looked to ole macse
,-s .r1;siis" 10 provide for all her needs
,gyer looked Iii vain. Then 1t was
1t., IbcrIy seemed burden to Dinah.
r,nirh sho would gladly have exchanged
to- he freedom and irresponslbllltS OF
me Virginia plantation. But she wouio f,o'
$50 had Mary Jane TO have guessed
mi for the world-bcc1use. belonging
:, ;hc Younger generation. the girl coulo
b,ve appreciated her longings: there
TO-. Dt,7aE smothered them in her breast
i,,,ca 10 tho inevitable and metaphori-
-sry adjusted her thinking-caP
c5,n the door mad closed on Mary
go Who with her educate idea of ex-
srlIee vyas of for a constitutional, ieav-
Ing her grandmother alone with her
thoughts and the clothes-oasHet-loT "a
nah vas a washer-wonan.
-lo7 - nile The ash-cake burned. the
-.rress .nioyed the priv..ese of musins
sloud- ,,-,,
Now. ef twas Christmas. body might
:. ,T,s cnfJ:un an .spect ole Kris ter
f4tcn dat turkey. but al! OATS iooiis ness;
fsvr in Boston. whar folks I'D on co.u
Rad oar amt no chiIbiy wutn spear
In bout fer him. like dem down soul,
wha1s big nouSn ter lay a ielice i<hi' Va
de IRE. a.
These reflections en- Dixie seemed 10
,uereet new idea ray OF nope 20
0i1at. for her face frightened ana slie
suddenly stopped her meditations aplo-
Iv crossing the room. she knelt by an olo
chest. where. after much runnlaga1ns'
. faded velvet reticule rewarded her
scarch. Returning to the IRE, oo Dina u
oo5ed the cmbers until they blazed into
f. dame Suualting close to their light,
she cautiously united the strings OF the
Rag AS she did SO. rabbit loot 1eli
from X and rolled to the floor. L ne eyes
NJ the negress frightened. ner lips part
e. IN & smile revealing. her olue gums as
she exclaimed: Oar now. l know MI
when hit fell-wid de toes turn ter de
5re like he warmin' tisself. Dat mean
good luck fer ole Dinah. sure-'cause hill
near like he satish'd an gwine ter stay!
III de toes hab turn ter de core. MT
would mean luck gwine out from Oman 5
house-fyom de very hairth-stone hltseil.
pelving into the reticule. Oman pro-
5sced theref; ON several notes OF Con-
Tolerate money Convulsively she clutch
vas used to be-and Dinah had never
definitely understood why if it bought
things in olden times it could not now.
&c change in the currency was beyond
her conception. The necessity for money.
however. brought into play the coioreo
wonans common sense. When she mao
isft Richmond just after the war, o.e
mssis" had given her that reticule as
keepsake. explaining the contents were
worthless save as q relic.
Bur somehow Dinah had never been full
II convinced OF this fact.
IF lis gone OF of use she rea soned.
hit gwine come back in fashion some
day so lse swiae keep hit long wid> dat
good huop-skirt ole uiisis done throw d
way SO es ter be ready when de time
30 come"
The more D.nah thought. the more
plausible il seemed. Old clothes coulC
b re!nodelled and made to do service
again and why could not money: Sure
~. the only difference the negress could
see vas in the color. The notes she held
In her hand were blue, while those used
nowadays were green. That they repre-
tented two distinct governments Dinah
cld not realize. To her mind money
meant barter and nothing more.
Why couldn't dye hit green thought
she. so hit would be in de fashion,
This idea having once found lodgmcni
tn her mind, she began to ponder the
test way to accomplish it. With the
tolh-knoWiedge of her race, Dinah knew
the Juice of spinach set With copperas
made good green dye for general pur-
poses but having neither the spinach
nor copperas diamond dye was cheaper
and surer. So she decided to try it. Has
uly hiding the reticule. she donned her
ragged shawl. and was soon at the near
est drugstore. where. with the reckless
ness chara cterizIng specuiat tors. her last
cine was invested IN q package Of green
diamond dye.
When the Confederate notes had been