The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1902-03-26

|" them usually work a pit together viii
pick and shovel This muddy rock i
thrown in heaps near the mouth of th
/. pit, afterwards it is placed in wheel
, barrows, rolled on planks to the rail
= road track, where it is dumped read,
to be pitched into the empty cars.
The negroes work only when the,
y please, and that is not often, unless
driven to it by hunger or debt. In
/, very cold weather they make small
fires near the pits, as their scarSt; cloth
ing does not protect them troItn the
wintry blasts. Many of these people
} are coatless, hatless and shoeless, but
even presents of these articles have
proved of no avail to help them, as
they are gambled away before the next
sun rises. A white man is foreman for
each field and "takes the time" for
each negro's work. These rock dig
gers are even lower in the scale of hu-
manity than The worst of the ex-slaves;
they are nearer akin TO the brutes in
habits and morals; all their idle time is
spent in gambling and thieving from
each other, be it their fowls or their
wives. Among themselves they are
lawless to degree, not stopping short
of murder, perhaps, for the possession
of few cents. They neglect their
sick, who have neither medical atten-
dance nor medicine, unless furnished
by the whites, so they often die alone
like the animals. Their kind hearts
seem tc lave disappeared with slavery
aud only the instincts of the savage
remain.
The exceptions to the above condi.
tions arc the older people, former
slaves, who are rather held in con-
| tempt by the present generation for
being favorable to the white race. a
sorry picture OF things existent, but
true nevertheless, as all know who
class of negroes.
A certain rich Northerner, "phos-
phate man." thought the Southerners
too inert and did not make sufficient
efforts to help these poor, thritlless
people. So he showed the sincerity of
his convictions by building comfort
able cottages, with glass window
sashes, besides the shutters, neat
strong doors and steps. In each cot
tage he had beds or hunks made, and
in them he placed good mattresses,
besides other little cOnveniences; he |
then gave them PERMISSION to use as
much deadwood as they pleased to
gather In his forests for their fuel and
his only proviso was that they should
not touch the game in his preserves,
and to try and Keep all neat and in
good condition against his return frohs.l
the North in the fall. He then left, 4
feeling content that he had left, these
" down.troddenn npeople SO much more
comfortable.
In November he returned from his
distant Northern home, anticipating
great satisfaction in beholding the i'm
proved condition of Ills laborers. So
his amazement knew no bounds when
he found they had shot his game free
ly, or at least when they got the op
lortunity, and rather than go after the
dead wood and tote it home they had
chopped doors, steps, shutters, and
even the hunks to feed their fires, had
torn up or carried off the ticking
covers of The mattresses, and other
wise ignored his generosity. be-
lieve the philanthropic views were
changed, at least nc further efforts in
their behalf were manifest.
Query: Which is the better and
happier for this race, the hireling or
the slaye2 Are they the people who
can ever stand entirely alone? What
can be done for such an immoral and
irresponsible people, who will not help
themselves? The colored educators
claim they are helping themselves and
are taking steps to prove 1T right here
in South Carolina. But what are the
efforts of few hundreds against the
retrogression of the millions? Will
the little leaven leaven the whole?
The Snowman brings his trained all
imals as evidences of their education,
but because of these will the whole an
imal kingdom become revolutionized?
Exception may be taken at this COM
parison, but none is intended; we
know the negro has a soul and the ami
NAL has none; at the same time all hu-
man life possesses characteristics per-
tanning to their order and unchange-
able as the creation. The Anglo. |
himself. Will the Afro-American
ever DC aUlG lO uO lnG SdtlcG ldSI |
history says no-.he future alone can
decide.
Loudly summoned by the screaming
whistle of The locomotive, we take our
seats and the heavy train Of fifteen
loaded cars, with many jerks and vio-
lent putting from the engine, starts on
its homeward journey. The strain is
immense at first and we hardly crawl
along, then the speed quickens and
without stoppages the train arrives at
the great phosphate washers on the
banks of the river. Here the engine
is dispensed with and the negro
I" hands" from the washer roll the
cars, one by one, up steep incline
and at the top their contents are
dumped into the great wire cylinders,
whose rapid revolutions, under streams
of water, cleanses the mud from the
rock before throwing 1t down in great
plies upon the wharf. Afterwards it
is placed under The drying sheds and
undergoes sort of baking process by
the fires built beneath-thus is the
"dry rock" produced. Later, as is
needed, it is conveyed by lighters to
the phosphate mills, where it is crush
ed and otherwise manipulated, thus
making the fertilizer which is shipped
to all points of the world.
Thia Ia only n aunerficial view for the