The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1903-09-12
ON SAWkEE CREEK


The hill rountg, ur "a Carolina i a
brraI and varied land l...kins down up
un Il the -ammer san anyeli, ht, face aud
smiles aui lyin. far stretched aad iaiF IN
,h, yslI1w light. the fruitful sal reJuioss ia
the glance ol lys Lord and laughs in the
fuilue>s e if. harvest
Yet this southern l4ui Is no, the @aaie
&C. al men u1g 70 even al it- sn1rs Tor by
nature "a has many mg,l- Go IT, wr-t
rrn r,l.y the haEy ma,-s- ot the mountain
he above the mountain, loW cloads aFe
hearx-i. aud above the cluais is the blue q
the bouBils--s say
horn Of the mountains and the closlis,
hmrsd streams here baI>g into >carrying
foam in thetr haste to BE- quit of the sloPes,
aud rushing ihrough grcrn and grassy val
les. their waters sing ~ongs 90 the rustic
cabins that here aud Their, perp ont from
,l,ats ht,let-l by sunaowrrs aad sweet Eith
huneysurkle bloom. Ahout such cabins
the cotton field, are. where the patient
ncsr,S-s siu. songs a. they work ia the
crops aud IN the loag reaches 81 the fer
tile bottoms cattle rcd cattle aud dun
stand lrs deep in the lush aftermath ot
the meadows. chewing reflective euds and
browsing in sheer content
And away from this, far 10 the eastward,
where there are no hills aud no valleys
where the eve meets only white beach
/ sand and the vast and infinite sea there
stands a guaint and world forgotten city,
Aud this city, wrapped in mists Of SEA
purple and Of SKY purple, : akin to a city
Of dreams, aud by It's open gates the white
ships glide >oftly, and the waves sing to It
| ia = low sweet monotone
But between the hills and that city Ay
/ the eastern sea, barring the beauty Of the
one from the beauty Of the other the
broad pine .barrens' lie-the desolate
| b1rren,. dull green overhead and dull gray
| underioot, that are broken by never clear
ing. and are sowu with hillOcks Of sand
Among these hillccks aukempt weeds are
I scattered and coarse tufts of wiry grass
and an undcrbrush. of serawny black
/ Jack bushes. while over them stretch the
pines always the pines from whose som-
bre depths the wind calls drearily, aud
among whose dropping branches the slight
est breeze signs low from utter loneliness.
Even water. elsewhere 81 plentiful that
no landscape is.found without 1t, Is almost
wanting here. In winter, to be sure, lit
tie pools gather in the dips Of the sand and
in the hollows of the hills, but when sum
mer comes the face of the land Is dry, for
il Is only here and there that stream
drawing life from the lusty dugs of the red
west country forces an entrance into this
desert space, and creeping across it, pain
fully makes belt of gloomy swamp in a
waste aud gloomy land
Such Il stream, however, Is Sawkee
Creek. The pines oyerhang 1t, long moses
! creep upon it and blacken its surface; canes
and gross water plants obstruct its channel.
Back from Its banks ten rods, 1t may be,
on either hand, there are brakes of reed
aud briar, beyond is the face of the bar
rens' and the desolation of the sand.
Until recently the solitude here has been
unbroken by the industries Of man perhaps
from the foundation of the world.
But with this new century's dawn an
other era has come; men have grown keen
er and bolder: and the coined eagles OF
commerce lead more surely than the eagles
of war There are pines on Sawkee creek
pines bearing crude turpentine, and tur-
pentine brings money in the markets OF
the world So now, the trees are boxed,
their white scars gleam in the forest born
twilight of the swamp, and between the
gaunt- gray boles that thrcng the "dead-
enings'' the gross black bulk of still ap-