The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-11-15
norm, CORN
l. CHM ertDay de
CORN
@UIVE Ter Chuck
u 1t I'LL DIS Night,
IFS Jho's Yo' Born.
HoW the Jhucking of the
YeiioU Ears Uds Done
Befo' de Udh.
By Martha MeCoIloch Williams

~ ILL AoA VI AO4O S4u'iS hdJOf
gave a corn-shucking. The fact
i was riot,so singular as to require
special chroniclins. Men of his
sort, especially of his blood, had been
giving corn-shuckings whenever the
corn crop was extra heavy, and the
neighborhood wholly at peace with
itself The Majorses, first English
emigrants, then westering pioneers,
had kept pretty close in their rnigra-
tons TO the historic parallel, thirty
six degrees, thirty minutes. They
were, moreover, very fully, men of
their time and place, always landhold-
ers, always shareholders, of open
minds, excellent tempers, and eager to
make the most of either work or play
So when hundred men, black and
white, gathered to the shuc king,
everybody knew there would be a
good time. All of those who came to
shuck, came with eager willingness.
Such among them as owned tin Ian
terms fetched them along-iihlighte
All the shocking lacked of perfect con.
ditions was full moon. Instead, It
had an old moon, a slirnfnish crescent
that would not rise until pretty near
midnight. Still, since Il was a fine.
clear, frosty night, with skyful of
stars, the lanterns were not really es.
sential, although, swung to stout
stakes in twos and threes, they GER
tainly made the eorn-piie brighter, and
the whole shocking livelief.
A Fire for the Gray Boards to Sic and
Gossip BY.
There was fire, of eeufse-fof the
gray boards past active shocking 10
gossip by, and to light pipes withal
But Uncle Ben Reese had special
charge of it, and kept It Under a very
sharp eye. 1t was big and blazing,
built of logs piled lavishly together
fat on the ground. But il was at least
fifty yards off the pile, and SO set that
the wind took away sparks and blazes.
Dry shucks-and eefh-shueking pre-
supposes them--bufti like finder, es-
pecially with wind behind the fame.
Uncle Ben had no notion of letting
Squire Majors lose the four hundred
barrels, that is to say, tive thousand
bushels fine, white Hint-eofn the
big heap was morally certain to shue'S
out.
1t was built upon little rise in the
field, quite away from any fence or
oval, equally heaped and fIiounded.
There was room about 1t for all the
hundred shuckers-in the beginning,
that is. At the end. when there were
two straight STOPPING squattif1g lines
facing each other across the short way
of it, elbow room would be at a pre-
mium-unless, as was very likely, a
good few of the good men found the
pace too hot 1t was certain TO be
hot. The shuckers had come from
rival, almost hostile, regions. The
over-the-creek fellows had been vow
ing since last fall that Jim Mason
"Nigger Jim," could shuck more corn
than any other man in the county.
The fatwoodsmen were as boldly
swearing that Harvey Denis, also
black, the pride of a rich and indul-
gent master, could beat any other liv-
ing man at any sort of work to which
he set his hand.
Thus it was plain beforehand that
Jim and Harvey would be the rival
captains. The white men among the
shuckers, a dozen or maybe twenty
shouted for them and hustled for them
the same as the rest. These white
men were not all small farmers MOI
their sons. Three at least among them
came each with a half dozen of his
own negroes, and worked beside theii
men with the best will in the world.
The Walker of the Pile Was an I'm
portant Man.
Captains chosen, each picked hi.
men, taking alternate choices unit
everybody was on one side or tn,
other. Two things remained-pos
sibly three-to set the shocking going
The first and most important was t.
say who should walk the pile" Tha
is to say, which of all the strong sing
ers should pace back and forth tn
top of the heaped corn. carrying tn
staye of corn song. in whose choru
all the workers joined The corr
songs were unique-indigenous to an,
racy of the soil. The airs were of tn
simplest = monochords commonl,
sliding now and again into wier'
minors, that perhaps echoed chant
heard under African palms. The word
were often witty, and nearly Away
unrrintable. The singer was, indeed
after a manner an improviser-adapt
ing 10 the measure OF some famou
song all the neighborhood gossip an
r. HOO d1xr I,