The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-11-15
norm, CORN
CHM erway de
Corn
@NUDIWE Ter Thuck
y 1t I'LL Dis Night,
ifs Sho'S Yo' Born.
How The Shocking of the
YeLioW Ears WdS Done
Befo' de Uah.
By Martha McCu11och Williams

I'm THE fall of 1870 Squire Majors
gave a corn-shucking The fact
L was not so singular as to require
special chronicling. 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 Maiorses, first English
emigrants, then westering pioneers,
had kept pretty close in their migra-
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 shocking,
everybody knew there would be
good time All of those who came to
shuck, came with eager willingness.
Such among them as owned tin Ian
terms fetched them along-unlighted.
All the shocking lacked of perfect con
ditions was full moon. Instead, it
had an old moon, a slimmish crescent
that would not rise until pretty near
midnight. Still, since it was fine.
clear, frosty night, with a skyful Of
stars, the lanterns were not really es-
sential, although, swung to stout
stakes in twos and threes, they GER
tainly made the compile brighter, and
the whole shocking livelier.
A Fire for the Gray Boards to Sit and
Gossip BY.
There was a fire, of course-for 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 very
sharp eye. 1t was big and blazing,
built of logs piled lavishly together
fat on the ground. But it was at least
fifty yards off the pile, and so set that
the wind took away sparks and blazes
Dry shucks-and -shucking pre-
supposes them-burn 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, two thousand
bushels-of fine, white fint-corn the
big heap was morally certain to shucl
out.
1t was built upon little rise in the
field, quite away from any fence or
building. In shape it was longish
oval equally heaped and mounded.
There was room about it for all the
hundred shuckers-in the beginning,
that is. At the end, when there were
two straight STOPPING squattlng lines
facing each other across the short way
of it, elbow room would be at 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
er-the-creek fellows had been VOW
ing since last fall that Jim Mason,
Niger Jim," could shuck more corn
than any other man in the county
The Aatwoodsmen were as boldly
swearing that Harvey Denis, also
black, the pride of 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
lin and Harvey would be the rlva
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 their
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 thu
other Two things remained-pos
siblv three-to set the shocking going
The first and most important was t.
saw 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
stave of a corn song, in whose choru
all the workers joined. The cor
songs were Acknowledgements to an
racy of the soil. The airs were of tn
simplest - monochords commonly
sliding now and again into wier
minors, that perhaps echoed chant
heard under African palms The word
were often witty, and nearly Away
unprintable. The singer was, indeed
after manner an mproviser-adapt
ing to the measure of some famou
song all the neighborhood gossip an
happenings-and the more broadly tn