Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1904-11-26

even nc w tnlnk Oh NTH an tn1rawlng
Of the breath, as L imagiue their precious
and unexplored contents. Verify, they
must have held gol in ingots. Then,
there was his cobbler's bench. for he
was a harness maker aud cobbler-and
his cooper bench Tor he made the noS-
gins and piggins and pals for the milk
maids ana when it came CO horses, As
L have sat aud heard rhe learned at races
and horse-shows air their knowledge, l
have ben filed vita sudden longing
wish that Uncle Balla were there To
show what real kuowled - was
He lived fo' thirty years after the war
in ii little house on the edge of the plan
tation, and when ne began TO fail he was
brought nome, where he could be better
looked after. AT the end. his funeral
services were conducted from the front
portico aud he was followed co the grave
by. white and black as his mourners.
The above is true picture, hut it re-
lated to the "house servant Negroes.
They were well loos ed alter III most IN
stances and they formed friendships
with the masters, mistre,ses and chill
dren that have lasted even beyond the
grave. -
So true was this that in many in
stances a wealthy southerner's Negroes
were better projected under the regime
of slavery than they are in the sunlight
of to-day's freedom.
For a white man 90 strike house-ser-
want Negro of wealthy slave-owner
was TO commit an offense as heinous as
it now is TO strike a nobieman's dog
There was liable to be fighting aud a
plenty of it. Moreover, the upper class
white folks would believe a trusted
house servant Negro twice to poor
white man once This made the chasm
between these two clements wider, and
the Negro was glad of it. 1t is fact
too that there were favored house
ev ms upon whom the mistresses
would not permit the lash to be applied,
no matter what their offenses might be.
The result was this friendship of which
Mr.. PAGE speaks and the reasons for
it.
Such colored persons were ready TO
make any sacrifices for the slave-owner
or his family. They detested the "poor
whites" and the "ffce niggers," to both
of whom they referred in tones of con
tempt and derisiou.
This is why we have peatedly as
serted that there was no feeling of race
antlpathy between the upper class of
white people of the Southland and the
Negroes of the old-type.
1t may be well TO state here though
and admired the Negroes of the old
school and their well-traiped off spring
they disliked the New Issue Negroes and
their school harmed" offspring with
the lack of manners which accompanied
the Negro of the corR-fieid type.
No condemnation could be severer or
Indignation greater than that shown by
the houss-servant Negro when with a
fiau. of the form and a flash lof the eye
she told tails New Issue Nesro" tllai
he nsd no ma 1ners and that his saammy
should have taught HIM some.
Mr.. PAGE continues:
Each cabin had, or might have had Its
little yard aud garden, aud each family
had its chicken house aud yard.
! On the larger plantations where the
Negroes nun bered wo- hundred or more
nearly every thing was made by them, s.
that such an estate was little world in
itself, substantially self. supporting
On our place, while the spinning and
weaving and the carpentry work were
done Oh th9 place, most OF the cloth fol
clothing and the shoes were bought in
town IN the spring and autumn, and the
tailor and cobbler kept them in order
In purchasing the shoes. each person
brought his measure, a stick the exact
length OF his 4, ot. The stick had GER
tam marks or notches on il, and the Ne
| gro kept duplicate, bv which TO identi
fy his sho when they arrived.
The above is true to southern life.
white mechanic was not needed and the
slaves unintentionally proved them
selves to be the worst enemies that the
laboring 1hi'e men ever had.
Negroes were utilized in all menia
employment and white man was re
garded with contempt who would Offer
TO engage IN anything else but skilled
labor of the highest order Janitor
ships, ditch-diggIng, carT-driving, hod
carrying, etc, were regarded as labor
fit only for Negroes, and white mar
was regarded with derision who would
offer Co do it.
This feeling. to large extent, per
meates the South to-day and account
for the fact that Negro labor is as We
utilized IN this respect to large extern
throughout the length and breadth o
the Southland. Southern white mel
persistently refuse TO employ white La
Dor In the capacity of chamber. maids
nurses, laundresses, walters, cooks an,
house. servants.
But while ali of this was going on O
the slave owners mansion, there wer
sad times among the hands in the corn
field and the one room cabins. Tn