The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-10-30


war money was plentiful in the South
and a fellow, could get about as mucr
of it as his wallet would hold, for {
few dozen eggs. or a few spring chick
ems. / heard of a man who said he
used TO carry his money in his pocke'
10 the market and bring his purchase.
home in a basket; but money got tc
be so plentiful that he carried his
money in a basket and brought his
marketing home in his pocket-hfs
basket of money would buy so little
Hundred dollar bills were as plenti-
ful almost as nickels are now: ana
That man who did not have roll OF
bIlIs as big as his wrist couldn't buy
much OF a suit of clothes. nor much
OF anything else.
Colonel Owen Higgins, of Onsow.
said he filled all his bureau drawers.
ana finally had to resor' to putting his
extra money-what he called hrs
spending cash, in large upright bas-
kets. A gentleman called one day 10
pay him for a negro man he had
bought of him. Mr.. Higgins said TO
the man: 81 can't undertake to count
it; | judge by the bulk its all right
Put it i'm that basket behind the door
there, and let that negro boy tread it
down."
the time. and l don't remember that
/ ever took my roll out of my pocket
at night. for fear of robbers. If L hid
an-'thing it was the arel-not the
money. If burglar got my purse he
got trash: but, if he got my breaches.
they We're hard to renrlace. l have
several thousands of the war time
money now. and while it looks Just
rs nice as greenbacks gold or silver
certificates. or even bank notes. IL
won't circulate: therefore, let things
be as they may. unless I'm burnt out.
I'll always have plenty of money; as
rogues don't want it, and home-folKs
can't spend ii.
The last trade I made, paying In
Confederate money, / bought a sheep
skin for ten dollars and an inch augar
for five. The man with whom / traded
was such a rebel he could not be made
TO believe any other than that JEFF
Davis and Bob Lee would, like Ma
poieon escaping from Elba, come
again and clean the Yankees up. from
Baltimore to he Rio Grande: al
though at the time of making that
trade jeff Davis was q prisoner az
Fortress Monroe. So strong was his
faith in the righteousness of the cause
of the South, and of it's ultimate sue
cess, / think he would have sold any
thing he had for Confederate money,
is wonderful how much our judgments
are warped by our desires. We ought
TO have known that it was q physical
lmpoSSibility for the eleven Southern
States. gallant and brave as were their
sons. to triumph over armies that were
recruited from all the nations of the
earth-armieS that We're four or five
times as great as ours; and we diO
know it, but we just lid not admit
that we could be whipped. And we
were not, but, as General Toombs told
a Yankee after the war-O think it
was Toombs)-"YOu Yankees did moi
whip us, but we wore ourselves out
whipping you"
My father had such faith in the
Confederacy that he loaned a large
amount of money to Wake county.
for the benefit of it's charitable inSt-
tutions, but he lost every cent of it,
as all such investments of money were
declared to be war obligations. which
were repudiated in the reconstruction
days His loyalty to the cause of the
South was his financial ruin. But, !
never heard him utter a syllable of
regret.
Those reconstruction days were
times long to be remembered. for
many reasons. the first and foremost
of which, was the fact that we had
thrown into our midst class of peo-
pie. the like of which the South had
never seen nor ever dreamed of. We
had all classes of Adventures. male
and female, and the more we had to
do with them the more we felt humil
lated. because of their presence in our
midst Some. who were here to lord
it over us, brought their so-called
wives along. and they had the run of
the town; and had the time of their
lives. In the morning those women
paraded the streets in "bloomer cos
tunes which showed off their fine
shoes and stockings to good advan-
tage. In the evening they'd bring out
their long trains and sweep the side
walk. yes. they had admirers: and
although pretending to be wives. they
seemed to be very fond of beaux.
One so-called Mrs" Somebody, Of
fered her services to sing at a concert
given by the ladies of Edenton Street
Methodist church, representing herself
to be Methodist. She was indeed a
sensation, for when. at the concert.
the curtain rose out came the Mrs.
Methodist" in short dress and tights.
and RECALLED the audience with Cap
tain links of the Horse Marines" TAX
ing good care to throw her most be-
witching glances toward the men. At
ter that, SO long as she remained in
Raleigh she was known on the streets
as Captain Jinks."
Among the admirers of Captain
Jinks" was a so-called Methodist
preacher. Il genuine carpet-bagger.
who hello services in the hall of the
House of Representatives, for quite
awhile. for the benefit of the carpet
bae element who We're too good. in
their opinion, to worship in our
churches with Southern white people.
Curiosity led me to attend one of
those services. and L felt. when l left
the hail, that, as wicked as Sodom was
it couldn't have boosted of anything
worse than the sacrilege of such "A
mockery. Yes, they sang and the
carpet-bagger preached and PRAYED:
but he did not preach Christ-indeed
he did not call the name of God or
Christ in his sermon: but he had much
to say about patriots on the one
hand and rebels on the other; the
wealth and superiority of the North
and the inferiority of the South. In
short, his sermon was a political
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