The news & observer., 1905-12-03
HILLY BILLY AND RUS
TY CUSS.
The Snuff-Dipping Sister Who Shouts
CopiOusIy and Rends Character to
Shreds and the Living Corn Juice
Jug Who Careers Along the
Road Raising Luminous
Cam.

To the Editor: BY special request
shall try to inform your readers
how Thanksgiving is observed in our
borders.
In a general way there is no observ-
ance. Only limited number of the
truly rural take or read papers, and
as for it's historical significance, they
know no historical facts except that
we are the greatest people on earth.
and We learn that from our political
speakers. These, with religious fervor,
tell us every two years, that outside
of North Carolina no regard is had
for the Christian Sabbath, that we are
about the only people who reverence
and obey the Bible, and are the only
pure Causasians. AS we are better
than anybody else, smarter than any
body else, and have the call over our
benighted neighbors of Tennessee,
Kentucky and Virginia, we hug this
belief with complacency, spurn and
ridicule every man who intimates that
we should improve our schools, and
regard our preachers, who were cali
ed but never prepared, as oracles of
wisdom, who rightly divide the word
of truth.
Then, when a man breaks away
from his environments, goes to some
other part of the world that lieth In
outer darkness and becomes a famous
preacher, author or dramatist, we say,
"Oh, he was from North Carolina,
and that accounts for it," OF course
he was from North Carolina, good
would still be in obscurity. This may
not apply to central or eastern sections
but l know it applies here.
AS to the origin of Thanksgiving,
people of information regard it as be-
ginning in Israelitish times, in COM
memoration of the Jews being deliv-
cred from Egyptian bondage. But
very few so-caIled Sunday school
teachers of this region know this. for
many of them never read the &ible
through and never will. The put in
their time making plaitudinous
speeches, in which they refer to some
patriarchal Saint, who made blockade
WhiSkey till he was too old, and then
joined the church. Young goSlings,
who have symptoms of going into the
ministry, refer to this ancient repro
bate as "Uncle Bob" or Uncle Berry"
and no matter how ignorant hide
bound or uncharitable he is, they laud
him as one who nightly divides the
word of truth, and as thoroughly fur
nshed with good works In a very
stridgent voice he drifts into q perora-
llOn ABOUT HOW 10 IdISe
His auditors are looking behind
them to see who come in and go out,
and half of them don't hear or re-
member a word he says. Then some
old woman, who rolls gossip as a
sweet morsel under her tongue, spits
out her snuff-stick and shouts, copi-
ously. When she has told all that the
Lord has done for her and expressed
a hope that she will meet all her
Holt
erance, she subsidies, loads another
charge of snuff into her mouth, and
spends the six days out of seven re-
Wiling the people that she SO fervent-
! ly hopes to meet in heaven =.
Thanksgiving receives little obSerV-
ance in rural communities. The schools
go on, as usual and no reference is
made to it on that day or any other.
The teacher knows he is paid less than
saw mill man, monazite digger, or
a jack-leg carpenter. and. therefore,
has little for which to be thank
! full.
About towns they have religious
services, and people attend who don't
/ prefer shooting birds or hunting foxes.
Others meet whiskey wagon, get
drunk, yell up and down the road,
curse fight. and raise Cain generally.
just as they do at Christmas times or
on Sunday.
They hear from political speakers,
that they have a high and holy regard
for the Sabbath, while the atheistic
Yankee and the untutored Westerner
are shameless in their wanton desecra-
ton thereof. The Southerner of our
section has richer history, but he
don't know it. don't want to know 1t,
and has no respect, in this section, for
the man who cherishes such traditions
or ideals. The hill billy and rusty
cuss of this region care for nothing
but dogs, and want to talk of moth
ing else, except mules, simmons,
sweet taters" and gals
So, Thursday was observed,
! other working in the field, bird hunt
ing. fox hunting, getting drunk or GO
ing 20 the station. The men chew
long green on every day but Sunday,
when they take some store tobacco"
to church, chew it, and spit on the
floor.
The woman of this class will rub
| "home- made snuff till Sunday, when
they will sell butter and eggs enough
| to get bought snuff. They won't
4 /ro~4;.,,o5 ~, Don~ Tive \