New-York tribune., 1905-04-23
THEY ADD TO GAYETY.
Sports IN Which Black Boys Partici-
nate at Southern Resorts.

IN balancing up my books on this trip" de-
clare6 the man whose nlidwinter tan spoke elo-
cUenuy II Q Southern trip, i am surprised at
the size Of tie joy contribution which came from
the neSrCes al the Southern resorts You know
they use black boys for everything, no matter
where you go. below Washington, and a great
many OF them are Well worth studying. They
spend more OF less Of their lime cnGeavoring TO
arnuse The visitors from the North. and in sue
ceedinE manage 10 have pretty good time out
Of il themselves.
i happened 10 be at the Park Hotel. in The
Pines at Aiken. q few weeks ago" he continued
seeing that The group in the clubhouse corner
were interested, when the colored boys had
their annual field day. The help at Aiken is
ali native, The sons and daughters Of the black
folk who live most peacefully in little cabins
and shacks hidden among the pines, or from the
negro quarters OF neighboring towns along the
route Of The Southern Railroad For years they
have worked for the cottagers who have made
Aiken a sort Of Newport 0f the South anu
when the new hotel was built the manager hao
no trouble getting experienced boys. They are
wei CD ia Northern ways and there is snlat-
ter5ng Of society slang in their conversation
which was most unexpected.
..lZyervIody turns out for the field sports Ihe
prizes Of money and clothing and groceries are
furnished by a subscription among the guests
and cottagers and by The hotel management
Five dollars seems TO be the proper contribution
and there IS never any trouble raising couple
Of hundred dollars
- stretch of level roadway in front Of the
hotel is measured into 4 running course and me
.ra-.t yiazza furnishes a most comfortable grand
stand. The negroes who are not competing, to
,l,a number Of several hundred, gather on the
far side Of the roadway and add many plctu-
rescue touches Of color TO the scene. The run
7i,-, toas of the negro athletes are as varied as
one can possibly imagine One tan sim youth
wore a bathing suit and patent leather shoes.
.,,o,,,.r Rad a pair of heavy winter trousers
cut off AT the knees. while still another was
nos, brilliant in an abbreviated suit OF bright
- c,,oeeaclotb and he certainly ran like a
crimson streak.
..rrbo real fun Of the meet, however, was In
the slippery pole sports Ia one event pole
twenty feet long was firmly planted In tne
e-rolDd. From cross arms at the top huhg
lo,,le II hams in their enticing yellow jackets
.,,7 o co,rle Of small sacks OF -four. The
hams were most in demand. and the DoVs ealn-
cred about the pole cast longing eyes up Al
,ben, The pole was thoroughly creased ana
one by one the negroes essayed 10 climb II One
boy who knew the knack of climbing the SLIP
rery pole got two-thirds OF the way up. only
crowd. II was half an hour before any one got
so high again At last some one Skinned all the
way 10 the top and won the hams
1.-The creased roller also furnished much amuse-
rnent. The pole IN this case was horizontal and
supported by two standards about six feet above
the ground II was held up in such way that
81 turned easily. The contestants were supposed
TO seat themselves on the pole and with rope
attached TO one Of the end supports pull them
selves the length Of It It WAS almost an i'm
possible feat and could only be done by giving
one tremendous yank al the rope and balancing
perfectly until the other end was reached Most
of the negroes were dumped ignOminiOusly %
the gTOun1.
"A barrel race which they had later IN the
afternoon vas also most amusing. The barrels
were hung by ropes from cross beam and both
heads were out The negroes had 20 gel
through the barrels as best they could The
funniest thing in this contest was Sat boz
Hrso 1aavsR mot gTTQ.