The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1905-04-18

Of the everlasting race question:
Yet It is beyond a doubt to tho
manawho sees 1t ut short range a
question OF absorbing interest. There
are two happy men, In the world:
One is the real philosopher, who can
find the bright side OF everything.
You do not see him every half hour.
for the supply of that kind OF crca.
ture, Is limited. The other happy fel.
low is tho son Of Ham. With ali Of
his misfortnnes-and there Is no
doubt that they are enough-Provi.
dence has been kind to the black
man. for in the distribution OF the
good gifts. the best of ala dlsposi.
ton of perpetual su~nshlne-feN 10
the lot Of the negro, There is no
country so happily situated In It's
%peasantry as the Southern United
States with the negro. The North.
ern mind cannot comprehend the
negro of the South. for he Is a condl.
ton which could not exist for a min.
ute with the Yankee. And with all
that Is said Of the relations between
the white mar and the black man In
the South. the darkey gets along bet.
ter with the Southern native than
with the white man who comes from
the North to stay here. Southern
Pines is a pleasant little town Of
some thousand residents, which iillin:
Der IS Increased by many hundreds.
during the winter when the strangers
come. The town Is populated almost
exclusively by people from the North.
Naturally you would imagine that ii
would be the town In North Carolina.
where the colored man would be ecs
corded the most privileges. On the.
contrary, not a colored man sper-
mitted 70 live in the corporation; The
darkey comes In the morning to hew
the wood and draw the water, and.
cook the brain foods and pull the.
.c,oorks; but5he must go to his own.
community at night, and stay there.
He lives across the creek IN a sepa.
rate town he calls West Southern
Pines, but which the white folks call
Jimtown and which the colored folks
that live in other towns profess a
contempt for, because II Is a hanger.
on Of something more p~retentious.
Two miles away Is an old Southern.
community-Manly, where whites anu,
blacks live in the same town. and
where no such fine drawn distinction
is made as that which prevails here
among the Yankees.
The colored man Is the true expo;
nent Of the Happy Valley, and had
pr. johnson ever lived in the South
he need not have written his pleas.
Ing story of "Rasselas." He sings at
his work, and he whistles and sings
when he Is not at work. In the corn.
field in summer, on the docks, III
the lumber woods, or wherever D.
number OF colored men or women are
at work together, an old time planta:
ton chorus is heard much Of the tini,c.i
a Pennsylvania man, who employs a
large force of hands in an Alabama
forest told me one day that he al,
ways looked out that he had a few
good singers In his gangs to keep his
men at work. 1t is a peculiar fact
that a bunch Of negroes will strike
time with their work and their tunes
When the music beats the accent, the
hoe falls, or the shovel swings, or
whatever the man has in his hands
moves. A crew that sings enthusi!
astically beats time at the same gait
with their implements of toll. This
is noticeable even with the rousta.
bouts on the Ohio river steamboats,.
And some of the old mates, will tell
you that they require the men to.
Sing lively tunes while unloading yes
sells, as they step more lively.
The negro is a national problem
He Is not understood in the North,
because those who leave their homes
to migrate are such a small proper.