The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1907-01-29

oa,tk ~ p4aAsE comMbM to
<, POLITICS.
On Southern Plantations In the Old
Times II Meant Period Of Hard
4 Work Followed by FroIlc us
and. merfiment.


Everybody knows the meaning Of
slog.rolling" IN political parlance. In
plain language, It means: You tickle
me and III tickle YOU or you vote
for my bIll and III Vote for yours
fhe original meaning may not be Sc
we'll known to city readers, says the
Lynchburg (va.) correspondent of the
Philadelphia Record The word came
from the plantation. u is now almost
obsolete IN this part Of virginia, be
cause the thing II represents has
passed away. The memory of the
writer runs back GO years, when
log.roling was an annual AFFAIR on
every big plantation. The practice
then was to clear new ground every
year for tobacco. Telling the forest
trees and preparing the ground for
cultivation was no small undertaking.
First the undergrowth was cleared
away and then the big trees were at
tackled by the AK brigade, consisting
ON our plantation, of ten or twelve
men. | well remember the scene. II
impressed me IN my boyhood as real
work and 1t was hard work. a dozen
axes, welded by strong arms, rang
continually, and ever and anon great
tree, the growth of century, fell to
The earth with q tremendous crash
The new ground was about 20 acres
in extent, or, as IL was usually spoken
OF by planters, 100000 tobacco hills,
allowing 5000 hills to the acre. When
the trees were felled the work was
not half done. The branches had to
be cut off and prepared for fuel ami
The great trunks had to he cut into
manageable lengths.
rho log.rolllng was invested with
all the interest that attaches TO an
athletic game and festival as well. A
big dinner was prepared for tho oc'
casion, and plenty of whisky was pro
vided. The latter was seldom sighted
by any of the men. The hands from
the adjoining plantations were invited
and there was always friendly rivalry
between the crews of the several
plantations and between the men on
the same plantation. The big logs
furnished excellent means Of testing
the manhood of the contestants In Il
trial which taxed their muscular pow.
ers. Hand sticks were placed under
the log, and us many men were as.
signed to the log as its weight re-
quired. Couples were chosen nearly
equal in strength. Then II a man out
lifted his fellow at the other end OF
the stick and brought him to his
knees. or as the phrase was. pulled
him down." he was proclaimed victor.
IF. then, the same man pulled down
all other contestants in succession,
he carried OFF the pennant. so to
speak, for that occasion. and II equal
ly successful at other log-rollings that
season. was declared the champion
strong man of the neighborhood. The
contest was carried on with perfect
good humor and sometimes with great
hilarity, many exchanges of wit and
sharp repartee.
1t was n much.coveted honor to
come out victor in a log.rolling con.
test. After the work Of the day n
dance to the music of the banjo usual.
ly followed at night and the merry
making continued into the small hours
Of the morning. The incidents of the
day furnished themes for discussion
and conversation for months.
Another great event on the planta.
ton was the corn.shucking. The af-
fair is called in the north "husking
bee," but in this part of the world it
is "corn.shucklng." Hero the enve-
lope of the ear is called the shuck,
and the cob the hllsk. II you should
send negro to bring You some husks,
he would bring you cobs. The corn
was hauled and thrown out In long
pile, containing from 500 to 1000 or
more bushels of corn. Then bright
moonlight night Is selected and the
hands of the neighborlng plantations
are invited. They are not slow to
respond. Soon big crowd Is on the
ground and work and fun begin. A
leader Is chosen who has loud voice
and some skill in music. He takes
his place on top of and runs from end
to end of the pile, singing couplet,
and all the assembly responds with
another couplet or joins in the re-
frain. The music Is wild and weird,
but the effect Is pleasing. especially
at a little distance. The leader does
not shuck much corn, but lie Is the
most important and most valuable
man in the party, because he enlivens
the crowd and keeps all awake and
in good humor. The work continues
tin midnight and sometimes later. 1t
Is followed by the big supper and the
inevitable dance.