The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-12-22

potato patch he was very weak and ono
day he broke out; sMioa. n / ever lof' you
gen and gone OF for work any ways else
you SEN for Sheriff on tie me. You ben good
20 me on ten ms, on den do debki mel me
LEI yu FER mex big money. en- now look a
me! fu ten me sn yu feed me DIES de
same"
He il an uncommonly rich shade Of black.
so that bis own mother always referred to
him as dat black niger Under constant
and proper supervision he can be very
nEsful, but he cannot make himself work
every day. lie must have a compelling
hand and mead behind him.
He has ten living c~hildren'and n smart
active young woman for his second wife,
When we were planting largely of rice he
made fine living. 90 he rented sixteen acres
he did the ploughing and his family the
rest OF the work. He had a splendid yoke
OF oxen. which he bought from us, n cows
and another fine steer he had raised.
The changes in the conditions in the last
few years I do not understand, but since
McKiDley's death steadily the negroes have
declined in their responsibility and will
ingness to work until now their energies
are spent in seeing how little they can do
and still appear to work so as 20 secure a
days pay.
Elihu used TO be a splendid plOughman,
but this spring l had him TO plough ton acres
for me, breaking it up flush. The earth
was barely scratched, / found afterwsrd;
NAVuaA 4 BoA0 MN w ghD ~ AAAob0@A u
by the acre, fearing he would be tempted
70 hurry over it II paid by the acre,
Forage was very scarce and as long as
he %ploughed for me l told him to give his
oxen all they could eat from the hay under
the barn which was blown down. The
two story barn was packed full Of hay, some
OF my best alfalfa, when the storm struck
II. OF course IL tool some labor to get
the hay out and poor Elihu, after the mighty
effort OF ploughing one-half acre q day,
could NOT rnak0 hiWnaAlR nat nRYf mara than
just enough TO keep the oxen alive.
l had urged him from the beginning OF
the winter to make his children gather
daily a certain quantity OF the gray moss
with which the oaks are laden and which
cattle eat grsedily; that would have kept
his cows and oxen in good condition, but
he never did IL.
l had two large sacks gathered every
day FOR my cattle. his went hungry. One
by one the cows and young cattle died.
not being accustomed to n like the
woods cattle.
some time after. he finished ploughing
for me he drove his son up to see a doctor
fifteen miles from here In a very bitter spell
feed. and after consulting the doctor turned
right back. One OK dropped and died two
miles from home, the other managed to get
back, but lay down about 100 yards from
my front gate under the trees laden with
food which would have saved its life II
given In time. I used 10 take tho lantern
and go out at night to carry foodeo 10. know
ing that IL Ehhu saw mo feeding Il he would
cease giving tho little care which ho eG-
pended on IL.
Il struggled on a week and then died.
One month before he had been offered 800
for the yoke.
At last he had not anfAnimal left. Then
he came to me and said he would like to
take service with my neighbor by tho
month as ~ploughmRn, as he would no longer
rive him work nnIQaa hA hirQd tn him hX
the month. l was very sorry, for l let
him work there all the time when l had nc
work for him. He was a splendid boatman.
and l always called On him to row me across
the river and did not mind wind or waves
with Elihu at the sails.
However. | told him he could do 80 II
he paid 81 a Month for his house-now
he has gone. wing me for eight months
rent besides nIs tar. Several years ago
he was dCGrie taxed. having neglected
to pay at the right time. and since then l
have always paid his tax when 1 paid
my own.
He owns some land with timber. When
l went TO pay the tax | saw two buildings
and twenty-five acres and the tax was "a.
When l saw Ehhu I showed him tho paper
and asked:
Have you any buildings on the land?-
~No. miss, l ent build no house, | ruther
stay here. en- il | sick you ten me-"
houses"
well. miss. ent you know hook like 1
ought to had house by nowi"
But if you ave none you should not
pay ooy,.s tax vS ON one Now IVY. when IN E February
turns, l will make your return without
the house
Well. miss. IL you tink 80. but I hate
fer TEX of de house"
l deprived him of his air castle. but the
tax was reduced to S2.7O. 1 believe-I must
look over the tax raCeiDta to zee.
Away pay BOnaparte's and some
others. / am so afraid OF their putting
of until they are double tAxed-I do not see
how | am TO pay my " taxes this year,
coming in. L have many, many valuable
things which | would like to sell, but |
have no gift hat way.
After many struggles I made up my mind
a mountain top in the sapphire region
Of North Carolina, but the purchaser with
drew when he realized the panic; and IL Ia
so with e~verything-no one wants to buy
anything. II our valiant. voraciOus and
~yivacious King Stork would only desist
creatures were left IL would be a mercy;
but | fear when he gets through there will
be none but sharks, devilfsh and sword
fish left.
November at am the proud possessor
of a prize pig. a beautiful Berkshire. pre-
sented by my neighbor. I have named
him Buster. as suiting the moment.
He is very Fat and has such a jolly ex-
precision with his very r~etrOusse nose that
he is quite lovely. / have always kept
Victorias. which are white and make de-
licious bacon. Cherokee hams are quite
famous, and | nay been offered 70 cents
q pound for all that | can make. but / have
never sold any; l give them sometimes an
Christmas presents.
Now my neighbor is urging me TO go
into pigs on a large scale, as ne says /
have such a splendid place for them. There
are about fifty acres in the park in front
OF the house covered with live oaks and
the acorns are very good for pigs. They
fatten on them with no other feed, and are
as nice as chestnut fed pigs.
But pigs are provoking things. and l
do not think l could nag a large num-
Der without putting up a good deal Of wire
fencing; but | am considering Il. l ave
a fine brick smoke house. where I smoke
with cedar and hickory wood, and ChIOe's
slusages are celebrated.
patience FERMENTATION