Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-30

dozen large mouths furnished with splendid
ivory cigar traps and baIted with a laugh were
ranged along the side of the smoking car to
catch any stray tobacco birds that might fly
out of the windows
Couldn't Faze This One
|, A MOTHER instance of the careless. good
- natured philosophy of the negro may be
seen in the little doggerel verse laughingly sung
by black farmer. when at the end of bad
crop year. nothing was coming to HIM after his
supply bills paid He could neither read
nor write; he had money chance of
getting any for another twelvemOnth; yet APP
parently there no fretting on his part He
took the balance sheet which was an utter
mystery to him. and pretending to inspect it;
following the rows of figures with eye and
finger, he gleefully chanted
"Aughts an aught.
/ Figgers fgger
/ Ey'ything fur de white man,
An muffin fer de nigger!". :
Then carelessly he stuffed sthe bit of paper
into his pocket. cut the pigeons wing" and
finally walked away, to all appearances with
whimsical enjoyment of the fact that his own
penniless condition corroborated the state
ment of his song
They Love Music
THE negros love of music is as innate as
his love of fun Pathos and humor are
SO closely akin that it is not surprising to find
in even the most rollicking negro song those
minor cadences that suggest the pathetic
But the humorous largely predominates, and
melodies as old Black Joe" Suwanee
River" my Old Kentucky Home. and the
like are only the Oscillations of white COM
posers. and not the work of the negro himself
To greater degree possibly than any other
race or nationality the negro feels the impulse
of music. Many dusky cook and housemaid
sings over her work all the day through: and
not seldom she improvises words about her
work in most amusing way. Thus. in South
ern households it is not uncommon for the
cook to be singing in the kitchen something
like this:
Now III put de tea kittle on-tea. kittle on,
Now III put de tea kittle on,
It's time to make de tea, -
accompanying her actions to the words Then
the refrain will change to something like this,
Nov III take de biscuits out-biscuits out,
Now I'll take de biscuits out
And put EN- on plate, -
while again her movements will follow both
the words and rhythm of her song.
At the same time. in the dining room. the
maid will be setting the table to music. usually
the same air as that sung by her sister the cook:
Now | put de plates around-plates around,
Now | put de knives and forks-knives and
forks.
Now l put de napkins on-napkins on -
varying the words to suit her immediate occu-
patton. Sometimes hurry call will quicken
both the song and the motions, and something
like this is the result:
Now I've got to hurry up-hurry up.
Now I've got to hurry up;
Miss Sallies calm me. -
and there is double quick to words and actions
All the while. out in the garden and in the
stables. the gardener and the driver are making
the welkn ring with their own sonorous
melodies
About the last place in the world in which
anyone would expect either music or fun max
ing is among band of convicts: yet the negro
chain gangs that are compelled to work on the
streets and roads in the South ordinarily keep
time with pick and shovel to music of their own
making, and rarely indeed is such music sad.
1t is sometimes even merry; and at Others has
such mock plaintve allusion to this ball
and chain" that if the bystander does not
laugh it is because he is SO filled with pity that
he has no room in his heart for merriment.
The Power of Song
IN one occasion this instinct of the negro to
keep time to music served the writer a
good turn. A quantity of chemical salts that
had become damaged required to be broken
up into granulated condition and remiXed
with fresh salts, in order to be marketable.
The scene was a large warehouse, and the i'm
plements were shovels and screens. About
twenty darkies were set to work, some pound
ing up the damaged goods. Others mixing the
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