The daily sentinel., 1909-04-06

teresting and entertaining letter
written from Mobile, Ala, by Mrs
Emma Keene Sullivan. the first in
stallment appearing yesterday:
Mobile. Ala, March 80.
The Daily Sentinel:
spent a day in the woods at
turpentine still. We rode in de-
lapidated old surrey, drawn by an
old horse and driven by an old man
with grizzled curly hair and whis-
kers. His hat Tan old black felD
was tied down with piece of twlne.
Our road was through pine forest
The trees were tall and close togeth-
er. and the trunks of many were cut
for the turpentine which dripped into
small oblong zinc pans fastened 10
the trees 3 feet from the ground. The
trees are cut once a week until the
flow ceases.
When we arrived Mt the still a
large fire was burning, the flame OF
which was n beautiful blue. yellow
and red, and the heat intense. Ihey
were burning the refuse from the
still. We were conducted through
the place and had explained to us the
process by which the rosin was sep
arated and pure turpentine obtained
/ The barrels they use are made on
the place. They get only 16 cents
| per gallon for the turpentine-
The young gentleman who was the
manager dipped fresh flowers into
the liquid rosin, which cooled i'm
mediately, and he presented to us
beautiful crystalized souvenirs.
The place is called Roberts Camp,
being named for the owner of the
still. There are 800 Inhabitants.
saw wild ducks in lovely lake
overshadowed by large oak and pine
trees, immense ferns and different
varieties of pond lilies and wild flow
ers, all strange to me.
There were groves of the dogwood.
a mass of snowy bloom. There is a
tree called the yupon that is covered
with scarlet buds. the leaves come out
later. after the blossoms fade. The
wild yellow jasmine is a climbing
vine. the blossoms very fragrant. We
saw it everywhere.
We passed through the section
where the cyclone entirely destroyed
the town of Amite last spring. Here
great pines We're uprooted and others
snapped off half way up the tree. In
one place the tornado had made a
circle. and then tore on straight
through Amite. every tree in it's path
being destroyed.
The baokwoods people here are
called Hillbillies, Stickbreakers and
Muzzle-Loaders
went to see an old lady tO3 years
old and her daughter of &c. | had
been told that the old lady was fond
of gum. although she had not a tooth
in her head. | gave her a package
OF gum and she said: God bless
you honeyi | shore do love gum. "
She is quite active and had been fish
ing that morning. She asked me to
take her picture with her daughter,
which 1 did They both smoked and
used snuff.
Mrs. Napoleon Bonaparte George
Washington Cheetham is an old col
ored woman who lives with her hus-
band on patch of ground and raises
a few vegetables, has a cow, few
pigs and some chickens. She told me
she had a hen setting on IS eggs.
said: why, you could not put 10
eggs under one hen" "Oh, yes'm, |
could. She's a pow'ful big hen. |
done got her from Mrs Nubil and
she's pow'ful big hen. She kin
3kiver all dem eggs. She's one o. dem
fblack legion hens
The colored people have two de-
nominations represented here-Meth-
odist and Baptist. My father and l
attended the colored Baptist Sunday
school mile in the woods: then the
Methodist church nearer town the
same day
Uncle Ananias is an old colored
man who sells fish and has a little
store near Rock Creek. / have not
learned whether he was named after
he was grown or when a child.
In drive through the pine woods
one day we saw a young girl washing
clothes. My sister asked me if had
ever seen clothes ''battled." =" con-
tessed my ignorance. We stopped.
and the girl was willing to show me
how she ''battled' the clothes She
had tub of water partly filled with
clothes and near by was a broad tree
stump. She took from the tub an ar
ticle of clothing soaped it we'll laid
1t on the stump and pounded it with
a broad paddle, first ON one side and
then on the other; turned it inside
out and repeated the process; then
they were put in large iron pot and
boiled. and that is called battling
clothes.
/ EMMA KEENE SULLIVAN.