Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-03-22

murder, and will be punished by th'
death Of the offender If he Is detected
And there Is no slur that can be cas-
lin the mountain country as witherint
as that Of sheep stealer." The owner
ship of personal property is rigidly re.
lspected.
This is the typical picture Of the
southern mountaineer, illiterate, shift
less and happy in his poverty. But l,
is not fair picture to draw Of the
section. The mountain white has 6
keenness that makes him the superior
at all times Of the negro, and In many
districts where conditions have beer
favorable the population has advanced
from the squatter stage to a place
where many own considerable proper
| ty. It Is usually the case that this
advancement has taken place in local
tiles where the land happens to be
more than usually fertile and where the
struggle for existence has not been sc
hard. In general, however, the man
WHO OWiS pehtSi VI oioe'e e''N
yoke of oxen is accounted wealthy.
In some districts, however, condi-
tions are worse. In these dark corners
the population has so deteriorated that
all sense of morality has disappeared
virtue being little regarded among the
women, and it is nothing out Of the or
dinary for a man to have several fam
lilies, housing the mothers Of all their
offspring under the same roof in ap-
parent tranquility. In such districts
too, the head Of family is frequently
the law Of that family, even, in rare
cases, having practically power Of life
and death. It is in these districts that
life is cheapest and where the man
who has a death or two to his credit
Is more or less Of hero.
In such circumstances it is only nat
ural that shootings frequently result In
family feuds, such as have wiped out
practically entire households in east
ern Kentucky and often the opposing
families, if strong enough, will form
their clans.
The Allen family, which was respon-
sible for the tragedy in the Carroll
county court house, has its clan, on
the trail of which the state Of Virginia
has set armed posses. But in spite OF
feuds there is one common enemy that
unites the opposing factions in crises,
the ~evenue force. When the Federal
officers start into the mountains on the
search for Illicit stills the factional
Ihostilities are interrupted for the time
being, either for the purpose Of con-
cealment or active opposition.
Regardless Of the feud fights, wars
against the revenues" and the distill-
ing Of moonshine whisky, religion
flourishes in the southern mountains,
religion of the shouting, mourners
bench sort that appeals to the primi-
tive minds of the congregations. And,
incongruous as it may seem, the pill
liars in the church, laymen, deacons,
preachers even, are directly and per-
sonally interested in the traffic in IL
uuor. To run a blockade still Is the
proper and accepted thing to do, and
the only social and religious outcast Is
the weakling who Is so craven as to
pay his tax when he should smuggle
his goods to market.
The rountaineers are almost entire
ly Methodists or Baptists and the only
Baptists in the mountain section are
of the hard shell" or foot washing
sort. This sect has almost disappeared
from all other parts Of the country
except from among the negroes The
ceremony Of foot washing Is OBJ
served regularly and often in conjunc-
tion with the other rites Of the church
The deacons wash the feet of the
preacher, who in turn washes the feet
of the reacons. The lay members arc
allowed to minister to each other, the
men and women sitting apart on oppo-
site sides of the church edifice during
the ceremony.
Their religion is not free from super
stition. A form of the black magic
belief exists among the mountaineers
The power of evil, however, is sup
posed to be extended over animals and
not over human beings. A deacon In
one of the mountain churches in west
ern North Carolina was long believed
| by his fellow church members to pos
sess this evil influence over the hogs
of his enemies. Whenever an epidemic
of any sort struck the swine of the
neighborhood the deacon got the al
legged credit for it And he, being can
my according to the ways of the noun
taineers, never took the trouble to dis
illusion anyone.
The belief in the powers Of a select
few to "conjure" does not end the su-
perstition of the moonshiners. A strap
of eelskin bound around the wrist will
keep off rheumatism A mole's foot
properly dried and tied to a string
around the baby's neck, will keep the
youngster in. prime condition. Ant
yet, the physician is the one visitor
from the outside world in whom the
mountain folk have confidence.
| AS primitive as their religious belief
lis the attitude of the mountaineers to-
ward their women. The woman is the
inferior being. She accepts the fac
without question, and everywhere thai
she goes with her lord and master, In
stead Of walking beside him, she fol-
lows in his footsteps. And if the fam
lily hound is along, as it usually is, II
too precedes the wife in the process
sion.
| OF recent years new causes of trou'
bile are appearing in the moonshine
district. Northern capitalists are buy
ling up timber tracts and seeking tt
evict the squatters from the trout
streams and the hunting grounds that
they consider theirs The forest re.
serve agitation has aroused the spirit
of the mountain folk for the same rea.
son. The trespassers and interlopers
from the outside world are breaking
into the squatter's paradise, and the
fear of the rifle ball fails to stop them
Ialthouph now and again a lumbermar