The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1916-10-14
NUMBER T.
LETTER FROM COTTON LAND.
A Brief Sketch of the South from a
Pl~easantyille Traveller.
Dear Friend Whitman:-

Dear Friend Whitman
No doubt a glimpse at this section
of the country will be a change of diet
(literary) to your readers, among
whom | have many friends.
Ny host has gone to the store to get
"rations" as he expressed it; others
say they are going to go do some
trading. Am writing this at Winfall,
N. c., so miles South of Norfolk, Va.
and you know the folks here use diff
ferent language from that of South
jersey. They speak of "a sorry day.,
dinner. And they speak of feeling
fright smart, fright smart rain we
had" or fright smart cool today.
An old colored man told me of a
destructive east : and knock 'em"
storm. l decided he meant the equi-
noctial storm and asked him if it was
the storm which came as the sun
crossed the line. "Yas, sir; vas, sir,
captain, OATS right. We calls it de
'East-and-knock-'em' Storm" he said.
Everybody here is smiling because
of the unusually high price of cotton;
about Ice a pound in the lint latter it
is ginned or the seeds removed),
which is nearly 500 above normal.
Two years e when l was in this
section &c was a good price, because of
the European war. That was a "sor-
ry'' time for the South, as cotton is
their principal crop.
A bale averages about 500 lbs., so
the lint and seeds is netting the far
mer nearly 500. The average price
for picking is soc per 100 lbs. Wages
are never high here, the section hands
on railroads are paid $1.10 per day;
plenty of men work in the saw mills
for SIPS a day. some for S1.00. The
wages do not agree with the high
prices at the stores and the poor
working man often has a bitter strug-
gle against poverty.
This is also in the heart of the pea
nut growing section; "peas" are now
being dug. They are plowed out,
then shaken with a pitchfork and
stacked around a pole, the stacks be-
ing about 5 #. high. They are left
this way to "cure" for about three
weeks, after which they are picked by
a gasoline machine and sold by the
pound. They are sorted at peanut
factories and l am told the blackened
ones are polished with marble dust.
The rural section here is interesting,
with log cabins, open f~ire-places,
wells with a sweep, clothes boiled in a
large iron pot in the yard. Hot bis
cults three times a day with '~lasses,
corn-bread every meal; turnip tops
cooked like spinach is a favorite dish.
They travel mostly with mule and
cart. One night | rode three miles to
church wei a rough road. The carts
have no springs and it seemed that my
/ foot urnro ca1doaa ON tho Anor of tho
cart.
A mar near here had the preacher
puzzled. He went to church every
Sunday and was drunk every Sum
day night. He claimed the Bible said
to remember the Sabbath day and
keep it holy, but said nothing about
the night, so it was no sin. Well, the
Devil has been on the job several
thousand years and knows more tricks
than those of us who are here but a
short time.
They are very hospitable' people
through this section. One night [
walked into a church a total stranger
and at the door as | came out three
different people asked me if | had a
place to stop over night. One dear
old man told me he liked to look after
strangers. as he might be helping one
of Coos saints. That's what I call 10
karat christianity.
Well, you know, I must have a little
religion i'll a letter, because | was for
given much las most of the readers
know and love God with all my heart
and soul. But I have given you a lit
tie humor and description to ever it
up. There is more to real religion
than singing and praying.
On a missionary journey on foot a
few months ago I stayed over night
with an ola man who kept me up until
y o'clock telling him about the Bible,
and he cried the next day when | left
him, because he said he would never
see me again. l wrote him and sent
him a copy of why Men Drink" and
Love. He passed away in great
peace a few days before | came to his
home this trip. In his last illness he
would often say, "Now if Norman was
only here to talk to me-" He carried
my letters and literature in his pock-
cts. Toward the last he told them I
was praying fer him, and l was. Such
things keep me smiling.
NV pencil has been unruly and
written more than l intended. Kind
regards to "Eest Town on the Map"
and readers of The Pleasantville Press.
j. NORMAN SHINN.
Oct. 7. 1916.