Cayton's weekly. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1916-1921, 1918-08-10
OLD GLORY
OCTOBER'S SAD SATURDAY

OCTOBER'S SAD SATURDAY
'YOu niggers have elected your last Of
fetal in the State of Mississippi declared
Democratic stump speaker one hot sultry
day in August, A. d. 1875. 81 know you
DO not believe me, which is evident from
your derisive smoker, but it's he who laughs
last who laughs best, and you just watch
the white mans smoke.'
The change Of the black man in the South
from the slave of yesterday to the master
OF today was marvellous in the extreme,
and while the great bulk of white folks
of the South felt grievously Inundated
over it, yet a few here and there rather
enjoyed the spectacular scene shifting and
this was especially true of Miss Lilly Lady,
the daughter Of an extensive cotton grower
and the former owner Of an army Of slaves
in the old Bayou State of which Harrison
Emancipation was one.
Regardless OF the fact that between the
white and colored children, who grew to
manhood and womanhood on those Southern
plantations, there was an impossible social
gulf, yet, as children and even youths, they
rambed the woods, roamed the fields and
swan the creeks together, which was re-
sponsible for a bond of friendship being
formed between them that was almost as
strong as that of blood relationship. Re-
peatedly highly educted and refined white
women have been seen to almost hyster-
ically weep on suddenly meeting some col
ored man Or woman with whom she had
romped the hills and holers in their more
youthful days, and such a white woman
would almost risk her life to prevent harm
coming to such a cOlOred friend.
Without having the slightest idea of
what was in store for them the new suffra-
gsts continued all through the month of
August to hold monster political mass meet
ings, the leading speakers at which were
Northern carpet baggers, down there to
"git offis." They would come from
twenty mile radius to participate in
marching parade and to hear "our 'pub1i-
can men tell it,
Harrison, pleasing faced young colored
boy full and overlooking with "mother
wit and as brave lad as ever lived was
in his late teens at the time Of the eman-
cipation and had been a slave boy on Miss
Lilly Lady's fathers cotton plantation and
as slave had been especially delegated
by his master to do Miss Lillys biddings,
and she was very fond Of him because he
was noble fellow and because he had
saved her from number of childish acct
dents and mishaps
But now slavery days are over and the
former slaves for the most part are hur-
riedly packing their personal belongings
preparatory to leaving the old plantation
for somewhere just where they had no idea,
but ''they were on their way" With
tears in her eyes Miss Lilly babe Harrison
good bye and said ''Our lives lead in
different directions; we will meet only in
cidentally, if at all, but should we never
meet again, I will always think of you,
almost as a brother. Good bye Harrison,
and may you be as good a man as you have
been a boy If you are ever in distress
and need friend try to get word to me. "
It was a rather pathetic parting but Har-
rison was too glad to have an opportunity
to ego somewhere" to hold Miss Lilly's
parting words very long in his mind and