Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1918-06-05
Our Weekly Letter of Much In
terest From Hardy's.

ing down Saturday, June l. Also
Mr.. John SCOTS house burning.
They both lost every thing, l hear
which is a terrible blow to them.
We hear it caught from the stove
pipe in some way. 1t vas a big
loss to them and we sincerely SYM
pathize with them. Have not heard
whether they intend rebuilding or
not.
The dry, hot whether is hitting
US hard, and making the gardens
burn up so fast. The pastures also.
the branches are drying up SO the
cattle can't get drinking water. We
certainly need rain very badly and
hope soon to have some. Grain all
around is needing to be cut 30 bad
ly, but can't get cutters. If we do,
will have to pay two prices, and
feed them, for half time and very
trif1ing work. Speaking of the ne
gro reminds me of the food ques.
ton. Things are very unevenly d.
vided up. Here we are, stinting
and saving in every way, and using
corn meal to save flour, while the
negroes are eating flour bread FIVE
times a day and feeding two or
three dogs with it. There is a wo-
man and two daughters living in a
house near here. She tells me they
have biscuits five times a day, three
meals, and between meals. There
are FIVE children in the house, and
two dogs, and she says they use two
and three 25 lb. sacks of flour a
week. I asked how they could
they manage to get it.. She says.
Oats easy nough." i gets two
sacks and each of my gals gets a
sack every week." I asked how
much meal they got to with It?
"Us don't eat no corn bread, don't
none of us like. it, so US don't buy
meal" I said well, you are all
breaking the law then, for the law
is we must get mesl or some substl-
tute and use and save flour to send
to the soldiers. well us gwine to
eat all US wants, us amt got no.
body in de war and eff day was,
dem dat tuck um and sent um dar
must feed UNI, day incident tell US
to save fur dem. Day amt gwine
to know nothin bout it." 1 asked
where she could get -four without a
substitute. AT any of dem stores
dar on McKenny ST." She would
not tell which one. Now how can
that be broken up? She said each
one of them claimed to have eight
in family. The merchant don't
know any better, and just so he
sells his goods, he don't care, but
he is doing wrong to sell the flour
without a substitute. 1t seems to
me unjust to allow the negro to
have two sacks a week, even with
the substitute, but they will go
from store and get one here and
one there, but what they get it, and
the same way with sugar. The
only way would be to require them
to have a statement from the man
whose place they live on, as to how
many was in family, giving the
name of each grown person and
each child, and only let the head of
the house have this statement, and
wherever they purchase anything,
let the merchant state how much
they get, and the day of the month,
and give his name. Then if they
90 to another, let him turn them
down. I have heard a good many
white persons say, ecorn bread or
anything with meal in it, makes
them sick, but they use it, and 9th
er substitutes, although they don't
like it. Not so with the negro,
they are making more money now
than ever before. A good many are
trying to pretend to be too young to
register .ror fear of being drafted.
They are the very ones that should
be sent, for they are no good
around here. They will not work,
just loaf, and keep those WHO are
pretending to work, from doing so.
But they don't fail to charge an
exorbitant price, and kill all the
time possible.
The farmer is up against a hard
problem, and the merchants are
having some of it also, according
to hat one told me the other day.
Mrs. Bunch and Mrs. Baynsrd
are still feeling very badly, also
little Ruth has some fever. Mr.,
H. G.. Bunch is a little better Of
his cold, Mrs. Harrison is up again
The weather ia so hot and drv. II