Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1918-07-10
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T THOUGHTS.
j. X X x x !. X X

The South is noted for two things
Southern cooking and Southern hos
pitality. The first will have to go by
reputation as our party had all it's
meals on the steamer. The second
from what we saw of it's all there.
Southern people are not so hurried
and nervous as Northern folks. Not
half SO curt and business-like in their
manner But they seem so genuinely
kind in their natures and in a digni-
fed way are very friendly. Sometimes
their simplicity seems almost child
like-we honor them for that, too.
The Southern negro is a different
type from his Northern brother. In
the South the darby keeps himself
pretty we'll out of the way and speaks
only when he is spoken to. Of course
there are many types-the r~oustabout
being perhaps the most interesting.
These boys work for big wages get
ting as high as So to S. a day. Most
of the time they lounge around the
bow of the steamer playing craps.
When they do work they work hard
like "niggers." When the trip is ov-
er they congregate in st. Louis for a
"big" game. The winner has a gay
time with new clothes, a gal and a
spree. The losers catch the next trip
out. No clOthes-nO savings-no
home-just live from trip to trip. The
writer asked a well informed negro
what the r~oustabouts were doing
about the war. Did they buy Liberty
bonds or thrift stamps, help the Red
Cross, etc.? "No, those boys don't
know they is a war;" said the we'll in
formed one. He thought that some
thing should be done in the way of
lectures, etc., among the negroes just
as there is among the whites, to in
still patriotism. Maybe he is right.
The South is patriotic you bet, one
hundred per cent, and no pro-German
element. Everywhere you see the Red
Cross at work, booths up for War
Savings sales, and other evidences of
practical patriotism. Chose old rebs
are crazy over that flag" said a south
ern lawyer, who thought a whole lot
Of the "old rebs'' and his country too.
The war has welded the people of the
North and South together in a mighty
bond of patriotism.
"How do you make a living?" we
asked a southern farmer who seemed
to be doing fairly we'll altho some
what lank. (You see very few fat
men in the south). 1--WE raise cOhn,
cotton and hawgs," was the reply.
This farmer said the land was good
but the best on the bottoms sells for
less than our northern land. The hill
land is stony, carries much timber
over a red clay soil. Looked pretty
dry the latter part of June but that
was because it had not rained for six
weeks, SO we were informed. Hill
land is worth $40 per acre and up and
bottom land up to 5000.
Tennessee is covered with timber of
all kinds including a deal of hard
wood such as nine different varieties
Of oak and several kinds Of hickory.
There is also much cedar forest.
Many of the hogs along the Tennes-
see river are of the raZOr-back type.
Many others as good as you see here
aItho it takes a year there to produce
a 200 FOUNDER, according to n farm
err. In many places they are intro
ducing fine stock and making an eX-
cellent showing.
Loading hogs on the river is lots
of fun-that is for the spectators. The
boys drive the hogs down the gang
plank through a runway. Sometimes
a hog or two gets away. Then the
boys scatter after them. One big ne
gro boy called "Red Mule" invariably
came back with a two hundred pound
hog over his right shoulder. The hog
lay face up and never even grunted
Sometimes the hogs and sheep take
to the water and then excitement is
high while the rousties take a boat
and catch them. Some life.
why do you drive mules?" we ask
ed our Shiloh conductor, Mr.. Brazel-
ton Bell. Mr.. Bell said that our big
northern horses could not stand the
southern heat and the smaller horses
could not do the work. So in the
south they use mules for ali heavy
work, They are real mules too.