Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1919-10-03

furniture was little shabby. but the
hostile chairs and sofa of the ''parlor"
always looked new. For all the wear
and tear they got they should have
lasted a thousand years..
Upstairs were the bedrooms; "moth-
er and fathers room" the lcrgest; a
smaller room for one or two sons,
another for one or two daughters !;
each of these rooms containing a
double bed, a "washstand," bureau"
a wardrobe. a little table, a rocking
chair. and often. chair or two that
had been slightly damaged down
stairs. but not enough to justify either
the expense of repair or decisive
abandonment in the attic. And there
was always spare ROOM" for visi-
tors (where the sewing machine usu-
ally was kept, and during the seven
ties there developed an appreciation
of the necessity for bathroom.
At the rear of the house. upstairs,
was bleak little chamber, called "the
girls ROOM" and In the stable there
was another bedroom, adjoining the
hayloft. and called ''the hired mans
ROOM" House and stable cost seven
or eight thousand dollars to build, and
people with that much money to invest
in such comforts were classified as the
Rich. They paid the inhabitant of
"the girls room" two dollars q week,
and, in the latter part of this period.
two dollars and a half, and finally
three dollars week. She was Irish
ordinarily. or German. or it might be
Scandinavian, but never native to the
land unless she happened to be per-
| son of color. The man or youth who
lived in the stable had like wages, and
sometimes, too, was lately a steerage
voyager, but much oftener he was col
ored
After sunrise on pleasant mornings
the alleys behind the stables We're gay
laughter and shouting went up and
down their dusty lengths, with lively
accompaniment of currycombs knock
! ing against back fences and stable
walls, for the darkies loved to curry
! their horses in the alleys. Darkies
always prefer to gossip in shouts in
stead of whispers, and they feel that
profanity. unless 1t be vociferous, Is
almost worthless. Horrible phrases
were caught by early rising children
and carried to older people for defini
ton. sometimes at inopportune mo
ments; while less investigative chill
h dren would often merely repeat the
phrases in some subsequent furry o.
agitation, and yet bring about conse
quences so emphatic as to be recalled
with ease In mitdle life.
They have passed, those darky hlret
men of the Midland town. TIL,
stables have been transformed int,
other likenesses. or swept away, Xix
the woodsheds where were kept tn
stovewood and kindIing that the "girl
and the "hired man" always quarrele
over: who should fetch it.
So with other vanishings. Ther
were the little bunty street cars On tn
, long, single track that went 1T
: troubled way among the cobblestone.
, At the rear door of the car there wa
uO pidtluIuu, Dut ctcp Whcic puoStt
gers chung in wet clumps when tn
weather was bad and the car crowde,
! The patrons--ff not too absent-minde
put their fares into a slot; and n
} conductor paced the heaving floor, br
, the driver would rap remindingly wit
I his elbow upon the glass of the doc
to his little open platform If the nicl
els and the passengers did not appea
i to coincide in number. A lone mu
drew the car, and sometimes drew
/ of the track. when the passenger
. would get out and push it on agar
5 They really owed 1t -courtesies.-lil
. this, for the car was .genially accor
q modating: a lady could whistle to
!, from an upstairs window, and the CT
/ would halt at once and wait for HI
4 while she shut the window. put on HI
e hat and cloak. went downstairs. four
|. an umbrella. told the ''girl" what
e nave fJr dinner, and came forth. fro
. the house.
Al They even had time to dan
:. .sQuarn4. danoss, qaaasia3e s-aAa-Aiae
! cers:" they also danced the IRA
y quette" and schottisches and polka