Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1920-02-07

and AZ night are chained TO their
beds, which fancy is the reason
for their being Familiarity spoken OF
as the chain gang The children
always waved 10 them and smiled at
Them. but frequently received no re-
Spouse from their stoIid faces; but
when we ran slowly by a big bunch
Of them. tbecause the roads had just
teen scraped, together by road ma
chine. and was the softest. most des-
perate mass we met. / called out
to them by thanks for the good work
they were doing. and received a cheer
in reply. one young fellow throwing
| his striped cap in the air They are
really doing a magnificent work by
| their labor. They are building
splendid road through the trackless
waste. which will remain as a nonu-
ment to them for all time and means
so much 10 the comfort OF future gen
orafi0ns ! most sincerely wished the
| plan prevailed in our own state. that
| the conyicts might have the chance
iof an open useful life doing such
n valuable work for humanity as
building good roads. | an more and
more grateful 10 our pioneer in good
roads" Governor Crothers, who was
far-seeing enough 10 create the
good roads commission during his
administration and made Maryland
the envy OF other states H. roads that
surpass any We crossed in our trip
OF 1850 miles.
While driving through Georgia We
noticed that the houses OF the colorea
Ipeople and the pOor white people
were quite innocent of window panes;
no sashes for glass are used just
solid wooden shutters. Many cabins
Ihad no. windows at all. only open
ldoorways through which at night you
fires. called FIAT wood" in the Caro-
linas. light wood" in Georgia and
Tighter wood" in Florida.
Another thing that aroused our
'cariosity was that on every porch we
would find the bedding OF the people
strung out to air. | thought it was
possible that they slept on the
porches. as il seemed no other reason
could explain such an unusual dis
play of quilts, featherbeds and pill
lows, but on inquiry, ] was told, it
was for fresh air. Many Of the
houses were built with a hallway
open at both ends without door, be-
tween the sleeping cabin and the eat
ing cabin, with porch running
across the front.
We spent Tuesday night below
Waycross at the house of a farmer,
who was keeping bachelors hall. He
was a little slow about offering US
his cookstove which had been Gus
.omary, at all the farm houses, when
we camped and which expedited the
peparing of supper, as the kettle was
generally boiling. When he did offer
us the stove he apologized for the APP
pearance of the house, and after my
little boy had gotten a glimpse OF
the way a man can keep house, he
said he believed he would get married
when he grew up, so a woman could
be about He had lost all taste for
keeping house alone. This same old
fellow was kindness itself. to the
children, taking down what he called
his fiddle box and playing them
Yankee Doodle" and singing to that
tune: My old hen she climbed a
tree without a stick to boost her, and
there she sat a fiinging corn at my
old grandpa's rooster.
He then went outside the house and
gave US what he called the Georgia
Holler," a most musical call some
thing like the tune of the reveille. Ii
echoed and re-echoed through the
woods. and he told us the young men
in the hills often call that way befoEe
days in the morning in different keys,
and ii is most wierd and beautiful. He
kept up his music, playing old tunes
| had danced 10 in the country when q
gir., and which charmed me quite as
much as the children. 1t was ten
o'clock before we got to bed. The ola
fellow seemed SO happy to have us
enjoy his music; ii was almost pa
thetic.
Next morning he was up by light
and had hot fire ready for me by the
time | was ready to leave my tent.
The weather was so hot | found the
milk ! had bought the morning before
was sour. so our cocoa had 10 be given
to his pigs, ana | made pot OF coffee,
and when We tasted it we fund il had
oil in its from the little stove We car
ried in our cupboard, so We were IN
bad luck and had to resort 70 water
to make our breakfast go down This
vas the worst experience we had on
the trip. however. and we have learn
ed 20 use canned cream in this warm
climate.
! ISABEL DAVIDSON
(Airs George Davidson
PROVED BY HAMMER STROKE