Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1920-06-10
The Mississippi Delta.

We have now been out on our
southern circuit for two months. We
Have seen the smaller towns in Ala
oama, Mississippi and Louisiana. anu
lave come in contact with the rural
people of the South in such places. IN
other words, We see in the South wha,
one would see of the Valley of Vir-
gina, il he would hold a three day
Chautauqua in Shephcrdstown, Charles
Town, and Berryville and like places.
Inc country people pour into town.
usually in their autos, from miles away.
We use the tent as our meeting place.
unless We have at hand nice hall
like Shepherd College auditorium.
You can imagine that as directors
OF the ChautauQua and and manager or
the talent, have rare and racy ex-
FerienceS. Ny own business is 10 ge,
% town on the first day of the meeting.
greet the lecturers and the musica!
group when they come in, introduc,
them, give two lecturers myself, and
make all announcements as we'll. |
remain till all others have gone, &c,
the reaction" and the check for work
done, re-book the town, and go 10 the
next place assigned. II hit a place
over Sunday, | am always asked to
speak on two to four occasions, and
he general representative Of the or
Ganzation.
say all this TO show you how fully
! see the South in these parts and to
enforce any observation | may make in
future communications to you.
This Delta is section of rich land,
Dig trees, level as the floor, with
negroes and cotton fields, galore. |
thought knew something of the
negro problem" but never before did
| realize it. At one town we had of
late, the negro, population was e5 TO
: whites. White men are always arm
cd in that town with pistols and knives,
and have signal to meet at given
place where they keep machine gun
in case of an insurrcction on the part
of the colored people. AS a rule, the
colored people are quiet, Industrious
and respectful. am now in the home
4 planter whose country home is
Supposed to be the most BEAUTIFUL
one in the State. 1t looks like the
Arlington mansion opposite Washing
ton, d. c. He tells me he has this year
| 400 acres in cotton, and hires seventy
different families to work his cotton.
The women get one dollar and the men
one dollar and half day. The wo-
men like 10 do this rather than work in
the house. Here you see long lines of
colored women and men working the
cotton crop with hoes and plowS just
low.
The floods have been the most dis
astrous this year of any for a long
time. Yesterday | had to come by auto
for 10 miles TO reach this town, as there
was no train. came three quarters Of
a mile through muddy and swift
"atSi up ~ bOhl VI dulO, ca
pecting each minute to be short-cir-
Quilted by the inflow of water into the
of the auto Having passed
safely over this flood, we had to cut
through a mans cotton field. and
reached our destination in time for me
to jump from the auto into the pulpit
and nreoch NJ fhn, ha 80
a union service in the evening for
talk on Palestine. Some strenuous
ifel
How about cyclones? Well we have
them here! One small one struck our
tent at Lake Providence, tore it up,
threw a tree down on it, and blew a
few houses down, but il killed nobody.
felt the hotel shake Git was night but
a cyclone last only about a minute or
two, and goes in a whirl. Its sound
is like the passing of freight train.
My host in this home tells me thar
a negro man had the cotton blown out
OF his mattress and blown up into
tree, and the house blown into atoms,
but no one was hurt Another negro
living across the road never heard
the cyclone at all, and never knew that
his neighbours house had gone until the
rain was over, and he saw there was
no house left to his neighbor. OF
course the fortunate negro was good
sleeper!
But one cyclone came within thirty
miles of us that cut through the city of
Meridian and killed many people. But
the pranks of this "twister," as they
call cyclones here, can never be pre-
dcted.