Woman's enterprise., 1921-11-18

"e olo"h wet sugar was put into
potting boxes and then into hogs
heads to drain. Holes were bored in
the hogshead and they were turned
bottom upward over a convex cement
floor to drain, this took about a week
before it was ready for shipping.
Back again up through the sugar
house to dip our little paddles in the
boiling syrup or a bucket full of
"Quite" with all our nuts mixed in.
Down under the sheds to watch the
negro men, some twenty or thirty in
number, singing as they load the car
riers. The rhythmic old songs of the
happy irresponsible negro--the crack
ing of whips as "de proudes" one
drove off to the boat landing with the
hogsheads and barrels of sugar. The
long lines of the oxteam laden high
with hogsheads, or the gay clank OF
mule chains, as the different teams
drove off. We would wait until the
clouds of dust subsidized, eating the
dainty white ribbon cane." Every
one ate cane all the time, no matter
whose field they went through; all
the little niggers that ran up and
down the road all the time with buck
cts of LA Quite" to the neighbor
whose "strike" was delayed; every
laborer, and every visitor in that free,
happy, lagniappe time, the very smell
of cane gave an irresistible desire to
eat, which every one did. When night
came with it's scintilating winter stars
and white, white moon, We put red,
pink and white camelias in our hair
and rode in the great cane wagons
back again for sugar house dance.
We drank vim de cane, egg nog, cake
and nuts, and -. "The same old
tale was told again at two o'clock in
the morning."
Sometimes we went down to the
"boat," which was the Lee, Natchez
Pargaud or the Pike. l have seer
them laden to the waters edge with
bales of cotton or hundreds Of barrels
of sugar. It happened sometimes
that as these floating palaces swure
in to the landing, the Captain woult
yell, "Don't bring a pound of freight
on that stage plank, if you do we vii
sink," and though only in Lord Lyt
tons Looking Backward" had we the
faintest idea of the "Veilye" (tele
phone) somehow all down the coas'
| the people would know and rush tt
landing to see the Robert E. Lee pass
loaded, not another pound to hold OF
her decks, and as the Lee, was thu
Robert E. Lee, the pride of our hearts
So the Natthez was the queen Of th'
waters, and when they raced, from
Natchez to New Orleans, often burn
ing pork, corn and sugar, past banks
loaded with corn, cotton and sugar
there was surely "fatness in the land.
We went too, about twice during tn
winter for the opera or theatre. Their
was always band for the cabin pas
sengers, and we danced until dawn
unless the boat was going to "get in
then. Our fathers, uncles and cou
sins played cards all the way down
and all the way back, often makin'
shuttlecocks Of slaves, jewels, planta
tions and the sugar. We did not car
then, because under that souther
moon, and on that flowing river, ere
ole eyes were soft and creole word
were tender, "And the band playe
on" We often talk Of the carefre
negro, but l often think we all wer
then before and even after the wa
for as the negroes hardly realize
what freedom meant, so we, after th
first shock of reconstruction days wa
over fell back into many Of the ol
happy habits as the enormous ca1
yield made life easy again.
The old romance Of the sugar hous
is almost done, there are very fe
left with the open kettles, so fascina