New-York tribune., 1922-09-17
IT'S TIME FOR
SCUPPERNONC
Continued from page t,ooj

N0is'''Vt"' DN@ S'"ie y never chance ~ et
a grape Always some member Of the !. .s
Is on guard. '@hR
To safeguard the sacred vino .o
built stockade Of barb wire. osbo. !, l@f
who have not yet been 50 wise bae. .'1s
turns sitting up at night watching u J..
maraudcrs during the grape season
day the priestcsses Of the scupporno..a
forth with their baskets and garnor =. ~
Then The orgy Of wine making begn ',.a
good old-fashioned kitchen becomes
OF Bacchus. Church members and nc,
members join in the ceremonies Fo.
pernong wine stands alone in its re.0.ss.s
ity. II is civic duty to save the seBr,r.ss4 s.s4
No sheriff, IL matters not how cold ,s,'s's .~s
feeling he be, could be so callous "a - Ia 1~
a white-haired lady stirring IN bsv
brew, nor could he gather in the .sa-1's 'l'
bare-armed damsels who autter abous b,r -.
forming their various Offices anv noro =. =.
he could go into R temple and ntarss,. .''' .''''
the devotions. The Scuppernong il sbor. ~ !.
law,
The trusty sheriff will not lntersor. -,
the maker Of Scuppernong wine b.,, .,,,., - -
taker Of the grape it is different. In ola~
days to steal scuppernong grapea was
harmless an amusement as plavin0 60.
In a certain college town the student. ,,s,,.,-s'
forth on moonlight nights in sontsr,s.. -
raided the vines of the faculty with n..xa.l
immunity. This was considered a. n.t,.., :.
for their darker brethren 20 Seelr tha oL.-,.-.
or the red-hearted watermelon .,oon. -,
dusky shadows. For anybody to attenu. I,
punish either offender by resortinr TO the Law
was simply unthinkabIe No flint-hearts5 rnis.
could be so selfish with his erapes as m. q
be wiling to share them with his uninvita
nocturnal visitors. Southern hospitalitv
famed in song and story, extended to th
vine in those good old days.
But now in the year Of our Lord Yoos
times have changed. To take scuppelaors
is an unforgivabe offenee-just one little Ons
hanging near the garden wall To 50 uueh a,
'look on the grape when it is yellow is a sns
picious act. Even the black cook, who consid
ers the feeding of her family from her emplov.
er's larder legitimate reward for her labor
would fear to invade the precincts Of Tia
Scuppernong arbor.
81 have teched manya thing, Miss sarv
but | amt never teched a grape!" assertet
Pearl virtuously, when her mistress con-
planned of the scantiness of the grape eroD
And Miss Sally knew that her self-recpectns
handmaiden spoke the truth.
There was time when farmers woul5 sIou
honest little boys from nearby town . sant
the Scuppernong arbor and, happily seated
atop the vine, eat all they could hold for ter
cents head, or, rather, to be exact, stomach
Any boy was allowed to eat for two hours
If he could. That was his privilege, maid for
IN advance. No boy was permitted 70 taks
away any grapes, that is any besides those
packed in natures own receptacle. Only The
limits of his small though elastic frame could
stop him, according to the bargain. Ths
farmer had tn trust to his small clients honor
to fill no pockets. 1t was merry way "a
spend the afternoon on the crest Of a luscious
vine, though the night following the orgy was
not always satisfactory to fond mammas Now,
however, mothers have no cause for alarm In
Scuppernong season. Grapes are not TO be
got by their youthful offspring for ten cents
or ten dollars
1t is to be hoped that the corn crop will not
be conscripted, too, for its spiritual qualities,
though, along with the ladies higher up, the
moonshiner's mate can say Il, too, have not
been idle" There is a story current in q
section I visited recently to the effect that
Hetty Brewer vowed, "as long as I have tin
coffee pot and bushel of corn Coon Hollow
will not lack for Ticker" If other women fol-
low her examnle the r,,oon sinners mate so
long shrinking like the modest violet from
the public gaze, will at last come into her
own and take her place with the rest Of her
sex as professional woman.
Hetty, dealing in corn instead of Scupper'
nong, is not immune from legal interference.
A poor, lone woman, struggling to make an
honest living, she is sometimes put to her WITS
end to keep up the high office of furnishing
Coon Hollow with cheer, which she so patriot
ically undertook. If it were not for her twin
sister, Hatty, there is no telling how dry ah
those uncovered with Scuppernongs would Do
by now.
Hatty lives next door to Hetty and the sws
are alike as two peas in a pod Right cut u
broad daylight their own mother cannot tell
the one from the other. When her face Is
nesting coyly in the depths of a sun bonner
it has been said that Hetty sometimes has hsa
to feel for her broken back tooth to be sure
that she is not her own sister Hatty. NJ
wonder Sheriff Smuts is nearly crazy between
them. When he goes to arrest Hetty, snS
and takes the sunbonneteo oas
over twelve miles of rough road to the county
he ar3ixyo 4rf, Dhor oS fnrQQs