Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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HOW THEY DI Fields; Near Ol The sunlight fells oa a low cottage, whose tall white chimneys and over banging red roof bringa to minda patch picture. Toe view from ita vi ne-cl ad poroh opem on ona of the loveliest landscapes of the Southland. There are no mountains, nor ie there any sea, only a fine cloping lawn sar rounded by avenues ?of live oaks, which have numbered their centuries, and from whose widespread arms hang streaming pendants of grey moss. These trees, like sentinels, seem guarding the approaoh to a colonial mansion now in ruins. In sunshine and shadow, in rds, in storm, or fair moonlight, these oaks are even grand and beautiful. In tho stillness of dawn they stand motion less, bat for the quivering of their billion leaves, whioh seem to nod and shake md say: "Wo are alive, and have been here for ages; we know so much, oh, so very much I We know the joys and sorrows of the many generations who have passed under o.r arms; we know nature's secrets that you poor mortals are yet groping blindly to find oat." "We are as God made os, while you, who ?se mide in His image, are ever defacing His handiwork in your natures as well as your deeds. You are ever making crosses and burdens for your own aching backs, by striving against your Creator, oh, ye puny men, of so small wisdom 1" Beneath these, oaks spreads a smooth, wide lawn, with shaggy sheep browsing on dry tufts of grass. It was here our ancestors mounted their horses for the chase, hers the children gambolled, welcomes were extended and farewells said. Here the slaves were gathered to reeeive largess io the Christmas season, here barned the bonfires whioh celebrated the births and marriages of the ohildren of the boneo, and heneo Wended the shadowy processions when the dead were taken to their last resting plaoe in the family vault, whioh Dtood amid the flowering shrubs on the. bank of the winding river. Entering a small gate one sees a garden covoring ?ores of ground, whioh might aptly be termed an earthly paradise, so bewildering is the confu sion of flowers that bloom io the springtime beneath the oaks. They border the shadowed lakes and seem to follow the shining river be yond, they fringe the broad paths and color every vista with their brilliance, in eaoh opening between the tree tops is seen the turquoise blue of a South ern sky. All sounds are distant and mellow, the rumbling of a cart, the blows of the busy hammer, the far-away whis tle of a locomotive, the doll throbbing of a phosphate-washer, a sharp call of one laborer to another, the occasional lowing of . a ca??ess cow, the roos ter's shrill orow and the ceaseless chirping of the birds while busy about their daily portion. ' One is loath to leave the languorous quiet of suoh a spot, bat the time ap pointed for a visit to th? phosphate fields had arrived, so we stepped aorosB the intervening corn beds to tho narrow track, where a small loco motive and empty trucks were ready for their outward trip to the rook fields. Comfortably scated in the front part of the engine, a shrill whis tle announced the departure and we rush noisily past the quiet forest trees, low banks of gteen moss and ferns, near a babbling spring where the work horses aro slaking ?heir thirst; past bare rook fields, whose yield had been exhausted, or lies too deep for profitable digging, thus they are abandoned, with unh?aved sur faoo, and strewn with uprooted trees, lying prone and dead. Near the track are numbera of negro cabino, the dwellings of the. phosphate, lab ui 6 ru. These houses have no claim to tho rustic attractiveness of the days of sl&vory. There is now no g?nerons wood pile .nor grunting sow, with squealing litter, no scratching, fussy hen, with brood of ' chicks, nor the numbera of fat, greasy, happy little pioaninnies basking in the Bun, There we sae only the bare, dingy looking house, a olothes line across the yard, filled with ragged garments flapping in the wind, a few thin, half-clothed children, whose mothers are not the erstwhile healthy, well:eIothed ipeei mono, adorned by pleasant manners; in plaoe of these, are bedraggled wo men, deoked'th remnants of tawdry finery, cunning and surly in their looks and ways. Their occupation is that of nooks and Washers for the rook diggers, charging them exorbitantly, you may be sure. These women at noon stand near tue crack io siing their buckets of food on the twin aa it rushes by to rock fields, thus the negroes in the pits get their dinner. Farther in the woods may ho soon the cabins of the Italian laborer?, who are G PHOSPHATE borers, lu ?LL? JROOK. aa^lestoxi, S.O. brought from (he North every winter to supplement the iueertein work of the negroes daring the busy season. These Italiane ?re a fierce, wicked looking ?et of men, the refuse, goner orally, pf their effete country; they herd together like rats, and live not mach better than the rodents that they eat; these, with snakes, buzzards and macaroni j form the staple of their meagre fare. The train runs down to a field of busy, diggers, where the empty cars are left tc bs filled with rook; then with oh ango of awitoh the little engine ?AUIB ?S. alone to another field, Where fifteen loaded oars are awaiting trans portation to the "washers." A short delay here, while hitching on the oars, gives us a view of the workers in tho rock field; these are negro boys and men of all ages, rag ged, insufficiently clothed and surly in manner. They dig in pits whoso dimensions are usually six to sixteen to eighteen feet, with a depth of from four to ten feet, aooordicg to tho depth the. strata of rook lies. The mad and rook are dug out together, and hard work it is, desperately so, in cold and rainy weather. The men stand in the boggy pits, often with a foot of water in the bottom. Two of them usually work a pit togethor with pick and shovel. This muddy teak ia thrown in heaps near the mouth' of the pit, afterwards it is placed in wheelbarrows, rolled On. planks to the railroad track, where it is dumped ready to be pitched into the empty, oars. The negroes work only when they please, and that is not often, unlono driven to it by hanger or debt. In very oold weather they make small fires near the pits, as their soant clothing does not protect, them from the wintry blasts. Many of these people are costless, hatless and shoe less, but even presents of these arti cles have proved of no avail to help them, as they are gambled away be fore the next san rises. A white man is foreman for each field and "takes the time" for each negro's work. ThoBo rook diggers are even lower in the scale of humanity than the worst os the ex-slaves; they are. nearer akin to] the brutes in habits and morals; ali their idle time is spent in gamb ling and thieving from eaeh other, be it their fowls or their wives. Among themselves they are lawless to a de gree, not stopping short of murder, per haps, for the possession of a few cen ta. They negiert their sick, who have neither medical attendance nor medi cine, unless furnished by the whites, so they often die alone like the ani mals. Their kind hearts seem to have disappeared with slavery and only the instincts of the savage remain. . The exceptions to the above condi tions are the older people, former slaves, who are rather hold in con tempt by the present generation for being favorable to the white race. A sorry picture bf things existent, but true nevertheless. ' aa ?ii knew who have had any dealings with this par ticular clans of negroes. A certain rich Northerner, a "phos phate man,", thought the Southerners too inert and did not make sufficient .efforts to help these poor,, thriftless people. So he showed the sincerity of his conviction J by building com fortable cottages, with glass window sashes, besides the shutters, neat strong doora and steps. In eaoh cot tage he had beds or Sunks made, and in them he placed good mattresses, besides other little conveniences; he then gave them permission to uso as muoh dead-wood as they pleased to gather in his forests for their fuel, and his only proviso waa that they I should not touoh the game in his pre -serves, and to try and keep all r eat and in good condition against his re turn from the North in'tho fall. He then left, feeling content that he had left those "down-trodden'* people so muoh more comfortable. * In November he returned from his distant Northern home, anticipating great satisfaction in beholding the im proved condition cf his laborera. So his amare ment knew no bounds when he found they had shot his game free ly, or at least whenever they got the opportunity, and rather tufa go af ter the dead wood and tote it home they had chopped doors, steps, shutters, and even the banks to feed their fires, had torn up or carried off the ticking covers of the' mattresses, and other wise ungratefully ignored his gener osity. I believe tho philanthropioal views were changed, at least no further efforts in their behalf were manifest. Query: Whioh is tho better and happier for this race, the hireling or the slave? Are they the people who eau ever stand entirely alono? What can he done for such au - immoral and irresponsible people, who will not help themselves^ Tho colored educators i : o?ala thoy are.helping themselves and are taking steps to prove it right here ia South Carolina. But what are the efforts of a few? hundred against the retrogression of tho millions? Will thc little leaven the whole? Vhe showman brings his trained animal! aa evidences of their ?duca tion, but because of these will the whole animal kingdom become revo lutionised? Exception may betaken at this comparison, but none ls in tended, we know the negro has a soul and the animal has none, at the same time all human life possesses charac teristics pertaining ito their order and unchangeable as the creation. The Anglo-Saxon stands alone, relying only on himself. Will the Afro American ever be able to do the same? Past history says no-the future alone oan decido. . Loudly summoned by the Bereaving whistle of tiie locomotive, we take our seats and the heavy train of fifteen loaded oars, with many jer':s and vio lent puSug fvom vliC c?siu?, BtartB on its homeward journey. The strain is immense at first and we hardly crawl along, then the speed quio kens and without stoppages the train arrives at the great phosphate washers on the banks of the river. Here the engine is dispensed with and the negro "hands" ?rom the washer roll the oars, one by one, up a steep inclino and at the top their contents are dumped into the great wire cy lindore, whose rapid revolutions, under otroama ox water, oleanses the mud from the rook before throwing it down in great piles upon the wharf. Afterwards it is placed under the drying sheds and j_j. t__L;_L_ UUUVIQUBO a OUI ll ?J*. UBftlllg LUVTOUDD UJT the fires built beneath-thus is tho "dry rook" produced. Later, as is needed, it is conveyed by lighters to the phosphate mills, where it is crush ed and otherwise manipulated, thus making the fertilizer which is shipped to all points of the world. This is only a superficial view for the uninitiated of the workings of the great phosphate industry, whioh saved South Carolina from ruin at the oiose o? the war for Southern independence. The hours have waxed and waned, and we leave the scenes of work and noise to enter once more the little vine-olad porch and watch the twilight as it deepens. Far overhead a long blaok line ex tends, for a milo or more, it moves on and ever onwards, arrow-shaped at times, then thinning to a mere thread, thickening again to the sise of a large floating cloud, whioh stkeams out n small blaok masses, and finally end: in a few blaok dots. This is thc homeward flight of hundreds, naj thousands, of orows, who have beei feeding all day in ilia tant fields, anc JA the sun sinks below the horisoi tiley rise in flocks and soar across th< river to the marshes, where they spend the hight, sheltered amid thereedi from the force of the wintry winds At last they are settled, their hoare oawing ceases and all is still agaii save, perhaps a belated bird, witl frightened ory, darts past and th ehorus of the frogs in a distant pans is faintly heard. The thud of the axe in the distano soarcely disturbs the wonderful still ness, while through the trees gleai the lights from the cabin doors. O an unseen road a passing laborer sing "Rook of Ages," in melodious meal ure, while far away groups of negroe shout their wild refrains keeping tim with rythsic beating cf the sticks. As the patient kine pace slowly t the milking their bella tinkle in swe? accord, and high above us the grei oaks seem dreaming of mysteries b< yond onr ken. Crisp yet balmy is tb evening zephyr; a oreo^nt moon gli tera in the dark blue of the ?ky an peace unutterable pervades tl. .. iittl corner of . tho great world that seen so far away. And this is the morning ' ryad evei ing of one winter's day.-Arthi James, in News and Courier. Cancer Cured by Blood Balm. ALL SKIN., AND BLOOD DISE ASI CUBED.-Mrs. M. L. Adams, Fred nia. Ala., took Botanic Blood Bal which effectually oured an eating ca \ cer of the nose and face. The sor j healed up perfectly. Many dooto had given ujr, her case as hopeles hundreds of -cases of cancer, eatii sores, suppurating swellings, etc., ha1 been eurea by Blood Balm. Amoi others, Mrs. B. M. Ouerney, Warri Stand, Ala. Her nose and lip we raw as beef, with offensive disohar from the eating sore. Doctora a vised cutting, but it failed. Bio Balm healed the sores, and Mrs. Gu? ney is as well aa ever. Botanic Bio Balm also euros eoaema, itohing b mors, scabs and scales, bone pail ulcers, - offensive pimples, blood p son, oarbunoles. sorofula. risings a bumps on the skin and all blood trc bles< Druggists, $1 per large bott Sample of Botanic Blood Bairn fi and prepaid by writing Blood Ba Co., Atlanta, Ga. Desoribe troul and special medical advice sent sealed letter. lt is certainly woi while investigating sstch aremarkal remedy, us Blood Balm eures the mi awful, worst ' od most deep-seat blood diseases. Sold in Anderson Orr-Gray Drug Co., W?hlte & Vi bite and Evans Pharmaoy. - Comparatively few horses atti to 17 hands, but Kansas boasts of < that measures 20 hands and weig 2412 pounds.; The 'big creature owned by a man named Stout, ? lives in Doniphan county, Kan. j Mysteries ci toe Mind. < _ i There is no Bubjeot so importent * for sdi of os to study as the conatitu- 1 tion of oar minds. Some of the most remarkable end inexplicable pheno mena of the mind relate to the power of memory. A very cations side light is thrown upon this matter by a sentence at the olose of a letter from the famoos as tronomer, Otto Strove, to Mr. W. J. Hussey of the Liok Observatory, pub lished io the latest number of the proceedings of that celebrated insti tution. The letter was written in acknowl edgment of the receipt of a oopy of Mr. Hussey* B volume of observations on the double stars originally discov ered by Strove. At the olose of the letter the venerable astronomer says: "I must ask your pardon that in answering your letter I make use of my mother tongue-the German. For- j morly it was very easy for me to write I English and to speak it, but now it would be a severe t??k for a men standing in his eighty-third year." Thia is in accord with the common experience that people of great age remember more dearly the events of their youth than {hose of later life. But it might be supyosed that this tendency would not hold goud with the acquirements made by a mind of more than ordinary power, like that of Strove, in its period of greatest activity. It would be interesting to know whether this is a oommon experience with those who have in the course of their lives acquired the ability to write and talk with ease in some other language than their native speech. Of course, disuse always wcakene one's hold upon a language, and a per son may, in that manner, even for get his mother tongue, but Struv( says nothing of this, and ascribes hil loss of command over English entire ly to his advanoed age, averring tba a great effort would now be require? to write a language whieh formerly h* wrote with ease. . May not the tendenoy of the mern ory in the latest years of life to re our to youthful cooees and imprei sions furnish a sufficient expl&uatioi of the childishness of old age? Al of the nobler faoulties of the min must, in a greater or less degree, b dependent for their existenoe upo the material supplied by the memory A man with absolutely no memory though in full possession of his real oning powers, would be unable 1 manifest any intelieotr 1 strengt! and the general oharaoter of our mei tal operations must always be larg* ly, if not mainly, governed by whi memory presents to the mind. S in extreme age, (when the only pi turee in memory's gallery that t main olear and distinct are those it pressed in early youth, the on ti frame of the mind becomes east in corresponding mould. ' In some' instances the vagaries the memory may supply an explan tion of apparently supernatural OCCB ren?es. We find a case of that kii in a story related by the c?l?br?t Dr. John Abercrombie: A lady suffering from an ' inourab disease was sent from London in the country, but, feeling death i proaoh, she begged that her inf a daughter be brought from the city see her. The ohild was taken to b mother's bedside, there was an affei ing scene of parting, and the t never met again. Ac the ohild grew ap she had reoolleotion whatever of her moth When she had beoome a woman, o day by more acoident, she entered t room where the parting had oecun and was at onoe strange!} agit?t* She said, by way of explanation: have a distinot impression of havi been in this room before, and tl a lady, who lay in that corner, a seemed very ill, leaned over me a wept;" The singular persistence and I stimulating power of early memoi are. well illustrated by another ste told by Dr. Benjamin Rush, the fi ons physician who signed the Deck tion of Independence: In his youth he had been acquai ed with a little girl, a farmer's dan ter, and the two had often watched an eagle's nest in the top of a dead tree. Many years afterward he was called to ?ttend his former playmate, now a married woman, when she vas desper ately ill at the lowest stage of typhus fever. "Upon entering the room," he says, "I caught her eye and with a cheer ful tone said only, "Theeagle'a nestt" She seised my hand, without being able to apeak, and I discovered atrong emotione of pleasure in her counten ance. From that time abe began to recover and abe is now living." 80 there is a power of healing that resides In the mind and often it is through thr* abiding memories of childhood that its power is man if cot ed.-Garrott P. Serviss, in New York ? Journal._ Sayings of Little Folks. "Two men got into a fight in front of the bank to-day," said a local tradesman at the family tea table, "and I tell you it looked pretty nasty for one of them. The biggest one seized a great big click and brandish ed it. I felt that he was going to knock the other's brains out and I jumped in between them." The family had listened with rapt attention, and as the head paused in his narrative, the young heir, whose respeot for his father's bravery is un measurable, proudly remarked: "He oouldn't knock any brains out of you, oould he, father?" The head of the family gazed long and earnestly at the heir, as if to de tect evidence of a dawning humorist, but *s the you*-h continued with great innocence to munch his bread and butter, he gasped and resumed his tea. There is a man who fanoies he is the head of the house. This particular man has several small children, and it pleases him to discourse a great deal on the training of the young. A few days ago he had friends vis iting him. His two little sons began to play about noisily. It is one of | his theories that ohildren should obey implioitly, and he wanted his friends to see how he oarried it out in the training of his own family. "Johnny," he said, sternly, "stop that noise instantly." Johnny looked up in surprise, then grinned a little. "Oh, Freddy," he said to his broth er, as they went, on with the noisy romp, "just listen te papa trying to talk like mamma."-Chicago Journal. Danger of Colds and La Grippe. The greatest danger from colds and la grippe is their resulting in pneu monia. If reasonable oare is used, however, and Chamberlain's Cough I-emedy taken, all danger will bo avoided. Among the tens of thous ands who have used this remedy for these diseases, we have yet to learn of a single case having resulted in pneumonia, whioh shows conclusively that it is a certain preventive of that dangerous malady. It will oure a oold or an attack of la grippe in less time than any other treatment. It is pleas ant to take. For sale by Orr-Gray ce Co._^ . ^_ j A Terrible Mistake. A celebrated German physioian was onee oalled upon to treat an aristo cratic lady, the sole cause of whose complaint waa high living and lack of exeroiae. But it would never do to tell ber so, sc his medical advice ran thua: ."Arise at 5 o'dook, take a walk in the park for one hour, then drink a oup of tea, then walk another hour and take a cup of chocolate. Take break fast at 8." Her condition improved visibly un til one morning the oarriage of the baroness was seen to approaoh the physician's residence at lightning speed. The patient, dashed up to the doo tor'B office, and on his appearing on tho scene she gasped out, "Oh. doc tor, I took the chooolate first!" "Then drive home as fast as you can," ejaoulated the astute disciple of Aesoulap, rapidly writing a prescrip tion, "and take this emetic. The tea must be underneath." The grateful ! patient complied and continued to im prove. CANCEROUS mm aw gf% mmm M gg% Are in many respecta like other ulcera or jT4T J_, ?7? SS sores, and this resemblance often provea fatal. Valuable time is lost in fruitless efforts to heal the sore with washes and salves, because the germs of Cancer that are multi Slying in the blood and the new Cancer cells which are constantly develop lg keep np the irritation and discharge, and at last sharp shooting pains announce the approach of the eating and sloughing stage, and a hi leons, sickening cancerous sore begins ita destructive work. In February, 1800,1 notioed a small ?NT? tilrvT or ri/m* ran forint- -arith- lumP on nay lower lip. The dootor ccm INO nicer or Bore can exist witn- it bttt another oame and brok? out some predisposing internal cause ont into an open ?oro. X began to take that has poisoned the blood, and the S. 8.8. and after I had taken oe ven bot onen discharging ulcer, or the fester- 2l??^*?TJ?I? S?t?^?*^ ?"_ _ ?V- ^vV??i* "*t."_ Blane or the oiseaae have Deon seen sore on the lip, cheek or other sin0o. W. P. Brown, Holland?, 8.0. ; of the body will continue to ad and eat deeper into the flesh unless the blood is purified and the or * germs or morbid matter eliminated from the circulation. S. S. S. cleanses the blood of all decaying effete matter. It has great dotal and purifying properties that soon destroy the germs and poisons and restore the blood to its natural condition. And when pure blood is carried to tiie nicer or sore thc healing process begins, the discharge ceases and the place heals over and new skin forms. S. 3. ?S-. ia a strictly vege table blood purifier containing no mercury or minerals of any description. If yon have an ulcer or chronic core of any kind, write us about it, medi cal advice will cost you nothing. Booka on? Cancer and other disease* o% the blood will be sent free. ... Th? SWIFT 8PECIF10 CO., Atlanta, Ba? Mi aim ?viuiic) rilli. DIRECTIONS-One every night. 25c. By mail. EVANS PHARMACY. 1 Virginia^Carolina Chemical Company, CHARLESTON, S. C. RICHMOND, VA. ATLANTA, GA. Largest Manufacturers of Fertilizers in the South. Importer? of .T. . Pure German Kainit, Muriate of Potash, Nitrate of Soda, Sulphate of Potash. It is important in buying your fertilizers, not only to buy goods of established reputation and high grade, but to buy where your r 'ants of every character can be supplied. We are .vi position to furnish all classes of goods and in Luch quantities as buyers desire. It will pay you to see us before purchasing. Address Virginia'Carolina Chemical Co., Charleston, S. C. Beod for Vlrtlnli-Cnrolina Almanac, fte. for tho .ikt?c. ion, Farmers ! We have just received one Car Load of Fancy Winter Grazing Oats. Come quick and secure some of them before they are all sold. O. D. ANDERSON & BRO. ONLY A FEW DAYS TO CHRISTMAS ! WE have a nice lot of Rockers, Pictures, Minors, aa well as a large lot of Bed Room Suite, Parlor Pieces, Hat Racks, Wardrobes, Chiffoniers, La dies' Desks, all of whioh would make a nice XMAS PRESENT. Wo realize the hard times and have made prices to suit. We want you to come in, take a look, buy if you can, but if you can't it will be all right. Very truly yours, PEOPLES FURNITUBE 00. MT* COFFINS .nd CASKETS furnished st .ny hour, day or night. L?NDRET*FS Fresh FOR FALL PLANTING, i - AT Orr^Gray & Co, -3 < ? ?P 6:3. g g gS g ZU? 1 S 3 S >? 2 r g QB P CELEBRATED Acme Paint and Cernent Cure, Specially used on Tin Roofs and Iron Work of any kind. For sale by ACM PAINT & C MENT CO. Reference : F= B. GRAYTON & CO., ' Druggists, Anderson, S. C.