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Show I NEW YEAR'S imESOUTHli 1 FIFTY YEARS AGO. d I ' The first day of January &t the South fifty years ago presented scenes that would be strange indeed If enacted in this generation. ' . . To the negro slaves as well as to the many white people it was known only as "htrtn day." At every county seat In every Blave State it was the yearly custom for people o? all degrees to gather, some as spectators, others as actors In the events of the day." By far the greater number collected prompted solely by Idle curiosity. , Upon every corner and at every point available in the courthouse square sat negro women with great baskets of "applejacks" (a sort of fried apple pie) gingerbread gin-gerbread and persimmon beer, which they offered for sale. During the day, men engaged in tests of agility and strength, which ended not Infrequently in a free-for-all fight, In which fists only were used and after which no arrests were made. In those New Year days the "rum shops," as they were called, did a land office business. Whisky waa plentiful and cheap, and the prejudice against drunkenness was by no means so general then as now. The Jocal point of interest, however, was the hiring out of negroes for the ensuing year. Now and then negroes were offered for public sale, but that practice prac-tice waa not so common then as in the earlier part of the century. Planters neither hired ojit their slaves, nor did they employ those of other people. But those belonging to minor children and widows, as well as many who were "chattels" of residents of the towns and villages were commonly "hired out." especially if they had been taught trades, or were good cooks or house servants. ser-vants. Many town residents possessed slaves beyond their home needs, and these were "hired out" to others who might require their services. The contract lasted for the calendar year only. It must be renewed annually If desired by the contracting parties. . ' Much misconception obtains as to the dlsagreeableness and shame of this practice. Masters had a direct pecuniary Interest In their slaves, and it was to their interest to see to it that these secured humane employers. As far as it was possible, each slave was permitted to choose the person for whom ho would work. Some there were who remained with the same employers year by year for many years, . ' . , i Those that were good servants had no difficulty In choosing desirable employers, em-ployers, "Very; frequently the master left this matter entirely in the hands of the slave. After all, though, there were those who were unknown, and many more who were practically worthless, and these were "hired out" at auction to the highest bidder. This, also, was commonly the practice as to "cornfield niggers" and unskilled un-skilled laborers generally, of both sexes. There were pathetic scenes now and then when negroes were sold at public auction on New Year's day. Very rarely it chanced that at such times members of the same family were sold to masters widely separated.; " It 6hould appeal to the common sense of any man that slaves being valuable holdings, their owners would neither treat them cruelly nor permit them to be abused by others. Owners of valuable horses uniformly are kind to them, and horses are not human. ' In this Southern New Year's day, too, men met to settle long-due debts, to pay notes and to rent farra lands. Taken altogether, it was a busy, busy day, full of Its comedies as well as Its dramas, and, sometimes, tragedies. At suci times the slaves of the plantations enjoyed their annual two weeks' vacation, and these crowded the villages to buy all manner of glmcracks cheap Jewelry, ribbons and laces, and, having a sweet tooth, cheap candles as welL ! Any well-ordered slave could make "overtime" money, and it was a very sorry qr.e. indeed, who had not a TeW dolldrs at the New Year to throw away in folly upon a wife or a" sweetheart " . ' The "white trash" gathered then solely with a view to looking on and to picking pick-ing up what they could. As they were despised by both the well-to-do whites and the negroes of all degrees, they usually kept to themselves. They neither hired nor were hired, but ih some manner contrived to secure their full share of whisky. -' ' ' " . Like the old "general muster" day of the ante-bellum days, the 'afo' de wah' New Year has passed away with all Its scenes and shiftlngs, yet the memory of it remains with the older residents as reminder that one day at least, and that the initial one of the Southeland, was one of potential energy and slffnally characteristic char-acteristic in its Incidents of the age and times. , : i . ' |