"Short Stories and Sketches," Perry County.
Folder contains 22 pages of Alabama short stories compiled by Susie R. O'Brien for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the late 1930s.• uaie R. O'Brien, writer -1- The Stringers. Jaauary 3, 1939 J. C. Strinser(oarpenter) Lula Stringer( white) Uniontown. Alabs-a. • • Although it was...
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WPA Alabama Writers' Project "Short Stories and Sketches," Perry County. |
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WPA Alabama Writers' Project Alabama Writers' Project; Alabama--Biography; Alabama--Social life and customs; Perry County (Ala.); United States. Works Progress Administration |
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Folder contains 22 pages of Alabama short stories compiled by Susie R. O'Brien for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the late 1930s.• uaie R. O'Brien, writer
-1-
The Stringers.
Jaauary 3, 1939
J. C. Strinser(oarpenter)
Lula Stringer( white)
Uniontown. Alabs-a.
•
•
Although it was the day after Xaas there was no eTidenoe
of the gay holiday season in the seotion of town where
the Stringer family liTes. No holly wreathes brightened
the dingy, ourtainless windows. no laughing children played
about the yards with their new Xmas toys and no sound or
oolor broke the ccld gxay stillness of earth and sky•
The only sign of'life and warmth was a thin spiral of smoke
here and there ocming from the chimneys of the delapidated
house••
The Stringers liTe aorcss the railroad in a section
inhabited mostly by negroes. On this oold, gray morning
when I started out to Tisit them I was not sure that I
knew where they liTed, but I had no trouble in locating
the house for as I walked down the railroad track I met
an old negro woman whom I asked to direct me to the home
of the Stringers. Carefully balancing a bundle of pine
wood on her head she plaoed one hand on her hip and with
the other painted down the railroad and said, " jus' keep
straight ahead till you come tc the .us lcckin' house cn
the row, thats th.im". Fcllcwing her directions I picked
my way aoross a yard littered with rusty autcmobile bcdies,
•
axles anI fenders and piles of rusty tin can~and soon
came to the door of the Stringers home.
•
, ,
•
SuBie R. O'Brien, writer • The Stringers.
Though there were Signs of there haTing onoe been a porch
and a shelter OTer the door, there was not a piece of it
left and the steps that led up to the door were also gone.
the broksn window panes were cOTersd with card board and
dirt7 burlap saoka. Seeing no signs of life except two
scmbb7 looking cowa grazing about between the mst7 auto·
mobile parts, I thought at first thsre oou1d bs no one
at home but as I stood and looked about me I notioed a
tinT spiral of smoke coming from one of the oh1mne7s at
the baok of the house. After knooking rspeated17 and
getting no response I was about to turn awa7 when I heard •
the pattsr of renuing feet and four pairs of grim7 little
hands appeared in the oraok of the knob1ese door. After
much straining and pulling, the doorJwith a loud noiss .
swung baok on its broken hinges and four small ohi1dren,
ranging in age from three to six, with dirt7 faces and
tousled white heads,stared at me with wide inquiring blue
e7ss. Is 70ur mother at home, I asked, "7es'm, said the
oldest of the four, oome on in here". But the problem
now was how could I get in, the door was at least three
feet from the ground with no steps. I looked about for
somsthing to step on but found nothing, but just as I was
about to giTS up Lula Stringer hurried to the door. Shs
was a tall, th1n woman with a leather-like skin, her hair
was sorewsd in a tight knot on top of her head, the lOOse
strande hanging in a string7 fringe around her face and one
e7e looked as if she had lost the sight of it. he wore a
eoi1ed print dress and a dark ooat buttoned 010se17 about her
•
•
•
•
Sus1e R. O'Br1en. wr1ter
-3-
The Str1ngerB.
th1n neok. she had a pleasant Bm11e and seemed glad to see
a v1s1tor for she sa1d." good morning, oome right on irr we'll
help you." So with the help of Lula on one side and the
ohildren on the other I was finally pulled into the front
door. Com1ng out of the 11ght into the darkened room I had to
Btand a few seoonds until my eyes beoame accustomed to the
darkness, then I saw that I was in a bedroom whioh oonta1ned
only a bed, there was no other furniture. The bed had no
mattresB or p1110ws the springs being oovered with a B011ed
quilt. " Come right in here" Ba1d Lula, lead1ng the way to
an aJ01ning room "we are a Bett1n' 1n the kitohen". ~ollowing
I found myBelf in a Bmall room oonta1n1ng another bed, this
one having a mattress. In one oorner stood a Bmall table
piled high with oooking utenBils and paper sacks, in another
a stove in whioh a small blale sputtered but gave forth no
warmth. "Add1e, Lula oalled , bring another ohair in here"
a young woman with unkept hair and wearing a soiled dresB
appeared bring1ng two ohairs. I seated myself in one and
Addie took the other, Lula making herself comfortable on
the foot of the bed said" I reokon you'll find 1t right
oold in here but this 1s the only plaoe we got a fire. the
other ohimney wont draw it Bmokes somethin' awful. Joe, thats
my husband. brOught home twenty-five oents worth of ooal
day beforB yesterday and WB are a burnin' the last of it now,
this oold weather does eat up the ooal. "It sho does, said
Add1e". tip until this time Addie had said nothing and Lula
eV1dently had forgotten she was there but now she said
apologet101y, I plum forgot to tell you th1s 1s Addie, my
son Grady's wife, they 11ve here with us, and these are the1r
•
• •
•
Susie R. O'Brien. writer • '"he Strin~ere.
younguns. where are your ~DDers" she said to the ohildren
"oome and tell the lady your names. Now this is Naomi the
baby. she'e three and this here is !alman~e. we oall him
Tal. he's four and this hers is Thomasene the oldest. she'e
five." And who is ths other little girl I asked. is she a
little Stringer too. "Oh yes she's a Stringer alright
•
but she dont belong to Grady and Addie. She's my daughter
Sadie's ohild. Sadie and Grady was twins but she died
about four years ago with !B when Artie Jean here was two
years old. I raised her myself and she oalls me Mama and
dont know no differenoe. She's six years old now and goes
to sohool. Come here Artie Jean and tell her what you got
on the Xmas tree", All ths ohildren disappeared and each
came back bringing a toy, a doll ohair.ausmall automobile
with Charley McCarthy in the drivers seat, a blaok board
and a doll. "We belong to the Baptist ohuroh at Ellawhite.
the mill Tillage, we used to live out there and they always
put somethin' on the tree for the ohildren • Lula said. "the
preaoher'e wife in town give thie doll to Artie Jean, now
thate what I oall real nioe of her."
After I had admired eaoh toy and they had been put
away again,Addie said, n now yawl eet'down and be quiet and
listen to the lady talk", Lula • seated on the bed drew
t
Artie Jean up beeide her where she sat as quiet as a mouse.
!he other three ohildren ~emoved the eye from the kitohen
stove and poked at the small bla!e with a table knife.
" We didnt have muoh to spend on trash this Xmas." Lula
said. n I generally pick up a little bit sellin' ladies
hoeee, but trade aint been eo good of late. I taken a few
•
• •
•
Susie R. O'Brien, writer.
-5-
The Stringere •
orders from some girls at the Tillage and you know how
hard girle is on hosee, well they didnt last, got runs in
'e. and now they wont give me no more orders. just ruint
.
my trade , thats what it did. Well I'. gettin' old. I'a
sixty two now though I might not look it. and its hard on
me doin' so muoh walkin' • lly health aint what it used to
be neither, I suffer with a misery in my side, the dootor
says its TB but shucks I dont know whether he knows or not.
But my, I oould work when I was young. my first husband. I
been married twict. used to say I could keep up, with anybody.
He was years and years older than I was and I used to laugh
and tell my sister. het husband was a young man. that I'd
rather be an: oldOllans darl1n' than a young mans slave.
And I was really his darlin"too. n she said with a pleased
little laugh. n He didnt live but five years and left me
with twc little boys. After I married Stringer I sent my
boys. one twelve and one fourteen, to the Masonic Home in
Kontgomery. I wanted the. to havs a good home and be eduoated
and w. wasnt able to do muoh for them. But you know thea
little rasoals ran away before they had been there no ti••••
Dont you know where they are now, I asked. n oh my yes, they
are both married and hav. families.
w. been liTin' here about s.ven years. oome here from
Fulton Ala., the saw-mill there burned and there wasnt no
work there for the msn. It looks like its hard for us to
get baok on our feet. just one thing after' another sets us
baok. Bow Joe. my husband. is a good oarpenter, not no
fanoy oarpenter but a gOOd one • he can work from blue prints.
B~cant get no steady work though. just odd jobs like makin'
ooffin boxes for the undertakers and suoh like.
•
•
, ,
Susl. R. O'Brlen. writer • The Stri~.r••
Ped, my oldest boy. most everybody calle him Pred. is a
carpenter too and a good one. but not as good as his Pa. he
•
picks up a days Job now and then but what he wants is steady
work. red llves here with ue too. he had some trouble with
his wife and she left hlm. red was a home body and Clara
llked to go about to dances and thlngs llke that. fhey had
two children. Clara wanted the first one but when the seoond
one oome along she didnt want it. Well she kept on naggin'
Ped to let her go and have an operation so she wouldnt
have no more children, finally he got tlred of 1t and let
her go to the hospital. fhe doctor told Ped at the t1me 1t
was g01n' to oause trouble. sa1d he never had seen an operation
l1ke that that d1dnt cause a aeparat10n, and shure enough 1t
d1d. It wasnt long after she come home that Clara sa1d to me.
I'm g01n' to my sisters for a little wh11e,I wont be gone
long. wlll you keep ths k1ds? I sa1d yes and asked her)to
bring me a spoonful of lard when she oome back,s1noe I d1dnt
•
have quite enough to make the bread. Well eUh, I'm st11l a
wa1t1n' for that lard for Clara never dld oome baok. She
sent for the ohildren and Ped d1dnt make no move to get her
baok, he flggered 1f she didnt want to stay 1t was better to let
her go along." • Here Lula rose and poked the dylng embers
" 1n ths kltohen stove wiping hsr hands on the front of her
dress as she returned to her seat on the bed. "I deolare 1ts
ohilly, th1s old house 1s so open" she sa1d pOintlng to the
rag stUffed oraoks ln the wall and to the large holes in
the roof where we oould look through at the sky. "But 1t
a1nt so bad 1f 1t dont ra1n and the wind dont blow. We are
a goin' to move though. this house has been sold from under us.
•
•
•
SUBiB R. O'Brien, writer •
-'1-
The StriIl8erB.
I deolare when we do get in a OIOB. houee I reokon I'll take
down Biok I'm so used to thiB old open one. We pay four
dollars a month for thiB hOUB. but the one we are moving into
is gOiIl8 to OOBt us six dollarB, I kinda hate to move on acoount
of that for as I waB a tellin' you we have had a heap of expense.
About two yearB ago Grady got his leg hurt. it went into
a riBin' and the dootor oou1dnt get it oured up, he was in
bed flat of his baok for months. Well he went from bad to
worse and finally had to go to the hospital and have his leg
took off right below his hip, the dootor said the bone was
plum gone. So he aint been well sinoe, oant do no work
except settin' down work and there aint no such thiIl8 these
dayB, and him and Addie with all them yo~s. Addie had
a job at the ootton mill but some of them was laid off and
Addie not livin' in the village waB one of the first to be
•
laid off. You know Grady haB been off" she said, lookin«
down and carefully smoothiIl8 the front of her dreBB, but h.~8
,
back home now." She did not mention the faot that Grady had
"been of~' BerviIl8 time for takiIl8 an automobile whioh did
not be)oIl8 to him, driving it to a nearby town and wrecking
it in a ditoh. You must have a pretty bad time when
nobody in the family iB working, I Baid. "Yes we d~~he
Baid • but Addie here getB ten dollars a month and a few
grooerieB from the relief and that tideB UB over till some
of the men find work. You see when I lost my daughter
Sadie that set us baok a lot, she was siok a 10Il8 time and
then she left Artie Jean to be took care of." Doesnt the
childs father do an;vthiIl8 for her, I aBked. "Well, no he
dont, Sadie waB yoUIl8 and giVB her love to thiB boy and he
• . , . '
Susie R. O'Brien. writer.
-8-
The Stringers •
ruined her and then wouldnt marry her, got out of it by sayin'
he was already married and. well you know how it is I just
oouldnt ask him for nothin' for Artie_ean after he acted so
low." Lula seemed not to oare to dwell on this subject so
we talked of other things. "When the wind is in the east
I always have rheumatism in my arm, do you ever have it" she asked
~
not giving me time to answer she went on, well if you do I have
got a good remedy. You might laugh at it but theres nothin~
,
like these old tims home remedies. I 11 tsll you about it.
First you dig up soms earth worms. you will find them in damp
stalls or other damp plaoe.. Get some big ones. the bigger
the better, but if you cant get no big ones the little ones
will do • Put the worms in a bottle and stop them up tight.
Then you make up some bread dough and roll it out thin, wrap
the bottle up in the dough and bake it. When the bread is
done the worms will be pure oil. Just dab a little of this
on your jOints, not too muoh it might make you too limber" she
said,dangling her arms to show me what effeot the oil would
have should I use too muoh." Row you be sure and try it " she
said," and if it dont do you no good it wont do you no harm,
I'd dig you up some earth worms but I aint even got a hoe".
thankful that Lula did not own a hoe I rose and told her I
must be gOing,for it was getting late and uncomfortably cold
at the Stringers. So with a promise to the children to send
some fruit and. chalk for the new black board I took my departure,
though not a very dignified one for the family assisted me
while I sat down on the high sill of the door and dropped to
the ground.
'f .' 2
!h. taa1~ 0 ...10'. of tl.... prlo allot who. are aarrhl ...1 ba....
l.tt h... aoop' 'wo. !he parnb' .luoat1o.. 10 11.U04 but tba c1rlo
aU...1 .obool at llaaburC. a Till... ab....' tflOZ ail•• fro. 'h.ir ho...
Ill... 10 a ....l'7 buq _.... Bho rh.. wi \h 'ba , ailb. '.ada
'h. ohlol<a1l....4 plC., oarr1o. wa'er fro.........rtlowi 11 all....'
a 'luu'.r ot a ail. fro. 'ho hn... Itore too .he 10•• the taa1lT
....h 1.. the o!la4o of 'ho will wldoh er"" ..oar 'h....11.
nth ,he help ot her hull 1 ...4 prlo .h. worn ,he 'alllo
prt... ""I ral....acraeh ......talllo. to tool \h. tullT durl 'ho
on Jr. wi\h a ourpluo for o-""lac••he hu alrooq oon04 r 'WO
1ma4ro4 curb tor .l..,or 110.. 10.. of \hi••ha 10 otforl tor &&la
a' titn.... o...t. a 'lU&I'\. "No..q 10 awful .oaro." lhe aq. • ...4 we
...04 a 11Ulo o••h 10"'lao.. !he Clrlo 11n \0 Co to tOllll to tho
10tur. ahow aa4 I l.t '. CO .haa.....r I ou, 'oau•• H. aich'7 dull
out her. for 70U11C tolk.. It 10011:. 11n .o..\hlaI tun. up .....l'7
7_ to II:aop ". troD aaIr:1a' a orep. I"" 71er 'o.tor. la.' th. O"....r'_
t l.t ". ba.....0...t ..r.. lI.ll it tooll: 110 throe ao..tho to braall:
thea thl eo thq .·,,14 pull a plow. I
Duri \h. wi..tor _tho I. J. holpe aloac '07 aaII:1... flcorae ot
40c0 dloh ho 41eplqe alo... the roa4el4a. •• flcora. are aat.
ot plaetar ot Parle .Uoh 10 pounl late woo4aa MU14e aa4 l.n to
!lar4oa. !ha MU14e are la .....aral p1oo•••0 tha' thq ou b. ro.....
04 ..0117.
!h••ott pla.hr 10 poure4 throuch a hoI. 1.. 'h. boUo. of 'h.
aoul4. tho MU14 b.l tura04 oontlaRoue17 eo tha' ...h orOTlo. wlll
b. t11104. Attar th. plae'ar 10 har4 tho aoull 10 raaon4 ...4 th.
40c0 are pal..t04. !h. flcora. 'orl... frca _ ..\7-fiY. o...te to a
40llar aocorll... to eh.. !hare haG ..ot b... _oh eal. tor tho
tlcora. lat.17 aa4 thq ba.....topp04 aaII:1Bc 'lin, I. J. 10 tl'7lac
... ...? ,
•
Susie R. O'Bri n.
wark Clemp,
Bine miles south eaet
of warion, on the
Bamburg road.
wark 01 mp.
l.Iark Clemp trudgeS wearily along the dusty road toward
his home. He OOS besn to warion, a distanoe of about nine
miles, to purohase hie small stook of grooeries whioh he
oarries in a dirty meal saok thrown aoross his shoulder.
t eaoh paning oar he looks lip ho eful17, hie bllle
syss peering from beneath his sha 87 brows. He stops for
a moment on the 81de of the road, think1 erhaps someone
might give him a ride an thus save him a fsw miln of
the eighteen mile walk to and from his home.
As the oar pssses on thout stopping rk bows his
head deJeote4l;v and pulling the dirty brim of his old felt
hat over his e;ves to shut out the oll11d ef lust he res1llDes
his walking.
wark wears a .alr ef faded evsrall ~t • an ar1117 ooat
whioh onoe belonged to a muoh smaJ.ler man, the sleeves
stopping halfWa;V between his elbows and his large toil
worn hands. hie shirt ehows si s of haTing onoe been white
the oollar of whloh ln no spot touohss his thin neok.
The lowsr part of his faoe is oovered with several days
growth of .eddlsh beard.
Mark's progress is slow, for he has to stop often to
remove the gravel from the worn sole of his shoee, so he haS
not one far when a oar elows lip and a oherr:v voioe oalls,
" hey, 014 MaD if you are oing m:v _y hop in". With a
<
•
•
,
• usie R. O'Brien•
Jlarll: Clemp.
2
broad grin Jlarll: quioll:ene hiB Btep anil. after eeeing that
hiB Baoll: of rooerie. i. firBt tall:en oare of he olimbs
in and sitB unoomfortably on the edge of the .eat.
After a few mile. he begins to feel more at home
so he settle. baoll: oamfortab17 and ventures to start a
oonversation. "Ilioe oar ;you got here mister, they .ho
Baves a feller a heap '.teps. I aint never owned nary
ons m78eU and I dont reoll:on I ever will.
Tau .e. we oom. here troll Bale County 'bout six or seven
year a 0 and we aint done BO w.ll. I rent a little plaoe
and farm on ehareB, I'. what we oall a Bhare-oropper, the
landlord i te half and I its half. But we aint made no
orop tbie year and I dont it noth1n'.
Ve and Etta , that. my old lady, DB ed to make
eno b to feed us and thate out all. I plsnted nine
acree of 00 ton and five aore. of oorn, well both the
orops went bad on lIle. I dont know as I'll etay on this
plaoe next year, the house does very well but tbe water
is turrible, its got eulphur in it , the olothes wasbed
in i ie yeller and loa e tbey been starched.
Etta nd mo hae at three ohildren, all rowed up
now, the irl is married and one and one of the boys i~
God knows wbere, be Just wa1ll:ed off and we aint never
beard frOID bi. sinot. If it hadnt a been for IIl7 boy
Alex in the C C I dont know wbat we woulda done
• --
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| title |
"Short Stories and Sketches," Perry County. |
| titleStr |
"Short Stories and Sketches," Perry County. |
| url |
http://cdm17217.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/wpa/id/850 |
| id |
ADAHwpa850 |
| thumbnail |
http://cdm17217.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getthumbnail/collection/wpa/id/850 |
| _version_ |
1743797183377833984 |
| spelling |
GSU# SG022775_00616-00638SG022775_00616_00638"Short Stories and Sketches," Perry County.Folder contains 22 pages of Alabama short stories compiled by Susie R. O'Brien for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the late 1930s.1937-1939 circa1930-1939Alabama Writers' Project; Alabama--Biography; Alabama--Social life and customs; Perry County (Ala.); United States. Works Progress AdministrationTextDocumentsAlabama. Dept. of Archives and HistoryWorks Progress Administration filesSG022775WPA Alabama Writers' Project, Short Stories and Sketches by Susie R. O'Brien, Perry Co.Alabama Dept. of Archives and History, 624 Washington Ave., Montgomery, AL 36130EnglishThis material may be protected under U. S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) which governs the making of photocopies or reproductions of copyrighted materials. You may use the digitized material for private study, scholarship, or research. Though ADAH has physical ownership of the material in its collections, in some cases we may not own the copyright to the material. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in our collections.96 dpi tiff• uaie R. O'Brien, writer
-1-
The Stringers.
Jaauary 3, 1939
J. C. Strinser(oarpenter)
Lula Stringer( white)
Uniontown. Alabs-a.
•
•
Although it was the day after Xaas there was no eTidenoe
of the gay holiday season in the seotion of town where
the Stringer family liTes. No holly wreathes brightened
the dingy, ourtainless windows. no laughing children played
about the yards with their new Xmas toys and no sound or
oolor broke the ccld gxay stillness of earth and sky•
The only sign of'life and warmth was a thin spiral of smoke
here and there ocming from the chimneys of the delapidated
house••
The Stringers liTe aorcss the railroad in a section
inhabited mostly by negroes. On this oold, gray morning
when I started out to Tisit them I was not sure that I
knew where they liTed, but I had no trouble in locating
the house for as I walked down the railroad track I met
an old negro woman whom I asked to direct me to the home
of the Stringers. Carefully balancing a bundle of pine
wood on her head she plaoed one hand on her hip and with
the other painted down the railroad and said, " jus' keep
straight ahead till you come tc the .us lcckin' house cn
the row, thats th.im". Fcllcwing her directions I picked
my way aoross a yard littered with rusty autcmobile bcdies,
•
axles anI fenders and piles of rusty tin can~and soon
came to the door of the Stringers home.
•
, ,
•
SuBie R. O'Brien, writer • The Stringers.
Though there were Signs of there haTing onoe been a porch
and a shelter OTer the door, there was not a piece of it
left and the steps that led up to the door were also gone.
the broksn window panes were cOTersd with card board and
dirt7 burlap saoka. Seeing no signs of life except two
scmbb7 looking cowa grazing about between the mst7 auto·
mobile parts, I thought at first thsre oou1d bs no one
at home but as I stood and looked about me I notioed a
tinT spiral of smoke coming from one of the oh1mne7s at
the baok of the house. After knooking rspeated17 and
getting no response I was about to turn awa7 when I heard •
the pattsr of renuing feet and four pairs of grim7 little
hands appeared in the oraok of the knob1ese door. After
much straining and pulling, the doorJwith a loud noiss .
swung baok on its broken hinges and four small ohi1dren,
ranging in age from three to six, with dirt7 faces and
tousled white heads,stared at me with wide inquiring blue
e7ss. Is 70ur mother at home, I asked, "7es'm, said the
oldest of the four, oome on in here". But the problem
now was how could I get in, the door was at least three
feet from the ground with no steps. I looked about for
somsthing to step on but found nothing, but just as I was
about to giTS up Lula Stringer hurried to the door. Shs
was a tall, th1n woman with a leather-like skin, her hair
was sorewsd in a tight knot on top of her head, the lOOse
strande hanging in a string7 fringe around her face and one
e7e looked as if she had lost the sight of it. he wore a
eoi1ed print dress and a dark ooat buttoned 010se17 about her
•
•
•
•
Sus1e R. O'Br1en. wr1ter
-3-
The Str1ngerB.
th1n neok. she had a pleasant Bm11e and seemed glad to see
a v1s1tor for she sa1d." good morning, oome right on irr we'll
help you." So with the help of Lula on one side and the
ohildren on the other I was finally pulled into the front
door. Com1ng out of the 11ght into the darkened room I had to
Btand a few seoonds until my eyes beoame accustomed to the
darkness, then I saw that I was in a bedroom whioh oonta1ned
only a bed, there was no other furniture. The bed had no
mattresB or p1110ws the springs being oovered with a B011ed
quilt. " Come right in here" Ba1d Lula, lead1ng the way to
an aJ01ning room "we are a Bett1n' 1n the kitohen". ~ollowing
I found myBelf in a Bmall room oonta1n1ng another bed, this
one having a mattress. In one oorner stood a Bmall table
piled high with oooking utenBils and paper sacks, in another
a stove in whioh a small blale sputtered but gave forth no
warmth. "Add1e, Lula oalled , bring another ohair in here"
a young woman with unkept hair and wearing a soiled dresB
appeared bring1ng two ohairs. I seated myself in one and
Addie took the other, Lula making herself comfortable on
the foot of the bed said" I reokon you'll find 1t right
oold in here but this 1s the only plaoe we got a fire. the
other ohimney wont draw it Bmokes somethin' awful. Joe, thats
my husband. brOught home twenty-five oents worth of ooal
day beforB yesterday and WB are a burnin' the last of it now,
this oold weather does eat up the ooal. "It sho does, said
Add1e". tip until this time Addie had said nothing and Lula
eV1dently had forgotten she was there but now she said
apologet101y, I plum forgot to tell you th1s 1s Addie, my
son Grady's wife, they 11ve here with us, and these are the1r
•
• •
•
Susie R. O'Brien. writer • '"he Strin~ere.
younguns. where are your ~DDers" she said to the ohildren
"oome and tell the lady your names. Now this is Naomi the
baby. she'e three and this here is !alman~e. we oall him
Tal. he's four and this hers is Thomasene the oldest. she'e
five." And who is ths other little girl I asked. is she a
little Stringer too. "Oh yes she's a Stringer alright
•
but she dont belong to Grady and Addie. She's my daughter
Sadie's ohild. Sadie and Grady was twins but she died
about four years ago with !B when Artie Jean here was two
years old. I raised her myself and she oalls me Mama and
dont know no differenoe. She's six years old now and goes
to sohool. Come here Artie Jean and tell her what you got
on the Xmas tree", All ths ohildren disappeared and each
came back bringing a toy, a doll ohair.ausmall automobile
with Charley McCarthy in the drivers seat, a blaok board
and a doll. "We belong to the Baptist ohuroh at Ellawhite.
the mill Tillage, we used to live out there and they always
put somethin' on the tree for the ohildren • Lula said. "the
preaoher'e wife in town give thie doll to Artie Jean, now
thate what I oall real nioe of her."
After I had admired eaoh toy and they had been put
away again,Addie said, n now yawl eet'down and be quiet and
listen to the lady talk", Lula • seated on the bed drew
t
Artie Jean up beeide her where she sat as quiet as a mouse.
!he other three ohildren ~emoved the eye from the kitohen
stove and poked at the small bla!e with a table knife.
" We didnt have muoh to spend on trash this Xmas." Lula
said. n I generally pick up a little bit sellin' ladies
hoeee, but trade aint been eo good of late. I taken a few
•
• •
•
Susie R. O'Brien, writer.
-5-
The Stringere •
orders from some girls at the Tillage and you know how
hard girle is on hosee, well they didnt last, got runs in
'e. and now they wont give me no more orders. just ruint
.
my trade , thats what it did. Well I'. gettin' old. I'a
sixty two now though I might not look it. and its hard on
me doin' so muoh walkin' • lly health aint what it used to
be neither, I suffer with a misery in my side, the dootor
says its TB but shucks I dont know whether he knows or not.
But my, I oould work when I was young. my first husband. I
been married twict. used to say I could keep up, with anybody.
He was years and years older than I was and I used to laugh
and tell my sister. het husband was a young man. that I'd
rather be an: oldOllans darl1n' than a young mans slave.
And I was really his darlin"too. n she said with a pleased
little laugh. n He didnt live but five years and left me
with twc little boys. After I married Stringer I sent my
boys. one twelve and one fourteen, to the Masonic Home in
Kontgomery. I wanted the. to havs a good home and be eduoated
and w. wasnt able to do muoh for them. But you know thea
little rasoals ran away before they had been there no ti••••
Dont you know where they are now, I asked. n oh my yes, they
are both married and hav. families.
w. been liTin' here about s.ven years. oome here from
Fulton Ala., the saw-mill there burned and there wasnt no
work there for the msn. It looks like its hard for us to
get baok on our feet. just one thing after' another sets us
baok. Bow Joe. my husband. is a good oarpenter, not no
fanoy oarpenter but a gOOd one • he can work from blue prints.
B~cant get no steady work though. just odd jobs like makin'
ooffin boxes for the undertakers and suoh like.
•
•
, ,
Susl. R. O'Brlen. writer • The Stri~.r••
Ped, my oldest boy. most everybody calle him Pred. is a
carpenter too and a good one. but not as good as his Pa. he
•
picks up a days Job now and then but what he wants is steady
work. red llves here with ue too. he had some trouble with
his wife and she left hlm. red was a home body and Clara
llked to go about to dances and thlngs llke that. fhey had
two children. Clara wanted the first one but when the seoond
one oome along she didnt want it. Well she kept on naggin'
Ped to let her go and have an operation so she wouldnt
have no more children, finally he got tlred of 1t and let
her go to the hospital. fhe doctor told Ped at the t1me 1t
was g01n' to oause trouble. sa1d he never had seen an operation
l1ke that that d1dnt cause a aeparat10n, and shure enough 1t
d1d. It wasnt long after she come home that Clara sa1d to me.
I'm g01n' to my sisters for a little wh11e,I wont be gone
long. wlll you keep ths k1ds? I sa1d yes and asked her)to
bring me a spoonful of lard when she oome back,s1noe I d1dnt
•
have quite enough to make the bread. Well eUh, I'm st11l a
wa1t1n' for that lard for Clara never dld oome baok. She
sent for the ohildren and Ped d1dnt make no move to get her
baok, he flggered 1f she didnt want to stay 1t was better to let
her go along." • Here Lula rose and poked the dylng embers
" 1n ths kltohen stove wiping hsr hands on the front of her
dress as she returned to her seat on the bed. "I deolare 1ts
ohilly, th1s old house 1s so open" she sa1d pOintlng to the
rag stUffed oraoks ln the wall and to the large holes in
the roof where we oould look through at the sky. "But 1t
a1nt so bad 1f 1t dont ra1n and the wind dont blow. We are
a goin' to move though. this house has been sold from under us.
•
•
•
SUBiB R. O'Brien, writer •
-'1-
The StriIl8erB.
I deolare when we do get in a OIOB. houee I reokon I'll take
down Biok I'm so used to thiB old open one. We pay four
dollars a month for thiB hOUB. but the one we are moving into
is gOiIl8 to OOBt us six dollarB, I kinda hate to move on acoount
of that for as I waB a tellin' you we have had a heap of expense.
About two yearB ago Grady got his leg hurt. it went into
a riBin' and the dootor oou1dnt get it oured up, he was in
bed flat of his baok for months. Well he went from bad to
worse and finally had to go to the hospital and have his leg
took off right below his hip, the dootor said the bone was
plum gone. So he aint been well sinoe, oant do no work
except settin' down work and there aint no such thiIl8 these
dayB, and him and Addie with all them yo~s. Addie had
a job at the ootton mill but some of them was laid off and
Addie not livin' in the village waB one of the first to be
•
laid off. You know Grady haB been off" she said, lookin«
down and carefully smoothiIl8 the front of her dreBB, but h.~8
,
back home now." She did not mention the faot that Grady had
"been of~' BerviIl8 time for takiIl8 an automobile whioh did
not be)oIl8 to him, driving it to a nearby town and wrecking
it in a ditoh. You must have a pretty bad time when
nobody in the family iB working, I Baid. "Yes we d~~he
Baid • but Addie here getB ten dollars a month and a few
grooerieB from the relief and that tideB UB over till some
of the men find work. You see when I lost my daughter
Sadie that set us baok a lot, she was siok a 10Il8 time and
then she left Artie Jean to be took care of." Doesnt the
childs father do an;vthiIl8 for her, I aBked. "Well, no he
dont, Sadie waB yoUIl8 and giVB her love to thiB boy and he
• . , . '
Susie R. O'Brien. writer.
-8-
The Stringers •
ruined her and then wouldnt marry her, got out of it by sayin'
he was already married and. well you know how it is I just
oouldnt ask him for nothin' for Artie_ean after he acted so
low." Lula seemed not to oare to dwell on this subject so
we talked of other things. "When the wind is in the east
I always have rheumatism in my arm, do you ever have it" she asked
~
not giving me time to answer she went on, well if you do I have
got a good remedy. You might laugh at it but theres nothin~
,
like these old tims home remedies. I 11 tsll you about it.
First you dig up soms earth worms. you will find them in damp
stalls or other damp plaoe.. Get some big ones. the bigger
the better, but if you cant get no big ones the little ones
will do • Put the worms in a bottle and stop them up tight.
Then you make up some bread dough and roll it out thin, wrap
the bottle up in the dough and bake it. When the bread is
done the worms will be pure oil. Just dab a little of this
on your jOints, not too muoh it might make you too limber" she
said,dangling her arms to show me what effeot the oil would
have should I use too muoh." Row you be sure and try it " she
said," and if it dont do you no good it wont do you no harm,
I'd dig you up some earth worms but I aint even got a hoe".
thankful that Lula did not own a hoe I rose and told her I
must be gOing,for it was getting late and uncomfortably cold
at the Stringers. So with a promise to the children to send
some fruit and. chalk for the new black board I took my departure,
though not a very dignified one for the family assisted me
while I sat down on the high sill of the door and dropped to
the ground.
'f .' 2
!h. taa1~ 0 ...10'. of tl.... prlo allot who. are aarrhl ...1 ba....
l.tt h... aoop' 'wo. !he parnb' .luoat1o.. 10 11.U04 but tba c1rlo
aU...1 .obool at llaaburC. a Till... ab....' tflOZ ail•• fro. 'h.ir ho...
Ill... 10 a ....l'7 buq _.... Bho rh.. wi \h 'ba , ailb. '.ada
'h. ohlol<a1l....4 plC., oarr1o. wa'er fro.........rtlowi 11 all....'
a 'luu'.r ot a ail. fro. 'ho hn... Itore too .he 10•• the taa1lT
....h 1.. the o!la4o of 'ho will wldoh er"" ..oar 'h....11.
nth ,he help ot her hull 1 ...4 prlo .h. worn ,he 'alllo
prt... ""I ral....acraeh ......talllo. to tool \h. tullT durl 'ho
on Jr. wi\h a ourpluo for o-""lac••he hu alrooq oon04 r 'WO
1ma4ro4 curb tor .l..,or 110.. 10.. of \hi••ha 10 otforl tor &&la
a' titn.... o...t. a 'lU&I'\. "No..q 10 awful .oaro." lhe aq. • ...4 we
...04 a 11Ulo o••h 10"'lao.. !he Clrlo 11n \0 Co to tOllll to tho
10tur. ahow aa4 I l.t '. CO .haa.....r I ou, 'oau•• H. aich'7 dull
out her. for 70U11C tolk.. It 10011:. 11n .o..\hlaI tun. up .....l'7
7_ to II:aop ". troD aaIr:1a' a orep. I"" 71er 'o.tor. la.' th. O"....r'_
t l.t ". ba.....0...t ..r.. lI.ll it tooll: 110 throe ao..tho to braall:
thea thl eo thq .·,,14 pull a plow. I
Duri \h. wi..tor _tho I. J. holpe aloac '07 aaII:1... flcorae ot
40c0 dloh ho 41eplqe alo... the roa4el4a. •• flcora. are aat.
ot plaetar ot Parle .Uoh 10 pounl late woo4aa MU14e aa4 l.n to
!lar4oa. !ha MU14e are la .....aral p1oo•••0 tha' thq ou b. ro.....
04 ..0117.
!h••ott pla.hr 10 poure4 throuch a hoI. 1.. 'h. boUo. of 'h.
aoul4. tho MU14 b.l tura04 oontlaRoue17 eo tha' ...h orOTlo. wlll
b. t11104. Attar th. plae'ar 10 har4 tho aoull 10 raaon4 ...4 th.
40c0 are pal..t04. !h. flcora. 'orl... frca _ ..\7-fiY. o...te to a
40llar aocorll... to eh.. !hare haG ..ot b... _oh eal. tor tho
tlcora. lat.17 aa4 thq ba.....topp04 aaII:1Bc 'lin, I. J. 10 tl'7lac
... ...? ,
•
Susie R. O'Bri n.
wark Clemp,
Bine miles south eaet
of warion, on the
Bamburg road.
wark 01 mp.
l.Iark Clemp trudgeS wearily along the dusty road toward
his home. He OOS besn to warion, a distanoe of about nine
miles, to purohase hie small stook of grooeries whioh he
oarries in a dirty meal saok thrown aoross his shoulder.
t eaoh paning oar he looks lip ho eful17, hie bllle
syss peering from beneath his sha 87 brows. He stops for
a moment on the 81de of the road, think1 erhaps someone
might give him a ride an thus save him a fsw miln of
the eighteen mile walk to and from his home.
As the oar pssses on thout stopping rk bows his
head deJeote4l;v and pulling the dirty brim of his old felt
hat over his e;ves to shut out the oll11d ef lust he res1llDes
his walking.
wark wears a .alr ef faded evsrall ~t • an ar1117 ooat
whioh onoe belonged to a muoh smaJ.ler man, the sleeves
stopping halfWa;V between his elbows and his large toil
worn hands. hie shirt ehows si s of haTing onoe been white
the oollar of whloh ln no spot touohss his thin neok.
The lowsr part of his faoe is oovered with several days
growth of .eddlsh beard.
Mark's progress is slow, for he has to stop often to
remove the gravel from the worn sole of his shoee, so he haS
not one far when a oar elows lip and a oherr:v voioe oalls,
" hey, 014 MaD if you are oing m:v _y hop in". With a
<
•
•
,
• usie R. O'Brien•
Jlarll: Clemp.
2
broad grin Jlarll: quioll:ene hiB Btep anil. after eeeing that
hiB Baoll: of rooerie. i. firBt tall:en oare of he olimbs
in and sitB unoomfortably on the edge of the .eat.
After a few mile. he begins to feel more at home
so he settle. baoll: oamfortab17 and ventures to start a
oonversation. "Ilioe oar ;you got here mister, they .ho
Baves a feller a heap '.teps. I aint never owned nary
ons m78eU and I dont reoll:on I ever will.
Tau .e. we oom. here troll Bale County 'bout six or seven
year a 0 and we aint done BO w.ll. I rent a little plaoe
and farm on ehareB, I'. what we oall a Bhare-oropper, the
landlord i te half and I its half. But we aint made no
orop tbie year and I dont it noth1n'.
Ve and Etta , that. my old lady, DB ed to make
eno b to feed us and thate out all. I plsnted nine
acree of 00 ton and five aore. of oorn, well both the
orops went bad on lIle. I dont know as I'll etay on this
plaoe next year, the house does very well but tbe water
is turrible, its got eulphur in it , the olothes wasbed
in i ie yeller and loa e tbey been starched.
Etta nd mo hae at three ohildren, all rowed up
now, the irl is married and one and one of the boys i~
God knows wbere, be Just wa1ll:ed off and we aint never
beard frOID bi. sinot. If it hadnt a been for IIl7 boy
Alex in the C C I dont know wbat we woulda done
• --
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• • ~http://cdm17217.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/wpa/id/850 |