Document text
Meose
Venn*, Florida
U/THAS
Barbara Berry Varsity
HURT and HOBA MADDOX-
The home of Hoary and Rose Maddox is in one of the most isolated
spots la the squatter region. After following the highway some three
miles from theolllage, one must travel along tortuous dirt "grade"
for six or seven miles. An abrupt turn eastward on a disk woods' trail lead
ever the prairie to douse aoyheoi. Yellowing the bayheades starve, the
trail ends suddenly where the boyheed makes a horseshoe bead. A narrow
foot path leads around the bend to an opening in the swamp, marked by
blaze upon s small bay tree. Bordering the swell* are pools of stagnant
water and growths of *ottani Lind arrowheads.
Vrom the blazed tree a narrow path of logs and planks laid in the
mud loads into the heart of the swamp, and ends in a raised sleazing. flis
*leering is hemmed in on all sides by a tangle of underbrush, vines, and
palms. In the center of the clearing stands the Maddox home, a rude pel-
metto-thcitched shelter raised upon four tall poles.
Henry and Hose were both at home, nnd extended a pleasant preeting.
Hoary stated that we would have to sit upon the worn nnd rustle beaches
outside the shelter, as the bed, a trunk, and a bench holding bowl and
pitcher left no room for seats inside the shelter.
71e try to keep our home neat and clean so no to keep down the flies
and ants," said Henry. wee are sareful about fires and waste paper, for
even the swamp here san °atoll fire in very dry weather. We keep all our
waste paper in this old tin and we burn all our food serape. There are
naturally lots of insects here and we have to fight them all the time.
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The mosquitoes are bed and we always use tho net for the bed."
The comp fire was earefully guarded by wire nettiag, and a
.rude stand held soaking utensils, tin sups and plates. A large
iron pot smog from a tripod nearby.
"be find plenty -of wood is the *swap and always keep a supply
on hand so we won't be sought short," said Henry, indleating a seat
pile of wood, and kindling is a tin busket.
Henry end /*se wore *lean slothful, though they wer* patched
and feded. have just finished my washing down by the lake,"
said apse shyly but pleasantly. "See, out there, you fun see the
lake from her. by bendisg over this way a little wore. It is more
cleared there end water is handier and I find it easier to wash the
slothful. The lake water is soft and makes washing easy. I don't
iron mush. we get along all right without ironing our everyday
clothes. I like thiclothes with the sus in es, mad ironing seems
to take away that good smell they have just off the line on a massy
day."
Henry talked of farming and spoke with pride of his farm around
the lake shore. "I wish all that lend was mine, then I would have
me a real fern. I've always dreamed of havisg a farm way out some
plans like this all my life, Whoever owns all this land is luoky,
even if he doesn't kaow it, 'to own so mush. Isn't it queer that seas
people have so mush land end never seem to care for it while others
would be so happy to own oven 8 little spot?"
Hoary stated that both he and Ross were born in New Jersey about
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forty years ago and that after their merriege ADIOS continued her work
in the factory where she made piano keys. At that tine Henry and his
father had an electrie shop and devoted most of their time to radio
work. Us said that they were both experts end could repair any make of
radio and could build may of the various kinds. He learned his trade
in the Navy and was proud of it, he said.
henry nn4 his father had a flourishing business for some time, but
due to lax methods and too much credit to customers they were forced
out of business at r loss, he said. He then seeured work in the fastory
with itosa. She was on straight time and made fifteen dollars a week,
he was on a time basis in the electrical department -nd averaged twenty-
five dollars a week. His father was so broken in health through the
business failure that he wnn no longer able to work, 9nd so made his
home with them,
i.'ileakin;" of the money they mode, usury said: -Ne did not save
much, thouth we always bed the idea of a farm in mind. But we had a niee
apartment, went to shows, had good clothes 1-nd 8 fins car, the wreck of
which you elm see just outside the entrance to our swamp.
'I went to school," he continued,- and lo did :ion, and we both
had good educations so we thought. I never could see why they make such
fuss about edueation, for after all it doesn't mean much but reading
and writing and a little ceneral informstion. If ever a person learns
more than thtA I've yet to hear of it. Of course there are some sciences
and professions that re uire more education. But 0 person has it in them
to be what they are, ,o)d education does little 000d. Now I learned the
electrical trade through work and experience in the Navy, so what good
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would an education in school in that have done me? Take toga ther
she:learned her trade working in the fectory and no education would have
made her the expert that she was. AO had a natural talent for this work
or we couldn't have learned it:"
'AD156 said they had no children the first years of their marriage nnd
then when they found out how sift she really was they took care to have
none. "It touldn't have been fair to us or the children to brine them
into the world and I probably wouldn't have lived through it anyway. I
was always frail and delicate as a child but we thought nothing of it.
lother said I was growing too fast though I never grow to much size, as
you can see. Sometiaes when I wee working I would feel so tired and sick
seemed like I just couldn't go on but I just accepted it as part of my nnture."
he said that she finally became so ill that She gave way at the factory
end had to co to n hospitml. The doctor said it was nnemin and prescribed
a special diet and regular treatments. She did not like the diet and felt
she did not have time to see the doctor regularly, eel as soon as she felt a
little bitter she gave it all up and returned to her work.
Finnlly they saved a little money and decided to come to Florida and
get a farm. someone had told them that the Florida sunshine would cure
Hose's trouble without medicne or diet, and they also heard of the rich
farming lands of the I4„verglades. The extreme isolation of the Everglades
appealed to them so greatly that they with Henry's father and a few per-
sonal effects started out in their cPr for Ylorida. .t.t that tine they
considered their car a fine one, but it did not stand up under the trip,
and consecuently they spent most all their money before arriving at their
destination.
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Finally they stopped at n little village, ret as finances were
short, henry secured a few day's work. His employer told them of land
near at hand 'where they could move right in ond not hnve any rent to vy.
"In a few days we drovc out to see the 1rid rind found what we
thoutht wts good piece for farming. It was quite a ways off the grade
but we didn't mind that for we wr.nted to be wry out in the woods. o we
'moved there and first built t shelter like this one only we slept on
bes of pine boughs ptlmetto leaves for tie. I hoer up some of
the llnd LEO mtneged to clear out the roots, then got seed qnd catalogues
from tiew Jersey ,,nd did just as they said but didn't Ive much success.
Ihings just wouldn't crow.
"Finally things got so bad that I had to get some work in the village,
but that was not what we wanted.
wanted a farm. Finally. T managed to
get a little lumber by working for a sawmill, and built a little two -room
house. had one room and we the other.
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cooked out in the open just
as we do now. Part of this time I worked on FERA but I didn't like that
either for as I said I wanted to farm. I decided to look for a better
place and when I found this location we moved right in. ,e just took
what we could carry in the cer.Pidn't have much to leave behind anyway
and we could not move the house even if we tore it down. This has suited
us exactly end we wouldn't think of moving.
-,a died and we had to borrow money for his expenses and that was
hard to do for we hardly knew anybody. The doctor helpej us by tnkin is
to his hospital without any pf,yment and he helped us to bofrow money. 4it
are still trying to ay it back but don't make much headway because cash
is so scarce. I might get a job in town, but we like it out here too much.
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It might be better for Rose's health if we moved in town here she could
have fresh meat and milk, but she doesn't like that life either and she
would not take the diet when she could have it before we came down here,
so why move when this is just what we hove always wanted? This land
around the lake and in the swamp is much better than the white sand for
farming.
ater ie easier to get here, too. ,e drink the lake water and
use it for all our needs, why not? It't as pure as any city water, and
costs us nothing. Aist few vegetables I raise I usually manage to sell
and that suits us better than to eat them, for then I can buy some fresh
meat and milk for osa. Rosa thinks her anemia is aggravated by this lo-
cation, but doesn't wont to move. So we've tried to study diets for
anemia to make things as good for her as possible. I have wantel to get
a cow but haven't had the money. Thought n man was going to let me have
one for her feed for awhile but when he found out how far out we live and
in the swamp he wouldn't let us have her. Said a cow would soon die in
the swamp. I don't see why, we have lived here quite awhile and it hasn't
hurt us any."
henry spoke vaguely of paying some attention to the phases of the
moon when planting, "I put in my crops at regular tines and pay no at-
tention to the climate here. Get all my seeds and information from New
Jersey. some people say I should follow the native methods but I don't
know much about them and don't want to ask. If I ask anyone they would be
sure to start coming out here to see how I am getting clong and we do not
care for visitors nor any interference with our ways."
They stated that they did not go to church as they lived so far away
and then, too, they didn't like the crowds. They like to -.ead, especially
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fiction and western stories, and often read magazines through a second
time, then carefully save them for fuel. Henry would like to have enough
money to buy parts to make a radio. "we do not bother with the news-
papers for the news is stale when we get them. There is nothing much to
interest us anyway, for what the other fellow is doinE is no concern of
ou:s.
-Politics don't interest us either. though along about election
time I try to find out what my party is doing and T always vote its
way in national matters. I don't 1,-401 with local politics. what are they
to me? Guess the men my party selects are always qualified for the posi-
tions or they wouldn't be chosen by the party. I never talk politics; it
does no good and seems such a waste of time. fellow won't change his
views just on account of talk and often gets mad, and it's just too much
trouble.
"‘Aes like the isolation and the quiet here. 7;e both enjoy this life
and the natural surroundings so much we feel that it more than makes up
for any little luxuries we might have in town. Even if we had plenty of
money I think we would continuo to live out here. There is so much more
to this life than many people would think. Take that fringe of blue flag
lilies alone the lake over there, there's nothing s) pretty in the cities
and th/t is just one of the many things. fter all, one might as well
have the kind of life he likes for that is about all that counts anyway."