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G(ritT011 LLD (4MQ$
(A Depressioa Story)
Written by; Mrs. Daisy Maness*
Augusta, Georgia
idited by:
Ural. AAtila MA Harris
Jupervisiag Uttar
Georgia Writers' Frajeet
Area
mersa 12, 1940.
Cottou and
itarehouseman
731 iieynolds
D. T.
C.OTVCN
"Certainly, I can spare you a little time." David Black
remarked with a marry twinkle in his eye. "-,Ance tue govern-
i4ent entered business, time is tue thing we hay° the most of."
it ripti:uired quite EWA-Ai t1411 to find this oftioe which is
looated two or three doors from tie Cottoh lxcnange. 4hortly
after we hed exchanged greetings r. lack was called out to
the warehouse and I took the opportunity to glance around. As
tar as equipment went, the office mks a facsimile ot others of
its kind. the unique feature was the array of noraeshoes that
adorned the walls and even the electric cords. Above the desit
hung a large horaeshoe, fasuioned of thirteen small ones.
.use were new an ahiny, some old and rusty, &ha there W1A4 even
oz.. that wws rou6h and home-made.
len slack returned to t d office said;
"ell it there's any truth iu the old adage pertainin6
to norseanoes. you certainly should nave an abundance of good
luck."
doLvt believe in that old superstition." e replied
with a grin. "I have them tor identification. In ease a cus-
tomer stiould forget my name he woulu us4iDly remember the die-
dlay of horseshoes, which after ali is a bit unusual. hould
this happen he could a let sax lar t;14 darn fool who has all
tue horaisboes ha ing in nis office.
eriously though, he went on. "There are fifty of thou
in all. one to redre' tit each year A. Claire worked in tile eottou
business."
just outdid° the offloes enclosed witu iron grillwork, was
tile bookkeeping department. .,:everal men were working at on
aesks. A large iron safe oonstituted tile only °toot equipment in
tae room.
ine Elam' e roam 'aid loedted in tile front portion of the
wareaouse.
kilaak explained taaL u laoe must be selected
waere 'Lae greatest amount or li6ut would fall on tat, tables where
tile cotton damples were oladdiried. The gratie and tae initials
of tae owner al -e indietited on a slip o paper and rolled inside
of Lae sample.
"..lo you want me to JO baok to tde beginning. eU, y
krieno, tnat's a in may." said tnougatfully.
"I am a native i:ugustan as Wbs my rataer. Jut my motaer
was a Udarlestonia. L tirst at“1 toe ligat or day on June lb,
lkab. Ay esbrboi, r ao..301 OutACJticw wa obtained at tne old Cen-
tral .choca. an attended tne .‘iou.04ond ..oadelay for hi year.
"1 marr led gr agusta wha we have twa son, WII4
UlJo uks tueir name nor.. uta of tnew were grduatea from
tue Tqcamond .cademy, pent t
ye
at 4uniur Joilego and clout-
pleted taeir odd° Lions ta Hine Atli OoLlege in ,..labaoa. Then
tney returued -‘o dna entered tne ootton faotorage and
-6
war aouse business. fhe elder Day married lust JUL. and ne sad
his wife live with us. The °tier one 13 also at home and watt
ara doing well.
"1 4M now 65 years old an nava lived my entire lire in
Vas fair city, with the exception of three years which spent
in :;Liarieston durin my young mantibuU.
-ifty years 13 a long time to work in one line of busi-
ness." David dlack said pensively. "1 went to work on Cotton
sow when I was only rirtean years old and am now rounding out
my fiftieth year.
"klIhy an araatic changes have tdken place during tne
half century i. have worked close to Lae old ,.,;avanwiti river. Toe
most importrAt an(;, effective chan6s was undoubtedly when tne
government entered tae cotton ousine4s. ne many restrictions
snd tne "virious taxes imposed on the business eople have OdUSOQ
potent cuts in overhead expenses.
"la otaer wards wnere formerly business concerns made
contracts dt the beginning of tae cotton season rur twelVe
montbs, in many instaaces tatty ace now forced to make them for
only ;5u-dfity periods.
"There is a reaultalat unrest and uncertainty rar bath
Lloloyer ard employee. it is very mucti like the 400d doak says;
'You KII;)W not tae day or the hour.' Tae cotton factor nes come
to fee.t that the incentive to reach out for volumlno's trade has
be:. taken y. thy ilA.t3 his business so 44 La take as
few oflanoos as possibla.
"Tho businessman or today is very mmea like tho Irishman,
who, upon booming weary of his arduous tasks, diteldod he wooded
a vacation. Whim he applied to the agent for a ticket, the man
asked Pat if he weld ltke to have a return tiektot. replied
'Faith no, can't you see l'a already hank?'
"Prior to the orld v,hro Augusta was one of the largost
cotton oenters in the Souta. In days &oaf by when farmers were
allowed to raise as much cotton as they wished, more than mime
.Augusta's receipts totaled a half million bales of Gott= per
soasou. Aow tno total is not over 160,0U0 bales.
"Yes, he went on reminiisontly, "Cotton Row nag under-
gone soma trastio *bangs*.
"In former years when oot‘en was king, Uottion Row was the
most popular place in town. Warehouses ova:flowed; and th0
streets where they wore looatod were almost impassaole booause
the eicess.aad ‘o et 04044 on tho sidewalk. Tilers was always a
great deal of excitemont and tus stroots were fairly alive with
samplers, mashers, and markers. Susiness was booming and tas
surrounding territory had the appaaranoe of am ant bed, where
this ants were hurrying back and forth getting their food stored
away for the sinter.
"Tao cotton ozehangfa building at that time was perhaps
tho busiest lime in town. It was always crowded. Now we alas
the familiar rhythmic saanting of the cotton man aa the streets.
They indioated tile Orono* on the bales by calling out; 'Betty,
Dora, mma, dolly, *to.' The first letters of the names /Jai
sated tae brand but they used tne whole names to avoid errors
eaused by the similarity of sound, say for instanoe in 'if' and
'D.' You can readily see there was no shadow of a doubt when
they sailed out, illetty' and 'Dora.'"
"Didn't the ASS who -worked with the cotton wear long
dusters over their suits' i asked.
"Yes." he replied. "This was neeessary in order to pro-
test their elotnes from the lint of the cotton and Jute bagging,
and from the ink tney used for marking.
Cotton ,people really made money in those good old tines I"
Ii. exclaimed. "But when all's s id and done we are making a
living and things (mold be worse.
"This talk with you has reealled many things to ml minds
some of them events tnat used to be part and pareel of Augusta**
community life. Chief among these were the old fire parades,
Ins street carnivals, and the cotton parades.
"The remains of the throne upon widen old -King Cotton
sat in to* parade is still in our sample room. in thou* days
not only cotton but Cotton Row was tit* life of the town.
"The pubis eould always *all upon the *piton people for
cooperation and also for generous dainations whenever they were
needed. t that time almost as many people visited the cotton
factor's office as now frequent the banks. jArerybody knew every-
body else. One could walk into any crowd and feel that he was
not only known but weleome.
"By the way,wouldn't you like to see the old throne that
took sueh a prominent part in the old cotton parades?" Mr.
31aek asked.
"I can't think or anytning that would give me more pleas-
ure." I replied promptly. "And I should lixe to hear Mez' e of
the cotton parade."
We continued to talk as we stroll slowly toward the
sample room.
"Who portrayad Ling Cotton and when did the parade take
place" I wanted to know.
"7,4,11, it was away beak some fifty odd years ago,
guess." se said taoughtfully. "And the ling was a fine old
man, whom we knew as Weil* Joshl de passed into the Great Aayond
many years ago.
"The parade was always held at nignt on droad Street.
The floats were daeoratad farm wagons, delivery wagons, and other
vehicles. rimy were all loaded with cotton and were lightsd with
lanterns that burned seal oil."
3y this time we uad arrived at the sample room liners the
old relic was preserved. The thick pieces of pine timber from
'Ilion it is made have bosom* rough and dirty. The back is about
thres-and-a.half feet nigh and is fashioned of two twelve inch
boards.
In its haloyoa days the old throne was covered with lint cotton,
and cotton in the bolls furnished the frills= iraotically all
of the onetime deeoration has disappeared; one arm is lost,
and the bottom is gone.
we were both lost in mammy for a few moments, for I,
too, have spent many years in Augusta. Mr. Bleak was the first
to break the silenoe.
"All of these things I have told you today would, mean
absolutely nothing to the young people or this generation. To
than they would be purely the ramblings of an old men. however,
I believe there are quite a number or the older ones who would
recall them as fond recollections. The day or the minuet and
welts have passed and the rhumba aid '4ans-Jusy' have replaced
them. The motto seems to have blossom On with the Lanes; drink
and be merry and let joy be unrefined.
As coholuded rather sadly; "And thus have the prosperous
days of Cotton Aow passed into history. It is now like 'the eels
after the storm.'