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test Eurhems L C.
September 12, 1938
I. L. M.
EAST =RHO AILL VILLAGE
°You'd like for re to show you over the rill
villsge? Well, it won't take long end Acme won't mind,
I'm sure. 1 helped tag bulls for two hours after I got
home from school, rnd I wen taking little time off
to rest. Whnt do I mean by tagging bulls? Putting the
tog on the little tobrcoo sacko that they use for Bull
Durham smoking tobrcoo. When my shoulders get tired
bending over so long I elweys get up end welk c little.
Ay risme? Juenita Hinnon.
ore ere on Reservoir St. now End its really the
beginning of the village. Those houses up on the hill
to the left don't belong to the company but cbout half
of the people living in them work in the mill. They
do helm P time trying to pay rent too. Aost of them
would move into the 'Mega if they could. Rent here
is ewfal lows ground S54 e week. But them, houses
nin't worth much, are they? You notice how old they
look from the outside? Tell, they look worse on the
inside. The floors ere splintery end the wells are
so teful dingy. 1 knoe two or three couples that don't
have any children end they've bought paint end painted
their houses inside themselves. Of course everybody's
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not etne to do that. There ere rough pieces in moot
of the houses that make them look like they've never
been finished. You see all these along here twee two
rooms upstairs but the ceiling is so low that people
cen't use them in the summertime. There erc not many
houses along here but what leek as you cm n tell by
looking nt the rotten shingle tops.
*One thing 1 like about this street in these
umbrella ohina trees. They've groped ..I man grown
a lot since 1 cen remedber. How old cm I? I wee
fourteen last week though I guess 1 don't look big
enough for Wf ege Us ma erys I'm stringy.
"Behind that house yonder there's ten or eleven
fruit trees. Mr. Clinton planted them himself. Eels
lived in that same house for over twenty year. Every-
body on this street plented e gtrden the pest spring.
They help out a nicht, specially when nobody much gets
full time in the mill.
gWhat do you reckon Mr. Jones keep in that shed?
not n cer though most of thees sheds along here
were built for cars. Every person hes to build his
own shed if he wants e shelter for his car. There
ere only four cars on our street now. About Mr. Jones?
Why, he has a mule. It sounds like the country, don't
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it, though we ere inside the city limits. The city
trucks take up the garbage from them big open one you
see in everybody's back yard. When he caint get time
in the mill Mr. Jones buys wood, cuts it up, end hauls
it in his wegon to peddle out in Rsiti, one of the
Negro sections of town. There ere esverel men in the
villege who help him cut the wood. In the spring end
summer Mr. Jones hiree his mule out to folks that want
to plough their gerdens.
"Everybody keeps their yords right clean, I think.
They ere white end sendy like this street. We have
plenty of dust, particulerly when the weather has
been dry for e long time. That rose bush in Mr. Perry's
yard is one pretty thing in the spring. It's ell the
flowers we've got on this stroet except a few box
flowers end a few petunies here and there.
"Thrt's Mame eitting on the porch of that house
on the end of the street. She's still tagging bulls.
'I'll be beck in a few minutes, Mama. The lady wants
me to go with her over the rest of the village.'
*Ira are going *round s little curve now that's
got no ntme. I reckon it's bectuse thereto no houses
on it. The street you ern efts from here is Middle St.
Reservoir end Middle are connected by this curve end
it makes it like a horeeshoe. These houses on Middle
are just ibout the same as the ones on Reservoir. The
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street's wide'end Bendy tnd the yerds rre stnly tool
and don't heve eny grass. There ain't but two or three
uMbrelle. chines but there's one crepe myrtles a beech,
rnd a big locuet. The locunt is awful pretty of a moon.
light nights like gold lace sereed out egatnat the sky.
eee about as any cars ec you did on
Reservoir. And as many Lecke on front porches too.
There's 10,000 bulls in each one of them and you get
751 a sack.
fThy are there so many folks sitting on the porches
todryl Well, the mill'e not giving the work to do.
Pept just made cixteen hours levt week. He's gone down
now to see if they'll need him tonight. Ohs hope
they do. He'll heve to get more time if the five of
us stay in echool. Besides the school children there's
three more youne ones et home to feed.
°The people in thic ctreet hrve got rdens too.
There's e flower garden over there. Two couples live
in that house rnd they've got t child apiece. The
wives don't work in the mill end they've worked the
flowers. Iten been mostly tinnies end petunias they've
had, but even two kinds of flower can heve ell sorts
of colors.
"The street you see down there running perpendicular
to this one is Short St. It *torts up at Reservoir but
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there ere no hcuees on it until you get to the point
where Ito perpendicular to Trey $t. That's Troy,
running parallel to Reservoir end Middle.
*We'll 'elk a little piece up hero end you can
see whet Troy's like. These OTO ell four.room housen
end erch one has e little greet levn end a lew fence
of hedge. The lawns ere ell mowed end the hedge hes
been clipped off nice. They've got no trees though.
This street was mede eome yecrs efter the others. The
houses need point awful bed but they don't look quite.
co old end dheckly as those on Reservoir and Middle.
"Mort runs on darn into the valley a little
piece but we'll go. beck on it toward Reservoir.
"This big hedge clang both sides of this street
wee pltnted by the mill compeny. You see those big
sweet gums to the left, and the octegen.shaped strnd.
Thet's whet we cell the prrk. The city sends a truck
out about once week during the eummer, end it brings
8 screen end n moving picture mechine. People come
end sit eround on the grass end wetoh the picture thet's
shown. Usuelly they ere Iesterns End they rre elweys
free. !low end then. a three or four piece bend will
stop by and melte music, end a crowd others without
hnd eny epecial word of what's going on.
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"Short runs on up there cnd ends in Reservoir.
we've just about covered the whole village.
fes can walk along a little slow now because I
went to watch end see whether Pape comes back. If he
don't come in a little while that morns he got work
because he don't etty up there long when they turn him
down.
"I told you school started todny, didn't I? I've
been trying to make up my- mind whether to cult this
year. I'm old enough that the lew crint mrke me go,
you know, but Christine seys thet she's going back.
Christine's my 'deter and ghee sixteen yerrn old.
Che had to quit school two yera rgo to keep house
when Kama was awful sick with heart trouble. Now
after these been out of school for two yenrs thole
etartinl tgein in the ninth grade. Mama srid she
didn't see how on earth the could eend her with four
ilreedy to buy clothes ond bookc for, but Christine
cried tnd raid dheld be willing to do on anything
suet to to beck to school.
°But I don't know whether I'm going to be willing
to stick it out this per or not. Christine soys I'll
regret it all my life if I euit. Maybe I would later
on but there'd be nothing to regret right now. It's
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awful to heve to sit in a room where moot of the
people have on good clothem end you are so ashamed of
your own. It's awful to see your tecoher get up with
a list in her hand and to know that in e minute she'll
be reeding your name out es one. that hosn't paid the
book rent. I hated my teacher last year for doinl Suet
that. She'd may, 'It's just 854, a torn and I don't nee
why you caint pay.' ;Come folke don't know thtt when
you hcrven't got it Sat is just se herd to pry ns a
hundred dollars. I've told lima that if I couldn't
pry mine in two months frov now I'm going to emit.
°Yes, the mill's runninl come and the first shift
is comin, off. But it alwsys works a few on second
shift. I cm tell by the sound of it that ell of it
ein't runninv. CU Lord, you see that an
along slow acroce yonder? Thatla Papa ead the mill
don't need him toniztt. Well, better be gettin'
home sole I can help Mane twi; bulls. That'll help to
buy breed,o