[Shave Them]

Document text

August 1, 1939
Enoch Ball (white)
223 Haywood Rd.
4est Asheville, U. C.
Villworker, barber, preacher
?.nne 4,inn Stevens, writer
1nevil1e, .1•
4s
SHAVE. TIE" VLSI.: DAIS; '')AVL :XNDAi3
Original NaMa0
Lamb Ball
Lattle Turkey Creek, C.
X C.
Tennessee
Virginia
South Carolina
West Virginia
Bob Self
Laurel Section
kadison Co.
Mitchell Co.
Asheville, X. C.
Grandmother Harrell
Simon Harrell
Chanaed Mime'
'&sra Burris
Lone Duck Creek
South beaumont
Unchanged
Unchanged
Unchanged
Unchanged
Jack Baker
Ivy Section
Jackson Co.
Haywood Co.
Beaumont
Grandmother Harper
$id Harper

Griizinal :lames
Red gill
California Creek
!qverside Amusement Park
kr. d 4irs. H. A. Dunham
SparUnburg,
%O.
Hartsville, S. C.
Gaffney, C.
Hamrick tails Co.
Dr. i'renberry
Lr. Taylor
Cherokee Co.
Florence. Cs
Portsmouth Vas
Atlanta
lashington, D. C.
New York
tvangeline Booth
Berney Heights, Weat Asheville
Deaverville Road
ChilnAltd Names
Unchanged
Colorada Creek
Unchanged
lira. Dart
Columbia, C.
Cokersville, S. C.
zauffton, C.
Hoskin Lills
L'r. Gates
kr. Tate
Muskogee Co.
Fayetteville
Norfolk, Va.
Unchangml
Unchanged
Unchanged
Unchanged
Hartwell Heights
Doerview Road

SHAYS Titi, iS; SAW Vali
zliNDAY3
Ezra 3uiria, stout and middle-aged, stood behind his
barber's chair, spreading later on tne back of a sr.all
boy's head. As ae smoothed tie latier wita a stroe.e of
his shaving brash, be coi_tinued tr4e argtment on the question
of liquor stores w1U te five-year-old'a t%ther, a stocky,
round-faced, young fellow with a shock of thick, black hair.
"But nawthin' could be worse 'n waat we have noW
interposed the round-faced you man i4.riously from his
seat on the bench against the wall. 'You can get licker
maywheres in this county..
So you think by openin' More places where liquor kin
be got, you'd eyore people of drinkine,* growled tzra,
pointing the rasor at his opponent. *Did you ever hear
of cyoring a haw g of *Ain' by ivin* him more swill?
Before prohibition, I used to drink liquor in 14 dif'runt
saloons in this towns But that didn't help the cause
of tem*prance none.,"
As Ezra tfaked„ h* revealed four front teeth missing
in his upiier jaw, and two in,hia lower. iiith expert
strokes, be shaved the back of the child's head, held
the shaving brush under the lavatory spigot for a mozents

then deftly removed tie lather from the child's neck. Then
.s picked up a much used towel, dried and a:noothed the
tow -head, removed the atrip of tissue from_tue child's
neck, and freed hi;i: from tie man-alzede enveloping apron.
Still ar4:uinti, ara aelpeu t,e boy climb a...4m from his
hizh perch on the astal aeat adjusted scrosita ems
of the man-sized, leather-cuahioned crud?.
The child er led delightaaly, and rejoined his
father on the bench maide the wall. His twine iaentically
clad in white ,,louae, lit blue ahorta„ and white sandals,
climbed eazerly up to the high perch. Nzra reached down
a powerful paw, and helped him make the ascent.
/he youngater, impressed with his own importance,
*Omitted to Ulla big apron and the tissue strip about
his neek. Sere -ran thiscumb through the child's blond
forelock, and with scissors poged in the air continued
the argument.
"If you know liquor kin be had anywheres, than it*
your duty as s good citizen to report that place to the
pilice," he said triumphantly, snipping off a bunch of
hair that slid to Join the peck or two already heaped
around the chair's base
g -What bood would that do?" inquired the ehildrenea
father. "The police knows about them places already.
They drink that', theirselvest"

•Ola
"Then if any p'liceman :244.14 t:ie stuff," contended Lzra.
-1A ‘iod-fearizz; citizen the you -are anould report him to
the higher authorities Rnd ,Let him dismissed.°
"But the police don't buy any licker." mainthined the
younger man. They air treated to it by the poutleg_ers,
so they'll keep quiet about waere it is.
As the argument waxed ti4e decond child's hair
was trimmed, the beck of his head soaped and shaved, the
soap, apron, and paper slip removed. ne metal strip on
which the child had been seated being removed, alma, the
father took his seat in the eclair, his abort legs not
quite reaching tae unadjusted footrest; and tne arzument
continued.
ifeenwhila twine freed from parental control first
wiggled up on the bench against the wall, and surveled
themselves solemnly in the finor-printed mirror opposite
the barber's chair. Uhat Uie/ saw there of their own
cropped heads and of tneir fatter, swathed in the big
apron, seemed to amuse them. Giggling, tiiey slid from
the bench and became bolder. The smaller one squatting,
ambled acres the roam, waving his arms in imItation of
a fri htened d,..ck. The lar.er twin t,Irned jitterbug.
while a row of some half-dozin youngsters of all sixes
gazed half in interest, half in contempt on such
childishness.

rheir father, diverted from his arostent, barked at
them to be quiet. They desisted for a aplit second, but
seeing him swathed in the biz apron, soaped and quite
helpless, &oily cos-,tinued t-eir imitations of tae circus
known to tiAem as animal life.
They are just being natural boys," commented ?I'zra,
as witu a snip, snip of Vail scissors, De set tae father's
black hair to join the heap alread/ accur.ulated on the
worn and suauv, ,reu-and-red linoleum on the floor of
the shop.
6haved, and released, tne round-faced young man
ambled off with the twin boys. Other bait; sliwed ins
barefooted boys with tousled heeds. torn shirts, and
baggy trousers, one trouser leg to the knee the other
-around the ankle' nest freshly dressed youngsters with
blond hair; blackhaired, undernourished boys in dirty
overalls. zach climbed up into the same, maw -sized
chair, was incased in the same cotton apron, and had
the lather removed from his neck with the same much
used towel.
For a while, the work proceeded in silence. Trucks
rumbled past. A Coca-Cola truck paused at t.i4e curb to
deliver bottles next door. The narrow sidewalk, and the
sharp curve of. the street threatened to pro.;ect a
furniture van tixough the unvv_sned windows. Beneath
the windows three dusty. cane -bottomed c_.airs stood

41111.54111.
emptly in -4:4 July sun. rise all low-ceilinaed rvom was
only less torrid than the street.
-.hen tas rough bench along tIle wall was filled, some
lar4;er coy cli:3.bed into the other iarz;er's chair to
:r.a.K.e room nr a feeble old an zir f.r a :-,tAxon. youn
!Leter wit4 a ?rim, stiffly starc.led little irl in
tow.
Two dingy white cabinets across tne room were
topped witn bottles of hair Lonic alai shaving lotions
in violent shades of red and purple. Above the
lavatory hung a leend boldly printed on gray cardboard.
It midi Th. Qui' Place you'll find Better Barbers
is in the Next tend. Bed labels on the mirrors
advertised remedies for hair and scalp.
-Sits,. stout, middl*-40d, heavy of Jaw, his square
face deeply lined, worked on with the regularity of
clockwork. Els thick, iron gray hair rose aggressively
from its part, drooped at the sides and was shaved as
close as any of his customers at the back of his head.
Els stiffly starched, white collar and black tie showed
above his belted, green cotton smock.
°I wouldn't wind telling you my story," he said
politely when I approached the aubject. "if I knew
exactly what you'd like to know."
"I've been told you are a preacher as well as a

barber. Is that so? I inquired.
wiz°, I'm aup-,Aiint at a. couL4ry church on a
he replied modestly, a;3 he continued hi a hair cutting.
"1 conducts the rAinday -choola, ?reaches at the morninl
:service, holds the youat, peoples' ;Ileeting in the after-
noon, and preaches again .Aanday niht. e aptist
;hurch in the country, where I was am?loyed reular,
was so bad in debt, it lost all it proiArty. The
mortgage
down.
"No,
on it was foreclosed, and it and to be shut
ma'am, I don't make any money at preachin'.
What I mad* when I was servinl four country churches
wasn't enough to pay ay gas and oil bill. Once this
wintsr. I went to a little country church in an ice
114 regular preacher never come. 50 :1 filled
in for him. The conowegation t9ok up a collection for
me, and paid me *10 to show their appreciation. But
that was un,.4ual. Anotner time, I held a big meeting
on Lone Buck Creek, la the tobacco fermis.* section.
The people there are real clever," a localism for
kind heartA. "*hen I come to o home, found they'd
fillcd t -e ,ack of my old sedan with araen stuff,
cyoceriee, and canned goods Of all kinds.
"But for the moat part, tie cnurcnes wire I preach
are very poor. The farmers are hard up. They cain't

afford to to pay a preacher much. Before I came tack here
and opened this shop ten year ago, I used to go around
in Tennessee and Virginia and hold big ,zsetin6e. thut
it was inconvenient and expe4ive taking my zamily *ith
I had 14 cail,aren.
wa'am,
haver left taem
behind. I didn't want to r,e separated from I
had a good offer just tne otter alai to 6o 'round hoidin,
revivals in Virginia. but I turn_d it down. eems like
I don't want t.„ leave home.
*Before I took up that evan,;elistic work in tile
3sptist church. I worked with the ZIalvation Army for
about 18 year. After I ,Acame a captain in the aalvation
Army, I was sent to difsrent places in Liouth Car'lina,
Virginia and the coal mines in West Virginia. The
Army sends its /workers a new place every two years.
Times got so hard 1 couldn't make a livin' for my
faely that way. So I rssigned from the Salvation
Army in 1927.
*then I come back here after resignin6 from the
Salvation Army, there wasn't anything for me to do on
Sunday but sit around and listen all the rest of my
days. I didn't want to do that. o when a Baptist
Evangelists Lrother Jack Baker, asked me to go around
with him and hold big meetings, I Joined in with the
Baptists.*

...,fter a few 1..uestiona on my part, -.L.zre embarked on
his life history, continuing hia work aa he talked.
"!4 f_ther„•' he said, 4wa. a day laburer. He uaad
to work for r.he city fur a dollar a day, after as col;ie
aere fr.)m tae ivy 3tion in Jackson U'ounty. 5e owned
a good farm in the country at one ti_e. But he waa a
hard drinker. de lost the farm. ha drank it all up,
"21 mother had gone back to live with my 4randmother
harper her ;Lother. ails died at ,-;:canau.otiler's when
I was six year old. After she died, my father went
away, and we didn't see or pear of him for sev'ral
piar.I lived with mj 6randmutner aarper."
Ezra applied the razor to the lathered hair above
fteenisysari-oldas ears, shavintg it to a neat point
the aide of the jaw.
"I went to school in a one-iroom schoolhouse,"
continued Ezra. "I had to walk three mile each way,
wad be in school by 7 o'clock in the mornin'. I
didn't get out 'til four in the afternoon. The school-
room benches was made of loo split in two. The smooth
aide was used for tile seat. The school was a subscription
affair. It lasted three month each year after the crops
was laid by. There want no public,: school thar in than
days. A lady school teacher went 'round and worked up
the first school I went to. That was in Aaywood County.

Later I went to school in inckson ';ounty. ,young an
worked up tae school taere. .en I was ten tear old. 1
stopped school. It would be 4ard to say- wraat 6rade
WO3 in. the school was all in olz room and didn't have
crudes. I was in the fifth reactor, and tf:e primary
arithcRtic. .ost of readin/ lessons I zot after
that, 7M3 fmri rea-din/ billboards after itt, took :sie to
3eaumont to live. =4nen I joined tne zolvation Armj
I waa 2 -en 1 ct inte-eated in rein' a st4dyini.
"The house in gaywood County, where I lived with
'Alrandmother Harper was made of 10,0. You could nizh
ialve.thrown a dug"throu6h the cracks. In *inter the
snow used to sift through them cracks at night, and
laeap)v inches deep on the beds. :There was a big
llreplace..where.you couldput_atree for a back log.
Ny Grandfather, Sid liarpez:, had a big farm. He
raised corn and wheat."
*And tobacco?" I asked.
Esra looked askance at the big-eied, listening
children. °Cnly as much as te wanted for his own use,
he conceded reluctantly, as ne reaced into a 41aes
ar on the nearest cabil,et for a fresh strip of tissue.
"Grandfather made *at:A:mai too, .and two -seated buggies.
He kept sheep. Le made my iira;.dmother a loom. She used
to card wool, and spin and weave cloth. She made me a

jeans auit for a Christr.as present. .y tyandf,-,t.ler made
me lest;ler shoes for hrLfla.
drandfatner's people were .%unkards 2ney had a
c%Irious -;:,-ay of :;aptizi. The; made t..e candidate stand
:au ae'd face down tne river. 2;lei dip,ed iii in the
river tre t1.L3, face d.;wnward, 'In tne aaukt of the
2atiler, the ,:on, and tLe Aoly Jhost. They believed
in 4itches. ,;randfzther was a witch doctor.
lihree 'ear ago, I went back there on a visit. .hers
was still a few Zunkarda left, and a small Dunkard church
at a place called Rod Hill.:
Uy grandfather Burris Lad a farectoo. He made
beaver hats tall ones like this.° Ezra dsomonstrated
t.1.11eir height with both hands scissors suspended on his
thumb Be used to get 66 apiece for them. Both my
grandfathers claimed they was lkish. They used to tell
treat tales about how they left Ireland and come to
thle'country. But I never paid much attention to these
stories. Earper and Burris sound like English names
to me. I doubt whether they was ever out of North
Caelina•
"After my father had been away two 'ear, ne come
back brin6ini another wife. He took me to a farm he
was livin' on at Colorada Creek, in Jackson County.
He was farmin' on shaves. He used to make about

-11-
&10 aeata a day; 'but not in He worked oaly or.a
or two ,1,;.1a a Jsek. ,;ometimes he'd bring home a big nuak
or fat back. .omettues he'd bring a peck of corn.
i4e
lived on cornbread, fat back, and ::.4.:ttermilk. e didn't
have no cows. The milk 'as „iven to as bj a rlah f:rmer.
who Ilad a fara 3crost te nil froD, us. Aobodi sold
milk in those days.
"I remez.ber we used to be told to take a1l `bites
of bread and meat, and large mouthfuls of butte ilk.
There'd always be plant/ of buttemilk, but n000dy
knowed when we'd get more bread.
gy stepmother. I_think, would have given her lift
for any one of us. but the was red-headed and hard to
live with. After we moved to town. and I was workin'
in the ootton mill at night. when I (some home I'd go
to sleep sitting in my *heir. -1.ky stepmothergd take
me by the hair, and throw as down on the floor. Then
she'd stomp on me. But I wouldn't like to have that
told. For I do believe that woman would have died for
any one of our family.
"Before we moved to town. I used to work on the
farm. We worked from daylight 'til dark, with an hour
for dinner. I hoed corn and suckered tobacco that
was pullin' off tone suckers. And I picked off tobacco
worms. The worms was three to four inches long
impudent fellows they was. They had a horn on the

4•11
tail. They was like these new autyzooiles. Lou couldn't
tell tv looking at gem what direction tivey waa likely
to t;o. 4hen t.ley waa distur.Ad, you couldrAear them
ritting taeir teeth.
'411sn I was ten year old, my f•toer .i..-0Vsz.J to town and
ben working for the power and l.Lat company. kie was
paid from 60 cents to a dollar day. He was trying to
do better about drLikin. le went to work at 7 in the
morning and co!le noise about five in the evening. Later,
he worked for t:-.41 city, cleaning and repairing streets.
He was paid at tbe same rate and worked lj hour a day.
"When I was 11 yetr old* I began working in the
cotton mills. At first I learned to tend a frame.
After I'd learned how* I got ten cants a night. I
worked 12 hour on a shift* with a half hour off for
lunch. Six frames was as much as anions was allowed
to tend. The work paid ten cents a frame Being a
beginner* I was allowed to tend only one frame.
"Later* I was put to work picking up quills. The
workers would gather the empty quills (spindles) in
baskets and carry them downstairs to be refilled. I'd
gather up those that fell on the floor. It was my
business to keep the floor clear of them. I got 25
cents a day for that. ?or a while I wwa a water
boy* and carried water to the an that was putting

-13
up new buildings.
°hen I got older, I learned to put tae quills in
place after tiley'd been refilled. That paid 5 cents a
day. ;;.hen I got older yet, I learaeu weavin4;. It was
:piece work and varieU, tg.A. after I land learned it Lood,
I made about 41.50 a duje
"How's that?" he asked above t.aa roar of a passing
truck. "Did you ask if we had any recreatioa: None,
only playini maroles on :..at*day afternoons, and all :lay
6unday. We'd 'go up on the hill above tne mill village
and play there. iiet called tie 6ame *roll hole.' After
we'd won all a boy's marbles we'd give 'em back to him,
so we could win 'em all over again.
no used to go swimmini in the river down by the'
railroad yards.,- Ito Imter was filthy there. It was
as black as ink. Father had forbidden ma to go swiamin'.
I used to slip off and go. I learned to swig 40 400d I
used to swim clean aorost the river. Mere want no
other amusements Itil the Riverside Amusement Park
opened up.
%ben I coma home Sat'day noon with my pay envelope.
I'd turn it over to pa without even openint it. He'd
talc* it, open it, and so out to pay the grocery bill
or whatever else he had to pay* He had a big family

to support. There was 8 of us. But hia faily was never
as big as mine care to be. 'Til I was 14 year old, I
never opened my on pay envelope. young people was treated
different in them days. I wasn't allowed even to speak
when Pa was talkin".
"On 'Zat'day after I'd given my pay elivelope to
I'd gO back to the mill, alid w..rk all afternoon cleunin.
looms. we was paid 5 cents for every six lo_ms we
cleaned. I used to buy all my own clothes with the money
I made that way. You could get a good suit of clothes
then for 42.60.
*When I was 18, I left home, and lived with a friend
of aims in the mill village. I paid 42 a week for a
room. was_makin 418 every two week* then.
*I got to running ground with a hard drinking set
of mill boys. We used to meet in a room where Wheathearts,
a breakfast food, had been stored. vie was called the
Uheatbearts. I drank considerable those days. I could
,et whiskey at 14 different sabers. We boys used to
make the rounds of ttets all, drinkin' at each one.
lot of drunken factory workers used to gether round
the 1:outhern depot with their 4tins. They'd shoot at
the feet of the people trAt would pass by, emakini
them dance.' they called it.
°At niobto drunken crowds used to ao up town and
tear down aunin's, and do otner deviLieut. Nobody was

safe in those days, even in jail. f:ireat bid, fat women
would get drunk on the town square. It would take two,
strappin. p'licemen to put one of tie ti in the patrol
wagon it was called the Black ia we called it
the Cat. I've seen tAem big fe.t drunk women when they
were being put in the wago, kick out of the door and
knock a policeman down.
The saloon keepers in those days were big, brutal
fellows. They'd just as soon throw a an out in the
streets a.::A.1 tromp onhix. iy bpother wasa aard drinker.
He was practically Killed by a barkeeper.
kine night he was drunk in a: saloon. He got fresh
with ble tongue. That made the barkeeper mad. Be
leaped4a4ght. over the bare Jumped on my brother, threw
him out in the.atreet.,and tromped on his face. 4.
:brother was so sashed up you couldn't hardly have
known him.'
micilen I was about 22 /ear old the Salvation Army
came to town and started a big meeting in the old
Mathadist church that Mr. and Mrs. Dart had built on
Factory Hill. That was in 19W Me and my wife both
went to the meeting. Zs was coaverted tAe first night.
Before we were married my wife was a weaver in the
cotton mill. She wove on the loom next to mines She
kept on workin' there for twit.) or three years after we
was married. Then she left the mill. well, we was
converted and married the same night.

-13
"After 1 was converted, I stopped drinkini. The other
toss in the gang made fun of me. They perscuted me at
first and prophesied it wouldn't be long before I'd be
back drinkint with 'em. But I went ri.1.;ht on livin' riht.
.7,efore lone tile/ ban „oin to t.le maetin„;„- too. Chet by
one t::.ey was converted. There was 350 people converted
at that biz meeting. Us boys that had been called the
'iheathearts from t„ storeroom Lere we used to meet,
was now celled the -Aseethearts peening good hearts.
"Ws boys taat joined the salvation Army was anxious
to get to work for t4e Laud. 4e wanted to wear trill
uniform of the Salvation Army. But we didn't have
any sone, for uniforms. So we went up town, and bought
us dark blue caps with visors. The Salvation Army
captain got us ribbons stamped with the name of the
Army. Ve put the ribbons around the caps and wore
the caps to the mill.
"The foreman didn't like the AZW. So they made
it hard for us. gy foreman used to persecute me. He'd
curse me, and keep lookini all over my weavin' trying
to find flaws in it. If he found a flaw, he'd abuse me
and curse me out. That was Vie way foremen did in those
days. They thought they must keep the mill workers in
order by swearing at them and abusin4 'em. They's
far from doing that way today.

-17
"After I joined the alvation Army, I'd work at the
cotton mill all day, and hold meetin's at nit. I got
to Le a serant-major. I wasn't paid any in for the
work at first. I just chose to do it.
As a Loy slid out of te cLiair and scooted to the
door, ;:zra paed in his narry,tivt to point his scissors
at the line of toys seated on u;e bench against the
wall. "Mich of jou 'zvoya is next?" he inuired. A
hatchet faced boy leaned forward..
"Come on you!" said Ezra eirs-ling the boy out with
a wave of the hand.
winlienI was 23," he continued, as he adjusted the,
fresh strip of tissue around the boysivmeck, *I left
line.cotton sillvbecause-the foreman kepi on'persecutint
.ms. I sot a.room acroet from the mill and set up as a.
barber. I didn't know athing about cuttinl hair. I
didn't have any lessons in barbering I had to teach
ayself.
"First of all, I bought a chair. It could be
folded up to a sitting position, or stretched out flat,
out it couldn't be swung 'round and 'round. It wasn't
that kind of Wailes I used to have to walk all 'round
it to get at the custotier. I didn't even uave money
enough to buy a razor. I'd get those that used to be
given away with boxes of a certain kind of coffee.

-13
They weren't no good, of corse. I got myaelf a pair of
scissors, but I didn't have any clippers.
'T o millworkers and railroad men used to come to me
to get their hair out. I don't know why they came. I
had everythin to learn, anu tnere was a ,;ood tarter shop
zt.crost the street. One railroad man said he always come
to me to have his hair cut when he was drunk, because
then he could go to sleep, and couldn't feel it when
I pulled his hair. Them railroad men was fine fellowsi
"I worked up t e business so good I was gettin' 460
a week reg'lar. I,would work all day and hold meetings
at -night. Three al ht. In the week I held meetings out
at doors on the streetcorners. The others was held
indoors. Lots of people would call on me to bold
funerals when any of their folks died. I,d close the
shop and lock the door and go and have the funeral,
sometimes in the morning sometimes in the mdddle of the
afternoon. When I'd come back to the shop, I'd find
6 or 8 men sitting on the curb in front, waltini on
me. God was aood to me, I guess, because I was doin'
His work.
"When I gave up the barber shop to become a lieutenant
in the Salvation Ary, I was sent to ,:olumbia, S. C. I
was paid 44.8 a weak. After I had worked as a lieutenant
awhile I was promoted to captain. I worked in six small
South Carolina towns, doing evangelistic work. That was
my territory. I used to hold as many as 10 street corner

-19-
meetin.A a Jay.
'Che day in okersville, S. c;., I was arrested for
prechin° on the street. .he chief of ptlice come up and
touched me on the shoulder when 1 was preachin'. I turned
to aee what he wanted. 'ome to gle to pilice headivartere,
sez he. I turned Lack to the crowd and finished my sermon.
hen 1 was throu6h and had dismissed the crowd, he come
up atlain. 'I'm arreatin. you', he said.
*He took me to the p' lice court. The judge there was
a young red-headed fellow a good sort. The chief shoved
me to a seat, and turned 'round and locked the door.
There vas esvtral qicemen sitting 'round. Nobody said
earthing. Sverything was dead quiet for seviral minutes.
Then the judge asked,
**What you been doing to get arras d. Captain?'
**Ask the chief,' I said. 'He brought me in'.
"He w preachins on the street corner', said the
chief.
"Were you oc,structin' traffic on the street?' asked
the judge.
"Ask the chief', I said.
6 "No', said the chief, 'He and the crowd wasn't
obstructin' traffic on the street.'
The judge turned to me. 'Were you lockinl up the
sidewalk so nobody could pass, coming or goingby?"
**Ask the chief', I said.

"'No, f.te wasn't blocking tne sidewalk, judge,' said
the chief.
"Then cnief, what did y -u arrest him for?' asked
the judge.
4uAt11, sald tae ciif of 2olice, 'If an
autymobile had co Lm down ti4 street going 30 :4ile an
hour, twat crowd was so thick socilebody would have been
killed before tray could nave &.7t way.'
"How about it, capgn iirris'eg asked tae jutUe.
"'Seems like the dAy 1 coae into this town,' ssz.
4.9
'I read a sin what says, ".Speed limit 15 mile."
"'You have something good there, capin Burrispesaid
the judge. "'Case dismissed'.
'Another time.' continued zra, n was sent to
Bluffton, S. C. to get up a big sleeting there. I had
to collect funds to pay. tile exiOnses of the meeting.
I -went to the president of one of the cotton mills,
and told him what I had to raise. Ho said, 'Capone you
-do a lot Of good amon6 the millworkers. Here's imy
check. I'm glad to help you. Be turned and wrote
out a check and handed it to me. It was for 4E100.
"Then I went to the president of the Hoskin Mills,
the other cotton mill in Bluffton. The president knew
who I was. I'd buried a whole famtly that worked in
his mill. They was four in the femill. They all

died of typhoid fever about the saws time. I had a friend
who was an undertaker. hen I told him about this poor
family, he furnished me four cheap coffins free. I had
the famPly buried. ihe president f the oakin 1111
:knew about this.
"How much did tat other mill president ,,ive you?'
he asked. I told o he wrote me out a check for
4500. Then I..°
"kAait a minute," I bef.ed. "Tell me about t:,ose
cases of typhoid. ihat caused them:"
°There was a epidemic or typhoid in Bluffton," ha
said. "Mori Will about 10 or 16 cases in that one mill
villas It came from drinking well water. The sanitary
eenditiOne was very bid. Atter the epidemic broke out,
the health authorities -had an investigation. Sanitary
conditions was improved after that. Lea, there was other
cases in the town, but moat of gem was in that village.
That was in 1923. Mill villages everywhere is a long
ways ahead of what they used to be. :The mill owners never
used to have the houses painted or repaired. The sanitary
conditions used to be bad. They're some better now.
"Sell,I had to collect 42,000 for that bi eetin'
at Bluffton. The next pe.lion I went to was lir. Tate,
the preacher at the First &ethonst Church. I asked him
if heed give out tv.e schedule c.,f services from his
pulpit the coming Sunday. Be swelled up.

s't.p44;00
"Cap'n Burris,' he said. 'I wouldn't do anything
for you to sLive your life. lou 11 find all the preachers
in this town is co;.hined againat you. How. much ;Done, have
you got to raise?'
"I've zot to get 42,000,1 I answered, 'before I can
bein the ?peetin'.
"'You'll never raise tat mue izoney in this town.
Good day,the said.
"Then I weLA to Dr. Liates, the preacher of tae liret
Baptist 'IlLirzh. i.ne of his deacons vicas head of the
coomittee that had arrtingepents in charge. Dr. C;ates
said he'd never announce any of my meetins from his
pulpit. He said he didn't approve of them.
Mat's -with you, Dr. Gates' I said. 'But before r
go can I have. -a word of prayer with you?' I didn't wait
for him to answer me, I fell oirmy knees where I was.
prayed for him, for his board of deacons, for his
congregation' for his work, for the other churches in
the community, for the sill owners, and millworkers,
for the mayor and other town officials. when I had.
prayed all 'round the world, I got up, put on my cap,
and started to the door.
"Coma back a. minute, Cap'n Burris, called Dr.
Gates. He t4-ok me by the arm and led me into the
office next his study where his secretary was. Hs
told the secretary to make a copy of my schedule of

44.1.4R.
services and to make out a cneck for 4,50 payable to me,
and t„ive it to him to sin.
411,e and my helpers raised 4.,300 in ,-1.11ffton. de
had a bik: meetint„ tAere rare wa áO people in the
chumh every evenind.. it was fllea to caclty. there
was 350 conversio_s.
"I had some -lter experiences in zluffton. I was
called to the Negro section one day, to a Aegro girl
whose baby had Just died. The baby was so amall my
friend, the undertaker didn't have a casket tiny enough.
e had to bury the infant in a cheese oox. fest we
did a good deal of work among the destitute iegroes in
BlUfften. but of course, moat of the charity work we
done was with the destitute whites.
*Another time, a big Bohemian died in one of the
mill villages. 84 was so hfte the undertaker didn't
have a casket big enough. He had to be buried in a
coffin box. It took 8 an to lift that box after be
was in it.
"One day I was pr aching on a street corner in
Bluffton acrost from a moving picture house. People
came and went. They'd stop for a minute, then pass me
right by and go into that picture house. Those that
stayed to the service was indifferent like. They
was cold to me. I couldn't move tem. $o the next

-24-
lzra commented. "It's the fault of the parents. ;hey
don't exercise no control over their children. they let
them run wild, and go wherever they -.Aant tc. ;.lo, I don't
think young folks la any worse than they used to be. But
there i more of them tnat',4 wild. -.;eeits like a
take his wife into a reatauraLt ruzde to have a q-olat
meal these days, without seeing girls smokin ci„arettes
and drinkinl beer. ;Aad 3-ed xe.t4 dri;;;.kia, and hear ttem
curse, and at some of tLiese eating places the jouri
folks dance.
A young mother seated with all daughter awaiting
their turn chimed in.
Toting people do very wall," she said with Immo heat,
onsidering what Uky have to a tend with, and the
temptations they are up against. They used to do just
as bed, or worse when you were growing up, I guess. But
they didn't some out into the open like they do now. They
were ely and underhand with their meanness. Then, again,
folks is a lot more tolerant now than they used to be."
*That's *of" agreed Zzra. "It used to be if a woman
was aeon taking a drink of licker, or if she smiled at
men and talked to them on the street, she'd be looked
on as bad, and driven out of the community. People is
broader minded than they was." then the young woman
had left, li.zra commented, "1 came near getting myself in
bad with that young dame, didn't I.*

iow does tile oalvation Arr,,,y_ pay it.3 officarai" I
inquired. ell, it's accordin6 to ao man' caildren a
man nesot replied -zra. t4ourse waen I started la
to oe
j.idn't neve DA .:4tt, every
cnild that ca,;.a, 1 IlikJ paid more. ,en L ieft taa
ettint; „0.-3 a week i I ould collect it.
When 1-,bet;un te. work, taers wgoat no ,;ommunity ohest.
just went 4rou;Ai t uainess men's offis kit our
tambourines and collected what we could. If we collected
enough to run the work and pay our own salaries we was
lucky, If we didn't collect the money, we just didn't
'et our wags.
liSoms captains that work in big towne has to have
ailleutenant-to.help. them with the work. The lieutenant
has to be paid a regilar salary. US a week.. But I
didn't have to iet a lieutenant. My whole family used
to help. My wife helped with the work; mg oldest son
played on the bass drum* ay oldest daughter played
real good on the horn. She has her horn yet and
still plays on it sometimes. We'd all wear uniforms and
hold services on the street corners. The smaller children
carried the tambourines.
*When I worked with the aelvation Army in Norfolk.
they'd just put an the Community Chest. I didn't like
it as well. We used to collect .mare the old way.

II didn't atay but a nw months in Norfolk. I was
sent from tnere to tne coal mines in ,ieat Virginia. At.
that time tne miners clt hin waes. They-wac zenerous
with tIleir i:loney. 1 lived in several minin; tOi;n5. The
housin en..1 sanitary conditions a%..oni; the :_-liners
pretty bad. or livint ,uarters were rough. 2:ot
as good as the 3alvation Army Headuarters are here, or
those I had in outh Carolina and the lari,:er towns in
Virginia. The public schools in the mining towns was
ood. My children all went to school there. eut th4.
last year or two I stayed at the mines, the miners were
hard pp. The mines was closed down a great deal of the
tins. I 3ut couldn't support my family there. to
came -back -here to -Beaumont
The- Salvation Army used to require its officers
to go to annual conferences. The most interesting
conferences was the ones they had in Atlanta, Nashington,
and New York. The one in New York was a great sight!
There were 3,000 Salvation Army officers marching in
line up Broadway. I was marching in line with 'em. There
was 18 brass bands playin' „;ospel hymns. Commander
Evanolline Booth was there. _She spoke to us in a big
convention hall. She was the most powerful speaker
ever heard.
"When I came back here and opened up this shop, I

figLered out that men witn famalies couldn't afford to
payLiuca lin!.r cut. ao I iu-
out ti -4e. aign you :ae outsiet '3urris sizop,
hair cut, cents.' I car4-a all onilreil z. o
:lo. t:.ey are iz :;cboal.ui.;chool and
colles at_..je:..t..1. too. Lou see my. s.:2-ulz. of ;rice
on the wall there?" fas price list raaa %,.aircut.
Qentai
1 contai t-nic. 1, c.:nts;
oasa.cze. _6 cLtia.' At the fact o: gird were tile
words, "It pays to look well."
The Barbers' Union, declared Ezra, "has ftught me.
They want me to charge 25 cents for cutting children's
hair and 45 cents for cutting men's hair. But with so
'Inuchlmemployment and low %noes, t_eir prices don't
seem fair to me.
I get as much work as I kin do. The first of
the week was slack, but today -to makin' up for it. I
have a man to help me on Satidays. lie has another job
tzle rest of the week. And a white boy ass his bootblack
stand hare every 6at'day. I make about 435 to 445 a
week. Cna week lately I made 455.
"The Barhers' Union nave it in for L,e, because I
cut prices. -o aLlout four year a,o, tej had me arrested
for workin overti.e. I work accord _g to tneir hours
from eLht o'clock in the mornint to seven o'clock in

the evenin'. On ,-,at'days I'm allowed to work ttil nine
p.m.
That is, I must close the doors ad lock 'em at tie
closin. hours. I'm allowed to finish up with the custoL:ers
that are already in.
the e'ourth of July .‘;otre on a _at'daj tat.
That Wa4 about four fear iik&o. iaourse. was
to close the shop on that day. But I read in the hewspaper
that batiday aours would be observed on _riday. u1r third.
o I kept my shop open 'til olcIoci, on iriday nie;at.
There was two barbers a-watcaiuti me acroit the street.
At nine o'cloc.; that evenia', just as I'd closed the
door, two pilicemen come to my shop.
'I can't let you in,' I -said. J'This is cleil!a'
tile* YOU gotAo let us in Zapthl'-taey said. 'jig
era sorry about this, but we've got to arrest you for
workins overtime.'
"Well, they took no to the courthouse before the
judge.
'Judge, I can give you bond,' I said. 'Thatwon't
he necessary,' sez he. 'Your face is euff.Lcient.
aura to ooze up here when your case is called.'
"That case dragged on for one month. I went to the
courthouse and waited round every day for it to be
called. Every day they kept puttini it off. 1 found
out that the lawyer what was to try tat case was in
sympatny with the Berbers' Union, so Igot a lawyer of
my own. I won the case all right.

_
have a nice little hoLe ih-the .:ountry out on the
teerview ".oad z;eyond artell eighta and tLe hosiery mills.
It has an acre of ,-„xound, a.4 hcue wit n aever DOOM3.
There's L. of ua aits down at table tnere every 3.
My father livea with me. ",-ia'a 38 years old but Ue ern
still zet arou d. t,eta out aoma every
36y *ifs's :-.ad 14 cnildreni 1-,ut she's still .iale and
hearty. weins 1Jz;ound. ,e raja d 11 of t':e 14
children. j olaest Uaeintel's come back to live with
us now. ;;;he's married a -d hac Ler three children with
her. There's 3 of my child.on still living at home,
besides my oldest deughter. y youngest is 6year old.
I e sae*, in achool pot, Be wasn't old anouzh to go last
year.
"All of ay children that are p14 enou4h has graduated
from high school except ay oldest son. Nis eyes gave
out in the last year of high school, so he had to quit.
But be got himself a good Job with the Southern Railroad,.
Nets married and livinl in Louth Caelina. Us second
daughter's married, too, and livint away tram home. I
have six grandchildren.
"They are a fine set of children. I've never seen
them take a drink of liquor not even of beer. I've
never caught lem smoking seegars or cigarettes. I've
never heard of them dancing. They don't go away from
home much. Not that I make them stay there, but they

don't seem to care to zo anywneres but to church, I brought
elm up that waj.
'VI slim, nently dressed, solemn lookin found man came
into the aLop, arli talked to ftra in an undertone. fter
:ne had _zra iai j 32coud toj.
6Taduatedfroi. school wiLd all -Lie no.1,ors*
couldn't sat, no job at first, but he's workint in a
fiUi:-4-tatio up the street a piece, now.
4Cne of ml i1s learKs in a drug store. ,inotner
worka in tae hosiery mills just a e„:,inner. he
works four dels in te week :and aakes ',A3 a week. :).0Calit
of the workers who are experienced make more. The/ are
paid by the piece there.
--A' man _came in with some tjped sheets of manuscript.
After be left, Ezra brouzht them over to show them to
°This is an article I've trittig to o in the newspaper
in thePeople's Sorum." he said. °X don't know as it
will get printed." The article. an argument in favor
of prohibition as ggainst A.B.C. stores, was mainly a
list of texts drawn from the Bible; such as. *Wine is
a mocker; stron dri:lk is ragin a:1d he that is decieved
thereby is not wise. The marriaze at Cana of cialilee
was not mentioned. 30 far the Peoples' Yorum has not
publitmed 1::yera's contrib_tioa, and as t-ne issue has been
temporatilj settled since Ezra wrote tie letter it
La not likely tobe. But it doubless would have pleased

Ezra's congregtions.
You know," Ezra said, as I rose to leave, "I'm
writing the story of my life. I haven't .-ot very far
yet. 3ut talkia,E tainls over this way has helped me.
It has made my experiences clearer in my mind.
"As I waited for the bus, I took anotL.er look at the
barber ehop. From the street, the one-story, flat -roofed
building looked very small.