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JIM LEWIS, TURPENTINE
WORKER
(Alabama)
Written by Helen S. Hartley
While driving on Highway 90 and nearing Padgett's Switch, which is located
just sixteen miles south of Mobile; and called so, for in the past
Padgett's Switch was a flag station on the Railroad. I suddenly discerned
in the distance across the fields a Negro man pouring turpentine into a
barrel. Leaving the car on the Highway, I proceeded to cross the fields,
but found it a hard matter because the ground was thickly covered with
underbrush, and together with briers and the dampness (for it had just
rained a few minutes before) made walking rather unpleasant.
When I had finally gotten close to the darkey he had finished the pine
tree he was working on and was slowly moving a small barrel to another
tree. He greeted me with a rather surprised expression upon his face and
with "Goodmorning, Mum," waited for me to speak. He was a tall man,
slightly stooped, although he is only thirty-eight years of age. He spoke
quickly in the true Negro dialect and often showed a good set of teeth in
a friendly smile. When asked what his name was his reply came quickly:
"Jim Lewis, Mum," and then he stated that he lived back in the woods, and
at the same time pointed toward the south. He continued:
"I got de bestest wife an' fou' chilluns, an' de three of dese are all
young 'uns an' have tuh go tuh school an' de older one gits work on de
farms here 'bout, but makes powerful little money, as de white folks
'round here are all po' and can't pay nobody nothin' no mo'.
Answering my question as to his health and the health of his family, Lewis
said:
"Thank God, I got mah health. 'Fore God health is de bestest thing in dis
world, I jest wouldn't take anythin' for mah health. No Mum mah family dey
ain't sick neither."
Lewis also said, "Where I'se came f'm jest north of Mobile, I used to git
a dollar and a quarter a day workin' as a yard man in de stills, but as
I'm livin' 'round here now ah hires out to what eber job I can git,
sometimes hits chippin', dippin' or haulin', I tries tuh make 'bout a
dollar and a half a day, but some days I sure do hafter hurry tuh git that
much, but I sure enough needs all de money I'se can git a-hold of tuh git
along on."
When asked if he was a church going
man, his answer came quickly:
"I was raised up a God fearin' man, but don't git me wrong lady, 'cause I
don't 'zackly goes 'round praying like my old woman an' makin' a show of
myself by getting down on my knees, but I sure tries tuh do right by de
Lawd, 'cause hit sure looks like de debil got the whip hand over the
world."
As Lewis was talking, he hesitated and slowly looked around, then suddenly
he exclaimed:
"My God, I do declare, look at dat" and without moving I looked on the
ground and saw as large a moccasin as I have ever seen, slowly crawling
along just a little to the south of where I was standing. Lewis picking up
a good size limb, which was lying on the ground he began to strike at the
snake. His hair becoming damp clung to his head from perspiration, the
sparkling of his eyes and the force of his breath was like whistling
through his teeth, showed the exertion he was under while killing the
moccasin. When the snake was killed, Lewis straightened up, and said:
"Well, dat ain't right, here us is, two grown-up people quiet-like talkin'
an' that thing comes along. You know I was downright skeered for a minute
'cause he was sure close tuh you, lady."
When Lewis quieted down I asked him about the turpentine business, he told
me that rosin was a gum that is obtained from the pine tree, by chipping
at the base of the tree and if "a fellow's a old hand at turpentin'." he
knows the cut should not exceed one-third the diameter of the tree at any
point, and additional "streaks" are chipped higher and higher and the sap
then drains into the "cup" which is at the base of the tree. The "cup" is
made of galvanized iron, zinc, or aluminum. I noticed that all the trees
in the immediate section we were standing in had only one "cup", but Lewis
said that trees up to fourteen inches in diameter generally has two cups,
while on larger trees three cups are frequently used. The gum or resin in
these cups are "dipped" or collected at regular intervals and hauled to
the stills, and Louis' job at the present time is dipping.
Lewis would not tell me where the still was situated, for when asked he
just answered:
"When I'se through fillin' this-one I jest leaves hit along de road a
piece and the other fellow gits hit."
Seeing that my visit was interrupting the negroes work, I left him with
the question unanswered.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Personal interview and experiences.
Week ending Nov 4, 1938
SOCIOLOGICAL SERIES.
Helen S. Hartley'
Identification No. 0149-5147
Federal Writers' Project Dist. 2
WPA Project #4454, Mobile, Ala.
Jim Lewis Padgett's Switch, Mobile, Ala.
Text from: Library of
Congress, Manuscript Division, WPA Federal Writers' Project Collection
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