preach the sermon foh dat darkie dat
died. We ate dinner en supper at de church en sometimes the funeral foh
some fo de darkies wouldn't git preached till next August. We went to
dis funeral why we had big time talking wid our neighbors en of de
dead."

"Dogs howling meand bad luck if he howls under de house why someone is
goin ter die."

"If er owl come around de house on holler a death will happen in de
family fore de next day."

"I remembers I wat a sitting in de house en er peckerwood war a pecking
on de house 'Pure bad luck.'"

"I was working once foh Mrs. Shelton wen a little wren kept trying ter
git in de house an I kep a shosin hit arway wen he got in somehow jes as
soon as hit did Mrs. Shelton called me en I had a telegram from Chicago
my neice war dead. She by dat I nos dat am bad luck. I dont like wrens
any how."

"Wenn a cow loses hits cud, jes giv hit an old dirty dish rag en den de
cow will ding her cud again."

"Sometimes a cow gits sich en lay down en if you will fell her tail on
de end it is all soft, 'Dat cow hot holler tail, en less you split dat
tail en fill de holler wid salt den bind hit up dat cow will sholy
die.'"

"I asked Mary if she was superstitious and she said 'no, cos niggers are
edicatted dese days en dey don believe in all dat tom-foolery. Dey neber
would benn so foolish if de white folks did not tell us all dat rot.'"
Mary neither reads or writes and is not superstitious according to her
admission. What do you think of it. I am afraid that I do not agree
with. M.D.H.)

CLAY CO.
(Pearl House)

Sophia Word:

The following story of slave days is the exact words of one who had the
bitter experience of slavery. Sophia Word, who is now ninety-nine years
of age, born February 2, 1837. She tells me she was in bondage for
nineteen years and nine months. I shall repeat just as she told the
story:

"I wuz here in time of Mexican War and seed 'em get up volunteers to go.
They wuz dressed in brown and band played 'Our Hunting Shirts are
Fringed with Doe and away We march to Mexico'.

"My grandmother came straight from Africa and wuz auctioned off and
bought by William Reide Father. When he died William Reides inherited my
mother. Mother married a Bates and had ten of us children.

"Our Master didn't auction off his slaves as the other masters would for
he was a better master than most of them. When he started to sale one of
us he would go out and talk to the old slave tr