The Big Sandy News

CURIOUS KENTUCKIANS.

Congressman Taulbee, of Kentucky, Tells
How His Constituents Live.

Representative Taulbee, of Kentucky,
comes from the mountain district of
that State, and he lives in the region
described in Charles Egbert Craddock's
novels. There are 16,000 square miles
of territory in his district. It comprises
twenty counties and has one of
the most curious populations in the
world. I talked with Mr. Taulbee
about it. Said he: "The district is
very well described by Charles Egbert
Craddock and the dialect is very much
like that she puts in her stories, though
I have never seen the language in
print before. The population is the
product of the frontiersmen of several
States. The first settlements in Ken-
tucky were along the Ohio river and
in the valleys of the Kentucky rivers.
As the country became more settled
civilization drove such of those of the
early settlers who liked hunting and
frontier life upward into the mountains.
It was the same with Virginia and
Tennessee. These huntsmen and
frontiersmen married and intermarried
and they have now become a separate
people like unto no other in the world.
They have been away from the civiliza-
tion of the railroad, the telegraph and
the daily newspaper, and they have
grown into a language and customs of
their own. They are a very patriotic
people and during the late war, if you
will look at the records in the War De-
partment, you will find that my Con-
gressional district furnished five Union
regiments. They are very simple in
their tastes and it does not take much
in my country to make a man wealthy.
If he has $2,500 he is considered
well to do. If he has $10,000 he is
rich."

"Tell me how the people live."

"There are very few towns, about
two only to the county, and these will
average about three hundred inhabit-
ants each.

"The ordinary house is a log one,
consisting of two rooms, with boards
shaved smooth with a draw knife, or
split, nailed over the cracks between
the logs. One of the rooms is used for
a sleeping room and the other is the
living room, dining room, kitchen and
parlor, all in one, in which the family
stay during the day-time. There is
but one sleeping room for a whole
family, and when they have guests
visiting them these turn in and sleep
in the same room. There are a num-
ber of beds used, and a stranger always
gets the best bed. They are very
modest with it all. They turn their
backs if they are up, while the others
of the family are undressing, or if they
are in bed they will cover up their
heads until you have completed your
nightly toilet. It is the custom, you
know, and I think our people are noted
for their large proportion of virtuous
women. Virtue is as much respected
in the mountains as anywhere else in
the world. These mountaineers are
very hospitable. They entertain you
and give you the best they have, and
if you offer to pay they will refuse and
say they do not make their money that
way. The little money they do make
comes from farming. You have heard
of the feuds of these mountaineers.
I have nearly a half score of murder
cases to defend in one county on ac-
count of them. I know a place where
two families have been fighting each
other for a generation, and where the
different families of the two tribes
never go out to work except in squads,
and they always carry Winchester
rifles with them."

"Is the country improving?"

Well, yes, somewhat; but civiliza-
tion comes slowly in the mountains.
We have not the best facilities for edu-
cation, and, though the people want
their children educated, they use native
teachers and they do not push matters
like you do in the North."—Washing-
ton Cor. Cleveland Leader.