The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1927, Page 19

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

19

of our country. The names, customs, and language
of Colonial times persist here to such an extent that
the people may be said to live the lives of Americans
in pre-Revolutionary days. They left the eastern
sections of the States for various reasons. Many
went for pure love of adventure; others went be-
cause the land was cheap; still others, because they
hated slavery.
Their Material Condition.

The Southern mountaineers live much as did
our fathers fifty to one hundred years ago. Their
houses are built of logs. A plain door and a few
windows, the latter often without glass, which can
be closed by heavy shutters, break the monotony of
the walls. Chunks of wood and mud close the cracks
between the logs. The huge chimney is made of
rough stones or of rail-like pieces of wood heavily
plastered with mud. At the foot of the chimney is
the great fireplace, which serves in many cases the
triple purpose of cooking, warming, and lighting.
One of the two rooms serves as sleeping-room and
to receive company. The other room is kitchen,
dining-room, and living-room and generally also
holds a bed or two. The furniture is simple and
scant. The cooking is mostly done over the open
fire in pot or pan or “dutch” oven. Corn bread,
flour biscuits, and bacon, with fowl and game in
season, make up the bill of fare. A few chickens
run about outside. Not far from the house is a
spring, from which runs a ceaseless stream of purest
cool water. And at the spring is a pot for boiling
and a tub for washing the clothes. The rude stable
shelters a bony horse and possibly also a cow. The
wagon stands outside. The farm tools are few and
primitive. A few fruit-trees stand near the house,
and a flower-bed or two are in the front yard.

In this simple home lives the mountaineer with
his wife and children. He does not look for pity,
and any show of condescension on the part of those
better situated than he is will be resented by him.
His isolation has cut him off from opportunity, his
poverty discourages effort, and improvidence tends
to seal his destiny. But he will readily respond to
any friendly efforts to help him help himself.

The Mountaineers’ Illiteracy.

Illiteracy is more general in the highland
counties of the South than in any other section of
the United States. The facts brought out during
the World War draft were truly appalling.. In some
of the mountain counties the school-year is only a
few months in length. The teachers are sadly in-
efficient, and parents are very neglectful in sending

their children regularly even during the short
school-term. The school-buildings, in most cases,
are rude log houses with very scant furniture.
Though not a few of the people may be intelligent
and thoughtful, their education is in most cases
very deficient.

The Religion of the Hills.

A small proportion of the mountaineers are very
religious, but as a class they are below the average.
Services are irregular and seldom average once or
twice a month. The preachers, in most cases, are
as illiterate as their congregations. The church-
buildings are old, dilapidated log cabins, and not
a few communities have no churches or services
at all. The belief of many of the highlanders is
really nothing more than a superstition. They are
frequently opposed to a trained ministry and wink

Hunter’s Cabin in the Great Smokies.

at the relentless feuds which have saturated their
native hills with blood for generations, often long
after the actual cause of disagreement has been
forgotten. It is an old saying that if a highlander »
likes you, he will die for you, and if he dislikes
you, you will probably die for him.

Great opportunity awaits the activity of the
Church in this region, especially as far as the re-
ligious care of the children and young people is
concerned. The stories that we hear told of these:
backward communities, of ignorance, of morally de-
praving conditions, and of the general physical,.
mental, moral, and spiritual .stagnation among
the thousands of poverty-stricken illiterate moun-
taineers — these revelations find their greatest
tragedy in the blighted and barren lives of boys.
and girls who would develop if they could.

Vast Missionary Needs.
Neither tongue can tell nor pen portray the tre-
mendous and appalling need of the backward hill
country of the Southland. It needs the whole