. Highways and byways of the South. ss or eiimii that he will stretch outon one of the larger boxes to enjoy a nap. A morearistocratic loitering-place than any provided by chanceor intention as adjuncts of the stores, is a group ofchairs at the rear door of the court-house. Everypleasant day these chairs are brought out into theshadow of the building and the near trees, where theyare occupied by some of the village worthies for pur-poses of mild contemplation and discussion. The court-house stands in the centre of the square,on a generous grassy oval that is separated from therutted sandy eart
. Highways and byways of the South. ss or eiimii that he will stretch outon one of the larger boxes to enjoy a nap. A morearistocratic loitering-place than any provided by chanceor intention as adjuncts of the stores, is a group ofchairs at the rear door of the court-house. Everypleasant day these chairs are brought out into theshadow of the building and the near trees, where theyare occupied by some of the village worthies for pur-poses of mild contemplation and discussion. The court-house stands in the centre of the square,on a generous grassy oval that is separated from therutted sandy earth of the rest of the square by a lowfence. The building is a solid, but rather batteredstructure of brick, with quite a pleasing air of sedate A County Seat in Alabama 7 77 age. On the lower floor are the county offices, andamong the other rooms is one reserved for the grandjury — a most rudely furnished apartment with a smallfireplace and a deeply sanded floor. This sand is, Ibelieve, intended to ameliorate the unevenness of the. A Favorite Loitering Place original floor of brick, which is badly worn, but itmakes the room look as if it had been prepared forthe caging of wild beasts. Upstairs is the court-room — a plain, old-fashionedapartment, heated by two small stoves. Its mostnoticeable characteristic is its odor of nicotine. TheSouthern men are famous smokers and chewers, and 78 Highways and Byways of the South they spit copiously and emphatically all day long. Ifthey are where a fireplace or stove is handy, they makethat their target, but in public buildings or convey-ances they drench the floors, and the court-room hadbeen thus soaked for two generations. 1 rememberwith what serious thoughtfulness and regularity thejudge expectorated on the occasion when I was had followed a squad of shackled negroes whom Ihappened to see conducted to the hall of justice fromthe jail, and I went in and looked on until theirlawyer — a young white man — was well started i
Size: 1873px × 1334px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorjohnsonc, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear1904
