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11 September 1901 — Dolobran, Haverford, Pennsylvania | |
Wednesday. 11th [September 1901]. Woke very tired & having slept little from heat & mosquitoes. Mrs Griscom, Mrs Bettle & I were in the carriage at 11.30 starting for a drive to Conshohocken on the Schuylkill River when a telegram came for Mrs B. saying her husband wants her at N. York this evening to preside at a dinner he gives tonight to some business friends & their wives. She at once got out of the carriage & returned to her house to prepare to start off. It took us abt 40 minutes to drive to Conshohocken a dirty smoke place on the river with iron mills & mills & a railway station– On crossing the iron bridge we found ourselves in a long street of detached villas & one or two good houses—two good stone church—one episcopal & other methodist. Mrs Griscom went to a lawyer’s house in this street—& luckily found him at home & he got on the box of the carriage and accompanied Mrs Griscom in search of some property she wished to buy for some charity she is interested in. We found the trolly went a good way in the same direction & the different properties were mostly marked “for sale” & evidently it is expected a large town should spring up in that quarter. After looking about we drove back to Conshohocken & deposited the lawyer at his home & went on towards home. One of our horses lost his shoe but we picked it up & took it with us & got it put on by the next blacksmith we passed—& then drove on home in time for lunch. Rested after lunch. It was very oppressive & stormy & abt 3 the storm burst & there were torrents of rain. A Southern lady a Miss Hallmark came to tea– She is employed on some newspaper & is a personal friend of the Griscoms. She is a tall stately woman of about 35—was very nicely dressed in white muslin & had fine eyes. She spoke with a long drawl & peculiar accent. We talked of the storms which she said were far more dangerous in Virginia than here—& said that it was only the wind in a storm that frightened her– She had known of a whole house being carried away in a hurricane next to the one in which she was then living & said special rooms in the cellar were sometimes supplied for such a case of need. Nellie & I then led her on to speak of the south & the question of the negro population at which she became quite eloquent & said that the freedom of the blacks had inflicted enormous injury on the white. The former have become very indolent—refusing to do any work knowing that the whites are not permitted to allow them to starve—& that they must be fed even before the white poor. That the race was brutal & unfit for taking the high places in Govt & she said that no whites wd demean themselves by sitting down with a black. She said there was a Mr & Mrs Williams who have set themselves to try to get this prejudice overcome & were much annoyed with Miss Hallmark when she told them she could not sit down with a coloured sargent who had distinguished himself in the war. When Miss H. left Mrs Griscom said she had been on tenterhooks at the turn that the conversation had taken for the Northerns never entered into conversation on such subjects with the Southerners knowing they could never agree– Tho’ she sympathised with Miss Hallmark in her refusal to sit down to table with a nigger yet she thought the rest of ideas on the sad state of the South was greatly exaggerated. Miss Hallmark said that Mrs Williams had suggested asking the coloured sargent who was a highly educated man to join their party—at wh Miss H. said she hoped they wd not do so. “What,” said Mrs W. “will any one object to meet any one whom I thought fit to invite yesterday to my table!” “I do said Miss Hallmark & had I been of the party I should have risen & left the table when he took his place at it”– “I should not have thought there was any one left in America now a days said Mrs W. with such narrow minded prejudices. Mrs Rodman Griscom was with us at this tea meeting– Her husband returned in the evening having failed to attain his golf championship much to his family’s disappointment. Pansie returned very dejected & we were a quite little quartette this evening & went early to bed. It is finally settled that we were to start on Friday eveng in the private car “Rambler” for Buffalo & the Riaños will meet us there. Mr & Mrs Williams are to personally conduct the party & Aubrey Hollingworth to accompany us. The storm this evening was violent & the rain tropical coming down in sheets, but the heat was not much abated. | |
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