Europe or after a few years' sojourn in the United States, can endure the climate, withstand fever, and produce better crops of cotton than the average negro. The Italians have often demonstrated their ability and willingness to work and their superiority to the negro, both as growers of cotton and as desirable and responsible tenants. The Italian makes 50 per cent more out of a crop of cotton than the negro does, and is never satisfied with his returns; the negro seems to be perfectly satisfied with his crop and his condition, and very seldom is there one who tries to profit by the example of the Italians. SOCIAL LIFE AND STANDARD OF LIVING. Sunday at Sunnyside is a day of rest, worship, and celebration. During the other six days of the week, from March to December, the entire group is working in the fields from daylight to twilight. Nothing hinders them except rain, and even a wet day may not keep an Italian away from his cotton field. On Sunday mornings most of the Italians attend church, some going on horseback and others walking. As a rule they arrive at the church early and before the service begins discuss various topics of the day. Sunday afternoon and evening is spent in visiting. Frequently one man has a dance at his house, and all the men attending contribute toward the expenses. Dancing starts about 4 o'clock in the afternoon and usually continues far into the night. The dancing floor is often not more than 16 feet square, and sometimes as many -as 20 couples crowd into the room. On these occasions whole families are in attendance. On Sundays the Italians make some attempt to dress well, but on week days they wear anything that is comfortable and wearable. Both men and women work barefooted in the field all day. The negro, on the other hand, may buy a pair of patent leather shoes on Saturday night, wear them Sunday, and be seen plowing in the field Monday morning in the same shoes. In most matters of dress the Italians are Americanized, but at the same time they are very shrewd, careful buyers. and purchase clothes only when they really are in need of them. The women cling to the old custom of wrapping a shawl about the head and shoulders when they are out of doors, and they frequently dress the small children in attire similar to their own. The negro buys whenever he has the money, chooses the most flashy styles and colors, and cares but little for their wearing qualities. While the Italian houses are slightly neater than the negro cabins, neither as a rule keep their dwellings in good order. The small two or three room cabins are so crowded with children and so encumbered with household utensils that the Italian housewife would be busy most of the time if she tried to keep the house in order; but her time is occupied in the cotton field and the matter of housekeeping is only secondary. In the Italian house one finds very little furniture, and a considerable part of it is homemade. At the company's store an attempt is made to cater to the wants. of the Italians. Fish, salt meat, macaroni, and various other articles of Italian diet are shipped direct from Italy to the store, so there are few articles of food desired by the Italian that can not be obtained on the plantation. But the Italians, as a rule, are not heavy purchasers at the store. Every Italian house has its garden which provides much of the food consumed by the family, and somewhere on the farm is usually a small chicken yard, for chicken is a favorite food with the race. A few families of Italians keep a hog, to be killed and dressed for the family pork barrel, while the negro, as a rule, purchases his pork at the store. Many of the Italian women walk half a mile or more to the banks of Lake Chicot, which borders the plantation on one side, in order to do their washing. They stand at the water's edge, using a smooth board on which to rub the clothes. Much of the cooking is done out of doors, and back of most Italian houses is a place where a fire can be kindled and over which is placed a large iron kettle, sometimes copper lined. In this the Italian wife boils water when it is needed or cooks stews or pieces of meat. By using this and the cement oven near by the Italian can get along the whole year through without a stove, since most of the cabins have a fireplace which may be made to serve for cooking as well as for heating during the winter months. Occasionally one of the Italians gives a large barbecue and invites his friends, including the overseers and foremen of the plantation to join him. Roast lamb, roast pig, and roast chickens are cooked in large quantities after approved southern methods, with the necessary vegetables. Italian pastry and wines complete the menu, and great merriment is customary at these gatherings. This form of festivity is interesting as an adaptation or an Italian adoption of an old southern custom. Every Saturday afternoon the plantation company runs a passenger train over its whole line of track. The train stops wherever there are passengers, generally at every cabin, and brings the occupants to the steamer wharf, near which is located the post-office, the company store, and the doctor's office. Negroes and Italians come in to do their weekly purchasing. The Italians pay cash for all their commodities, while the negroes induce the overseer to sign a credit slip allowing the holder a dollar's worth of goods. Late at night the train is run back over the road, taking home the tenants with their groceries and articles of clothing. These weekly excursions give the Italians an opportunity for social diversion which they thoroughly enjoy. Sometimes the Italian band of 6 or 8 pieces assembles on the store veranda to furnish music for the dancers who gather inside. The negroes dance and sing among themselves or gather around an old "crap" table, where they can participate in their favorite game as long as their money holds out. Apart from the social dances and visits the Italian seems to take very little outdoor diversion. During the evening hours or on Sunday afternoon one may find groups of young men playing the Italian game of "boccia." In this game heavy wooden balls are thrown or rolled on the ground to a given point. The game is similar to quoits, except that balls are used instead of iron rings or horseshoes. On these Saturday afternoons the Italians and negroes come in on the same train, but they remain apart. In the store an Italian will speak to a negro if he is his neighbor and the negro may in return carry on conversation for a minute or two, but that is all. The negro is apt to look down mon the Talars smy they were told to kert ivit for the names $7. Italians seldom spend the 5 NETS DANSSE and some of them have not been off the ta five years. There are on the plantation only & Amennants Byav all in positions of authority, and the Italians have per lite és to associate with Americans except to tastes ay ak through the fields each morning meeting the work of the varia tion, and the Italians, very desirous to be seen, either ware a band or hat until their salute is recognized. The women and children sid largely in the production of the cotton crop. Many of the women can manay a mule and guide a rlow ss well as the men. In chepping out the cotton women handle the hoes as quickly and skillfully as the men. The young boys and girls are given light hoes, and under the guidance of their parents they soon learn to hoe the cotton. At picking time the whole family works in the cotton field until the last boil is picked. The Italians learn a little English, send their children to school rather irregularly, and wear Amèrican-made clothes. This is as far as they go. They evidently do not care to acquire landed property or to become American citizens, and it is said that many intend to go back to Italy when they have saved a sufficient amount of money. OPPORTUNITIES FOR EMPLOYMENT. For outside employment the Italian and his family have very little time. They devote all their energies to the cultivation of their own crops, so that most of the general work on the plantation has to be done by the negroes. All the work on the Italian farms is connected with the growing of crops; for each family head intends to operate all the land the family can attend to, and the Italians do outside work only at irregular intervals, generally when the weather is so bad that they can not cultivate their own crops. Occasionally an Italian hurries through his cultivation so that he may be able to work for even a brief time plowing or picking cotton in his neighbor's field. The average farm hand at Sunnyside receives 75 cents to $1 a day of ten to eleven hours. As a rule, the negro makes a better field hand than the Italian, because he responds more quickly to the commands of the overseer, holding the boss more in fear than does the Italian, though the Italian talks less with his fellow-workers. Women can work in the field as well as men at hocing cotton, and when they are thus employed they receive from 50 to 60 cents per day of ten hours. Rarely, good women hands may receive 75 cents per day. Children who work in the field at hocing cotton receive from 30 to 60 cents per day of ten hours. At cotton picking all the workers, men, women, and children, negroes and Italians alike, are paid about 50 cents a hundred pounds for the seed cotton they pick. This price varies somewhat according to quality of the cotton and the number of available pickers. In some years the price goes as low as 40 cents when the season opens, and in other years it reaches 70 to 75 cents per 100 pounds. An adult earns from 75 cents to $2 per day picking cotton when "picking is good." RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL CONDITIONS. Since the colony began a church, presided over by an Italian priest, has been a feature of the colony. Services are held every Sunday and all church holidays are observed. The priest in charge at the time the Commission's inquiry was made was educated in Rome and after teaching there two years came to Sunnyside to take charge of the congregation. There has been a schoolhouse at Sunnyside since the Italians first came. At first the school was in charge of a priest and 12 nuns, but within the past few years the school has been placed under the control of the school district. However, the Italians care very little about the public schools and they send their children very irregularly. A few years ago the Italians decided they would all send their children; a teacher was secured and the date of opening posted. The school opened and continued open for eight days, but not a child appeared. A second notice was sent out with a warning attached that if a good attendance was not secured the school would be closed. The next day 5 children came, the second 20 appeared, the third day only 3 came, and soon the school closed for lack of pupils. The parents say that the school was started too near to cotton picking. In April, 1909, a visit to the district school that had been running five months showed 40 names of Italians on the school register, but only 6 had attended more than three-fourths of the time. Of course there is no compulsory attendance law in Arkansas. The primary, first, second, and third grades only are maintained, and the following subjects are taught: Reading, spelling, writing, English, written arithmetic, and mental arithmetic. The pupils, according to the teacher, are good in arithmetic but poor in English and reading. The teacher is an Italian who was educated in the United States. She came to this country originally with her parents, but after a few years her parents, having earned enough money, returned home, leaving their daughter with the priest, who took care of her and helped with her education. POLITICAL CONDITIONS. There are in the colony approximately 150 males over 21 years of age; 6 of this number have secured their first papers and 4 have taken out their final papers. But this is the extent of their desire to become citizens. In this locality there is little to be gained by voting, and no one takes enough interest in them to urge their naturalization, so they are content to remain subjects of Italy. Many of them intend to return to Italy, and naturally do not wish to relinquish their allegiance to the Government of that country. The Italians & TET TITANS I NENSI vì à MAN The only fat for will thell & DET LANGT Tools found in a field are curs 1520 the a pieces of lumber about the naaraad 100 tire vij de de LabS DË the Italians: some have bul; stad stets de Julder Delay S picked up as of port my des Sad ze start, 1908 come dacă by way of the CIDGIT & DESsmand, såre for repairs.here the natuTS NUSINS MALAG times the priest atue of the start aans The Italians are very food of var sot desc sol ther Secky buy it by the barrel and w I i IN. Bu ere then the Italians are never really truck at tsares so the dunes LY wholly unheard of. CreasionaŢ at kaal s siet to kave the plantation because he does not farm is me in a stastory ZAZN, but none have been arrested fe my moONT. The Italians are very careless about their health they will not b their drinking water, or take the DACYSSLT MAYO CERTAIN the damp weather. The wooed are so busy that they give the children very little attention, leaving them to their own res The resident physician on the plantation declares the present destà rate to be less than 1 per cent among the Italians, proving that the health of the community has greatly improved in the past ten years. A physician's services are to be had whenever needed, and he has s regular scale of prices. When the Italians have the money they par cash, otherwise the charge for the visit is put on the company's books, and at the end of the year this bill is settled along with the rest of the Italian's debts. In this way the physician is sure of his fee, and he is charged a certain percentage by the company for collecting the bill. EFFECT OF SETTLEMENT ON NEIGHBORHOOD, From the figures previously given it has been plainly shown that in all respects the Italian is superior to the negro, whose place he has taken. He has come to a community unknown to him and has become acclimated. He has become very proficient in the art of cotton raising; he has increased the production per acre of leased land, and has made money for himself and for the plantation owner. His coming represented a purposeful substitution of Italian for negro labor, and the substitution has worked out successfully as far as the Italian himself is concerned. Generally speaking, the Italian spends but a small per cent of his earnings, whereas a negro spends every available cent he can earn, borrow, or steal. Hence, from the standpoint of the merchant and the plantation owner who runs a store, the negro is valuable and the Italian almost valueless, measured by the amount each spends. |