Page 26 - To Dragma October 1933

24 To D R A G MA.
Her Age is Lost in the Limbo
of Casual, Forgotten Things"
tfye ^^aifj>
(^lVovQ.cv in cX!enfncky's
Wendover, Leslie County, Ky.
July 1. 1933.
DKAK A L P H A O'S :
H o w plain and dull and, inader|iuitc seem
the totals and percentages of a formal report
when one knows the individuals who march
behind this stiff disguise. H o w I wish 1 could
say an abracadabra over these figures and
transform them for you into the variegated
procession of human beings which they repre-
sent !
I n such a procession y o u w o u l d find Lizzie
Morgan— victim of hookworms, too many
babies, too little food, too much drudgery. A t
thirty-six, mother of eight children, this is the
picture Lizzie now presents: thin, wasted body,
gaunt cheeks, a few teeth that are no more
than broken snags, and a droop that seems to
bespeak both physical and spiritual exhaustion.
It w o u l d be a mistake to assume there is no
vitality l e f t , however. Fiercely she clings to
her children. F a i t h f u l l y and w i t h amazing suc-
cess she struggles to keep the baby well and
clean. Clean and spruce she appears f o r a t r i p
to Hazard to visit the dentist, and turns a
painful errand into a woefully needed lark.
Querulous, bitter, hopeless at times, infected
with the neurotic fears of the defensive, vacil-
lating, impotent man who is her husband; then
marshalling her forces and setting herself once
more to the task of piecing together the rag-
tags of a hard existence.
Y o u w o u l d be enchanted w i t h little Sadie,
frail, blue-eyed, shy, the eight-year-old daugh-
ter of Lizzie. Washing her own dresses, put-
t i n g her "best" in a flour sack h u n g on the
wall to keep it clean f o r her periodic visits
to W e n d o v e r . R o a m i n g the fields and woods
like a little wild thing, endlessly collecting gifts
o f flowers, berries, nuts, f o r those f e w she
trusts as f r i e n d s . Ridden by the fears imbibed
f r o m her parents, yet bravely asking for her
typhoid and diphtheria inoculations and taking
the pain without a murmur. Looking for a
"job" in advance of school to earn the money
for her reader. Doggedly going to school in
ventures
ervice
spite of her fear of her fellows, in spite of
the tempting truancies of her favorite brother.
All of Lizzie's children are interesting for
that matter. There is Denver, f o r instance—
twelve-year-old terror who long ago got be-
yond his father's futile, spasmodic attempt at
discipline. Stubbornly refusing treatment for!
his crop of worms, refusing likewise inocula-
tions, dental care, whatever, and defying any
and all who sought to persuade him to go t(^
school. Then, Denver selling berries and plums-
with which to buy his own shirts—and pleased
as Punch w i t h a b r i g h t green one. Beamingly
wearing the green shirt and turned out clean
as a w h i s t l e f o r his first t r i p to H a z a r d , a n d '
accepting philosophically the necessity of going
barefoot. ( H e came back shod, by the way.)!'
P r o n o u n c e d " d u m b " by his f a t h e r and nQ
schooling w o r t h mentioning in his whole l i f e ;
then suddenly the announcement that he wants
to go away t o a settlement school, as his elder
sister is d o i n g , a n d t h e r e a f t e r a m a z i n g l y reg*a
ular attendance at the local school.
Clear, dark eyes i n pale, delicate faces; in-Jj
telligently alert; hyper-sensitive; usually pain-I
f u l l y shy, then again aggressive w i t h a sort ofs
desperate courage; obsessed by fear and yed
g a l l a n t l y s t r u g g l i n g to find friendliness, ap-1
probation, security—that would describe the'
whole lot of Lizzie's children. Watching them;
one's pity becomes curiously mixed with ad-
miration.
Engrossed though you might become with
the Morgan tribe, you c o u l d n o t miss Ida:j
Smith. A f t e r the Morgan's the contrast o f ]
her appearance alone is enough to make herd
conspicuous. A broad, flat, large-boned face,,!
witli cheekbones high and wide, narrow deeuj
siel eyes and a b u l g i n g forehead, t o p p i n g a
broad, solid powerful frame, Ida looks like
n o t h i n g so much as a N o r t h European peasant,I
Ida is deaf and dumb and is the mother o f i
two illegitimate children. Until a few months
ago she was decidedly persona non grata i n
the home of her decrepit but self-righteous
parents. Under their criticism and neglect, Ida
was becoming suspicious of all about her, was