Description
A report out of Mississippi that "a negro boy in that region, eight years old, who has horns on his head like 'a young devil.' The horns are said to be three inches long..."
On p. 1 is "Origin of the Horse Rake." Slaves are told to rake the hay in a field in the master's absence, but it is hot and they give it up. Later they get worried they don't have the time, so one of them rigs up a big rake that can be dragged behind a horse, and they get the work done. Thus the horse rake, "and the lazy negroes were the inventors."
Also on p. 1 is a story about a negro's meeting with a black bear, which he does not recognize, and talks to. The bear chases him up a tree and out on a limb. "The limb broke, and down came bear and nigger." The bear breaks his neck and the negro says, "Dere, you black devil, I tole you so; dis is all your fault."
Abstract
The editor reprints three racist or racially tinged stories about black slaves or blacks in general, in the south, including an account of a black boy born with horns like a devil.
The significance of these articles is that the Puget Sound Herald, an independent newspaper that will be by no means pro-Confederate after secession, considers this racist humor of interest to its readers.