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+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
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+
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #53231 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/53231)
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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Southern States, March, 1894, by Various
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: The Southern States, March, 1894
- An illustrated monthly magazine devoted to the South
-
-Author: Various
-
-Editor: William H. Edmonds
-
-Release Date: October 8, 2016 [EBook #53231]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SOUTHERN STATES, MARCH, 1894 ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
-http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
-generously made available by The Internet Archive)
-
-
-
-
-
-Transcriber’s Note: obvious printer’s errors have been repaired.
-
-
-
-
- THE
- SOUTHERN STATES.
-
- MARCH, 1894.
-
- [Illustration: THE FRENCH BROAD RIVER.]
-
-
-
-
-SKY-LAND!
-
-_By James R. Randall._
-
-
-The late Judge William D. Kelley was an intensely practical man, and
-so not given to rhapsody, but he has left on record that Western
-North Carolina was the most beautiful country upon which his feet
-or eyes ever rested. He had visited many lands and gazed upon many
-transcendent panoramas unrolled by the Master of the Universe. He was
-a loyal and devoted son of Pennsylvania, and enthusiastically loved
-and admired her noble scenery, but when he beheld the unrivalled
-majesty and picturesqueness of Western North Carolina, his honest
-soul expanded with the prospect, and, in a burst of genuine candor,
-he declared that never before had he looked upon a region at once so
-sublime and entrancing. What Judge Kelley uttered has been, by many
-other enthusiasts, repeated in varying phrase and similar tenor. It
-is not called the Land of the Sky because of its altitude. There are
-numerous localities that surpass it in this particular, but rather,
-I think, because of a peculiar phenomenon of the region, where the
-azure atmosphere that we call the skies descends, or seems to do so,
-actually and magically upon the tree tops and mountain sides, so that
-the dazzled spectator almost instinctively puts forth his hand to grasp
-the mysterious panoply. When a child of earth is thus moved, as it
-were, by heaven, with the blue ether glorified by sunlight, and the
-alpine groups transformed in shape by fugitive clouds, no wonder his
-mind becomes blissfully inebriated, his soul uplifted, and his senses
-plumed to take wing from the solid globe that imprisons his feet. The
-dullest fancy cannot resist the spell.
-
-The ardent, poetic temperament has a conditional foretaste of what
-it is to escape the flesh envelope and assume spiritual alertness.
-But it is not always thus that this gorgeous land presents itself. It
-has moods of tremendous energy, and to make returning mildness more
-alluring, as the cunning master of music intersperses rude chords in
-his glorious melody, it veils the comely perfection of its face in a
-storm of frowns, but only such as triumphant beauty can assume betimes.
-Then the alpine cliffs are garmented with mist, while the Hyder Ali of
-Cloud Land poises on the declivities, concentrated with black wrath,
-before rushing down in fragmentary battalions upon the plains below.
-But there is no ravage. The little hut of the inhabitant remains
-unscathed, still emitting from its rough chimney a curling smoke, and
-the lordly mansion, perched on some aspiring peak, stands steadfast,
-while the fairy maiden shrined there playfully dabbles her white
-fingers in the foam of the upper deep. From the dark canopy of the
-great giant of the Smoky range leaps the live lightning, and a thunder
-roll bellows or crackles or mutters in a myriad strange defiles, but
-we know that behind this lowering front, hinting of God’s smile behind
-the tempest, our winsome Lady of the Sky is laughing still, with the
-spring in her brilliant eyes, and the wild flowers, smitten by sunshine
-in her golden hair. Anon, as the seasons are made mutable, another
-phase is disclosed. The air grows cold as if in the clutch of some
-Siberian intruder, and feathery flakes pour down their “snow storm of
-stars,” and the mighty monsters of the mountain world yield placidly
-to their chill, pallid cerements, but we feel that this is one of our
-enchanter’s displays of infinite variety, and that our spirits are held
-in thrall for another transformation. And what a valiant exaltation
-the chill breath of the ozone-ladened breeze fixes in our blood, and
-what roses in our cheeks! How we dominate with resistless stride the
-pedestrian paths, or how we credit the fable of the Centaur, when, in
-the fervor of environment, we partake of the joy and very existence of
-the nimble steed we have bestrode adventurously! In other climes and
-with other surroundings we have felt languor, or dullness, or restive
-incapacity, but here, with the potent inspiration of the panorama
-and the atmosphere, our whole being bounds with daring briskness and
-mastering activity. In the overwhelming sense of powerful forces put
-in play, we do not ask if life be worth living, but thank God that we
-are alive and filled with the alchemy of Sky Land. When these agencies
-react and demand the unbent bow, we lounge, it may be on the porches
-of the grand hotel, with eyes restful upon Pisgah and the enormous
-petrifaction of the rat that never budges from its lair. Perchance,
-with appetite made robust and undeniable, we attack the toothsome
-repast provided, but ever and anon we glance through the big windows
-at the splendid pictures beyond, as if we were afraid that some stray
-expression of the amphitheatre would escape us unaware. We stroll,
-happy and satisfied, to the piazza, and loll in an easy chair, puffing
-at pipe or cigar, but never ceasing to confront admiringly the scenes
-that intoxicated us from the first. The sun has driven its fiery,
-glowing chariot beyond the vast barrier of loam and basalt, but left
-a sparkling, glowing, radiant wake behind. The clouds are blushing
-like traditional brides, and the sorcerer of the sky has grouped them
-among shining lakes and islands and the watching perspective that
-this inimitable artist alone can fashion and dissolve. You presently
-understand how the poet merely revealed what he had seen when Night
-dropped her crimson mantle and pinned it with a star. And it was no
-exaggeration when the grim Carlyle bade us witness how Bootes drags his
-reluctant dogs in a leash of sidereal fire, or how mailed Orion flames
-his plumes ’mid bright-battalioned planets. As the mystic dusk robes
-the familiar scenery with a pall, we hear the insect world, if it be
-the proper season, conversing in a thousand tongues, startled anon by
-the shrill cry of a night bird, and possibly we wonder if the momentary
-shadow on the orb of the moon was the vagrant pinion of Minerva’s
-bird, or the flashing stroke of the eagle, put to flight from his
-eyry slumber. Then the vision fades, and some drowsy sprite, circling
-in the atmosphere, infects us with somnolency. We cannot resist it,
-unless perchance strong coffee or some such insidious decoction has
-violated, for a time, the blessed ministering of sleep that men, who
-have betrayed or lost it, would give millions to enjoy. We move to our
-apartment in amiable indolence, and hardly has our head touched the
-inviting pillow when we reach that condition wherein, as Lew Wallace
-says, even the wicked cease to sin. And if we have scientifically and
-rationally allowed the wholesome air to enter a little at the top and
-a little at the bottom of our window, what slumber we enjoy, unless we
-have deliberately assailed and violated every law conducive to repose!
-We know that while we rest no noxious thing can enter our lungs, but
-the pure, sweet, invigorating wind from the heights is visiting our
-whole system and repairing what other atmospheres may have put in
-peril. What a blessing, after such refreshment, to rise in the earlier
-morning and prayerfully go to the window for another glance at the
-wonderland that has made us a willing prisoner to its enticements! We
-salute the mountains as loyal friends, and they, after a vogue of their
-own, appear to reciprocate our salute. They, too, appear renovated
-with the dews of night, and their variegated vestments glitter with
-adornment. The fascinating curves of the French Broad river cleave
-the landscape, and the swift, clear tide laves the feet of the giant
-peaks, whose fertile valleys, smiling it may be with agricultural
-abundance, betoken that this is a fertile as well as a grand and
-attractive region. How that fine farm called Tahkeostee projects itself
-like an immense backbone upon the undulating piedmont, and how you
-scheme about the happiness of a proprietor who holds the title to such
-a domain! But you need a nearer view, and, as all manner of vehicles
-or horses are at disposal, you take an excursion there, crossing the
-railway track and handsome bridge to emerge upon a firm country road.
-You look back, and the prospect is brave with splendid hotels, villas
-of all manner of architecture, and the city of Asheville, which,
-because chiefly of the tourist travel, is rapidly taking rank with the
-first cities of the State, by manufacturing, by drainage and by the
-discovery that all of the pure air on earth cannot make amends for
-water contamination. And so, with generous, innocent fountain sources
-everywhere at the bidding of man, Asheville and all Western Carolina
-have nothing to crave for in the way of physical health and happiness.
-
-[Illustration: VIEWS NEAR ASHEVILLE.]
-
-Wooed by the spirit of adventure, you spur your horse higher and
-higher up the ascent, and find that some rich man has fixed his abode
-in more or less of grandeur atop the alpine plateau, and you look
-down upon humbler mountains and far away into the vista, where the
-locomotive is pushing its path from Henderson, or it may be Hickory
-Gap. Descending the road you follow along the bright, rippling stream,
-passing habitations of various kinds, now rude or humble, and now
-comfortable or charming. At last you reach a spot that the poet Moore
-would have raved about in undying song, for it is worthy of any singer,
-who, however tuneful, might well despair of bringing justice to the
-realm of so much beauty. The dwelling there is not a palace, but
-evidently the abode of taste and wealth. The garden is what you have
-dreamed about, when young and addicted to Lalla Rookh. What a wealth
-of flowers and how artistically displayed! The air is perfumed all
-about this fairy kingdom and you instinctively look askance for the
-apparition of Prince Charming, or the Fair One with the Golden Locks.
-The Prince I have not seen, but the Fair One was visible and, with her
-guidance, I am permitted, in a luxurious nook, to scan the surrounding
-glories. There is no other just such site for perfect habitation, for
-it is at the meeting of the waters, which glisten far below. Here the
-impetuous French Broad rushes to the embrace of the gentle Swannanoa,
-and here their mingled tides laughingly and pellucidly hasten to kiss
-the awaiting and absorbing sea. The mountains are marshalled on dress
-parade in one mighty ring around this centre of loveliness, and the
-dream you have fallen voluntarily into is only dissolved, and not
-unpleasantly, by the matter-of-fact tracks of steel that glisten at the
-base of the hill, and the snorting or clanging or whistling engine that
-plunges, with its train, toward the station, which is now, by local
-significance, well known as the place where our modern Kubla Khan, Mr.
-George Vanderbilt, must alight to visit the matchless pleasure dome
-he has decreed on the heights beyond the summer lodge of the Fair One
-with the Golden Locks, where, in imagination, we are now spectator.
-It is needless to repeat how much Mr. Vanderbilt has spent or will
-continue to spend upon what fame heralds as the most complete and
-magnificent estate owned by any private gentlemen, and one that few
-royal personages could obtain. Without summing up the oft-repeated and
-dry statistics of the dimension of his residence, out-houses, stables,
-barns and acres, it is enough to understand that, after the method of
-another marvelous man who has metamorphosed St. Augustine, unstinted
-opulence and modern art have met for material transformation. No
-amount of money could reproduce the natural splendor of the location,
-but science and skill and Aladdin’s lamp, which is ready money and a
-superabundance of it, can rear castles and improve grounds in a way to
-be worthy of such scenes of Arcadian majesty and beauty all around.
-It speaks well for the rich young man, who is highly educated, most
-accomplished, and a lover of literature in all of its development,
-while kind and gentle and benignant, that he should have determined
-upon this place of all the places in the world to rear his incomparable
-home and be a veritable monarch of much that he surveyed, though not
-all. And yet, having once had vision of this alluring sphere, it would
-be indeed a source of astonishment if it failed to exercise upon him
-the sorcery I so feebly portray. The fancy takes flight and pictures
-to itself what may be the result of such a scheme. Will he, when
-the palace is completed and everything exhausted to fashion it as
-he aspired, be any more content than he was before? Will he abandon
-the mighty Babylon of the East and abide at his gorgeous Southern
-hermitage, with its imperial setting? Will he simply flit there, from
-time to time, and, at other seasons, leave his domain, like a haunted
-palace, a stupendous show-place or proverbial folly? Will he settle
-there, and perchance wed the Fair One with the Golden Locks, becoming
-racy of the soil of the Old North State, dispensing joy, hospitality,
-munificence and rational bounty? Will he, having more than emulated the
-author of Vathek in construction, live, like Beckford, to behold the
-ruin of his aspiration? But what is the use of tossing these gilded
-juggler balls in the air of imagination, and making inquiries of that
-future which does not belong to any mortal? Suffice it practically,
-that young Mr. Vanderbilt has appreciated the South, yielded homage to
-her natural magnetism, and made his deeds speak louder than words of
-praise. Let us take for granted that he will never weary of his designs
-and that Providence has in store for him and his surroundings special
-and exceptional benedictions.
-
-Adjacent to Mr. Vanderbilt’s principality are the grounds of the
-Kenilworth Inn, which would have delighted Amy Robsart and disarmed
-her enemies. Never did British beauty of any country preceding this
-command, even at the hands of royalty, so many comforts as the
-Kenilworth lavishly displays for the delectation of the most exacting
-creature. When this is said, what need of multiplying words or
-measuring with yard-sticks the magnificence of the various compartments
-of the house or its broad baronial park? Unless you are impervious to
-all enticement, you will be impelled to see these marvels through your
-own eyes and then compare your impressions with mine.
-
-Perhaps you who visit Western North Carolina find instinct within you
-some of the fiery blood of Orion or Nimrod or Buffalo Bill, and wish
-to exercise it in the slaughter of beasts and birds. Well, with your
-improved weapon, with all modern lethal devices, in dear old clothes
-that are already creased in the seams and baggy at the knees, you
-may, with the rugged father of Esmeralda, or one of her tough, nimble
-brothers, follow the black bear to his cave or track partridges,
-grouse or squirrels to their leafy haunts, and make them acquainted
-with death or anguish. You may, even without having conned the pages
-of Isaak Walton, be impassioned for snaring diplomatic and pugnacious
-trout, with an insect engendered by the artificer or with the native
-minnow; and, if so, your selection of streams will be easy and your
-game-bag should be bulging with trophies when you homeward wend your
-way, with appetite of a ploughman for the fare of a French chef who has
-been beguiled by Col. Coxe as the presiding genius of his kitchen and
-larder. And the Colonel will, after supper, make merry with you, as
-becomes an elegant gentleman, who has carried his accomplishments all
-over the world, and who laughingly declares that he is “the only man
-extant who was killed on both sides during the war.” He had possessions
-at the North and South, and his respective substitutes were among the
-unreturning brave. So, by proxy, he was slain twice, and yet is still
-alive to the gratification of a host of friends and admirers. You will
-be sure to get an invitation from him to drive, with a jocund company
-of both sexes, in his tally-ho-coach, which is as well appointed as
-any in the land, and it is a memorable thing to see him handle the
-ribbons over four thoroughbreds that were nurtured on bluest and most
-succulent of Kentucky grass. A drive with Colonel Coxe and such ladies
-and gentlemen as he groups around him is an experience that you will
-fondle, some day, when business or a kindred commonplace tie fetters
-you to a dull or smoky town. You will then comprehend that poor girl, a
-rustic heroine and living martyr, when she could forgive the miserable
-man who had repaid her with ingratitude and desertion, but could not
-divine how, though he left her, he could leave “The Mountings.”
-
-[Illustration: MOUNT MITCHELL--6700 FEET ABOVE THE SEA.]
-
-In a rollicking mood you may venture to pay a pop-call on Bill Nye,
-who, though he pokes perfunctory, periodical fun at the Sky Land,
-clings to it, when he can, like a fellow does to his skin, and, in
-serious interludes, loves even its occasionally disreputable roads,
-which are, at any rate, picturesque and informal. He may escort you
-to a friend’s place of concealment, the den of “the chemist,” the
-alchemist of moonshine whiskey, warranted, no doubt, to kill at three
-hundred yards. I have always pitied these proscribed brethren, the
-victims of our internal, or what no less a person than Thomas Jefferson
-is credited with denominating “infernal” law. The moonshiner naturally
-has as much right to boil his fruit or grain into spirits as the farmer
-has to put hominy hot in the caldron, but the law places a negative
-upon his claim, and fosters and pampers the trusts that so much trouble
-the Democratic conscience, but are ingeniously utilized to pay pensions
-or run the government. So the mountain chemist is given to hiding and,
-at times, when hunted too persistently, to shooting his pursuers. This
-is all wrong, because unlawful, but it is hard to instruct the grey
-matter of his brain on such subjects. It is grewsome to see these
-lank, leathery, unkempt, semi-barbarous brethren brought into court
-with manacles on their limbs and summarily consigned to doleful exile
-in distant dungeons. You will, when you see them and their wives and
-their progeny, wonder how such a country can produce such specimens
-of humanity, but it is easily understood when explanation is at hand.
-In that region are reared the best of cattle, sheep, poultry and
-fruits, but the moonshiner disdains them. He prefers, or habit and
-poverty compel him to prefer, soggy, hot biscuit, excessive coffee,
-cadaverous, greasy bacon, assassinated in a frying pan. He drinks too
-much of his own fiery decoction and too little of the salubrious water
-that leaps, gushes and sparkles on every hand. If one could capture
-young moonshiner girls and boys, feed them on civilized diet, girdle
-them with proper comfort, garment them decently, treat them amiably
-and educate them wholesomely, the transformation would be thorough,
-startling and supreme. It would be an object lesson conveying its own
-moral, and this would be the evolution of many Esmeraldas off the mimic
-stage, and many a sturdy, comely, valiant, intellectual man, who might
-succeed in the Senate such typical Carolinians as Vance and Ransom.
-
-Speaking of Vance, if you loitered in Sky Land, in midsummer, you
-might make your way to Gombroon, his highland roost, and be sure of an
-old-fashioned welcome. No man has a heartier nature and no man is more
-of an adorer, so to speak, of Western North Carolina. He would tell
-you characteristic anecdotes of his wonderful career and hold you, as
-the ancient mariner did the wedding guests, with wit and wisdom, such
-as Master Coleridge never “dreamt of in his philosophy.” So you would
-understand from him what potent possibilities this clime possesses, and
-how from the very elements there is distilled a subtle essence that
-holds in solution the formation of noble men and beautiful women.
-
-If, for instance, you had an agreeable, harmonious company of friends
-and acquaintances at Battery Park Hotel, and longed for an ideal trip,
-not too long, and which would entertainingly add to your stock of
-enchantment, I doubt not that Mr. McKissick, who is young and genial
-and intelligent, as becomes a cavalier South Carolinian and manager of
-a great caravanserai, would suggest a trip to the Hot Springs, which,
-by rail, is not many miles away. If you could prevail upon McKissick
-to join your party, it would be an accentuated treat, for he has been
-an ardent, expert, accomplished newspaper man, and is bubbling over
-with high health and fresh humor. This maroon is altogether delicious.
-From the car window you get rapid but incessantly changing views of the
-French Broad, which, crossed and recrossed and paralleled, is never
-out of sight. It is mild and clear flowing; it is turbulent, swift
-and vocal; it is free from impediment; it is vexed with rapids and
-frustrated with boulders as if a battle of Titans had been contested
-to stormy demolition; it is always charming. The time consumed in the
-passage has never for an instant tormented you, and even the most
-voluble talker is content to let his tongue “keep Sunday”--as an old
-darkey said--in the presence of this water course which descends in
-glory through the mountain defiles. These mountains enclose you, but
-they are not like their Swiss family bare and bleak and tawny, but
-lush with emerald foliage or cultivated to their very brows. The
-Mountain Park Hotel at Hot Springs, like all first-class establishments
-hereabout, is equipped sumptuously. It has miles of piazzas. It nestles
-in a happy valley. The river runs hard by, and, at this point, is
-narrow but energetic. It is a cold stream, but here, a few feet from
-the surface, hot fountains are latent, and any positive disturbance
-of the earth-crust is followed by vaporous exhalations. The baths are
-seductive, the more so, perhaps, because you are immersed in dazzling
-marble tanks and the liquid purrs you like velvet in motion. You can
-drink vast quantities of this fluid for it has amazing lightness and
-makes a delicate stomach feel “like a gentleman.” Wondrous tales are
-told of its curative faculties, and I take for granted that a rheumatic
-or dyspeptic man or woman soon gets ashamed, in such ablution and
-bibulation, of racking muscles and azure imps. By what volcanic agency
-this phenomenon occurs we can only conjecture. The probability is that
-the central fires are nearer than usual to the surface, or that the
-boiling waters that can ordinarily be reached by hard, pertinacious
-mining toil, thousands of feet deep, find here some propulsion and
-channel of their own and need only a touch to make them disclose their
-virtues. If they do not “create a spirit under the ribs of death,”
-they spur on an appetite that may have lost all zest, and when a man is
-impatient for his meals and partakes of them with satisfaction, disease
-has small hold upon him.
-
-[Illustration: THE SWANNANOA.]
-
-One of the weird sights of this region is a mountain fire. On a dark
-night such conflagrations are, of course, more spectacular, and when
-belts of flame cover large areas and are detached fiercely from one
-another, the resemblance to Kilauea, the burning lake of the Sandwich
-Island, is startling. In these days of Hawaiian perturbation and
-discussion one could easily imagine that he was in the Eden Isle of the
-Pacific ocean, and might look for dusky maidens darting by on horseback
-with red hybiscus flowers blushing in their lustrous black hair.
-
-This enchanted region is reached by the Richmond & Danville railroad,
-whose lines furnish approach also to many other places in the alpine
-location of South Carolina and Georgia that merit equal attention
-with these scenes so imperfectly described or sketched from memory.
-Cæsar’s Head, near Greenville, is a genuine curiosity, and even the
-old European or Rocky Mountain traveller admits that the prospect from
-this precipitous elevation is awesome and inspirational. At the old
-town of Clarksville, in North Georgia, the scenery is transcendent.
-Once you have seen Mount Yonah you will never forget it, and when will
-ever fade from your recollection the prodigious carving, by witchery in
-distant perspective, of the Cherokee chief stretched gigantically upon
-his sky-line bier? From the porches of Roseneath villa you best discern
-this strange conformation. There he extends, in tremendous dimensions,
-graven on the horizon, a distinct and spectral Indian shape, with
-drooping plumes. The people thereabout know him familiarly as
-Skiahjagustah. You may, in quest of gold, for the region is full of it,
-seek to penetrate this mysterious personage, but he will vanish as you
-approach him, transformed to common rock and tree and shrub, and yet
-reappear by enchantment when you go back to Roseneath and summon him
-from beyond the Soquee river. Here asthma has no clutch and rheumatism
-ceases to torment. A German workman came here crippled from New Jersey,
-and presently grew perfectly well in this climate. He is busily at work
-in wood and iron in a shop of his own, and happy in possession of a
-little farm, which has a famous vineyard like unto those which gem the
-banks of the Rhine or Moselle.
-
-Just beyond Clarksville is one of the most beautiful valleys in all
-this world--the Vale of Nacoochee--with Yonah dominating the fertile
-plain, and the upper Chattahoochee river purling around it. Here the
-mound builders of the continent had cherished habitation, and here
-they left monumental signs of their existence. Here the Cherokee
-loved to dwell, and just on the banks of the river and circumjacent
-to the mound, where clover and corn attain exceptional proportions,
-is a cemetery fat with Indian death. From Clarksville to Toccoa and
-Tallulah Falls is a mere jaunt of an hour or so. But why attempt to
-portray the graceful cascade and the terrible torrent? Ben Perley
-Poore, who had roamed in many lands and had adoration of all sights
-of nature of a high and exceptional kind, once told me that after all
-of his wanderings the scenes that lingered longest and fondest in his
-memory were those around Clarksville and Tallulah. Oh, you must see for
-yourself the unrivalled Georgia waterfall, with its tremendous chasm
-and precipitous descent, not in one roar of waters, but by successive
-leaps and bounds and plunges, alternately divided in swirling pools
-before dashing headlong down to the palpitating plain. Each fall is
-distinct in itself and of varied fury, as you will perceive either
-from the brink of the abyss or in touch with the vital torrent. This,
-too, is the Sky Land--glorious land--and here, in the coming time, as
-elsewhere in the alpine region of the South, many thousands will come
-ecstatically. St. Augustine waited long for a Flagler and Asheville
-for a Coxe, but they came in the ripeness of time and amazingly well
-did they perform the work appointed for them. If some men like these
-should, in their opulence, propose to magnify Clarksville, Nacoochee
-and Tallulah, what new splendors will come to the Land of the Sky, and
-what blessings will be lavished upon thousands of human beings who only
-need to know the South to love it, and who are beckoned back to health
-and strength and happiness where
-
- “Far, vague and dim,
- The mountains swim.”
-
-
-
-
-THE SOUTH BEFORE THE WAR.
-
-_By Richard H. Edmonds._
-
-
-I.
-
-In order to understand and appreciate the progress made by the South
-during the last ten years it is necessary to know something of its
-condition prior to the war and immediately after that disastrous
-struggle. “The New South,” a term which is so popular everywhere
-except in the South, is supposed to represent a country of different
-ideas and different business methods from those which prevailed in
-the old ante-bellum days. The origin of the term has been a subject
-of much discussion, but the writer has rarely seen it ascribed to
-what he believes to have been the first use of it. During the war the
-harbor and town of Port Royal, S. C., were in the possession of the
-Northern forces, and while they were stationed there a paper called
-“The New South” was established by Mr. Adam Badeau, who was afterwards
-General Grant’s secretary. This was probably the first time that the
-term was applied to the Southern States. Its use now, as intended to
-convey the meaning that the progress of the South of late years is
-something entirely new and foreign to this section, something which
-has been brought about by an infusion of outside energy and money
-is wholly unjust to the South of the past and present. It needs but
-little investigation to show that prior to the war the South was
-fully abreast of the times in all business interests, and that the
-wonderful industrial growth which it has made since 1880 has been
-mainly due to Southern men and Southern money. The South heartily
-welcomes the investment of outside capital and the immigration of
-all good people, regardless of their political predilections, but it
-insists that it shall receive from the world the measure of credit
-to which it is entitled for the accomplishments of its own people.
-In the rehabilitation of the South after the war Southern men led
-the way. Out of the darkness that enveloped this section until 1876
-they blazed the path to prosperity. They built cotton mills and iron
-furnaces and demonstrated the profitableness of these enterprises.
-Southern men founded and built up Birmingham, which first opened the
-eyes of the world to the marvellous mineral resources of that section,
-and to Southern men is due the wonderful progress of Atlanta, one of
-the busiest and most thriving cities in the United States. When the
-people of the South had done this then Northern capitalists, seeing the
-opportunities for money-making, turned their attention to that favored
-land.
-
-The Southern people do not lack in energy or enterprise, nor did
-they prior to 1860. Since the formation of this government they
-have demonstrated in every line of action, in political life, on
-the battlefield, in literature, in science and in great business
-undertakings, that in any sphere of life they are the peers of the
-most progressive men in the world. From the settlement of the colonies
-until 1860 the business record proves this. After 1865 the conditions
-had been so completely changed that the masses lacked opportunity, and
-to that alone was due their seeming want of energy. The population was
-largely in excess of the number required to do all of the work that
-was to be done. At least one-half of the whole population was without
-employment, for the war had destroyed nearly all the manufacturing
-interests that had been in existence; agriculture was almost the only
-source of work for the masses. With no consumers for diversified farm
-products it would have been folly to raise them. Cotton and cotton
-alone was the only crop for which a ready market could be found, and it
-was also the only crop which could be mortgaged in advance of raising
-for the money needed for its cultivation.
-
-The Northern farmer is enterprising. He raises fruits and vegetables
-and engages in dairying and kindred enterprises because he has a home
-market for these things. The Southern farmer had none and could not
-create one. He might deplore his enforced idleness when he saw his
-family in want, but that would not bring him buyers for his eggs or
-chickens or fruit when there was no one in his section to consume
-them. The almost unlimited amount of work for the mechanics and day
-laborers generally at the North enabled every man to find something to
-do. In the South there was almost an entire absence of work of this
-character. Men hung around the village stores because there was no work
-to be had which would yield them any returns. With the development of
-manufactures there came a great change. The opportunity for work had
-come, and the way in which the people who had hitherto been idlers
-rushed to the factories, the furnaces, and wherever employment could be
-secured demonstrated that they only needed the chance to prove their
-energy.
-
-The greatest blessing that industrial activity has brought to the South
-is that it is daily creating new work for thousands of hitherto idle
-hands, and creating a home market wherever a furnace or a factory is
-started for the diversified products of the farm. The latent energy of
-the people has been stimulated into activity, and the whole South is at
-work.
-
-But to fully understand the South in its relation to business matters,
-it is necessary to study its business history before the war had
-brought about a degree of poverty which has no equal in modern history.
-
-In the early part of this century, and even before then, the South led
-the country in industrial progress. Iron making became an important
-industry in Virginia, in the Carolinas and in Georgia, and Richmond,
-Lynchburg and other cities were noted for the extent and variety of
-their manufactures. Washington’s father was extensively interested
-in iron making, and Thomas Jefferson employed a number of his slaves
-in the manufacture of nails. South Carolina was so imbued with the
-industrial spirit that, about the beginning of the Revolution, the
-State government offered liberal premiums to all who would establish
-iron works. By the census of 1810 the manufactured products of the
-Carolinas and Georgia exceeded in value and variety those of all
-New England combined. The South Carolina Railway, from Charleston
-to Hamburg, built by the people of South Carolina, was the leading
-engineering accomplishment of its day, not only in this country, but of
-the world. Greater than this, however, was the road projected by Robert
-Y. Hayne, of Charleston, to connect Charleston and Cincinnati, and thus
-make the former city the exporting and importing port for the great
-West. Unfortunately for the South Hayne was sent to the United States
-Senate, and the growing sectional bitterness, because of slavery, so
-completely absorbed his attention that his great railroad undertaking
-had to be abandoned.
-
-The stimulation given to the cultivation of cotton by the introduction
-of the gin and the extension of slavery, with the liberal profits in
-cotton cultivation, as prices ruled high for most of the time from 1800
-on to 1840, caused a concentration of capital and energy in planting.
-But between 1840 and 1850 there were several years of low prices, and
-attention was once more directed to industrial pursuits. The decade
-ending with 1860 witnessed a very marked growth in Southern railroad
-and manufacturing interests, but there was no decline in the steady
-advance that was making the South one of the richest agricultural
-sections of the world. During this time railroad building was very
-actively pushed, and the South constructed 7562 miles of new road,
-against 4712 by the New England and Middle States combined. In 1850
-the South had 2335 miles of railroad, and the New England and Middle
-States 4798 miles; by 1860 the South had increased its mileage to 9897
-miles, a quadrupling of that of 1850, while the New England and Middle
-States had increased to 9510 miles, or a gain of only about 100 per
-cent. In 1850 the mileage of the two Northern sections exceeded that
-of the South by 2463 miles. The conditions were reversed by 1860,
-and the South then led by 387 miles. In the decade under review the
-South expended, according to official figures, over $220,000,000 in
-the extension of its railroads, the great bulk of this having been
-local capital. This activity was not confined to any one State, but
-covered the whole South, and every State made a rapid increase in its
-mileage. In Virginia there was an increase from 515 to 1771 miles; the
-two Carolinas gained from 537 to 1876 miles; Georgia from 643 to 1404;
-Florida from 21 to 401; Alabama from 132 to 743; Mississippi from 75
-to 872; Louisiana from 79 to 334, and Kentucky from 78 to 569. Neither
-Texas, Arkansas nor Tennessee had a single mile of railroad in 1850,
-but in 1860 Tennessee had 1197 miles, showing remarkable activity in
-construction during the decade, while Texas had 306 miles, and Arkansas
-38.
-
-The percentage of increase in population in the South from 1850 to
-1860, even including the slaves, was 24 per cent., while in the rest
-of the country, the gain due largely to immigration, of which the
-South received none, was 42 per cent. Yet from 1850 to 1860 the South
-increased its railroad mileage 319 per cent., while in the rest of the
-country the gain was only 234 per cent. The South had one mile of road
-in 1860 to every 700 white inhabitants; the other sections all combined
-had one mile to every 1000 inhabitants. Thus counting the whites only,
-the South led the country in its railroad mileage per capita, and if
-the slaves be included, the South still stood on a par with the country
-at large in per capita railroad mileage.
-
-While devoting great attention to the building of railroads, the
-South also made rapid progress during the decade ending with 1860 in
-the development of its diversified manufactures. The census of 1860
-shows that in 1850 the flour and meal made by Southern mills was worth
-$24,773,000, and that by 1860 this had increased to $45,006,000, a
-gain of $20,000,000, or nearly one-fourth of the gain in the entire
-country, and a much greater percentage of gain than in the country
-at large, notwithstanding the enormous immigration into the Western
-grain-producing States during that period. The South’s sawed and planed
-lumber product of 1860 was $20,890,000 against $10,900,000 in 1850,
-this gain of $10,000,000 being largely more than one-third as much as
-the gain in all other sections combined, although even counting in the
-slaves the South had less than one-third of the country’s population.
-
-The advance in iron founding was from $2,300,000 in 1850, to $4,100,000
-in 1860, a gain of $1,800,000, a very much larger percentage of
-increase than in the whole country. In the manufacture of steam engines
-and machinery the gain in all of the country except the South was
-$15,000,000, while the gain in the South was $4,200,000, the increase
-in one case being less than 40 per cent, and in the other over 200
-per cent. Cotton manufacturing had commenced to attract increased
-attention, and nearly $12,000,000 were invested in Southern cotton
-mills. In Georgia especially this industry was thriving, and between
-1850 and 1860 the capital so invested in that State nearly doubled.
-It is true that most of the Southern manufacturing enterprises were
-comparatively small, but so were those of New England in their
-early stages. The South’s were blotted out of existence by the war;
-New England’s were made enormously prosperous, justifying a steady
-expansion in size, by the same war. In the aggregate, however, the
-number of Southern factories swelled to very respectable proportions,
-the total number in 1860 having been 24,590, with an aggregate capital
-invested of $175,100,000.
-
-A study of the facts which have been presented should convince anyone
-that the South in its early days gave close attention to manufacturing
-development, and that while later on the great profits in cotton
-cultivation caused a concentration of the capital and energy of that
-section in farming operations, yet, after 1850, there came renewed
-interest in industrial matters, resulting in an astonishing advance in
-railroad construction and in manufactures. But this is only a small
-part of the evidence available to conclusively prove the great energy
-and enterprise of the six and a half million white people who inhabited
-the South.
-
-(_To be Continued._)
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-AN AMERICAN ITALY.
-
-_By Erwin Ledyard._
-
-
-The Southern States of the Union have received only a small proportion
-of the tide of immigration that has flowed into this country during
-the last half century, and especially during the last twenty-five
-years, swelling the population of new commonwealths, causing towns to
-spring up, like Aladdin’s palace, in a night, and giving to cities a
-growth phenomenal and marvelous. It is not the purpose of this article
-to inquire why this has been the case; it is sufficient to state a
-fact that is indisputable. During the past decade the people of these
-Southern States have turned their attention seriously to the question
-of attracting immigration, and thus increasing their industrial
-importance and utilizing some portion of the immense tracts of land
-now lying idle. Books and pamphlets descriptive of the climate, soil,
-products, and resources of the different States have been published,
-conventions have been held, and agents have been appointed. The
-results of these efforts are now beginning to be seen. The number of
-foreign settlers in the South is steadily increasing, and the class
-of immigrants coming into the section is, generally speaking, a most
-desirable one. They are men of sufficient intelligence to think and act
-for themselves, and to leave the beaten paths that have been followed
-by most of their compatriots.
-
-For a number of years the Irish were the most numerous class of
-immigrants that came to the South. They settled for the most part in
-the cities, and, as they have done elsewhere, early exhibited great
-aptitude for politics, and much inclination for municipal offices. For
-the most part they were useful and patriotic citizens, taking a deep
-interest in public affairs and thriving in their various vocations.
-Then came the Germans, also industrious, and more thrifty than
-their Celtic predecessors. They also, with few exceptions, became
-inhabitants of cities. Caring less for the machinery and minutiæ of
-politics than either Americans or Irish, they devoted a large portion
-of their leisure time to social relaxation, and to musical and dramatic
-societies, and taught native as well as foreign born citizens the
-useful lesson that a moderate use of wine and beer would give much more
-rational enjoyment than an immoderate use of spirits, and would leave
-no headache afterwards.
-
-During all this time, extending to some eight or ten years ago, few
-immigrants coming into the South settled in the country. Some may
-have realized that “God made the country but man made the town,” but
-few felt like venturing into what was _terra incognita_ to them, a
-region where, in their opinion, the negroes were the only people that
-ploughed, hoed and planted, and where they would be compelled to
-compete with that class of labor. More is now known about the South,
-and the fact that white men in that section have for years been working
-small farms by their own individual labor is now fully recognized,
-and in Texas and other Southern States citizens of foreign birth have
-turned their attention to tilling the soil. The tide of immigration no
-longer spends itself when it reaches the cities.
-
-This fact is especially apparent in the large counties of Mobile and
-Baldwin in the southern part of the State of Alabama. Some years ago
-a settlement of Italians was located near Daphne in Baldwin county,
-close to the eastern shore of Mobile Bay. The colony has thrived
-and prospered, engaging in fruit and grape culture and agricultural
-pursuits. A short walk brings its members to the town of Daphne, where
-they can look out upon a sheet of water thirty miles long and from
-twelve to fifteen miles wide, which, though not so beautiful as Naples’
-famous bay, is still fair to look upon, and glows sometimes with as
-gorgeous sunsets as those that are reflected by the blue waters of the
-Mediterranean, while the smoke that rises from its shores is not that
-of a slumbering volcano threatening devastation and destruction, but of
-industry and commerce, promising peace, prosperity and happiness.
-
-The success of this colony is attracting other Italians to Baldwin
-county, and also to its neighbor across the bay, Mobile county. Quite a
-number have bought lands along the line of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad,
-on a plateau or table land that begins some twenty miles from the city
-of Mobile, and which extends to the northern limit of the county.
-This plateau is from 350 to 380 feet above the level of the sea, and
-from five to ten miles in width. The Italians who have settled on it
-have cleared their land for cultivation and have built themselves
-comfortable houses. They are all putting out fruit trees, principally
-pears and plums, and grape cuttings of various kinds. The pear trees
-are mostly what are known as “Le Conte” and “Bartlett,” while the
-grapes are “Delaware,” “Concord,” “Catawba” and some other varieties.
-They will probably in time turn their attention to winemaking, and can
-then make use of the “Scuppernong” grape that grows almost wild in the
-section of country in which they have located and rarely fails to bear
-abundantly.
-
-These Italians are a very different class of people from those one
-meets in the purlieus of the fruit quarters or in the slums of large
-cities. They are mostly from the north of Italy, although some of
-them hail from Naples and its neighborhood. They are intelligent,
-industrious, orderly and law-abiding, and they are so polite and cheery
-in their manners and demeanor that it is a pleasure to meet them. They
-seem to regard people of property and position, near whose places they
-reside, in the light of friends and advisers, entitled to deference
-and respect. Many good people in this country have formed their ideas
-of Italians from what they have read of the lazzaroni of Naples or
-the vendetta-loving inhabitants of Sicily. Others have an undefined
-notion, gathered from operas and melodramas, that most Italians who are
-not proprietors of hand-organs and monkeys wear either red nightcaps
-and striped shirts or tall hats shaped like the old time sugar-loaf,
-jackets or coats with metal buttons and short coat tails, and leggins
-composed to a large extent of particolored ribbons. This costume they
-accentuate with a sash or belt containing a stiletto and a pair of
-villainous looking horsepistols, and an old-fashioned muzzle-loading
-gun with a crooked stock. These simple folks would be much surprised
-if they could see the sons of Italy who have brought their lares and
-penates to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. They dress as the average
-American citizen dresses and the only vendettas that they swear are
-against those birds and animals that injure their crops. Their hope
-is soon to sit under their own vine and fig-tree in a land truly
-flowing with milk and honey, and to make their lives bright with the
-light-hearted gaiety and peaceful content that made existence pleasant
-even amidst the exactions and privations of sunny, but overtaxed and
-overcrowded Italy. Already the sounds of music are borne on the evening
-air as these pioneers in a great movement of their race rest at the
-close of day from their labors, and rejoice over their freedom from
-heavy burdens, and in that feeling of independence that the ownership
-of land gives to foreigners of small or moderate means.
-
-These settlers can truly be regarded as to the advance guard of a
-race movement that will eventually make of Southern Alabama, Southern
-Mississippi and a portion of Western Florida an American Italy. The
-coming of Italians to Alabama can no longer be considered as an
-experiment. As has been previously stated, the settlement in Baldwin
-county was made some six or eight years ago. These people can live on
-less than either Americans or negroes, for they have been accustomed
-to the strictest economy at home. The great fault of the colored
-race, and to a large extend of their white employers in the South, is
-wastefulness. When negroes can make a living on land in the section of
-country under consideration, Italians will surely be able to do so.
-They have the utmost confidence in their ability to do so. The negro
-is not satisfied unless he has meat to eat every day in the year. The
-workers on farms and in orchards and vineyards in Italy are accustomed
-to live on bread, fruit and vegetables for weeks at a time. Their
-repasts often consist of a piece of bread and a bunch of grapes, or a
-piece of bread and an onion.
-
-That this class of immigrants will greatly benefit the section to which
-it has been attracted, to use a Gallicism, goes without saying. They
-will make good citizens, for they would not seek rural life if they
-were the adherents of any special political propaganda. Experience
-has fully demonstrated the fact that all foreigners holding extreme
-opinions in regard to government and social order that come to this
-country, Russian Nihilists, German Socialists, French Anarchists,
-Irish Dynamiters, and Italian Red Republicans, make their homes in
-cities, and generally in large ones. The quiet of country life is
-distasteful to them. They must live in the midst of agitation and
-turmoil, and constantly attend gatherings where they deliver or listen
-to incendiary or socialistic harangues, or existence becomes almost
-unendurable to them. These settlers in South Alabama, on the contrary,
-are well satisfied with the institutions of the country to which they
-have come in search of homes, appreciate the safety and security that
-are caused by the supremacy of law and order, and look forward to
-prosperous and happy lives in a land where war is unknown, where the
-balance of power does not trouble the souls of statesmen, and where
-no immense armaments are maintained by imposing heavy and grievous
-burdens on the people. They have come to stay, and many will follow in
-their footsteps. The region to which they have betaken themselves has
-for years been a market garden for the West. It will now also become
-an orchard and a vineyard. We are living in an age of progress, and
-wonderful changes and developments are ahead of us.
-
-
-
-
-LETTERS FROM NORTHERN AND WESTERN FARMERS, GIVING THEIR EXPERIENCE IN
-THE SOUTH--VI.
-
-[The letters published in this issue form the sixth instalment in
-the series commenced in the October number of this magazine. These
-communications are published in response to numerous inquiries from
-Northern people who desire to know more about agricultural conditions
-in the South, and what is being accomplished by settlers from other
-sections of the country. These letters were written by practical
-farmers and fruit-growers, chiefly Northern and Western people who
-have made their homes in the South. The actual experiences of these
-settlers, as set forth in these letters, are both interesting and
-instructive to those whose minds are turned Southward.--EDITOR.]
-
-
-Fruit-Growing in Middle Georgia.
-
-CHARLES T. SMITH, Concord, Ga.--Concord is located in the fruit belt
-of Middle Georgia. The country is slightly rolling and well watered.
-The soil is productive and can easily be brought to a very high state
-of fertility. For years cotton has been the staple crop, but King
-Cotton has a powerful rival now in peaches and grapes. Fruit-growing
-was introduced into Middle Georgia about twelve years ago. The first
-plantings were small and there were many scoffers. The industry proved
-to be very remunerative, and each year showed an increased acreage
-until fruit farms of 100 to 500 acres are now not uncommon, and
-hundreds of carloads of grapes and peaches are shipped annually and
-are known far and wide for their superior quality. Georgia grapes and
-peaches bring a higher price in all the leading markets than the same
-fruits from any other State in the Union, and with each season their
-popularity is increased.
-
-The future outlook is very encouraging. The prices to be obtained now
-are not so large as heretofore, but with increased production came
-better methods of growing and hauling and better shipping facilities,
-and the profits to be derived are much the same, and far more
-satisfactory than any other crops that can be grown. This industry has
-been largely fostered by Northern men, who have always been with the
-foremost in progress. Their efforts have been crowned with success, and
-they may now look with pleasure not only on the handsome properties
-they have amassed but also on this splendid new industry in the
-development of which they have been pioneers.
-
-
-A Northern Man’s Observation of Southern People.
-
-L. S. PACKARD, Pine Bluff, Moore county, N. C., formerly of
-Warrensburg, N. Y.--Few persons realize from passing through the South
-what the soil is capable of producing under careful cultivation. After
-a stay of several years among Southern people I have learned much about
-them and their modes of work, the care the lands ought to have and the
-yields that can be expected under good cultivation. I give in brief my
-observations:
-
-Southern men and women are justly entitled to the credit they get for
-being the most hospitable people in the United States. The majority
-of them live easy, enjoy life and are contented to go forward in
-the quiet ways of their fathers. Some, however, are branching out,
-learning to make money and are accumulating fortunes on the farms and
-in the factories. It is the general belief of the Northern people that
-Southern people cannot succeed.
-
-To show an instance where a Southern born man has succeeded I shall
-confine my article to one man and to one farm, and in my future
-letters give the names of Northern men who have come South. Within
-a mile of the Seaboard Air Line in the county of Clark and State of
-Georgia, Mr. John Smith has a farm of several hundred acres. He started
-with small means but has improved, buying more land and stock, building
-larger barns and better houses each year until he has one of the
-finest and best equipped and regulated farms in the United States. His
-grain, clover and grass fields are as fine as any in Pennsylvania or
-New York. His stock is well kept and creditable in number and quality;
-they will compare favorably with the best in Ohio, Michigan or any part
-of the Northwest. His cotton fields are beautiful beyond description.
-He has every convenience in the way of modern machinery. He has built
-and equipped a railroad from his farm to Athens, Ga., and has erected
-a cottonseed oil mill, fertilizer factory and conducts a general
-mercantile business to supply tenants and employees.
-
-Mr. Smith’s farming operations were enough to convince me that all the
-soil needed was careful cultivation and constant attention to yield
-three times the profit of any in the Northern or New England States.
-
-Recently I met Mr. J. T. Patrick, of Southern Pines, N. C., who is
-a noted worker for Southern development and perhaps one of the best
-posted men in the South in regard to the developments going on in that
-section. I spoke to him about Mr. Smith. Mr. Patrick said: “I have seen
-his farm and it is a credit to Mr. Smith and the South, but there are
-many more Southerners who are doing as well as he, but I suppose you
-have not seen their farms. Major R. S. Tucker, of Wake county, Dr. W.
-R. Capehart, of Bertie county, and thousands of others scattered over
-the South are owners and managers of as fine farms as you can find
-in any part of the United States. You Northern people do not get out
-from the line of railroad to see what our people are doing, and we are
-generally judged, condemned and sentenced by people who ride through
-our country at the rate of forty miles an hour on a Pullman palace car
-and don’t know the difference between a cotton plant and a stalk of
-buckwheat.”
-
-There is a great deal of truth in what Mr. Patrick said. Northern men
-who come South to learn ought to come down prepared to stay long enough
-to go into the country and see the farms and not judge the South from a
-poorly conducted farm, but from those managed with intelligence.
-
-
-Political Opinions Not Counted.
-
-JAMES M. DICKEY, Superintendent National Cemetery, Corinth, Miss.--In
-1881 I was a resident of Lamed-Pawnee county, Kansas. From March 1,
-1882, to March, 1884, was stationed at Barrancas, Fla., near Pensacola.
-From April, 1884, to the present time have been a resident of Corinth,
-Miss.
-
-My observations during this time have been somewhat limited, but in
-the material progress the agricultural classes have made considerable
-advance. The old-time theory that cotton was the only crop to be raised
-with profit has been discarded. Corn, potatoes, tomatoes, strawberries,
-grapes, fruits, etc., and nearly all classes of products that the
-truck gardener can raise will find remunerative sale. Climate and
-healthfulness are exceptionally good. I have not been under the care of
-a physician during the period of nine years.
-
-Churches are Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian and Christian. Schools of
-Corinth are public, graded into primary, intermediate, grammar and high
-school. Seven months, with two months additional of pay school, to such
-patrons as may elect to send.
-
-The one great and all important question that has been asked of me
-by visitors to this place is: “How do the people treat you? Are you
-ostracized from society?” etc. My answer has been, and I have no
-reason to change it, that a person’s habits and deportment are his or
-her passport or entree to society. It makes no difference in North
-Mississippi whether a person came from Georgia or Michigan; the social
-reception is the same.
-
-The political liberality of the citizens is as good as anywhere. While
-having their own honest convictions, they respect the convictions of
-others. My political views are in a minority, but during all this time
-no one has questioned or impugned my motives or convictions or hindered
-the rights of suffrage.
-
-
-Middle Georgia as Compared with the North and West.
-
-G. N. BARKER, Longstreet, Ga.--As one who has been a resident two years
-in Middle Georgia after ten years residence in the West and Northwest,
-occupied in stock raising, etc., I may be able to point out a few
-advantages and differences relative to these parts. What will strike
-the farmer most on arriving in this section is the total absence of
-grass meadows or any visible facilities for the pasturing of stock,
-but curiously enough, an abundance of fairly nutritious hay may be cut
-during summer, of sufficient nutritive value with the assistance of a
-little grain for stock. The corn crop is light per acre to one used to
-the West; oats, however, yield well when well cultivated, and are off
-the ground in May, the same ground making also a good hay crop the same
-year. Bermuda grass makes an inexhaustible supply of pasture for all
-stock, except three winter months when green rye, barley or oats will
-take its place. Italian rye grass I have found grows luxuriantly during
-winter and spring, and it makes more milk than almost any herb. Red
-top grass also succeeds well. During summer there is an abundance of
-forage crops for all classes of stock, and of good nutritious quality.
-Stock is healthy here, provided it is kept clean and not overfed with
-too highly fattening foodstuffs. My health has vastly improved in this
-climate and I have recovered from the exposures of the Northwest. The
-land here is poor and run down, but good cultivation and moderate
-manuring soon restore a fertility that is astonishing to anyone seeing
-only what is done without fertilizer. The greatest drawbacks in this
-section are the total inability of the laborer, merchant and business
-man to comprehend or encourage anything but cotton. All kinds of fruits
-flourish with good care bestowed upon them.
-
-Farmers coming from other parts will have to either do or closely
-superintend the minute details of their business; nothing can be left
-to the colored labor and they have not yet had any practice with the
-better methods or implements. Lumber is cheap; also carpenters very;
-to one accustomed to Western prices, so many comforts may be had
-unattainable out there. The heat is no drawback, not being anything
-like the maximum attained in North Dakota and Montana, but the summer
-is long and debilitating to the newcomer, who must use discretion in
-taking too much sun the first season. Good foundation stock of all
-kinds can be bought here at moderate prices. Living is very cheap
-and work not hard, if cotton is let alone, as there is more time
-all-the-year-round to work than in colder regions. Roads are moderate
-and railroads numerous, obviating the distances to be traveled out West
-to and from one’s station and postoffice. As a place of residence for
-comfort, absence of great atmospheric changes, cheapness of living and
-land, and other things necessary to the comfort of a farmer, I consider
-the South has many and varied advantages over the North and West.
-
-
-From New Hampshire to North Carolina.
-
-R. M. COUCH, Southern Pines, N. C.--The statement of facts I shall
-make in this letter will lean to the conservative in all cases, as
-after a residence of eight years and an extensive correspondence with
-inquirers after facts, I have learned that the truth is good enough
-and exaggeration folly. By the advice of my physician I left New
-Hampshire and located here, and have not been North even on a visit
-since, and as the climate was the first consideration with me, let
-me say unqualifiedly that I believe it as near perfect all the year
-round as can be found in any part of the world. I am confirmed in this
-conclusion by the testimony of scores who have sought this haven of
-health after trying such places as Colorado, California, New Mexico,
-Arizona, and even the South of France and Italy. The healthfulness of
-this section being established, the next question which confronted me
-was the means of support, and as we make no claim that this soil (a
-light sandy loam) is adapted to general farming, we were compelled to
-look to the fruit industry as the most likely to help us out, and well
-are we repaid for the venture. It is proved that a dry atmosphere and
-porous soil produces very fine flavored fruit and that in this climate,
-also, the fruit “colors” up better and makes a much better appearance
-than that grown in a colder and less sunny climate. But one strong hold
-on the fruit industry lies in our geographical position as regards the
-ripening season, which brings our fruit into market, out of competition
-with any other section. This fact was proved by our shipments last
-season.
-
-Within five years there have been planted in this immediate section
-1500 acres in fruit, and in order that your readers may have the
-advantage of direct correspondence with any or all the growers of
-fruit, I will give the names from memory: C. J. Eaglesfield was the
-pioneer on a small scale; S. N. Whipple, extensive peach, plum, grape
-and nut farm; Van Lindly Orchard Co., 350 acres peach, pear, plum and
-blackberry; Niagara Grape Co., 107 acres in grapes; Southern Pines
-Fruit-Growing Co., eighty acres in grapes; Benjamin Douglas, Jr., of
-Orange, N. J.; Tarbell & Carlton, H. P. Bilyeu, Dr. C. W. Weaver, C.
-D. Tarbell, Thomas Carlton, Fred Oberhouserheur, James H. Murray, S.
-W. Thomas, Charles H. Thompson, Edwin Newton, Doctors Boynton, Stevens
-and R. M. Couch, Rev. A. A. Newhall, B. Van Herff, J. T. Wilson, Dr. W.
-P. Swett, H. P. Stebbins, J. A. Morriss, R. S. Marks, L. S. Johnson,
-C. C. Mitchell, John Huttonhomer, F. J. Folley, Rev. J. W. Johnston,
-Mrs. L. A. Raymond, Mrs. Louisa Young, P. Pond, Fred Dixon and others.
-There were shipped from this point last season 150 tons, being the
-first bearing year of the oldest vineyards of much size. The bearing
-vineyards and orchards the coming season will more than double the
-shipments, and in two years all the vineyard trees mentioned will come
-to bearing.
-
-The prices in Washington and New York last July were six and seven
-cents per pound for black grapes, and thirteen and fourteen cents per
-pound for Delaware and Niagara, and $3.50 to $4.50 per bushel crate for
-peaches and plums. The demand was as good at the close of the season as
-at first. Write to Dr. C. W. Weaver, S. N. Whipple, H. P. Bilyeu, C. D.
-Tarbell, C. B. Mabore for prices obtained for their own shipments. Dr.
-Weaver realized from three acres of his best Delaware grapes $150 per
-acre net.
-
-I have thus, in a rambling way, given your readers an idea of the
-climate and agricultural resources of the sand hills of Moore county,
-N. C.
-
-Southern Pines is a town eight years old, in the midst of the
-turpentine region of North Carolina, sixty-eight miles southwest from
-Raleigh, on the Raleigh & Augusta Railroad (part of the Seaboard Air
-Line), fifteen hours from New York, and is six hundred feet above sea
-level, the highest point in the whole turpentine belt. The soil is a
-sandy loam and has a perfect drainage. Malaria is unknown. The presence
-of the long-leafed pine in large quantities causes the generation of
-ozone to such a degree as to make this locality almost a specific for
-throat and lung difficulties. Many physicians and a large number of
-the cured and benefited testify to its wonderful effects. The town
-is filled mainly with Northern people, and has four hotels, a good
-school, and church services every Sabbath. There are three stores, and
-railroad, telegraph and express offices. There are many fine residences
-and a large hotel 300 feet long and four stories is being built with
-modern improvements.
-
-
-Fruit-Growing in Texas.
-
-R. T. WHEELER, Hitchcock, Galveston county, Texas.--I have examined
-and am very much pleased with your magazine, and particularly the
-department of agricultural correspondence. This is an exceedingly
-interesting and important feature, well calculated to accomplish much
-in the settlement and development of the South. Your journal has a high
-mission and is on the right road.
-
-Unlike most of your correspondents I am a native of this State, and
-a lifetime resident of this section, and therefore naturally biased
-in favor of this country, climate and people, free, however, from
-any prejudice against any other portion of the country. While I am
-not in the strict sense a farmer, and have no skilled acquaintance
-with any branch of horticulture or agriculture, I have had ten years’
-practical acquaintance with the cultivation of this soil, and my ten
-years’ residence at this station, fourteen miles from Galveston City,
-has given me the opportunity of observing its rapid progress and
-development within the past five or six years, from a purely stock
-country, a naked prairie, in which lands were worth not exceeding fifty
-cents per acre, devoted exclusively to raising ordinary Texas cattle,
-it requiring at a low estimate ten acres to support one cow of the
-value of about $6, to a prosperous and independent fruit and truck
-farming community, having over 150,000 pear trees set to orchard, over
-100 acres in strawberries now ripening and ready for market, yielding
-from $300 to $600 per acre; some 300 acres more in cultivation in
-general vegetables, a church, good public schools, with an average
-attendance of over fifty scholars daily, good stores, about twenty
-artesian wells flowing good, pure, wholesome water in the greatest
-abundance, from a depth of about 600 feet, nurseries and rose gardens
-with several hundred varieties of roses now in full bloom in the open
-air, without a poor man or woman, and not one that is not making a good
-living, a community whose reputation is co-extensive with horticulture
-within the States and Canada, whose products are well-known in Chicago
-and other markets, and whose strawberries have sold as far West as Salt
-Lake City.
-
-Very much of the wonderful development of this country is due Col. H.
-M. Stringfellow, who some nine years since introduced the Le Conte and
-Kiefer pears, and whose orchard, in the language of an ex-governor
-of Texas, is “simply a world-beater.” Last year, as we all know, was
-both a drouth and a panic year, and yet on his thirteen-acre orchard
-Mr. Stringfellow cleared considerably over $5000 on pear fruit alone,
-and much more on the sale of rooted pear cuttings, these pears being
-propagated by cuttings. I could write a book about this country and
-then be in the same trouble as the Queen of Sheba, but I fear that this
-letter is beyond reasonable length. Notwithstanding this extraordinary
-development, lands are still comparatively cheap; the best can be had
-from $20 to $50 per acre.
-
-
-An Opinion of Arkansas After Three Years’ Trial.
-
-J. M. SOWLE, Dryden, Ark.--I came here from Michigan in June, 1890.
-Located at a place now called Dryden, just west of Gilkerson on the St.
-Louis Southwestern Railway, with seventeen families and a few single
-men; seventy in all. The B. & S. W. Railroad now runs through our town.
-
-Two families returned to stay; three more got lonesome here in the
-woods and went back expecting to stay, and before they were back two
-months acknowledged that they were homesick to come back and did come
-back, as they liked the society here, as well as the fine weather and
-good health. Everyone here now are here to stay, and most of them have
-bought land.
-
-We have such nice warm sunshine and weather in the winter. Health best
-of any place we were ever located. Out of the seventy people in the
-three years and eight months, have had eight persons sick enough to
-go to bed. One two-year-old girl died; another three-months-old babe
-died; she was well at midnight, found dead in bed in the morning; and
-one woman fifty years old died with consumption, think hereditary, as
-her father, mother and five brothers and sisters died with the same
-disease. The three who died are counted in the eight sick, except the
-babe.
-
-The soil here is good and never fails to raise crops on account of
-drouth or any other cause. We have raised fifty bushels shelled corn to
-the acre on our poorest land, and a bushel of potatoes to twenty-four
-hills, and in fact nearly all kind of crops are extra good. The county
-is naturally suited to peaches, plums and grapes. General good crops
-are corn, cotton, wheat, oats, timothy, clover, red top, blue grass,
-blackberries, raspberries, apples, pears and quince.
-
-Society is good; more church members in proportion to population than
-any place I ever was in. Laws are enforced here better than any place I
-ever lived.
-
-This county is a peaceful and safe county to live in, as we have the
-best of accommodating neighbors, as well as law-abiding citizens.
-
-
-A General Answer to Many Letters of Inquiry.
-
-A. K. FISHER, Abbeville, Ga.--My letter published some time ago in your
-magazine brought me so many letters of inquiry concerning this section,
-our mode of farming, cost of getting land ready for cultivation, etc.,
-that it required a long letter to each, and I have been unable to
-comply. I write this letter now to cover all the ground of inquiries.
-
-Abbeville has about 2000 inhabitants, is county seat of Wilcox county,
-Ga., is on the Savannah, Americus & Montgomery Railroad, sixty-five
-miles east of Americus, where the railroad crosses the Ocmulgee river.
-This river is navigable; Brunswick is near its mouth.
-
-Abbeville has two churches--Methodist and Baptist; Presbyterians also
-have service there. Schools generally are not as good as in most of
-Northern States, but are gradually improving; have some teachers from
-the North.
-
-Heretofore the products from this section have been lumber, spirits
-turpentine, rosin, cotton, some beef cattle and wool.
-
-A few years ago fortunes were made in a short time in lumber and
-turpentine business when properly managed, but most of the operators
-increased their business, bought large tracts of land, borrowed money,
-etc. Now the prices of those products have declined to or below cost of
-production, and for the past two years our banks have not been loaning
-money, so those parties are obliged to sacrifice their lands. Although
-this section has been settling up rapidly, lands can be bought for less
-than two years ago.
-
-In past twenty years cotton has declined from twenty to seven cents per
-pound. When cotton brought from fifteen to twenty cents per pound the
-cotton planter had all the money he required and raised nothing else
-for market. As a class they spent their money freely; if more money
-were required before the crop was made they could readily get advances
-on cotton crop; now the staple is below cost of production, still many
-are obliged to grow cotton, as it is the only crop on which they can
-get advances. To change requires an expenditure for farming implements
-and machinery for putting in and harvesting the crop, stumps are to be
-gotten out of the way, etc. To grow fruit requires several years to
-realize. Most of the planters own large tracts of land, and are anxious
-to dispose of a part; some are hoping each year the acreage in cotton
-will be reduced (by many putting their lands in other crops), thereby
-enhancing the price of cotton and they be benefited. They prefer to
-grow cotton, having never done anything else. Some who tried hay failed
-on first trial, as they did not have proper implements, and they
-exposed it to dews and rain after it was cured or partly so.
-
-The timber in this locality is long leaf pine, excepting along the
-river, where is abundance of hardwoods, viz: different varieties oak,
-hickory, ash, gum, cypress and some elm. The pines are not thick on the
-land; the principal roots go straight down; the surface soil is sandy,
-intermixed with dark pebbles and clay subsoil. The mode of clearing
-land is to deaden by girdling the trees, burn the logs and trash on the
-ground, fence and put in the plough. To one not accustomed to it, this
-looks very slovenly, but I believe it is the best plan, as in a few
-years the trees rot and fall to the ground. The trees are no more in
-the way than the stumps; the dead hearts can much more readily be split
-into rails or burned than when green. The heart rails will last fifteen
-years; it costs about $10.00 per thousand to put rails into fences;
-rails are ten feet long. I am building board fences; lumber costs me
-at mill $5.00 per thousand feet. There are plenty of mills. I have my
-posts split from dead hearts and faced with axe; they cost me about
-three cents each at fence. When the ground is wet a man can dig seventy
-holes in a day; when dry the clay subsoil becomes very hard and one
-half above number would be good work.
-
-I have taken stumps from 200 acres land at a cost of about $2.00 per
-acre; generally would cost from $2.00 to $6.00 per acre, according to
-length of time land had been cleared. I have not tried dynamite; some
-have, but cannot state whether it gave satisfactory results; I believe
-it would, especially in new land. We plant our corn in rows, generally
-six feet apart and from two to three feet apart in a row, one stalk in
-a place. At last working of corn we put in one or two rows of peas to
-every row of corn; the peas and corn mature at same time. When corn is
-gathered we gather peas enough for seed, then put in the hogs and they
-fatten from the peas. Some varieties of those peas will remain on the
-ground all winter and grow the next summer. The pea crop is worth as
-much as the corn crop.
-
-Corn grown here is worth seventy cents per bushel. From sixty acres
-I got over 1200 bushels of corn. I used on the sixty acres two tons
-of phosphate that cost here $16.00 per ton mixed with the manure from
-four mules and 200 bushels cottonseed worth fifteen cents per bushel.
-Some make more, some less, according to cultivation and amount of
-fertilizers used. One of my neighbors for several years past has been
-making forty bushels of corn to the acre.
-
-From 100 acres in oats I got 2000 bushels; these are rust proof and
-always in demand for seed; I sold all for sixty cents per bushel. I
-used no fertilizers under the oats; I generally cut two crops of hay
-same season from same land after I cut my oats. I plough, harrow and
-roll the ground in June. I use under the hay guano worth about $6.00
-to every acre and get two tons of hay per acre worth here $18.00 per
-ton. This grass comes spontaneously after the land is cultivated a
-few years and makes excellent hay. It does not grow North. This year
-one of my neighbors cut from twelve acres 600 bushels of oats; put
-no fertilizers under the oats, but had the year previous oats on same
-land, and after the oats were cut, in June, he planted it in peas;
-when the peas matured he turned his hogs in; by October the hogs had
-gathered the peas, then he ploughed under the pea vines and sowed in
-the oats. This is the most economical way of improving our lands. The
-crop of peas pays for all the expense. We feed but little corn to our
-hogs.
-
-Wheat is grown but little in this section. When cotton was worth twenty
-cents per pound no one would raise wheat, so the mills were either
-torn or rotted down, but in a short time there will be a mill to grind
-wheat in the vicinity. There are plenty of mills to grind corn. Nearly
-all the vegetables grown North do well here, and come into the market
-much earlier, and many that do not grow there do well here. Cabbage and
-Irish potatoes do well here, but when planted in spring mature early in
-summer and do not keep longer than a couple of months; when planted in
-July they mature in fall and keep tolerably well, but sometimes it is
-difficult to get a stand of plants in July.
-
-This is about 32° north latitude; peaches, pears, plums, grapes and
-some varieties of apples do well here, and all begin bearing at much
-younger age than North; perhaps are not as long-lived, but heretofore
-no care has been taken of them.
-
-In the woods the grass grows during summer from one to one and one-half
-feet high, and makes a splendid pasture, especially for six months,
-commencing in April. The cattle, sheep and hogs are never fed. At this
-time of the year all are poor, but in May both cattle and sheep are in
-good order. By having some winter pastures to keep the cattle fat for
-winter market the beeves would bring fancy prices in the home market.
-There is plenty of good beef here in summer; in winter our beef comes
-from the West (cold storage) and costs by the quarter eight cents per
-pound.
-
-We sow oats from September to February; I pasture mine some in winter,
-but there are a number of grasses that make here a good winter
-pasture. Alfalfa is being grown with success in some portions of this
-State; no doubt would do well here. These cattle, sheep and hogs on
-the range have never been improved by crossing with improved breeds;
-the rule has been to leave every tenth male for breeding purposes. By
-crossing the native ewes with some of the improved breeds, and feeding
-some on pasturing in winter, lambs could be put into Northern markets
-much earlier than from the States farther North. These cattle and sheep
-are all gotten up at a certain time for shearing and marking, when
-those for market are sold to buyers who ship them to the cities to sell
-to butchers. Some of the stock is never seen by the owners. The young
-are marked with the mark of its mother, the fleece of wool tied up and
-marked, the owner notified, he pays for sheering and gets it. All land
-not fenced is range and free to all. One might own 1000 head of cattle
-and not own an acre of land. Hogs live and grow on range but do much
-better when fed some; those near river get fat from acorns.
-
-Building material is cheap. Kiln-dried and dressed flooring and ceiling
-from $8.00 to $12.00 per M feet; No. 1 Brick at kiln $5.00 per M.
-
-Butter is worth thirty cents per pound, eggs fifteen cents per dozen,
-sweet milk ten cents per quart, buttermilk five cents per quart.
-
-A number of parties from Ohio came to this section last February; some
-bought when they came, others bought this winter; all remained. They
-say they do not feel the heat any more than in Ohio, as we have more
-breeze and the nights are pleasant. Sunstrokes are unknown. A few
-days ago a party from Ohio bought 300 acres of land one and one-half
-miles from Abbeville, thirty acres of which is cleared, all salable
-timber cut from the balance, but enough for farm purposes on the land;
-buildings worth $150; no orchard; 250 acres fair pine lands, fifty
-acres of but little value, price paid $1600; $1150 cash, $450 in twelve
-months. The buyer intends going into the dairy business; also fruit
-and improved stock. Lands can be bought at from $2.00 to $10.00 per
-acre, according to distance from railway, improvements, etc., and my
-experience is a better profit can be made farming from an acre here
-than from an acre in the Northern States, where their lands are valued
-at from $50.00 to $75.00 per acre. Taxes are about fifty cents on
-values of $100. Near rivers, ponds, etc., are subject to some fevers. I
-have lived here for past twelve years; have not had case of fever among
-my family or hands on the place.
-
-We have no sand flies nor mosquitoes, except near ponds and water
-courses there are mosquitoes. We are not subject to tornadoes or
-cyclones as in some parts of the West. Our labor is mixed, mostly
-negroes. Farm hands are paid from $8.00 to $12.00 per month and
-rations. A ration consists of four pounds of bacon and one peck meal
-for six day’s work. Where it is white labor they are boarded in the
-family of the farmers. The negroes here are strong competitors in many
-of the trades, especially carpenters, blacksmiths and painters; also
-masons. Our climate is so mild that it is not necessary for comfort
-for a house to be plastered or ceiled inside; very few farmers’ houses
-are; neither is so expensive clothing required as in the North. On
-the nights of the fifth and sixth instant we had very little ice on
-shallow water on the ground; those were the coldest nights this winter.
-I have seen snow a few times in last twelve years; have seen none this
-winter. Ploughs can run all winter. A few peach trees are in bloom now
-(February 14th). There are no government or State land to homestead or
-for sale in this State, but plenty of lands for sale either unimproved
-or improved. We cultivate too much land here; we should cultivate less
-and work and fertilize better.
-
-The people are anxious for Northern farmers to come and settle here
-and will render home seekers any service in their power, furnish them
-stock to ride or drive and take care of them whilst they are procuring
-locations, etc. I would not advise anyone without some capital to come;
-anyone coming should come with the expectation of working for himself
-and not for others. I notice that the Big Four and St. Louis Railway
-are selling round-trip tickets to points in Georgia, good for twenty
-days, for one fare. These tickets are issued for March 8th and April
-9th.
-
-
-
-
-ITEMS ABOUT FARMS AND FARMERS
-
-
-Small Farms In Florida.
-
-It seems strange that farmers of the North will purchase land for
-farming purposes at $100 or more per acre when in the South there is an
-abundance of land at from $5 to $25 an acre, from which, acre for acre,
-a larger revenue can be derived. Because of the variety of products
-raised in the North no farm of less than forty acres is regarded as
-sufficiently large to maintain a family.
-
-The tendency in the North is towards larger farms, and many farmers are
-not satisfied with a farm of less than 160 acres. Make the acreage only
-forty, and the farm is worth $4000. On twenty acres of land in Florida
-that can be bought at $25 per acre, one can get a larger annual return
-in dollars than he can from the $4000 farm in the North.
-
-This statement needs no proof. It is being demonstrated year by year
-all over the State, and only needs to be understood by the great army
-of home-seekers of the country to bring such an influx of them as
-will make Florida one of the most populous portions of the country.
-Thousands of people in the North want just such homes as are within
-their reach here. They have not money enough to pay for a satisfactory
-home at the high prices of the North, but they possess enough property
-to be able to secure a good home in Florida. If they could only be
-enlightened as to what awaits them here, they would come in force.--The
-Citizen, Jacksonville, Fla.
-
-
-Improved Methods of the Southern Farmer.
-
-The Savannah Morning News sees cause for favorable comment in the
-improved methods of the Southern farmer. It says: “Contrasted with
-the average Southern farm of fifteen years ago, the average Southern
-farm of today presents a striking object lesson of the New South’s
-progress. Plows, hoes and other agricultural implements are no longer
-left in the fields, or without shelter in the barnyards, overnight,
-or for weeks at a time, according to the whim of the user. Wagons and
-carts are not left standing, covered with mud, at the most convenient
-place to drop them. Harnesses are not thrown on a fence, or a peg, or
-a hitching post, exposed to the weather, until wanted. These things
-now have their orderly places under shelter and are properly looked
-after. Rainy days are no longer spent in loafing about the kitchen, but
-employer and hired man put in the time of the rainy day in the barn
-mending harness, oiling machinery, tightening wagon bolts, etc.”
-
-All of this goes to show thrift and economy, and partly explains why
-many a Georgia farmer has surplus funds to loan at interest.
-
-
-Condition of Georgia Farmers.
-
-At a meeting of the Georgia State Agricultural Society, held at
-Brunswick, Ga., February 14, Col. Waddell, the president of the
-society, said, in an address:
-
-“The condition of the farmers of Georgia is not really understood. The
-view entertained by the optimist being too rosy, that of the pessimist
-too depressing. They are nearer out of debt than they have ever been,
-they have more home-raised supplies than for many years, and they
-are managing their affairs with more judgment and prudence than ever
-before. But they experienced the pinching scarcity of money, and some
-of them are burdened with debts which would have been cancelled but
-for the shrinkage in the value of their lands and the products of
-their farms. You who are practical farmers know there is no money in
-raising cotton at seven or eight cents a pound, and that our only hope
-of success is in producing every possible article of necessity at home.
-Fortunately, we are not dependent on the cotton crop, for in variety
-and diversity of products, and in soil and climate, Georgia produces
-unequalled advantages, and these advantages are being recognized and
-utilized more and more every year.”
-
-
-Texas Tobacco Growers Organize.
-
-The tobacco growers have formed an association for mutual benefit
-and for the promotion of this branch of crop cultivation. It is to
-be called the Cigar Leaf Tobacco Growers’ Association, and intends
-publishing a paper in the interests of Texas tobacco.
-
-O. A. Smith, of Willis, is president; H. F. Malone, of Willis,
-vice-president, and J. F. Irvine, secretary and treasurer. The
-executive committee is composed of the following: Clark Arnold, of
-Galveston; J. M. Buckley, of Willis; T. G. Wools, of Hondo; J. H.
-Bruning, of Galveston; J. J. Strozier, of Willis; C. F. Rhode, of
-Galveston; O. A. Smith, of Willis, and H. S. Elders, of Willis.
-
-The by-laws of the National Tobacco Growers’ Association, as adopted at
-Washington, are adopted by this association.
-
-
-Profitable Rice Culture.
-
-The New York Journal of Commerce, in an article on rice growing in
-Southwestern Louisiana, says: A couple of years ago the crop was
-excessive, but the last crop is well sold up, and there is little doubt
-that the consumption of rice will vastly increase in this country.
-Scientifically and practically it is one of the best of foods, and the
-taste for it is growing. Portions of this section of Louisiana are
-sufficiently watered by natural overflow, but a good deal of it is
-artificially irrigated. Some of the farmers say that it is a little
-more work to cultivate rice than wheat or corn, but most of them think
-it is less; there is no great difference in the cost. The general
-testimony is that it costs $5 or $6 an acre to cultivate it, exclusive
-of irrigation, which, as already said, is not always necessary. A
-dollar for seed, two for cultivation and two for harvesting is the
-estimate of many farmers, though a few put the cost at a dollar or
-two more, and some go as high as $10 or $12. Ten barrels in the rough
-is regarded by many cultivators as a fair average crop, but yields of
-twelve and fifteen barrels are common. The farmers generally get from
-$2 to $3 a barrel, and sometimes a little more. A rice cultivator at
-Lake Author, La., writes: “I can say honestly and positively that a man
-can make a big fortune in four or five years raising rice.... I know a
-number of farmers that have for the past three years averaged fifteen
-barrels per acre, and their net average price per barrel for the three
-years was $2.85.” These figures give gross receipts of $42.75 per acre.
-
-
-Fruit Growing in Louisiana.
-
-At the recent annual meeting of the Louisiana State Agricultural
-Society, F. H. Burnette, the horticulturist of the State Experiment
-Station at Baton Rouge, read an interesting paper upon Southern fruits.
-
-Prof. Burnette has given much time to the development of the fruit
-industry of Louisiana, experimenting upon the different varieties of
-fruit indigenous to the climate, utilizing his knowledge of foreign
-horticulturing and experimenting at the station. He gave a full report
-of these experiments. The paper was of especial interest to small fruit
-growers, dwelling upon the varieties of peach, pear and orange which
-can be grown with success in Louisiana, and of the new variety of
-Japanese and Chinese plums and persimmons which he has grown at Baton
-Rouge with success.
-
-At the same meeting Judge Lewis, of Opelousas, spoke of the cultivation
-of figs as a marketable crop and one which has never failed of
-producing remunerative results by close attention to the cultivation
-of the trees. He also spoke of the preserves made in Opelousas of the
-rind of the sour orange and also of figs, which are sold in the stores
-of Opelousas. The fig tree is self-supporting, and as an orchard which
-produces and supplies itself, being free from climatic influences.
-He spoke at length upon the possibilities of canning the fruits of
-Louisiana and shipping them to Northern markets.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The farmers of Sumter county, Georgia, the county in which Americus
-is located, are more and more abandoning the all cotton business and
-turning to the growing of fruits.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Mr. J. B. Dubose of Ridge Spring, Edgefield county, S. C., has
-experimented with great success in the growing of celery. It is
-claimed that the product of his farm is equal in every way to the best
-Kalamazoo celery.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The business of truck gardening around Weldon, N. C., has undergone
-great development in the last year or two. To accommodate this growing
-industry the Wilmington & Weldon railroad is putting in additional side
-track facilities.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The State of Georgia has one of the agricultural experiment stations
-established by the United States Government, which has been in
-existence about four years. Its purpose is to aid the farmers of the
-State by experiments in the preparation, fertilization and cultivation
-of the soil, etc. It is maintained by an annual appropriation of
-$15,000 by the United States government. The property used for the
-purposes of the station belongs to the State. This property consists of
-130 acres of land with buildings, including dairy, ginnery, greenhouse,
-tobacco barn, laboratory, etc.
-
-A bulletin of results is published once a quarter and is sent free to
-any citizen of Georgia engaged in any branch of farming. The station is
-located at Experiment, near Griffin. Its organization is as follows: R.
-J. Redding, director; H. C. White, Ph. D., vice-director and chemist;
-H. N. Starnes, horticulturist; James M. Kimbrough, Agriculturist; H. J.
-Wing, dairyman.
-
- * * * * *
-
-A number of Germans living near Axtell, Texas, have recently engaged
-in the apiary business with much success. Mr. L. J. Miller who lives
-in that neighborhood produced 1187 pounds of honey last year, and 165
-pounds of beeswax. The honey brought twelve and a half cents and the
-wax seventeen and a half cents.
-
- * * * * *
-
-A recent bulletin issued from the Texas Experimental Station gives some
-interesting comparisons of the four leading crops in the State. The
-cotton crop of Texas covers 4,520,310 acres, and is worth $69,439,476;
-the corn crop covers 3,166,353 acres and is worth $28,429,125; the
-wheat crop covers 442,337 acres and is worth $5,244,303; the sweet
-potato crop covers 29,928 acres and is worth $1,503,764. According
-to the above statistics the value of each crop per acre is: Cotton,
-$15.36; corn, $8.94; wheat, $11.88; sweet potatoes, $50.24. The cost of
-growing an acre of either is not materially different. Here is a big
-difference in favor of sweet potatoes.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Mr. Jere Mabry, of Belton, Texas, reports as the result of his work
-for 1893, on a rented farm of eighty acres, cash receipts aggregating
-$1,974.91. Besides what he sold he raised, for the most part his food
-supplies. His total cash expenses were $506.85, leaving $964.06 as the
-net cash profit of the year’s work.
-
- * * * * *
-
-An intelligent farmer of Rowan county, N. C., said the other day: “The
-farmers in my county were never better off. They have plenty of corn,
-wheat, meat and other produce, and many of them have a bale or so of
-cotton stored away. There is no necessity for the cry of hard times
-among the farmers of Rowan. True, they have little money, but they do
-not need it, they have all at home that they can consume. Why, many of
-the farmers are raising everything they need on the farm. I know of men
-who now have plenty of meat who a few years ago did not raise a hog, so
-you see they are growing wiser and are prospering as all good farmers
-should. True, a few of Rowan’s farms are mortgaged and badly in debt,
-but they are generally of that sort that lounge around town in idleness
-the greater portion of the time and let their crops go, trusting to a
-mortgage for the next year.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-The “Southern Pines Orchard Co.” purchased in 1890 1200 acres of wooded
-land near Southern Pines, and 360 acres of this has been cleared and
-planted as follows: 51,000 peach trees, 5000 pears, 1000 plums, 16,000
-blackberry. In that section the peach crop never fails. Last year
-the new trees bore a few peaches and this year they are expected to
-bear freely. The president of the company is Mr. J. Van Lindley, of
-Greensboro, N. C., who is also proprietor of the Pomona Nurseries at
-Greensboro.
-
- * * * * *
-
-During the last few weeks there has been much activity among the
-farmers in the vicinity of Oglethorpe, Ga., and from all parts of the
-county as well. The time has again rolled round when they must plant
-their crops, and right energetically are they going at this duty. Not
-near so much fertilizer is being used as in previous years, and the
-farmers of Macon county, Ga., are reported by the Macon News to be
-in better condition than in a long time. Nearly all have more than a
-sufficiency of home-raised meat to supply them during the year. Few
-complaints are heard of hard times.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Some advanced tobacco growers in Texas have been experimenting with the
-object of growing a fine quality of Cuban cigar leaf, and the results,
-it is said, have been entirely satisfactory. The reports from Brazos,
-Paris, Calhoun, Nueces, Liberty, Grimes, Walker, Montgomery and other
-counties show that a very fine quality of Cuban tobacco can be grown in
-Southern and Southeastern Texas.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The rice acreage in Orange county, Texas, will be materially increased
-this year, and there will be almost a corresponding increase in fruit
-farming, for which that section is eminently adapted.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Mr. G. W. Duncan, of Greenville, Ala., has fattened thirty-nine hogs
-this season on twenty acres of ground peas, and says there are enough
-peas in the ground now to fatten as many more hogs and to keep them fat
-for a month yet.
-
-
-
-
-FRUIT-GROWING POSSIBILITIES OF THE SOUTH ATLANTIC SEABOARD.
-
-_By Clark Bell._
-
-
-I am asked to contribute a paper to the SOUTHERN STATES, giving my
-impressions of my first trip South. I will reply as I have done to
-my friend Mr. Clark Howell, of Atlanta, Ga., for the columns of his
-paper, from the stand-point of a business man and farmer, and not in
-my relation to the party who recently visited the seaboard States,
-composed in the main of medical editors, their wives and friends.
-
-Too much praise cannot be awarded Dr. W. C. Wile, of Danbury, Conn.,
-for promoting and organizing the party of Northern medical editors and
-their friends, thus bringing to their attention the unusual advantages
-of the Piedmont section of the Southern seaboard States to Northern
-emigration.
-
-These distinguished gentlemen will shortly communicate their views
-through their respective journals, but what I shall say now will be
-quite free from all professional considerations.
-
-Either North Carolina or Georgia must be regarded as the paradise
-of the fruit grower. I have had a large experience in vine growing
-and wine making in Western New York, having planted one of the first
-vineyards on the shores of Lake Keuka, and being one of the promoters
-of the Urbana Wine Co., and I am familiar in a practical way with that
-most remunerative culture of the black raspberry, in Yates county, New
-York, which furnishes the evaporated dried fruit so much now in demand,
-and may fairly be classed as one qualified to speak, in a practical
-way, as to the general features of fruit growing. The wine-growing
-industry, yet in its infancy in North Carolina, has gone far enough
-to demonstrate an assured success in a lucrative way, to those who
-carry on its productions on business methods. The experiments made at
-Southern Pines, N. C., have gone far enough to leave no manner of doubt
-of splendid results in the near future.
-
-The difficulty with which the Northern grower has to contend are the
-high price of land and labor and the early frost. Labor in both Georgia
-and North Carolina is abundant and cheap. Eight dollars per month will
-cover the wages of men with rations, which can be computed at $2.50
-per month. Frost is quite out of the question. The cost of land in
-desirable locations is as low as $3 to $10 per acre, and if unimproved
-land is taken a net of $10 would be ample to put good land ready to
-plant the vine. The plow can run in both the States every month in the
-year.
-
-By way of Norfolk, the markets of New York and Philadelphia are as
-accessible to the fruit growers of these States as to Western New York,
-in both time and rate. North Carolina seems to have been chary of the
-immigration of foreigners. Of that great flood of European blood that
-has for the past twenty-five years poured into the ports of New York,
-neither North Carolina nor Georgia has received anything worth naming.
-It has swept like an enormous wave over the West, but not on the South
-Atlantic seaboard. You would secure those who are desirable and by
-proper work could do so.
-
-The citizens of Northern States do not correctly understand your
-section. They should visit and carefully look into the capacities
-of your States. Nothing dispels illusions like contact and personal
-examination. The North is full of active, energetic, industrious men
-inured to labor, who do not know what advantages you offer or they
-would flood into and buy up your unoccupied lands and form a splendid
-factor in the New South now forming. Would the Northern settlers be
-hospitably received? At the North this would be a controlling question.
-General Manager Winder, of the Seaboard Air Line, assures me that in
-his State the Northern settler would be most welcome. Ex-Governor
-Jarvis, of North Carolina, in a recent conversation, assured me that
-the Southern welcome would be whole-souled, full and free from the
-slightest danger of interference. I have equally high authority in
-Georgia of a similar state of public sentiment. Northern settlers
-would, strange as it may sound to you, need to be assured in these
-respects.
-
-The present depressed state of financial affairs is not against such an
-immigration now. Your splendid railways should give especial facilities
-in reduced freights to actual settlers. Austin Corbin, one of our
-greatest railroad workers, transports free over his railways every
-pound of material an actual settler puts on his land in improvements.
-I would advocate free transportation of the household goods of every
-actual Northern settler by your great railway lines.
-
-I do not dare to state what I think of the future of North Carolina
-and Georgia within the next fifty years. Yes, twenty-five years. No
-Georgian or Carolinian would believe as much as I see coming in the
-next generation. With a climate that not only rivals, but excels
-that of Italy, I say to Georgians and North Carolinians if you will
-yourselves open to Northern eyes the enormous advantages of your grand
-States, you will witness a spectacle within the next thirty years as
-marvelous as that we saw in Atlanta, where a magnificent city has
-arisen, phœnix-like, from the ashes made by Sherman’s army. And the new
-States of Georgia and North Carolina will come into a new and grander
-life, which will be as much a wonder to the next generation as Atlanta
-is to this.
-
-
-
-
-THE SOUTHERN STATES.
-
- THE
- SOUTHERN STATES.
-
- AN ILLUSTRATED MONTHLY MAGAZINE
- DEVOTED TO THE SOUTH.
-
- Published by the
- Manufacturers’ Record Publishing Co.
- Manufacturers’ Record Building,
- BALTIMORE, MD.
-
- SUBSCRIPTION: $1.50 a Year; $1 for Six Months
-
- WILLIAM H. EDMONDS,
- Editor and Manager.
-
- BALTIMORE, MARCH, 1894.
-
-
-The SOUTHERN STATES is an exponent of the Immigration and Real Estate
-Interests and general advancement of the South, and a journal of
-accurate and comprehensive information about Southern resources and
-progress.
-
-Its purpose is to set forth accurately and conservatively from month to
-month the reasons why the South is, for the farmer, the settler, the
-home seeker, the investor, incomparably the most attractive section of
-this country.
-
-
-An Opportunity for Capital.
-
-In the general discussion of the various agencies to be depended on to
-bring about an enlarged and accelerated Southern immigration movement,
-there seems to have been little thought given to private enterprises as
-one of them.
-
-A great deal has been said about the duty and self interest of
-railroads in the matter, and much has been spoken and written in
-advocacy of aggressive measures on the part of the States. It is quite
-true that the railroads should pursue the most liberal policy in
-fostering and developing immigration. Every farmer who settles in the
-territory of any road becomes a permanent producer of traffic for that
-road, and whether the railroad company be the owner of lands or not,
-the most profitable expenditures it can make are such as will help to
-populate and build up the country tributary to its lines. It is also
-true that every Southern State should have an immigration department
-or bureau, conducted not by small politicians, but by the most capable
-men to be had, and not supported by niggardly appropriations, but amply
-supplied with sufficient money to make possible the most progressive
-and comprehensive methods.
-
-But, unfortunately, the ideal is not going to be reached as to either
-the railroads or the States. Both will in the aggregate come very far
-short of what ought to be done, and this will be more pronouncedly and
-lamentably true of the State governments.
-
-Outside of these agencies, then, how is the cause of immigration to be
-advanced? The question and the conditions giving rise to it suggest
-an opportunity for capital and enterprise. In almost any part of the
-South very large areas of land may be gotten together at very low
-prices. With money enough to buy and properly develop farm lands, and
-with judicious management, there is hardly any limit to the profitable
-business that could be done by immigration or colonization companies.
-For example, a company that could buy say 10,000 to 20,000 or more
-acres of land in a body, or make up this acreage by consolidating a
-number of farms bought from different owners, and then divide this up
-into small farms of twenty, forty, eighty or more acres, construct
-roads throughout the entire area, drain the whole of it, put it all in
-the best shape for the most advanced farming or gardening operations,
-building houses, &c., and then direct themselves to the work of
-colonizing it or selling to individual settlers, such a company, with
-sufficient capital and properly managed, could quickly settle up almost
-any area of land and make enormous profits for its stockholders.
-Besides the tracts sold as small farms, there would necessarily be one
-or more centrally located village sites which would become immediately
-valuable as town property. There is nothing easier than getting
-Northern farmers to go South. The conditions of farming and of life at
-the South are so incomparably superior to those at the North that they
-need only to be pressed upon the attention of Northern farmers to be
-availed of. In its millions of acres of cheap lands the South has the
-advantage of an entirely new and undeveloped country, and has with this
-all the advantages and comforts and attractions of an established and
-advanced civilization. The South is in the main more healthful than any
-other part of the United States, its range of farm and garden products
-is greater, it offers better opportunities for profitable agriculture,
-and it is in all respects a section where life can be lived in greater
-comfort than at the North. Convinced of these facts, hundreds of
-thousands of substantial and well-to-do farmers in other parts of the
-country would quickly move to the South. In fact, there is even now,
-all over the North and Northwest a disposition to go South. As was
-stated in a letter published in the January number of the SOUTHERN
-STATES, “there are thousands who would move South if somebody would
-start the ball rolling.” These are the conditions. Properly utilized,
-they can be made to furnish a wide and rich field for some of the
-millions now lying idle and non-productive in the financial centres.
-
-
-The Virginia Legislature and Immigration.
-
-The legislature of Virginia, in its very proper and commendable desire
-to promote immigration to the State, is discussing the enactment of
-some extraordinary legislation. A bill now before the senate provides
-for the appointment of a commissioner of immigration, who shall keep
-on file in his office a description of any lands submitted to him by
-any owner or real-estate agent, and shall receive a commission of
-not more than 5 per cent. upon the sale of any such lands in lieu of
-salary. Evidently, to the mind of the author of this bill, the benefits
-of an increase in the population of the State terminate with the sale
-of lands, and are confined to owners of such lands. The narrowness of
-a measure that would impose upon any one class of people the expense
-of an immigration department is manifest. The innumerable and widely
-ramifying benefits resulting from judicious immigration effort are
-shared by everybody, and the expense should be borne by everybody.
-
-Aside from this inequity, there are many objections to the plan of
-giving the proposed commissioner an interest in the sale of lands. As
-an officer of the State he should be free from any possibility of bias
-as to any part of the State or any specific properties.
-
-Let a commissioner of immigration be appointed by all means, and let
-an adequate fund be set apart for the expenses of his department, but
-let this come out of the receipts from taxes, and thus be equitably
-apportioned among all classes.
-
-
-Florida’s Obligation to Mr. Disston.
-
-To say that no other State owes as much to any one man as Florida owes
-to Hamilton Disston, of Philadelphia, is a comprehensive statement, but
-it is probably true. About fifteen years ago some Northern capitalists
-were induced to consider the idea of building railroads in Florida.
-It was found on investigation that the State could not grant any of
-its lands to railroad companies, since all the lands of the State were
-covered by a general mortgage which had been made to secure the State
-bonds. Without this inducement nobody was willing to put a dollar into
-railroad building in Florida, for the reason that the early returns
-from traffic could not be expected to be such as would justify it. In
-this emergency Mr. Disston came to the rescue of the State. He bought
-4,000,000 acres of Florida land, paying for it enough to discharge the
-entire State debt, thereby releasing the lands owned by the State,
-and placing it in a position to make grants to railroads. Immediately
-following this, contracts were made with New York capitalists,
-and Florida entered upon an era of railroad building and general
-development.
-
-Of course it is beyond question that the enormous resources and
-capabilities of Florida would in time have brought railroads, with the
-development that accompanies them, but it is also true that but for
-this timely intervention and help from Mr. Disston, the beginning of
-this period of growth and prosperity would have been delayed, possibly
-many years.
-
-Following this timely succor, Mr. Disston has now put the State under
-further obligation to him for one of the most stupendous and one of the
-most successful works of general improvement ever undertaken in this
-country. As was briefly told in the February number of the SOUTHERN
-STATES, he has reclaimed for the State many millions of acres of land
-that but for his enterprise would have been permanently a waste. True,
-he has himself reaped large rewards, as it is proper that he should
-have done, but this does not lessen the benefits the State receives,
-and moreover, the risk has been all his own, since the only return
-the State was to make to him for the millions of dollars spent in his
-drainage works was a share of the lands reclaimed from overflow.
-
-The value of the services that Mr. Disston has rendered Florida are
-beyond estimate.
-
-
-How to Do It.
-
-The News, of Birmingham, Ala., very correctly maintains that reduced
-railroad rates will not accomplish much in the way of inducing
-immigration, unless the measure be accompanied by liberal advertising.
-The News says:
-
- Ten good settlers can be brought down from the effects of good
- advertising, without any half rates, where one can be brought
- down from the mere effects of half rates, and as a rule those
- who come solely on account of low rates never become settlers,
- but combined, the two do good service, reaching the better
- class.
-
-The SOUTHERN STATES is the channel through which to reach the attention
-of the North and Northwest. It is the only Southern immigration
-journal; the only publication that can be looked to for information
-about the soil, climate, agricultural capabilities, etc., of the whole
-South. It is alone in this field. There has never been a time when
-there was such eagerness for facts about the South. From New England,
-the Middle States, the West, and notably from the Northwest, requests
-for sample copies and letters of inquiry about the South are pouring in
-upon us.
-
-Advertisements in the SOUTHERN STATES will be read every month by many
-thousands of people all over the North and Northwest, who are eagerly
-seeking such information as will enable them to determine what part of
-the South is most likely to suit them.
-
-
-No Such Danger.
-
-The Boston Herald, in an editorial on the work of the SOUTHERN STATES,
-says: “The reports are extremely favorable in regard to richness
-and variety of crops, and the chief danger seems to be that the
-speculators in Southern lands, as well as many of the railroads, hold
-their lands at such prices as to dissuade the poorer but industrious
-class of immigrants from taking them up.” The danger apprehended by
-the Herald does not at all exist. There are many millions of acres of
-the best land in the South that can be had for prices that are merely
-nominal. The trouble is not that there is any fault to be found with
-the land, but there are not people enough in the South to cultivate
-more than a small part of the land, and the surplus is, therefore, in
-a sense valueless, no matter how rich and productive it may be. There
-are a good many millions of acres of railroad land, and in some of
-the States State land, that can be had for such prices and upon such
-terms as nobody can find fault with. And as to the private holdings of
-individuals, there is too much land in every part of the South unused,
-and therefore too many owners anxious to sell a part of what they own,
-to make possible any speculative putting up of prices.
-
-
-How to Reach Prospective Immigrants.
-
- That North Carolina needs immigrants of the right kind is too
- universally admitted to call for proof; and that all efforts
- heretofore made in this direction have been practically
- a failure seems also clear. It seems equally clear that
- circulars, handbooks and the State press fail of their purpose
- in this respect, because they never reach the class we desire
- to influence.--The Gazette, Washington, N. C.
-
-The Gazette is right. Many thousands of dollars are wasted in printing
-books and pamphlets that nobody ever reads. There is a way, however, to
-reach the class it is desired to influence. It can be done through the
-SOUTHERN STATES. The SOUTHERN STATES is a journal of information about
-the South. It is engaged in the work of making known the resources in
-soil, climate and agricultural capabilities, of the Southern States.
-And such is the desire for accurate and comprehensive information about
-this section that although the magazine has been in existence only
-a year it goes into every part of New England, the Middle States,
-the West and the Northwest, and is read by thousands of farmers and
-business men who are seeking to inform themselves as to the most
-attractive localities in the South.
-
-The SOUTHERN STATES furnishes a channel through which to reach
-effectively the class of possible immigrants needed in the South.
-
-
-Work of Southern Railroads in Promoting Immigration.
-
-In the general and very proper demand for railroad aid to the cause
-of Southern immigration, it should not be forgotten that many of the
-Southern roads have been for years giving conspicuous and liberal
-attention to this work. Through the efforts of such roads, for
-example, as the Mobile & Ohio, the Illinois Central, the Baltimore &
-Ohio, the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern, the Missouri, Kansas &
-Texas, the St. Louis Southwestern and others, hundreds of thousands
-of substantial farmers, artisans and business men have been induced
-to move to the South, and all of those roads are constantly enlarging
-their immigration work. A notable instance of broad and progressive
-management in furtherance of immigration is furnished by the Georgia
-Southern & Florida road, whose methods were made the subject of an
-article published in the January number of the SOUTHERN STATES.
-
-Other Southern roads are becoming roused on this subject. The Seaboard
-Air Line system, which has a management as progressive and liberal as
-any road in the country, is preparing to inaugurate a comprehensive
-immigration policy, and the Richmond & Danville road is also adopting
-measures to induce Northern farmers to settle along its lines. The
-Louisville & Nashville and the Central Railroad of Georgia systems are
-also taking advanced steps in the same direction.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The introduction of artesian water in some of the Southern towns,
-notably Albany and Brunswick, Ga., has revolutionized the health of
-those places; the two localities named, which were formerly noted for
-the prevalence of malarial and other disorders, being now equally noted
-as health resorts. The last Georgia town to enter the artesian well
-procession is Quitman, Ga. The April number of the SOUTHERN STATES will
-contain an exhaustive article by Mr. James R. Randall, on drinking
-water. Mr. Randall has for many years been making investigations on
-this subject, and his article will be a revelation, not only to the
-general public, but to most physicians and hygienists as well.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Augusta Chronicle, quoting the sage remark of a man who had amassed
-much wealth, who when asked how he had made his money, said that he
-always bought when everybody wanted to sell, and sold when everybody
-wanted to buy, urges that the present is the time for people with money
-to make investments. Prices of every sort have reached a minimum, and
-in view of the assured early reaction and the inevitable rebound to
-very high prices that will follow the long term of depression, this
-would seem to be as the Chronicle suggests, the time to buy things.
-
- * * * * *
-
-No sooner is Atlanta well under way with its great International
-Exposition project for 1895 than Macon comes to the front with an
-exposition enterprise of its own. A movement has been started to hold
-an exposition in the fall of 1894. These Georgia towns are great
-hustlers.
-
- * * * * *
-
-In Mr. Clark Bell’s article, published elsewhere, there is this
-statement:
-
- “Austin Corbin, one of our greatest railroad workers,
- transports free over his railways every pound of material
- an actual settler puts on his land in improvements. I would
- advocate free transportation of the household goods of every
- actual Northern settler by your great railway lines.”
-
-This is commended to the attention of Southern railroad managers.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Legislature of Virginia seems to have some spite against real
-estate agents. Not satisfied with the present burdensome and wholly
-unjust tax imposed upon real estate dealers in the State, it is
-proposed now to make the real estate agents bear the expense of a State
-immigration commission.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Mr. John T. Patrick, of Southern Pines, N. C., secretary of the
-Southern Bureau of Information, deserves much commendation for his
-enterprise and public spirit in having arranged for an excursion
-through the South of the editors of a number of leading Northern
-medical journals. This undertaking of Mr. Patrick’s is in furtherance
-of an effort to correct the impression that still exists in the minds
-of a great many Northern people that the South is an unhealthful
-section.
-
- * * * * *
-
-At the last meeting of the Commercial & Industrial association, of
-Montgomery, Ala., the president said in his monthly report: “The
-association should advertise the city and hold forth its advantages in
-every way possible which will attract capital and cause enterprising
-citizens to locate here. A new era of growth and enterprise will come
-apace and Montgomery should be prepared to reap the rewards that
-flow from it.” This admonishment may be heeded with profit by every
-community in the South.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Mr. Clark Bell, the writer of the article on the fruit growing
-possibilities of the South Atlantic seaboard, is a New York lawyer,
-and editor of the Medico-Legal journal of New York. He has had a quite
-extensive practical experience in fruit growing, and his judgment as to
-the capabilities of the South for this branch of agriculture is that of
-a competent expert. Mr. Bell was one of the party of editors of medical
-journals who recently made a tour of the South Atlantic States under
-the auspices of the Southern Bureau of Information, located at Southern
-Pines, N. C.
-
- * * * * *
-
-It seems incomprehensible to a Southern man that there should be any
-doubt in the minds of Northern people as to whether Northern settlers
-will be well received in the South or not. Mr. Clark Bell, in an
-article in this number, says: “Northern settlers would, strange as it
-may sound to you, need to be assured in these respects,” and he thinks
-it necessary to quote the assurances on this point that he had from
-distinguished Southern gentlemen. Not only will Northern farmers and
-business men be well received in the South, but they will find awaiting
-them a most eager welcome. The newspaper utterances all over the South,
-the statements of public men, the personal letters to the newspapers
-from farmers and merchants, the actions of commercial bodies, indicate
-not only a welcome to the Northern settler, but a keen appreciation of
-the value to the South of immigration from the North, and a most eager
-desire for this immigration. No Northern man, who is respectable enough
-to have standing in his own community at home, need have any fear but
-that he will find in the South the utmost consideration and good will.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The superior train service on the Chesapeake & Ohio is well known to
-all patrons of that system. During the month of January train No. 1
-made the run between Washington, D. C., and Cincinnati, twenty-nine
-days, exactly on time, and on the other two days lost but twenty
-minutes. Train No. 2 made every trip between the cities on time, and
-the “Fast Flying Virginian,” one of the finest express trains in the
-country, reached Cincinnati thirty out of thirty-one trips on time,
-although it was an hour late out of Washington on seven trips, caused
-by waiting for connections. This is a month’s record that the operating
-department can be proud of.
-
-
-
-
-Immigration News.
-
-
-The Yazoo Delta.
-
-The assistant land commissioner of the Illinois Central Railroad, Major
-G. W. McGinnis, in a recent interview on the subject of immigration to
-the Yazoo Delta, spoke as follows:
-
-“I believe that the time has now come for the introduction of white
-labor. Our road, besides having agents all over the Northwest, have men
-in Germany and also in Holland, gathering families together to settle
-up our land. There are many residents of Dakota and other Northwestern
-States who want a milder and a better climate, with a soil more fertile
-than that of the Northwest. All these advantages are possessed by the
-Delta.
-
-“The greatest interest is manifested in the movement. Scarcely a day
-passes but what we receive from fifty to seventy-five letters of
-inquiry.
-
-“The colonists who have already taken advantage of our offers and
-settled along the Delta, are making money hand over fist. They are
-raising cotton, corn, vegetables, stock and fruit. The largest peaches
-I ever saw in my life came from the Delta.
-
-“When our work is done we will see every man his own landlord, and by
-the way, these foreigners are apt to steer clear of that condition, so
-prevalent in the South, of being land poor. They want no more land than
-they can cultivate with the aid of their families, say forty acres. In
-fact, some of them buy no more than twenty. They make up the greatest
-population for agricultural districts possible to imagine. They have
-made the Northwest what it is.
-
-“When the movement is once fairly started there will be no stopping the
-rush of immigration. Northern people all move in bodies. When one comes
-all come.”
-
-
-Alabama Farmers Invite Settlers From the North.
-
-The following resolutions were adopted at a meeting of the State
-Agricultural Society of Alabama, held at Birmingham, February 23:
-
-_Resolved_, By the State Agricultural Society of Alabama, that we
-invite to Alabama all honest and industrious farmers that should be
-desirous of changing their home, and extend to them a cordial welcome,
-assuring them that the right hand of fellowship will be extended to
-them, and that feeling that is always accorded one good citizen from
-another will be extended to them by the farmers of the State.
-
-_Resolved_ (2), That we will cordially indorse and sustain our
-honorable commissioner of agriculture and his excellency, the governor
-of Alabama, in a vigorous and continuous effort for immigration made
-through the Department of Agriculture under existing law. At the same
-meeting, Mr. Chappell Cory, editor of the Birmingham Age-Herald, read
-by invitation a paper in advocacy of efforts to induce immigration from
-the North.
-
-
-The Railroads and Immigration.
-
-The organization of land companies for the purpose of inducing
-immigration to West Tennessee is most commendable, especially when
-these companies are conducted upon the plan of that one which proposes
-to open up the territory along the line of the Paducah, Tennessee &
-Alabama railroad. The capital of the company is very small, and there
-is little profit in the enterprise for those who have formed the
-company. They intend merely to direct the attention of immigrants to
-the advantages which this heaven-blest region holds for the thrifty
-and hard-working farmer. The road is a new one, but it runs through a
-most fertile region, especially adapted to small farming. The Illinois
-Central railroad has done much to attract settlers to Mississippi, and
-every railroad in this section should be equally alert. It was the
-railroad agent who made States out of Territories in the Northwest,
-and it is a most assuring sign that he is now taking hold of the
-Southern country. The railroad company is the best of all immigration
-or colonization societies. It can accomplish more at less expense
-than any other. The example set, therefore, by the officials of the
-Paducah, Tennessee & Alabama, is commendable in the highest degree. The
-prosperity of a railroad depends upon the population of the country
-through which it runs, and the more rapidly the country is built up the
-sooner will the stockholders realize upon their investment. The public
-has a profound interest in such enterprises. The Appeal-Avalanche has
-no support to give to purely speculative and boom schemes, but it is
-in favor of all enterprises the object of which is to put forward the
-advantages of soil, climate and distributing facilities which Tennessee
-and other Southern States enjoy to such an exceptional degree.--Memphis
-Appeal-Avalanche.
-
-
-The Louisville & Nashville is Pushing Immigration Work.
-
-Col. C. P. Atmore, the general passenger agent of the Louisville &
-Nashville railroad, is pushing the matter of immigration to the South
-with great vigor. When approached on the subject recently he said that
-the Louisville & Nashville road had several agents in the Northwest and
-in Europe, who were sending families down rapidly. It is the intention
-of the road to put between 200 and 300 families on its line between
-Paris and Memphis.
-
-The Louisville & Nashville is now running home-seekers’ excursions
-from points at a rate of one fare for the round trip, with a view to
-encouraging the movement. It owns many thousand acres of land between
-New Orleans and Flomaton, Ala., and also between Pensacola and River
-Junction.
-
-On the Nashville, Sheffield and Florence branch of the line in question
-there is a Norwegian colony of about 200 families. This colony has done
-remarkably well, and the road is much pleased with its venture.
-
-
-The Texas Coast Section Filling Up.
-
-At Velasco, Texas, recently several carloads of fine draft stock
-belonging to newly arrived farmers from Nebraska were received, and the
-next day several carloads of household goods for another colony from
-Kansas, who had bought farms in Brazoria county, were unloading. M. M.
-Miller, of the Velasco National Bank, and others have received letters
-from parties who are coming with families and stock from both of these
-States and from New Mexico, Iowa, Missouri and Illinois.
-
-At the present rate Brazoria county’s population, it is said, will
-be doubled by the end of the present year; at least 90 per cent. of
-increase began coming in less than two years ago.
-
-
-Colonization Plans for Florida.
-
-Mr. O. J. Johnson, excursion, land and colonization agent, of
-Minneapolis, has been prospecting in Florida for a site for settling
-immigrants from the North and Northwest.
-
-Mr. Johnson will take a good many hundred people South, he says, if
-he has the right encouragement. He was the immigration agent of the
-Northern Pacific railroad for nine years.
-
-Four business men of Minneapolis are interested with Mr. Johnson. They
-are Mr. N. C. Westerfield, Dr. William E. Wheelock, Messrs. P. S. McKay
-and C. E. Channel. Their idea is to purchase a tract of land of from
-10,000 acres upward, divide it into smaller farms and lots and then
-sell these lots to such settlers as they want.
-
-“I’ve had a deal of experience in this line,” said Mr. Johnson, “and
-know what is to be done. I am well satisfied with Florida’s climate and
-attractions, and know that we can settle many hundreds of good people.
-We have a large number of inquiries already, and I am satisfied we can
-place all the people we want to handle. The farmers of Dakota and other
-points in the Northwest are dissatisfied, and hundreds and hundreds of
-them will come the moment they are assured that this State promises
-them a fair living with the work they have to devote now to a mere
-existence.”
-
-
-A Fruit-Growing Association to Locate in Texas.
-
-Officers of the Rock Island Fruit Growers’ and Improvement Association
-are in Texas inspecting lands. It is the purpose of the association to
-acquire a large tract of land in the Gulf coast region of Texas, in
-the centre of which to lay out a town site, giving to each member of
-the association a town lot. A maximum and minimum ownership of land is
-restricted by the by-laws of the association. Reservations are made for
-school, church, town hall, park and cemetery purposes. No lands can be
-held in unimproved state for speculation; a certain portion of each
-owner’s land must be improved during the first year by planting fruit,
-vegetables or other horticultural products, and at least two acres
-additional each succeeding year until each owner’s lands are under
-cultivation. When the products are ready to ship the shipments will be
-made in car lots to the most advantageous markets of the country.
-
-The association expects to number 100 families, composed of persons
-who will go into the Texas coast region and make their homes, their
-previous occupations having been fruit growers, gardeners, mechanics
-from the government works on the island of Rock Island, clerks,
-artisans, etc. While their fruit trees are developing the members of
-the association will raise garden truck for shipment. The officers of
-the association propose visiting the most advantageous sections of
-the Gulf coast, from Houston to Corpus Christi, and will devote about
-four weeks time to that purpose. The originator of the enterprise is
-Mr. I. E. Whistler, whose attention was directed to Texas as a fruit
-growing country by seeing and testing some fine specimens of peaches
-shipped from Tyler, Texas, last June to New York City, which rivaled
-the best California peaches in size, and far surpassed them in flavor.
-The officers of the association making this tour are I. E. Whistler,
-president; J. O. Logan, vice-president, and W. E. Hilton, trustee.
-
-
-The Great Work of the Mobile & Ohio.
-
-Although the Mobile & Ohio Railroad only traverses a few miles
-of Alabama, yet it has done probably more in the way of inducing
-immigration to the State since 1890 than any other line, through
-extensive advertising, combined with excellent folders and maps, which
-have been extensively distributed through Michigan, Ohio, Indiana,
-Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, etc. They also pursue the
-same liberal policy with local land agents and all engaged in promoting
-immigration along their road, distributing their advertising matter,
-and granting to them courtesies which are necessary to insure local
-parties to endeavor to give them the benefit of their work in securing
-immigrants. Alabama wants 10,000 families from the North to settle
-within her borders in the next twelve months, and only by hard combined
-work of the people and railways can it be accomplished, and now is the
-time to organize and keep the ball rolling. Let us get a move on us in
-this matter, and we can accomplish our object.--The News, Birmingham,
-Ala.
-
-
-Farmers to Organise an Immigration Society.
-
-The farmers around Augusta, Ga., are becoming interested in a proposed
-plan to organize an immigration society, and many have expressed a
-desire to take an active part in perfecting a permanent organization
-of that kind.
-
-A prominent merchant farmer from Wilkes county stated recently that the
-people of his section of the country were very much enthused over the
-organization of an immigration society in Augusta.
-
-“You would be greatly surprised,” he said, “to know how many of our
-merchants and planters have taken up the idea, and how anxious they
-are to see such an organization established at Augusta. Our people are
-willing to help in every way possible, for they realize that they are
-to reap the benefits, and consequently are desirous of sharing the
-labors.
-
-“You see, the farmers are generally land poor throughout the entire
-country, and what they want to do is to get some one who will work, and
-take some of it off their hands.”
-
-
-Immigration Bill Before the Virginia Legislature.
-
-The legislature of Virginia is trying to devise some method to promote
-immigration to the State. A bill has been introduced in the Senate,
-creating the office of Commissioner of Immigration of Virginia, and
-providing for the election of such an officer, who shall properly
-advertise the advantages of the State and shall, at the request of any
-real estate agent or owner of land, keep on file a list of lands for
-sale and shall refer all contemplating purchasers impartially to the
-various sections of the State, according to their requirements.
-
-It is provided that the commissioner shall receive a commission of
-not more than 5 per cent. upon the sale of any lands sold through his
-department. Any owner of land situate in Virginia shall have the right
-to list for sale the same with the Commissioner of Immigration, who
-shall advertise, without cost to the owner, the fact that such lands
-are offered for sale.
-
-The bill concludes by providing that the expenses attached to such
-an office shall be paid out of the fund arising from the tax on
-manufacturers of fertilizers.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Colonel E. S. Jemison, president; M. G. Howe, general manager; Major
-Tom Cronin, superintendent, and General John M. Claiborne, immigration
-agent of the Houston East and West Texas railway, are trying to
-interest the people along their line in some plan whereby immigration
-can be brought to that section of the State.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Mr. J. T. Merry, of Harlem county, Nebraska, writes from Velasco,
-Texas, to his home paper as follows:
-
-“Here we are in Velasco, Texas, the land of sunshine and flowers.
-Surely this is destined to be a large city; within three miles of the
-mouth of the Brazos river, and a large, deep harbor, where ships come
-and go at pleasure, and load right here in this city heavier than
-at any point on the Gulf coast. Of course the country is new, but
-vegetables and fruit trees of all kinds are growing nicely. Good fruit
-and vegetable land can be bought from $4 to $12 per acre. The country
-all around, except on the Gulf side, is a gentle undulated plain, which
-is being settled with people from the Northern part of the State and
-from the Dakotas and Nebraska in the main, and Iowa, though some are
-from Missouri and other points.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-A Swedish gentleman who has had considerable experience in establishing
-colonies of his countrymen in the United States, has been conferring
-with Mr. John M. Lee, of Shreveport, La., representing the land
-department of the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific Railroad Co., and
-looking over the ground, and says he can locate several hundred
-families if the conditions are favorable.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Mr. W. E. Pabor, founder of the Pabor Lake colony, near Fort Meade,
-Fla., has recently been visiting his old home, Denver, Col., and has
-induced a number of families to move to Florida.
-
- * * * * *
-
-There is more land open to settlement in Arkansas than there was in the
-Cherokee Strip. The Little Rock Democrat wisely says: “Counting all
-kinds of our public lands in Arkansas, government, State and railroad,
-we have nearly 7,000,000 acres. If we could divide these lands into
-homestead tracts, advertise them extensively and donate them at stated
-periods to actual settlers, what an impetus would be given to the
-State. What the State needs is not money for her lands, but active
-and enterprising home builders, who would become wealth producers
-and tax builders. A liberal land policy on the part of the State and
-the railroads would soon result in a vast increase in our wealth and
-population.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-One of the largest excursion parties of land-seekers that ever went
-South over the Mobile & Ohio railroad arrived at Mobile lately in
-charge of Mr. F. W. Greene, general agent of the Mobile & Ohio
-railroad, at St. Louis. The party consisted of all classes of
-home-seekers and investors, who have become interested in that section
-of country through the efforts of the passenger department of the
-Mobile & Ohio railroad. Over 200 people made up the excursion, some
-stopping off at places in Mississippi and Alabama. They went from
-Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota, Indiana and Ohio.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Further developments regarding the steamship line to be established
-between Galveston and Denmark indicate that it will be of great
-importance to the Southwest. It is intended to use the vessels in
-transporting immigrants from Norway, Sweden and Northern Europe direct
-to Texas and the West by way of Galveston. Heretofore these passengers
-have been sent to New York, and from that point reached their future
-home by rail. The Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce has become interested
-in the project and heartily approves it. Vice-Consul Thygge Sogart, of
-Denmark, now located in Kansas City, is a promoter of the line.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Mr. Hamilton Disston says that Mr. Schulzen, a prominent Scandinavian,
-will establish a Scandinavian colony near Kissimmee. Mr. Disston met
-Mr. Schulzen at the Columbian Exposition, and impressed him with the
-fertility of the soil of Southern Florida, and advised him to try it.
-This he did, and became so satisfied with the prolific growth of sugar
-and peaches that arrangements have been made to settle Scandinavians on
-the South Florida railway, between Runnymede and Kissimmee, at once.
-Mr. Schulzen’s father and brother are now North disposing of their
-farms preparatory to settling in Florida.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The last monthly report of the president of the Commercial Industrial
-Association, of Montgomery, Ala., contained this paragraph:
-
-“There is now a general interest in the subject of immigration to the
-South. The marked falling off in railroad earnings, with prospects for
-continued small returns, has aroused the great lines in the South to
-the necessity of making well directed efforts to induce Northern and
-Western people to visit the South and invest along the various roads.
-Some of the leading lines have called conventions of their agents to
-discuss ways and means to promote an increase of traffic and business.
-This association, with the other commercial bodies of the State, will
-assist in every laudable effort to induce desirable people to build up
-the waste places of the State, increase the population and promote the
-general prosperity.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-The North Alabama Immigration Company is an organization formed at
-Florence, Ala., for the purpose of bringing immigrants to Lauderdale
-county and surrounding sections. The officers are J. Overton Ewin,
-president; R. G. Banks, general manager; R. T. Simpson, Jr., attorney,
-and John Rather Jones, secretary and treasurer. The company expects
-to take several excursion parties to that section of Alabama from the
-Northwest. Dr. N. A. Nelson is the Northwestern agent at Dawson, Minn.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The section of the valley of Virginia around Lexington has attracted
-some attention from prospective purchasers from the North, West and
-Northwest, who are going to locate at some point in the Shenandoah
-Valley. Additional inquiries are being made for homes and farms, and
-the prospects are that as soon as the weather opens a number of these
-parties will pay that section a visit to look over the country.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The immigration movement to Southwest Texas is progressing at a lively
-rate. The new settlers are mostly from Kansas and Nebraska.
-
- * * * * *
-
-C. R. Camp, a home-seekers’ traveling agent, expects to take an
-excursion of Northwestern farmers to points in the South some time
-in March. His plan is to inaugurate a series of monthly excursions,
-beginning about March 1 and continuing twelve months. He says the class
-of people he will bring South are among the best citizens of the North
-and Northwest, farmers who are hard working and practical, who want
-good farming land, and are making the change on account of the climate.
-
- * * * * *
-
-A large number of farmers from Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and Kansas,
-have settled in the neighborhood of Port Lavaca, Texas. It is here that
-the Phillips Land Co., of Kansas City, Mo., has bought some 6000 acres
-of land, and divided it up into small farms for German colonists.
-
- * * * * *
-
-On February 16th a party of sixty persons from Iowa and Nebraska
-reached Fort Worth, Texas, on the way to the Gulf Coast to investigate
-the fruit-growing capabilities of that region. Most of the party are
-descendants of the people who built up Nebraska, and made that State
-take a front rank among the wealth-producing States of the Union. While
-most of them are doing well at home, they are anxious to live in a more
-congenial climate, and have had their eyes on Texas for a long time.
-
- * * * * *
-
-In consequence of numerous inquiries from the Northwestern States, Mr.
-M. V. Richards, of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co., has arranged
-a number of special rate land excursions, as they are called, from
-Chicago and points west of the Ohio river to Baltimore & Ohio points
-in the Shenandoah Valley, in order to induce settlers to come to
-this region. Mr. Richards intends to make the most of the reduction
-in rates allowed by the Southern Passenger Association on certain
-dates in February, March and April for the purpose of aiding Southern
-immigration.
-
- * * * * *
-
-A large number of land seekers recently visited Crowley, La., and
-most of them bought property. Indiana and Nebraska were among the
-States represented. The visitors report great dissatisfaction among
-the farmers of their States, and say that Louisiana will receive many
-immigrants this year.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Messrs. Sappington & Howell, Little Rock, Ark., are working on a
-plan to combine the State and railway lands in Arkansas, aggregating
-7,000,000 acres, and offer them for sale at nominal prices on an
-opening day, to be fixed.
-
- * * * * *
-
-A dispatch from Rockford, Ill., says that quite a company of Rockford’s
-Swedish population are planning to move down to Mississippi this spring.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville, Ala., is in receipt of many
-letters from the West asking about farm lands in the neighborhood.
-Huntsville is one of the most delightful towns in the South. It is
-surrounded by a splendid farming country.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Norwegian prospectors are going into Lawrence county, Tenn., every day
-and the majority of them buy homes. There are over 100 families here.
-They are good farmers and make good citizens.
-
- * * * * *
-
-A movement is on foot to locate upon the rich prairie and timbered
-lands adjacent to and just west of Charlotte Harbor, Fla., a colony of
-Bohemian agriculturists.
-
- * * * * *
-
-It is reported that a tract of land aggregating about 12,500 acres, at
-Wilson Station, Ala., on the Louisville & Nashville railroad, has been
-bought for a German colony. The first settlement will be named “Milton
-Grove,” in honor of Mr. Milton H. Smith, president of the Louisville &
-Nashville railroad.
-
- * * * * *
-
-A recent settler at North LeRoy, Fla., is so much delighted with
-the country that he has persuaded seventeen families of his former
-neighbors in Missouri to move to Florida.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The business men of Baton Rouge, La., are organizing a development
-club, to further the interest in securing immigration, etc.
-
- * * * * *
-
-A party of twenty Illinois capitalists, including Mr. A. L. Klank, a
-nurseryman of Champaign, Ill., has been looking over Arkansas with a
-view to making large investments in fruit farms.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific railway recently took 200
-home-seekers to Texas from Kansas and Nebraska, and 400 more were to
-follow.
-
- * * * * *
-
-It is said that a transaction is now under way by which 3000 families,
-representing a population of 15,000, are to be located in the Yazoo
-Delta.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-REAL ESTATE NEWS.
-
-
-Baltimore’s Suburban Development.
-
-The annual report of the Roland Park Co., of Baltimore, makes a
-showing that, considering the extreme business depression of the last
-year and a half, is quite remarkable. The Roland Park Co. is engaged
-in developing a fine suburban residence park north of Baltimore,
-three or four miles from the centre of the city. The first building
-operations were begun in October, 1892. The first house was completed
-early in the spring of 1893. On the 30th of December, 1893, the date
-to which the annual report is brought down, the residences built and
-under construction represented a total cost of more than $300,000. In
-the space of a year a locality that was in effect nothing more than
-farm property has been transformed during a period of unprecedented
-financial and business stagnation into a beautiful and rapidly
-growing residence suburb, with all the comforts and conveniences and
-appurtenances of life in the thickly built up part of the city. Between
-thirty and forty families have moved out to the park for permanent
-residence, and are living in houses that cost from $4000 to $15,000
-each. At the initiation of this enterprise there was not a man in
-Baltimore who would have looked for such development as this, even with
-favorable business conditions.
-
-Baltimore is an anomaly in this matter of suburban residence. Up to
-two or three years ago the city had no rapid transit, and consequently
-no suburban development. Its half million people lived in compactly
-built rows of brick houses, having neither front nor side yards. The
-enterprise of the Roland Park Co. was the first suburban development
-undertaking of a high class and on a large scale. Messrs. Jarvis and
-Conklin, of Kansas City and New York, who have invested in this country
-something over $30,000,000 of English money, bought 500 or 600 acres of
-land immediately north of Baltimore, and proceeded to develop it as a
-first-class residence suburb. An avenue 120 feet wide was constructed
-through the property, and a double track electric road was built
-through the property to a resort at Lake Roland, and coming down to
-the centre of the city at the City Hall and postoffice. A system of
-water works, a complete scientific sewerage system, paved roadways,
-asphalt sidewalks, along which shade trees were set out, and electric
-lights and other conveniences and accessories to comfort were provided.
-Under the management of Mr. Edward H. Bouton, the vice-president and
-general manager of the company, the progress that has been made in
-the actual building up of the locality has been much beyond what was
-expected, and there are many reasons for the assurance that this will
-seem small in comparison with the progress that will be made during the
-coming spring and summer.
-
-The present high rate of taxation in the city proper, and the recent
-large expenditures for public improvements that will necessitate an
-early increase in the tax rate are tending to send people into the
-suburbs. This and many other potent causes point to a rapid building up
-of Baltimore’s suburban territory.
-
-
-Substantial Improvement at Atlanta.
-
-Real estate is getting active at Atlanta. One firm alone, since January
-1st, has sold $128,000 worth of property in the city and vicinity.
-Samuel Goode, a realty expert, gives the following opinion of the
-outlook in Atlanta:
-
-“The practical certainty that the United States prison will be located
-in Atlanta, the direct probability that the Grand Army of the Republic
-will hold its next convention here, and the settled fact that the
-greatest exposition ever seen in the South will be opened here in
-1895--these things combined have given our people hope and confidence
-in the continued rapid growth of Atlanta, and the timid have begun to
-find courage enough to turn their money loose for loans and direct
-investments in real estate. Indeed, the change for the better has
-been very perceptible to dealers in the last sixty days. It is not
-any particular advance in prices which is so marked, because, in this
-respect there has never been any falling off, but it is the fact that
-people are beginning to buy at the normal prices. The best prices
-realized for property at all have been obtained within the past six
-months.
-
-“Another evidence of returning confidence and activity is found in the
-desire and willingness of owners to sell their property at auction. We
-already have a variety of property to be thus sold early this spring.
-There has been a spirit of fairness and liberality manifested by
-our citizens, one towards another, in the past year, which is truly
-commendable; and the result is that creditors basing their security
-upon real estate have not forced property for sale and broken prices
-and distressed if not ruined their debtors; but they have exercised a
-wise forbearance, and will soon be rewarded by full payment of all that
-is due them, and values have been sustained in Atlanta as in no other
-city within my knowledge. All signs point to an active spring market,
-and to the investing here of much outside capital.”
-
-
-Suburban Development at New Orleans.
-
-A syndicate of St. Louis people is constructing a suburban residence
-park at New Orleans. A body of land recently bought for that purpose
-measures about 700 feet frontage on St. Charles street by 8000 feet
-deep. The plans call for an ornamental entrance in the middle of the
-front, and a graveled driveway through the middle of the plat. As
-projected the entrance will be defended by handsome gates, the carriage
-opening being about 100 feet wide, and two gates for foot passengers
-on either side. Electric lights, prettily arranged, will stud the edge
-of the arch leading to the apex, where an ornamental structure of iron
-work will support additional bulbs. About 1500 feet of roadway have
-been built, leading from the gateway back into the grounds, while equal
-distances of Schillinger pavement have been laid on either side. A plat
-has been reserved in the middle for shade trees and shrubbery.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Capital City Real Estate and Investment Company, with a capital
-stock of $30,000, has been organized at Austin, Texas. H. P. N. Gammel
-is president.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Daytona, Fla., is rejoicing in much real estate activity.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Two of the most noted stock farms in Kentucky, both near Lexington,
-have recently been sold. Mr. Jno. T. Hughes, the well-known horseman,
-has purchased the Prince George place for a reported sum of $60,000.
-J. R. Keene, the Eastern horseman, has bought the Castleton farm, the
-property of Colonel Ford, of Virginia. The price is given as $70,000.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Southern Farm Agency, of Lynchburg, Va., has recently sold some
-farms to Northern people, and advertises in this issue of the SOUTHERN
-STATES a number of very fine properties that can be had at very low
-prices. The Southern Farm Agency, by the way, is one of the most
-enterprising and progressive real estate concerns in the South.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The president of the Commercial and Industrial Association of
-Montgomery, Ala., in his last monthly report, says: “The real-estate
-market of Montgomery shows some evidences of improvement. From returns
-compiled of this city for the month of January it is shown that the
-increase of sales is more than 20 per cent. over the corresponding
-month of last year. The values of desirable business and residence
-property and also of well situated and improved agricultural lands have
-remained steady and are firmly held. It is also believed the spring
-and summer will show still greater activity, with perhaps an increase
-in values. There are comparatively few vacant houses for a city of
-Montgomery’s size, but the prospects and building operations will show
-some falling off the coming year.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-A tract of 1575 acres near Velasco, Texas, has been sold to J. B.
-Wagoner and J. T. Gould, of Eureka, Ill., for $19,687.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The late S. S. Houghton, a millionaire, and head of the noted Boston
-dry-goods house of Houghton & Dutton, built a few years ago a
-magnificent winter residence at Homosassa on the gulf coast of Florida.
-Mr. Houghton died last spring, and his widow has sold the Homosassa
-estate to Mr. J. A. Rowell, vice-president of the Merchants’ National
-Bank, Ocala. The building and grounds are said to have cost $100,000.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The building occupied for nearly thirty years by the People’s Bank in
-Louisville, Ky., has been sold to the Bank of Commerce, and will in a
-few weeks be occupied by the last-named institution. The price paid was
-$27,000.
-
- * * * * *
-
-A delegation of Northern lumbermen, under the charge of E. C. Randall,
-a real estate operator of Chicago, recently spent some time inspecting
-timber lands in South Arkansas.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Little Rock (Ark.) Gazette publishes lists of recent land transfers
-in that city and in the county, from which it appears that the
-real-estate business of that locality is not suffering much from the
-hard times.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The governor of Arkansas and the State Commissioner of mines,
-manufactures and agriculture have invited the real-estate dealers of
-the State to file with them descriptions of properties for sale in
-order that they may have definite information to furnish people who
-are seeking homes in Arkansas and write to them for information about
-prices and location of lands.
-
- * * * * *
-
-It is said at Fort Worth, Texas, that there has not been for years
-such demand and inquiry for property as there is now. The influx of
-immigration has been unprecedented, especially in North and West Texas,
-many of the newcomers having located in Tarrant county, in which Fort
-Worth is situated. Renting agents report that the demand for houses
-largely exceeds the supply.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Texas land office has leased 375,000 acres of land to J. S.
-Daugherty, of Dallas, Texas, for a term of five years. This is said
-to be the largest amount of land ever leased to any one person by the
-State. The lease will bring a revenue to the public free school fund of
-$15,000 annually.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Southern Farm Agency, of Lynchburg, Va., has just sold to Mr. A.
-E. Miltimore, of Catskill, N. Y., 2000 acres of land in Appomattox
-county, on the Norfolk & Western Railroad. Mr. Miltimore has already
-taken down several carloads of sheep and horses, and intends making it
-a fine stock farm, for which, in many respects, it is said to be most
-admirably adapted.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Mr. George H. Zerr, of Reading, Pa., has purchased a fine estate near
-Morrisville, Fauquier county, Va., and will reside there.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Pittsburg capitalists have bought thirty-two acres of land near
-Wheeling, W. Va.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Florence, S. C., is having considerable real estate activity.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Mr. W. P. Clyde, of the Clyde Steamship Co., has bought 2000 acres of
-land on Hilton Head Island, near Beaufort, S. C., at $3.00 an acre. Mr.
-Clyde was already the owner of a farm on the island.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The annual statement of the Roanoke Development Co. for 1893, recently
-issued, shows a satisfactory state of affairs. Shareholders have
-purchased nearly $282,000 worth of the company’s lots, paying for them
-partly in stock. In addition to this the company sold $14,258 worth of
-lots to outsiders. Thus far the sales have amounted to $340,428, which
-is an average price of $2535 per acre. The company still has 1153 acres
-unsold. The officers of the company are P. L. Terry, president; Malcolm
-W. Bryan, vice-president; S. W. Jamison, treasurer; L. R. Sollenberger,
-secretary.
-
- * * * * *
-
-George Logan, of Salem, Va., has just bought a farm of 318 acres
-adjacent to that town for $9000.
-
- * * * * *
-
-E. F. Porter, one of the leading lumbermen of Kansas City, has been
-down to inspect with a view to purchasing a tract of 25,000 acres of
-pine and oak timber land in South Arkansas owned by the land department
-of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway.
-
- * * * * *
-
-A large tract of land, known as Cliffbourne, at Rock Creek Park,
-near Washington, D. C., was sold recently to Francis G. Newlands for
-$185,000.
-
- * * * * *
-
-A farm of 265 acres near Staunton, Va., has been sold by J. B. Smith
-and H. G. Eichelberger, of Staunton, to a gentleman from Maine, who
-will move down with his family.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Mr. O. Van Buskirk, of Mt. Sterling, Ohio, has bought 330 acres of land
-near Florence, Ala., and will move there. Several families besides his
-own will accompany him.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Mr. R. S. Oglesby, of Lynchburg, Va., recently sold a farm in Bedford
-county to James W. Dawson, of the John Shillito Co., Cincinnati, Ohio.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The real estate agents in the South who are known in the North and West
-are receiving constant inquiries about farm lands. The majority of
-inquiries seem to come from Dakota.
-
- * * * * *
-
-E. Mallen, of Ironwood, Mich., has purchased a farm near Cloverdale,
-Ala., and is interesting some of his fellow countrymen in Lauderdale
-county. Mr. Mallen is a Finlander, and has been farming a number of
-years in the Northwest. A number of his friends expect to buy farms and
-locate in the same county.
-
- * * * * *
-
-There has been lately a decided improvement in the demand for stores
-and business places in Richmond, Va. Messrs. J. Thompson Brown & Co.
-report a number of large leases.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The town of Springfield, Fla., is enjoying a building boom. About
-thirty dwellings are being erected, and a number of residences and
-stores are being planned. Real estate business is brisk.
-
- * * * * *
-
-A ranch, in Calhoun Co., Texas, two miles from Port Lavacca, containing
-22,000 acres owned by Mr. W. H. Thomas, has been bought by a Northern
-syndicate for $132,000. It will be cut up into small tracts and
-colonized. The plans for its development also provide for the building
-of factories, hotel, &c.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific Railroad Co. has sold to Otto
-Plock, of Paris, France, 7,554 acres of land situated in Ouachita
-Parish, La. The consideration was $26,440.68 cash. It is said to be the
-purpose of the purchaser to establish a large colony of Swedes on these
-lands, selling the lands to them in small lots on easy payments.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Real estate continues active at Fort Worth, Texas. There is a great
-demand for small houses. “If I had twenty-five such houses today I
-could rent them all before night,” said Mr. W. R. Sanner, a real estate
-agent. “I do not know a better investment,” he continued, “than to
-build such residences, with modern improvements, to cost from $1,000
-to $2,500.” Messrs. Huffman & Co. have in hand a trade in adjacent
-counties, for Ohio parties, which represent the sum of $20,000.
-California parties are negotiating for pasture land held at $16,000.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Messrs. J. Thompson Brown & Co., Richmond, Va., received recently a
-letter from Callao, Peru, from a gentleman who wishes to purchase real
-estate at Richmond. The same firm reports that every mail brings them
-from two to five letters from parties in the West and Northwest, who
-write they have decided to settle in Virginia, and want information as
-to real estate, etc. In the past ten days they have been in negotiation
-with one or more parties in Ohio, Michigan, New York, Minnesota,
-Chicago, Pennsylvania, Colorado, St. Paul, Indiana, Illinois, Nebraska,
-Kansas, Wisconsin, and other points who wish to purchase farms,
-manufacturing or building sites. From one of the locations named they
-are trying to locate a colony of fifty families on a tract of 5000
-acres.
-
- * * * * *
-
-A dispatch from Rocky Mount, N. C., states that parties from the North
-are negotiating to purchase 20,000 acres of land in Nash and Halifax
-counties for development and investment.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Island City Abstract Co. has been organized at Galveston, Texas,
-with H. M. Truehart, president; I. A. Harrington, secretary, and Joseph
-Lobit, treasurer, and $20,000 capital.
-
- * * * * *
-
-“The Real Estate, Title and Guarantee Co.,” has been organized at
-Newport News, Va., with the following named officers: Carter M.
-Braxton, president; L. P. Stearns, vice-president; Charles Sheppard,
-secretary; Arthur Lee, treasurer. The capital is $100,000.
-
- * * * * *
-
-A New York capitalist has just invested $62,500 in real estate in New
-Orleans. The transaction was made through Messrs. Robinson & Underwood,
-real estate agents, New Orleans, who state that other purchases will
-follow this.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Messrs. G. M. Reynolds & Co., of Norfolk, Va., sold recently a number
-of lots adjacent to Portsmouth, improved and unimproved, for an
-aggregate of $13,000.
-
-
-
-
-NOTES OF SOUTHERN PROGRESS.
-
-
-Atlanta’s Proposed Exposition.
-
-The people of Atlanta are pushing their proposed exposition with the
-same vigor with which they undertook the preliminary organization. The
-enthusiasm which has marked every step of progress shows how thoroughly
-in earnest Atlanta is, and gives promise of what may be expected from
-the exposition. Director-General Palmer is getting his working force
-into good shape, and reports that from all sections of the country
-the most hearty and enthusiastic commendations are being received.
-If carried out on the scope upon which it has been planned, this
-exposition will be for the South what the World’s Fair was for Chicago
-and the country at large. It will centre in the South an amount of
-interest scarcely appreciated now, but which will mean the investment
-of many millions and in time of many hundreds of millions of dollars.
-It will also mean a stimulation of the Southward trend of population,
-and thousands who are thinking of moving South will be determined by
-the work of the exposition. Everything indicates that the exposition
-will be on a scale far surpassing anything that has ever before been
-seen in the South.
-
-
-Improving the Dismal Swamp Canal.
-
-Preparations are being made by Messrs. Ross & Sanford, of Baltimore, to
-begin the work of deepening and otherwise enlarging what is known as
-the Dismal Swamp Canal. The canal, which is twenty-two miles long, will
-be dredged to an average depth of ten feet and widened to sixty feet.
-This will require the removal of 3,000,000 cubic yards of material. As
-the capacity of the average dredge is 3000 yards per day, the magnitude
-of the work can be appreciated. Another important work will be the
-construction of two main and two secondary locks, the main locks to
-be 250×40 feet each in the clear. By the lock system the water in
-the canal level can be raised to a height of thirteen feet. When the
-work is finished vessels with nine feet draught can pass through the
-waterway without difficulty. Some of the lumber needed to build the
-dredges to be employed has already arrived at the scene of operations.
-
-The amount of money to be expended in this work will be fully
-$1,000,000. This passageway is to be used extensively by lumber barges,
-fruit and truck steamers and other craft plying between Hampton Roads
-and North Carolina waters. The improvements will tend to greatly
-increase the trade between Norfolk, Portsmouth and the tidewater
-country south of those cities.
-
-
-Shipping Alabama Coal to Mexico.
-
-The increase in coal business at Pensacola, Fla., is very marked, and
-an excellent demand is noted for Alabama coal, which thus far has been
-the only kind sent from that city. The Export Coal Co. reports that it
-has one contract for 11,000 tons to be delivered at Tampico by March 1,
-also another for 60,000 tons to be delivered at Vera Cruz and Tampico
-during 1894. The company also has 30,000 tons to be filled on an order
-from Galveston by June 1. The exports of Alabama coke are very small as
-yet, but the indications are that the amount will be greatly increased
-this year.
-
-
-Newport News Development.
-
-Everything seems to be contributing to the building up of a great
-seaport city at Newport News, Va. The business over the fast freight
-line established by the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis and
-Chesapeake & Ohio from the West to Newport News is being increased by
-grain shipments from along the Chicago & Northwestern. A through rate
-has been made on cereals for export to Liverpool, with the result that
-the new line is not only securing business from Missouri and Kansas and
-the country traversed by the “Big Four” system, but the territory in
-Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa for which the Northwestern is an
-outlet. As the latter has about 3500 miles of lines in these States,
-the great advantage of having the Northwestern as a feeder is apparent.
-The people who are forwarding the business have very thoroughly
-examined the facilities at Newport News and were so pleased with them
-and the way the business has been handled that they intend making more
-extensive exports by way of that port.
-
-In this connection it is reported that the Vanderbilts have privately
-secured a larger interest in the Chesapeake & Ohio and in Big Four than
-they have ever held, and mean to control absolutely that line from
-Chicago to the seaboard, with the line of steamers from Newport News.
-
-
-Southern Coal in Chicago.
-
-President M. H. Smith, of the Louisville & Nashville, has arranged
-for a reduction of coal rates from Jellico, which will permit of the
-introduction of Jellico coal into Chicago and Illinois and Michigan
-points on the same basis as West Virginia coal. This will, it is
-reported, also include the Middlesborough district. The reduced rate
-will doubtless result in a great increase in the Western shipments
-of Kentucky coal, the superior quality of which has created for it a
-Western demand, despite high freights.
-
-
-Opening Texas Coal Mines.
-
-The extensive coal deposits near the Rio Grande, in Presidio county,
-Texas, it is stated, are to be opened and mined on an extensive scale
-by the San Carlos Coal Co., which controls 53,000 acres of land
-containing veins of semi-bituminous coal forty-one inches thick in some
-places. President S. A. Johnston, of the company, in a letter to the
-Manufacturers’ Record, says that his company has made a contract to
-sell at least 115,000 tons yearly to the Southern Pacific Railroad. The
-Northern office of the company is at Pittsburg, Pa.
-
-
-Another Florida Canal.
-
-Work is about to begin on a canal in Florida which will be of great
-importance to the lumbering and agricultural interests of the section
-through which it is to pass. It will extend from a point in Marion
-county, at the head of Ratcliff’s prairie to Mill Creek swamp. It will
-be eleven miles long and thirty feet wide at the bottom. The estimated
-cost of dredging the canal is $75,000. The object of the canal is to
-reclaim thousands of acres of submerged swamp lands, covered with
-rich muck from five to ten feet in depth, with a clay bottom, and to
-provide transportation for pine and cypress timber.
-
-The syndicate interested has purchased 15,000 acres of land along its
-line. When the improvements are completed they expect to engage largely
-in the growing of rice and sugar-cane, and hold out inducements to
-settlers who desire to buy rich lands cheap. D. D. Rogers, at Ocala, is
-engineer. Among the capitalists interested is Christian Ax, of the firm
-of G. W. Gail & Ax, Baltimore.
-
-
-Another Big Enterprise for Norfolk.
-
-Following the announcement that the Chesapeake & Ohio is to enter
-Norfolk comes the statement that the United States Cotton Warehouse
-& Loan Co. has asked for legislative authority to build wharves,
-warehouses, elevators and other buildings; also to construct and
-operate a terminal railway not over five miles in length. It is also to
-conduct a general wharfage and warehouse business, with a capital of
-at least $50,000. The main office is to be in Norfolk or Portsmouth.
-The corporators are Edward A. Pierson, of New York; John H. Dingee, of
-Philadelphia; J. Andre Mottu, of Norfolk; J. R. McMurran, of St. Paul,
-Minn.; Heber Alter, of Philadelphia; James Y. Leigh, of Norfolk; S.
-Henry Norris, of Philadelphia; William Burrington, of Philadelphia;
-Herman Niemeyer, of Portsmouth; Fergus Reid, of Norfolk; C. W.
-Murdaugh, Marcellus Miller, of Berkley; Parke Poindexter, of Berkley;
-William Goddin, of Philadelphia; William Schmoele, Jr., of Portsmouth;
-John L. Vaughman, O. P. Heath, S. L. Burroughs and Walter S. Taylor. A
-number of well-known capitalists appear in the list, and the enterprise
-evidently means much for Norfolk and vicinity.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Florence Pump Co., of Florence, Ala., has made a contract with a
-Philadelphia firm to supply $40,000 worth of pumps.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The water works plant at Yorkville, S. C., has been completed, tested
-and accepted by the town council. The plant consists of about three
-miles of mains, a stand pipe seventy feet high on a fifty-foot tower,
-120 feet in all, with a capacity of 60,000 gallons. The water is
-forced into the stand pipe by a pump of 500,000 gallons capacity,
-and the stream which furnishes the water will furnish (estimated)
-150,000 gallons a day. There are 800 feet of hose, and the total cost,
-including hose, was $16,800.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Shea Plating and Manufacturing Co., of Cleveland, Ohio, has entered
-into a contract to remove to Macon, Ga., and the work of transferring
-the plant has begun.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Railroad communication and the building of ice factories on the west
-coast of Florida, have resulted in the building up of an important
-fishing industry, which is growing rapidly. St. Petersburg, Clearwater,
-Dunedin, Ozona, Sea Side and Tarpon Springs are the principal shipping
-points, and there was forwarded from these ports for 1893 a total of
-7,901 barrels.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Fort Worth Gazette says of Terrell Texas: “Never before in the
-history of Terrell and vicinity has there been such demand for homes
-and tillable grounds. Many persons having large pastures are cutting
-them up in farms, at least a portion, and if the demand increases the
-large pastures will have to be given up to farming interests instead
-of grass pastures. Several thousand acres of new land will be put in
-cultivation this year in this county.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-For several weeks Messrs. Rand, McNally & Co., printers and publishers,
-have had an agent in the South prospecting for the most suitable place,
-in point of business and situation, to establish a distributing house,
-their main houses being in New York and Chicago. Charlotte, N. C., has
-finally been fixed upon as the most desirable point.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Newport News had the honor of constructing the first iron and steel
-merchant vessels built in the South, and the largest ever launched in
-the United States. El Cid, made famous by being turned into a warship
-for the Brazilian government, enjoys the distinction of having broken
-all records in the passage between New York and New Orleans. El Norte,
-El Rio, and El Sud are not far behind her. Following this distinction
-comes the docking for repairs of the big American liner New York, which
-was done February 19. The New York is the largest ship ever docked
-in America. No other yard on this side the Atlantic could do it. The
-Newport News dock has but one rival in point of size--the government
-dock, at Brooklyn--and it is doubtful if that is large enough to admit
-of her entrance. As soon as the big ship touched the dock a force of
-1000 men was put to work upon her.
-
- * * * * *
-
-A new manufacturing enterprise of some importance is about to be
-inaugurated at Bedford City, Va., by Mr. W. B. Dunn, who has organized
-the Bedford Manufacturing Co., with himself as secretary. The
-company’s purpose is to manufacture custom-made clothing to be sold
-at manufacturers’ prices, making a specialty of trousers, using the
-product of all leading Southern woolen mills, as well as other fine
-foreign and domestic goods. It is intended to appoint agents in all
-towns and cities in the South having 4000 inhabitants or more.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The city hall at Richmond, Va., recently completed at a cost of
-$1,370,000, is one of the finest municipal buildings in the country.
-
- * * * * *
-
-It is announced that the Boston capitalists who have decided to invest
-about $300,000 in an office-building in Atlanta, Ga., have secured a
-site and are to have plans prepared at once. Mr. H. M. Atkinson, who
-is their Atlanta representative, states that the building is to be
-fire-proof, ten stories high and will contain all the features of the
-modern structure for offices.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Hon. Jonathan Norcross, of Atlanta, Ga., is having plans prepared for
-a five-story building for offices to cost several hundred thousand
-dollars.
-
-
-
-
-GENERAL NOTES.
-
-
-Small but Vigorous.
-
-The Houston East & West Texas Railroad, running from Houston, Texas, to
-Shreveport, La., is not very much of a road as to mileage, but there is
-more hustle about it than most roads of ten times the length exhibit.
-With only 232 miles of road the company is doing more relatively
-towards the development of the country it traverses than almost any
-other road in the country. Recently a development department has
-been created and put in charge of General John M. Claiborne, an old
-newspaper man. Among other methods of building up the territory of
-the road, and besides the usual concessions to settlers in the way of
-passenger and freight rates, the company has offered to contribute to
-a common fund an amount equal to all that can be raised by the people
-of the counties through which the road passes, the money to be spent in
-getting in settlers. The road promises to locate at least one family
-for every two dollars the citizens of these counties will raise. The
-country through which this road passes includes some superb farm and
-garden lands, and large areas of original forest timber, pine and hard
-woods, and with the energy and push of the managers of the road it will
-not be long before immigrants will be pouring into their country.
-
-The officers of the road are E. S. Jemison, president; M. G. Howe,
-vice-president; M. S. Meldrum, secretary and treasurer, and T. Cronin,
-superintendent, all of Houston.
-
-
-Mr. A. A. Arthur and Middlesborough.
-
-The people of Middlesborough, Ky., and Middlesborough property
-owners living elsewhere are making strenuous efforts to induce the
-Middlesborough Town Lands Co. to reappoint Mr. A. A. Arthur to the
-active management of the company’s affairs. Ever since the termination
-of Mr. Arthur’s management the town has been in a state of virtual
-stagnation, and it is believed that Mr. Arthur alone can rescue it
-from collapse and restore it to its former condition of growth and
-prosperity.
-
-Several delegations of citizens and property owners have called on
-the company’s present commissioner at Middlesborough, Mr. Lionel H.
-Graham, of London, and urged him to bring about the appointment of Mr.
-Arthur. On February 17, a mass meeting was held, at which the following
-resolutions were adopted:
-
-_Resolved_, By the people of Middlesborough in mass meeting assembled,
-that the opportunity presented by Mr. L. H. Graham, who is now in our
-midst as the representative of the stockholders of the Town Lands
-Co., seeking information and encouragement for the guidance of his
-associates, be seized, and that we, the citizens and property owners
-of Middlesborough, who have borne the brunt of all the troubles of
-past two and one-half years, and have witnessed and studied both
-administrations, and who have been with the stockholders in prosperity
-and adversity, respectfully but emphatically ask a return to the old
-original plan of administering the affairs of the Town Lands Co.
-
-_Resolved_, That we know that all the great and valuable resources upon
-which the city was started still exist; we have seen railroads brought
-to us and great enterprises created in our midst. The necessities of a
-city have been established, all legitimate expenditures have been made
-and nothing now remains to be done to re-establish credit, activity and
-progress, but the appointment of a leader, a wise and liberal man, one
-of intelligence, wide experience, integrity and extended connections,
-one in whom we can place great confidence.
-
-_Resolved_, That in Mr. A. A. Arthur, creator and projector of
-Middlesborough and all the adjacent territory, we find such a man. None
-other has so great an interest. We will stand by him and we believe
-and know that he alone can pull you, the stockholders, and us, the
-citizens, out of the abject state in which we now are.
-
-_Resolved_, That we most heartily ask for and will most cordially
-approve the reappointment of Mr. A. A. Arthur to the active management
-of the Middlesborough Town Lands Co.; we believe that he can
-rescue this city from ruin, and the sooner the management is placed
-in his hands the sooner will confidence be restored and values be
-re-established.
-
-_Resolved_, That the interests of the Town Lands Co. are alike the
-interests of the city and the citizens thereof; one cannot prosper
-without the other, hence the citizens and property owners are
-profoundly earnest in their desire to see Mr. Arthur restored to power,
-as they believe that his restoration will give new life not only to
-Middlesborough but to Southeastern Kentucky as well, and that we will
-enter upon a career of unexampled prosperity.
-
-
-The Annual Fair at New Berne, N. C.
-
-The annual fair of the East Carolina Industrial Association was held in
-New Berne on February 19th to 23d, inclusive, and was formally opened
-by Gov. Carr with a sterling address, in which he referred to the
-tidewater region as the garden spot of the continent, enumerating its
-resources and estimating their economic value, present and prospective.
-The exhibit, as a whole, was a surprise to home visitors as well as
-strangers, especially in marine, agricultural and mechanical products.
-Its mineral exhibit was remarkable in respect to native ores and
-precious stones. Thirty-one counties in the State are mining gold at
-a profit. Nuggets were shown which were valued at $52 and upwards.
-Eighty-five varieties of commercial woods were shown. There was a great
-variety of building stones. Tomato plants six inches high, garden peas
-three inches high, and strawberry blossoms were shown. The department
-of ladies’ work was superlative. Dairy products were meagre, only three
-samples of butter being shown. There was a great variety of feed in
-bales--native grasses, stock peas and corn fodder. Fine samples of
-wool and blankets were exhibited. The same blankets took a premium at
-Chicago. Some fine Southdown sheep from the Tucker farm near Raleigh
-were on view. There were some fine Jersey, Devon and Alderney cattle,
-and superior Berkshire and Red Jersey pigs and fat hogs, running up to
-600 pounds in weight.
-
-The fish and oyster exhibit, with the nets and apparatus, is always a
-prominent feature of the annual expositions, and was well sustained.
-Roe shad were remarkably fine.
-
-There was an attractive exhibit of live and dead game and fur-bearing
-animals, and two curious hybrids between turkey, guinea fowl and
-Plymouth Rock hen. The floral exhibit was simply exquisite, and the
-colonial relics and old family plate and curios were very interesting.
-There was never such a poultry show seen on earth for quality and
-variety. At least two kinds were shown!
-
-In the department of Women’s Work the productions of deft fingers were
-astonishing in all fabrics, laces, gold embroidery, feathers, flowers,
-etc., rivaling Japanese art, and causing Valenciennes to blush with
-jealousy. Altogether, there was a wonderful diversity of industrial
-products of which the old North State and all her sisters may be proud.
-New Berne herself has earned honors.
-
-
-An Immigration Bill in the Maryland Legislature.
-
-A bill is to be introduced in the legislature of Maryland, which is
-now in session, enlarging the powers of the chief of the bureau of
-industrial statistics so as to give him authority to provide for the
-settlement of immigrants in Maryland. The bill makes it the duty of the
-chief of the bureau to collect reliable information in every county of
-the State bearing upon the question of immigration, and authorizes him
-to appoint a local immigrant commissioner in each county. The local
-commissioners are to receive $2.50 a day for each day of actual service
-and personal expenses, the expenses are to be itemized and certified
-to before a justice of the peace, and $1.00 for each immigrant sixteen
-years of age and over settled by them in their respective counties.
-Their duties, under the direction of the chief of the bureau, are to
-procure the statistics and information necessary to properly set forth
-the facts, advantages and conditions of the counties, to perform such
-other duties appertaining to the work of the bureau as may be required
-and to procure options on farm lands at such prices and upon such terms
-as will be within the means of the immigrants desiring to locate upon
-them and to give them such assistance, care and information within
-their province as may be necessary.
-
-The owners of lands upon which options have been thus secured shall
-upon the sale of the lands through the agency of the bureau, pay to the
-chief of the bureau a commission of 5 per cent. upon the gross amount
-of the sale, the sum thus obtained to be used in defraying the general
-expenses of the bureau and to be accounted for by the chief of the
-bureau in the itemized statement of receipts and expenditures which he
-is at present required by law to publish in his report and to make to
-the State comptroller.
-
-The chief of the bureau is authorized to visit such States and
-countries as in his judgment may be necessary, or to send an authorized
-agent, for the purpose of securing immigrants, having special regard
-to the character and responsibility of the immigrants. He is to adopt
-such means of advertising the State’s advantages as may commend
-themselves to his judgment, including such maps, charts, &c., as
-may be best calculated to illustrate the geographical, geological,
-topographical and physical features of the State, and to make contracts
-with railroads, steamship and other transportation companies and the
-masters of sailing vessels to secure a low rate of transportation for
-immigrants and to make the necessary arrangements for their temporary
-reception and accommodation upon their arrival until they can be
-located.
-
-The bill provides the sum of $10,000, or so much thereof as may be
-necessary, in addition to the present annual appropriation of the
-bureau to carry out the provisions of the law.
-
-
-Packing-Houses in the South.
-
-The people of the South have so long been accustomed to buying
-their meat from Northern and Western markets that the suggestion of
-packing-houses in the Southern cities is full of novelty and surprise.
-Packing-houses distributed over the Southern territory would be the
-incentive for farmers to raise more hogs and cattle and a better
-quality, and thus create a source of revenue now practically closed to
-them.
-
-Are not our people convinced of the folly of selling their marketable
-live stock to drovers and buying their meat, thus paying the cost of
-transportation both ways, besides the profit each handler obtains?
-
-Pork and beef raised on our own farms and cured in our own
-packing-houses would keep at home the large sums of money sent off
-annually for the meat supply of the people.
-
-The grocerymen of Jackson purchase every year about $100,000 worth of
-meat and lard for consumers in this immediate section, and it is easily
-seen that a packing-house in Jackson would be a profitable industry. It
-would furnish a home market for hog and cattle-raisers, and stimulate
-the production of the best qualities. Every step in this direction is
-an important gain, and the subject deserves the earnest attention of
-our live and progressive citizens.--The Whig, Jackson, Tenn.
-
-
-Sponge Fishing in Florida.
-
-The vessels that are used in the business are chiefly schooner-rigged
-and vary in size from five to twenty-five tons burden. They carry crews
-ranging from five in number to fifteen for the largest vessels, nine
-men to the boat being the average number. The odd man in each case is
-the cook, who remains aboard to provide for the inner wants of the crew
-(generally amazingly large) and sails the craft while the balance are
-off in the small boats called dingeys in search of sponge. Each vessel
-is provided with poles of various lengths, from fifteen to fifty feet,
-to be used according to the depth of water in which they are working,
-which have attached to them three pronged hooks shaped like the teeth
-of a garden rake, somewhat heavier, with which the sponge are detached
-from the objects to which they are adhered and drawn into the dingey.
-
-Two men are necessary to operate a dingey, one, the “hooker,” using
-the pole and the sculler keeping the boat in motion, following the
-directions of the hooker, where he leans over the side looking through
-an ordinary wooden bucket with a glass sealed in its bottom for the
-sponge, which, when discovered, is secured with the hooks.
-
-The fisherman are most all former inhabitants of the islands; many of
-them have lived in the Bahamas, and there are about equal numbers of
-white men and negroes.
-
-They are designated “Conchs” by the people living upon the mainland,
-from their making use of that shell animal for edible purposes when
-living upon their native islands.
-
-A trip is of eight to ten weeks’ duration, unless it is mutually agreed
-by the owner and the crew that it shall end sooner, and a “broken” trip
-is one which does not pay expenses incurred, and does not happen often,
-except during a period of disaster like that just passed through.
-
-When the trip is finished the catches are carried to market where the
-purchaser bids upon them at a certain price per bunch or for the lot,
-having previously estimate from his thorough knowledge of the goods
-their value in pounds.
-
-Before sending them to the various markets they are first trimmed
-neatly and cleaned of all rock and shell, and then packed in bales of
-convenient sizes in a compress which reduces them to small bulk and
-renders them easily handled.
-
-Owing to the scarcity of the supply the demand is at present very
-great, and excellent prices are obtained.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Newnan (Ga.) Cotton Mill (6300 spindles) will put on a night force
-to operate its mill, so that it can catch up with the orders with which
-it is now overrun.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Mr. L. C. Porter, proprietor of the Windsor hotel of Minneapolis,
-Minnesota, has decided to remove with his family to Wilmington, N. C.
-He has been in North Carolina since the 28th of December.
-
-“I want to get away from the cold, long winters of the Northwest,” he
-said, “and I came here to prospect. I have been traveling North, East,
-South and West, and my observation is that you have the finest climate
-I have ever seen. If you hadn’t this advantage in climate and your
-fine opportunities for investment along with it, you wouldn’t catch me
-settling here.”
-
-It is said that Mr. Porter has in hand a plan to establish a colony
-of Scandinavians in Eastern North Carolina. He expects to settle from
-fifty to 100 thrifty families somewhere near Wilmington. For twenty
-years he has been engaged in fostering colonies on the new lands of
-Wisconsin and Michigan.
-
- * * * * *
-
-A Young Men’s Business Association is to be organized at Knoxville,
-Tenn.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Savannah is getting up a commercial club.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Macon, Ga., expects to be visited about March 10 by a party of
-investors and home-seekers from Indiana, who have been induced by the
-Macon Bureau of Advertising & Information to go down on a prospecting
-trip.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Commercial Club, of Anniston, Ala., is going to have an exhibit
-room in which to show the agricultural, mineral and industrial
-resources and products of Calhoun county.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Mr. Chappell Cory, secretary of the Birmingham Commercial Club, has
-taken great interest in the matter of immigration. Recently at a
-meeting of the State Agricultural Society, he delivered a very able
-address on the subject, which was exceedingly well received by the
-farmers before whom it was delivered. In the latter part of February,
-at his invitation, a number of the real estate men of Birmingham met
-to discuss the subject of immigration. Mr. H. D. Lane, commissioner
-of agriculture of the State, was present, and addressed the meeting.
-Following his speech there was a general discussion of the subject,
-after which the following resolution was adopted:
-
-_Resolved_, That we cordially endorse the movement for immigration as
-outlined by Commissioner Lane, and pledge him our hearty co-operation,
-both as real estate men and as citizens of Birmingham and of Alabama.
-
- * * * * *
-
-At Atlanta, Ga., a $500,000 company has been formed to engage in
-establishing country banks wherever good openings are found.
-
- * * * * *
-
-A large party of prominent coal operators of Chicago and other Western
-cities have been examining Kentucky coal fields with a view to
-handling Kentucky coal on a large scale, and also of investing in coal
-properties.
-
- * * * * *
-
-A new water-power cotton mill will be built in South Carolina on
-Penny-Shoals, Tiger river, near Wellford, by a company recently
-incorporated as the Tuscapan Mills Co. Mr. C. E. Fleming, of
-Spartanburg, is at the head of the enterprise.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The public lands in Arkansas, government, State and railroad, aggregate
-more than 7,000,000 acres. There are over 4,000,000 acres of government
-lands subject to homestead entry. Any male citizen of the United
-States who is the head of a family, or over twenty-one years of age,
-is entitled to enter 160 acres of land by paying the following fees:
-For forty acres, $6; for eighty acres, $7; for 120 acres, $13; for 160
-acres, $14. The State has also 1,200,000 acres which it will sell at
-$1.25 per acre, or any citizen over the age of twenty-one years, or the
-head of a family, can secure a donation of 160 acres by paying a fee
-of $10. In addition to this the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern
-Railway Co. has over 2,000,000 acres which it will sell on five years’
-time at from $2 to $5 per acre, receiving notes in payment therefor,
-bearing 6 per cent. interest. During the last two years there have been
-donated to settlers 166,940 acres of land, and deeds made to 131,957
-acres to settlers who had fulfilled the requirements of the law.
-
- * * * * *
-
-It is not generally known that nearly the whole of the extreme western
-part of Texas is fenced in and divided up into enormous pastures. There
-is one pasture, for instance, traversed by the Fort Worth and Denver
-Railroad, that it takes a fast express train four hours and a quarter
-to cross. Another, in Dickens, Crosby and Emma counties, belonging
-to the Espinella Cattle Co., contains over 1,500,000 acres. If this
-pasture were in the shape of a square it would be about fifty miles
-each way, requiring therefore, 200 miles of fencing.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Empire Plaid Mill, at High Point, N. C., is crowded with orders.
-The plant has been running on double time for some months until very
-recently.
-
- * * * * *
-
-From the annual report of the Board of Trade of Eufaula, Ala., of which
-Mr. C. B. Goetchius is secretary, it is learned that Eufaula has had a
-very active business year in spite of the hard times. The residences
-and stores that have been built during the year aggregate in cost about
-$50,000. As an indication of the comparative business done in 1892
-and 1893, it is stated that the cash receipts at the railroad office
-were $8500 greater in 1893 than in 1892. During the recent period of
-financial and business disasters and failures there was not a single
-failure in Eufaula, and not a business house closed with the exception
-of one case of temporary embarrassment, which was quickly arranged.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Liberty Woolen Manufacturing Co., of Bedford City, Va., has secured
-another contract from the government to make goods for the army. This
-time the order calls for 7000 broad yards at a cost of over $8000.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The last annual message of the mayor of Augusta, Ga., which has been
-printed in pamphlet form, is a very comprehensive review of the city’s
-affairs for 1893.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Sixty newspaper men from North Dakota are visiting Texas.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Eufaula Cotton Mill Co., at Eufaula, Ala., has just completed an
-addition to its plant at a cost of $50,000. At the same place a new
-cotton mill is being built by another company--the Chewalla Cotton Mill
-Co.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The managers of the Seaboard Air Line have become greatly interested
-in the matter of immigration. Mr. R. C. Hoffman, of Baltimore, the
-president of the line, and Major J. C. Winder, the general manager, at
-Wilmington, N. C., are considering plans for procuring the settlement
-of Northern farmers in their territory. The Seaboard Air Line
-traverses a country suited in the highest degree for farming and stock
-raising, and especially for growing early fruits and vegetables.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The citizens of Tuskaloosa have organized “The Commercial Association
-of Tuskaloosa county.” The officers and directors are: President, A. F.
-Prince; Vice-president, George W. Christian; Secretary, Walter Guild.
-Board of Directors: Festus Fitts, Victor Friedman, W. C. Jemison, J. C.
-Harrison, A. S. Vandegraaff, H. F. Hill, George A. Searcy, Charles R.
-Maxwell, T. N. Hays.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Richmond & Danville Railroad has issued a very handsomely
-illustrated book, “Snow Balls and Orange Blossoms,” a copy of which
-will be sent on application.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Mr. George W. Truitt, of LaGrange, Ga., has published a pamphlet called
-“Talks to the Farmers of Dixie.” It is full of valuable advice and
-suggestions.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. has in hand contracts
-that will keep it busy for two years.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Several hundred laborers have been put to work on the Chesapeake Beach
-railway, which is to connect Washington, D. C., with a proposed resort
-on the Chesapeake bay in Southern Maryland. It seems remarkable that
-this superb body of water has been up to this time so little made
-use of by the cities of Washington and Baltimore. This new resort at
-Chesapeake Beach will be a boon to both cities. It will be within less
-than an hour’s ride of Washington, and will be readily and quickly
-accessible from Baltimore also.
-
-The Chesapeake Beach railroad passes through a section of country
-admirably suited to truck gardening as well as general farming. Mr.
-Washington Danenhower, whose office is in the Loan & Trust building,
-Washington, has already had some negotiations looking to the locating
-of a colony of farmers from the Northwest along the line of the road.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Sibley Manufacturing Co., of Augusta, Ga., has begun an extensive
-addition to its cotton mill. The output of the mill will be greatly
-increased.
-
- * * * * *
-
-It is astonishing to people who are unacquainted with the details of
-Florida business life to hear of the amount of business done in the
-little towns in the interior and along the coast. Indeed, it surprises
-some of those who live here to see the summing up of the annual
-business done by individual firms in those towns, and if one didn’t
-in some way get at some tangible reason for these figures one would
-be disposed to question their correctness. But when one drives out
-into the surrounding country and sees the many orange groves and the
-many broad acres planted in vegetables a key is found that unlocks the
-situation.
-
-In Florida, instead of large areas of land in cultivation, there are
-the native growths only dotted here and there with openings, and
-planted to fruits and vegetables. It requires but little stock to
-cultivate them and but few hands, comparatively speaking, to do the
-work. The crop raised on one acre of Florida soil on an average is
-equal to that of fifteen to twenty acres in cotton regions, and every
-dollar is for export, the grower receiving the cash for his crop, and
-then he reinvests it for the necessaries of his household and farm.
-There is where the volume of business done by the Florida merchants
-comes in.--Jacksonville Times-Union.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The cultivation of the castor bean may be attempted in Texas on a
-larger scale than heretofore. The United States Consul at Breslau,
-Germany, Mr. Frederick Opp, has been making inquiries about the climate
-and soil of Texas for Max Strahl, who is thinking of purchasing land in
-Bexar county for the purpose of raising the plants mentioned. According
-to Mr. Strahl’s statement, the castor plant requires much less rain
-than cotton; can be harvested in a much shorter space of time; requires
-only one-third of the amount of labor, and yields a much greater profit
-to the producer.
-
-In a letter to the San Antonio Express Mr. Opp says: “I have sent a
-sample of the beans to the Department of Agriculture at Washington. I
-trust that Mr. Strahl will soon positively decide to settle in Texas
-and inaugurate the enterprise. He is an expert in castor plant growing
-and raises large quantities in India.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Rock Island & Texas Town Co. owns a 300 acre tract of land near
-Boyd, Texas, which has been divided into ten acre tracts for small
-fruit and vegetable farms.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The citizens of Nacogdoches, Texas, have organized a society, the
-purpose of which will be to induce immigration to Nacogdoches county
-and advance the general interests of that section. Lists of lands for
-sale, with prices, &c., and general information about the locality will
-be furnished on application. The president of the society is George H.
-Davidson.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Mr. Guy M. Bryan, a banker of Bryan, Texas, who owns large areas
-of property in Brazoria county, near Velasco on the Gulf coast, is
-arranging to bore artesian wells to flood a considerable area of
-ancient lake beds, which he will convert into extensive rice farms.
-
- * * * * *
-
-A report now being prepared by Mr. F. H. Newell, of the United States
-Geological Survey, on the condition, amount, and location of the public
-land still in the hands of the government, shows that there are about
-600,000,000 acres of government lands. The report states, however, that
-all the vacant land remaining to the government in the West is either
-mountain country or else land which, owing to scanty rainfall or other
-conditions, is fit only for grazing.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The National Builders’ Association of the United States will hold its
-next convention in Baltimore in October, 1895. Mr. Noble H. Greager,
-of Baltimore, is president of the association; Mr. Charles A. Rupp,
-of Buffalo, first vice-president; Mr. James Meath, of Detroit, Mich.,
-second vice-president; Mr. Wm. H. Sayward, of Boston, secretary, and
-Mr. George Tapperk, of Chicago, treasurer.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Rock Hill Cotton Factory Co., of Rock Hill, S. C., which has
-heretofore made yarns only, is now adding 192 looms to its plant.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Mr. George C. Power, industrial commissioner of the Illinois Central
-and Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad Companies, in an interview
-with a reporter of the New Orleans Picayune, said: “I have been down
-south of the Ohio river with two or three parties who are desirous
-of locating wood-working factories. Those parties have expressed
-themselves as being well pleased with the lumber found there and the
-facilities for handling it; also the welcome which had been given them
-by the Southern people. It is more than likely two of the parties will
-locate within the next week or ten days.
-
-“I find that although the banks wherever I visited have plenty of
-money, yet they cannot loan it to advantage. At some places the loans
-to farmers are being curtailed, but in the majority of places the
-applications for loans are fewer than in several previous years. The
-hotels are crowded with traveling salesmen, all of whom appear to be
-doing good business, selling principally dry goods, clothing, hats,
-caps, shoes and articles of similar character, and very few provisions.
-Many places are purchasing a better class of dry goods than they had in
-twenty years back. The merchants anticipate a very good spring trade.
-
-“To show how small farmers are doing, I will cite one case. In the
-Yazoo Delta a farmer has grown all the provisions--corn and seed--for
-his new crop, and has sufficient left over to purchase a reaper for his
-coming hay crop. He has contracted for the produce of five acres of
-potatoes, seven acres of onions, and he will be self-supporting from
-this date forward. He is only one of a great many, and it seems to me
-that with fewer applications for loans and less demand for money to
-carry cotton, capital must seek other sources of employment. A large
-portion of it will most probably be invested in sound manufacturing
-industries, which will make a market for raw materials that are now to
-a great extent valueless.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-Charlotte, N. C., has grown tired of its inert Chamber of Commerce and
-proposes to organize a more active and progressive Board of Trade.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Chamber of Commerce, of Huntsville, Ala., is receiving many
-inquiries from Northern farmers, who want to know about farming
-conditions around Huntsville.
-
- * * * * *
-
-It is stated that there are not enough houses at Columbia, S. C.,
-to accommodate the increasing population, and that an excellent
-opportunity is given to erect an office building.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The secretary of the Bureau of Information of Newport News, Va., is in
-constant receipt of letters asking for information about Newport News
-and the adjacent country.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Denison Land & Investment Co., of Denison, Tex., has elected A.
-P. Childs, of Bennington, Vt., President; E. H. Hanna, of Denison,
-Vice-president, and A. H. Coffin, of Denison, Treasurer.
-
- * * * * *
-
-C. S. Durling, of New York, was the originator of the refrigerator
-business in Florida, being the first man to run iced cars for the
-transportation of fruits and vegetables to New York. Before he began
-to do so berries could only be shipped by express, and only then when
-the weather was cool and the berries sour. Now Florida berries are sent
-North as late as May 1.
-
-A refrigerator company will begin business at Gainesville, Fla., this
-week, and for the extra charge of ten cents per package they insure
-the arrival of truck at destination in the same condition as when put
-aboard the cars here.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Some of the cities of Tennessee have become interested in the idea of
-having an exposition to celebrate the State’s centennial. At a meeting
-of the Nashville Commercial Club a resolution was adopted providing
-for a committee of twenty-five members, composed of seven from the
-Commercial Club, six from the Board of Trade and three each from the
-Southern Engineering Association, the Historical Society and the Art
-Association, to make arrangements for a convention to be held in the
-city in March to discuss plans for an exposition.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Board of Trade of Nashville, Tenn., is one of the few such concerns
-that has life and activity and progressiveness. Major A. W. Wills, the
-recently elected secretary, is a man full of zeal and energy, and he
-will make the board of trade a power in the advancement of Nashville
-and the surrounding country.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The stockholders of the Luna Cotton Mills, Fort Mill, S. C., have voted
-to extend the plant and add considerable new machinery, including 100
-looms.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Within the last twelve month taxable values in Texas have increased
-$30,000,000.
-
-
-
-
-RAILROADS.
-
-
-The Richmond & Danville to the Front.
-
-The Richmond & Danville Railroad Co. has issued the following circular
-offering special inducements to settlers:
-
-“The Richmond & Danville Railroad adopts this means as one of its many
-methods of bringing to the attention of prospectors and home-seekers
-the numerous advantages possessed by the territory which it traverses.
-
-“Realizing that each section of this great land of ours is dependent to
-a certain extent upon the prosperity of the whole, we have no desire to
-depreciate any section, but to make known the possibilities which are
-within the reach of those who contemplate a change.
-
-“We have received hundreds of inquiries from parties located in the
-North and Northwest who desire information in regard to a milder and
-more congenial climate, the character of soil, etc. Those and all
-others who may desire information, we invite to visit points upon
-our lines which cover the States of Virginia, North Carolina, South
-Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, and to induce immigration
-we will make to _bona fide_ prospectors special concessions in rates
-from our Eastern junction points.
-
-“The climate and products of the last four States above named are well
-known, but Virginia and North Carolina have not been so fortunate in
-this respect.
-
-“The climate in these sister States (Virginia and North Carolina)
-is about the same, showing an average the year around of about 55°
-Fahrenheit, with no extreme heat or cold, which enables farmers to
-raise two or more crops upon the same land in one season. The soil is
-adapted to any crops which are raised in the Southern or Middle States,
-and is especially favorable for trucking, the profits of which are
-enhanced by reason of the close proximity to the best Eastern markets,
-viz: Lynchburg, Richmond, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New
-York. It is also admirably adapted to fruit and grape culture.
-
-“Without discriminating in favor of any portion of either of these
-States, we feel at liberty to direct especial attention to the Blue
-Ridge section of North Carolina as being excellently adapted to the
-culture of fruit and grapes, the mountains and hillsides at many points
-being now covered by vineyards and orchards, which yield handsome
-revenues to their owners, while the rich valleys are utilized for
-cereals and tobacco.
-
-“Considering the productive qualities of these Virginia and North
-Carolina lands, they may be had at most reasonable prices and on
-accommodating terms.
-
-“In order to protect ourselves against imposition, it is necessary
-to throw some safeguard around the issuance of reduced rates for
-prospectors, as above indicated, and as all prospectors, before
-starting on a trip of this nature, correspond with some land agency or
-real estate agent, we will request all applicants for these reduced
-rates to obtain identification at the hands of such agent or land
-agency as they may have corresponded with.”
-
-Inquiries may be addressed to W. A. Turk, general passenger agent, 1300
-Pennsylvania avenue, Washington, D. C.
-
-
-Another Mississippi Bridge.
-
-The Southern Pacific Railroad Co.’s bridge to be built across the
-Mississippi river at New Orleans, La., will, it is believed, be the
-largest steel railroad bridge in the world, considering the quantity
-of metal used in its construction and its length. It will be a
-double-track bridge about 10,500 feet long. The approach spans will
-vary from twenty-five to 150 feet in length, according to the height
-of the towers. The main river bridge will be built on the cantilever
-principle, and will be 1070 feet in length, with spans of 608 feet
-on either side. The pier foundations will extend from a point eighty
-feet below the bottom of the river, and will be sunk by open dredging.
-The estimated weight of metal required is 25,000 tons, or 50,000,000
-pounds. The cost will be about $5,000,000.
-
-The bridge will give the Southern Pacific system an all-rail entrance
-into New Orleans, and form a most important link in railroad
-communication between Texas and the Southwest and the Gulf States east
-of the Mississippi river.
-
-The largest railroad bridge completed is over the Firth of Forth in
-Scotland. The main structure is 5330 feet long, but the approaches are
-said to be shorter than the New Orleans bridge.
-
-
-A Judicial Decision of Great Interest to Railroads.
-
-In two suits recently brought against the Texas & Pacific road, a New
-Orleans judge has rendered a decision that is of very general interest.
-The decision in brief is that a railroad is bound by the admissions
-contained in the bill of lading just as the shipper is bound by the
-terms. Several weeks ago two suits, exactly the same except for the
-amounts involved and the complainants’ identity, were filed against the
-Texas & Pacific road. In both damages was asked for cotton received
-in a damaged condition, which the bill of lading sets forth had been
-received by the road in good condition.
-
-In both cases the plaintiffs introduced the bills of lading in
-evidence. They showed by the signature of the authorized agents of the
-road that the cotton had been received by the road for shipment in good
-condition. The road in its defense attempted to prove that the cotton
-was received in the same condition as when delivered, and that it had
-not been damaged in transportation.
-
-The plaintiffs both proved that upon the receipt of the bills of
-lading, specifying that the cotton had been received by the road in
-good condition, they had paid for it by sight drafts in favor of the
-shippers.
-
-In his decisions, both of which were the same, the judge held that
-evidence to disapprove the statements contained in the road’s bill
-of lading was inadmissible, and that the bill of lading placed the
-responsibility for the condition of the cotton with the road. For these
-reasons judgment in both cases was for the plaintiff. The conclusion
-of the court was that when the consignee pays by sight draft upon
-the averment of the bill of lading evidence that the goods were not
-received in good condition is not admissible.
-
- * * * * *
-
-It is stated that in furtherance of a plan to shorten the distance
-between St. Louis and points in Western Texas and Mexico, a syndicate
-has been formed to complete the Red River & Southwestern road, which is
-projected from a point on the Rock Island road in the Indian Territory
-through Western Texas to San Angelo, to connect with the Southern
-Pacific at Spotswood Junction. It is estimated that the new route would
-shorten the distance between Mexico and St. Louis fully 600 miles,
-while points in Southwestern Texas will be 200 miles nearer the latter
-city.
-
- * * * * *
-
-C. W. Cheers, formerly assistant general freight agent in Birmingham of
-the Kansas City, Memphis & Birmingham, but who resigned on January 1,
-has been appointed general freight and passenger agent of the Savannah,
-Americus & Montgomery, with headquarters at Americus.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Much interest has been aroused by the bills pending in the Virginia
-legislature to incorporate the Richmond & Northern and Richmond &
-Manassas roads. The former is claimed to be a projected road from
-Richmond to Fredericksburg, and the latter between Richmond and
-Manassas. Either would form part of a line from Richmond very nearly
-to Washington, and it is intimated that the Baltimore & Ohio may be
-interested in one.
-
- * * * * *
-
-It is stated that the Baltimore & Ohio is preparing to build its branch
-road from a point north of Georgetown, D. C., to Fairfax C. H., Va.,
-on which work was begun some time ago, but suspended for some unknown
-cause. Fairfax is but a short distance from the Richmond & Danville
-road, with which the Baltimore & Ohio has close relations, and it is
-evident that the building of this branch means a connection with the
-Richmond & Danville.
-
-The Norfolk & Western road is also securing the necessary legislation
-to enter Washington.
-
- * * * * *
-
-One of the indications of the rapidly-developing trade between the
-North and South is the establishment of a fast through freight from
-New York to the South by the Atlantic Coast Line. Freight under the
-new regulation, no matter how small the consignment, is rushed through
-from the North without delay. With each succeeding season this service
-has been expanded and improved, keeping pace with the development
-of the industries which produced it, until finally it has reached a
-point of usefulness and perfection upon which it would be difficult to
-improve. Until the present season, however, this special service has
-been confined to a northward-going schedule, but lately it has become
-apparent that the demand for a similar service from the North to the
-South was daily becoming more and more urgent. The Atlantic Coast
-Dispatch has also established a line of refrigerator cars out of New
-York for Charleston, the service being designed to furnish the safest
-and most expeditious transportation for all southward-going perishable
-freight. These cars will prove of especial advantage to the large
-shippers of apples, butter and other perishable articles.
-
- * * * * *
-
-It is believed that the Richmond & Danville’s present management
-will soon secure a seaboard outlet at Norfolk or Portsmouth, either
-by acquiring the Atlantic & Danville, which, as stated elsewhere, is
-to be purchased by the English bondholders at foreclosure sale and
-reorganized, or by building a new line. The plans of a new company
-which has been formed to build an extension of the Atlantic & Danville
-from Danville to Bristol, Tenn., passing through rich and undeveloped
-coal and ore lands, are told of elsewhere. The building of the proposed
-Virginia Seaboard & Western road, and the control of the Atlantic &
-Danville by the Richmond & Danville, would give the latter not only a
-new seaboard terminus, but also a large coal, timber and ore traffic
-from Tennessee and Virginia, as well as establish a new route from
-Tennessee, Kentucky and the Northwest to the Atlantic.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The projectors of the Gulf & Interstate Railroad to extend from North
-Dakota to the Gulf of Mexico have secured an option on property at Port
-Bolivar, on Galveston bay, opposite Galveston, Texas, with a view to
-making that the terminus of the road.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The New York, Texas & Mexican and the Gulf, Western Texas & Pacific
-roads, both parts of the Southern Pacific system, have elected the
-following-named officers: President, J. Kruttschnitt; vice-president,
-W. S. Hoskins; secretary, B. M. Smith; treasurer, W. J. Craig.
-
- * * * * *
-
-A movement is on foot to establish a steamship line between
-Jacksonville, Fla., and Providence, R. I.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Baltimore & Ohio is said to be planning to extend its Valley
-division from Lexington to Roanoke.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Clyde Steamship Co. is considering an extension of its service to
-New Orleans.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Business on the Norfolk & Southern is developing to such an extent
-in North Carolina that the company has decided to establish six new
-stations in that State.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Illinois Central Railroad is exhibiting great energy in the
-matter of inducing immigration to the South. Mr. E. P. Skene, land
-commissioner of the road, at Chicago, Captain J. F. Merry, Manchester,
-Iowa, assistant passenger agent, Mr. J. M. Eberle, of Chicago, land and
-immigration agent, Mr. C. W. McGinnes, land commissioner of the Yazoo
-& Mississippi Valley Railroad, located at Memphis, Mr. J. T. Savage,
-division superintendent of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad, at
-Greenville, Miss., are all giving active and comprehensive attention to
-this work.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Mr. C. J. Haile, the general passenger agent of the Central Railroad,
-of Georgia, is taking advantage of the excursion rates offered to
-prospectors, by authority of the Southern Passenger Association, to
-distribute in the Northwest circulars setting forth the agricultural
-attractions of the country tributary to his roads. Mr. Haile is an
-enterprising and progressive railroad man, and fully comprehends the
-value of having the country traversed by his road thickly populated by
-Northern farmers.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Mr. W. C. Rinearson, general passenger agent of the Queen & Crescent
-route, is trying to arrange with the Southern Passenger Association
-to have tickets for his line, via Chattanooga, carry the privilege of
-stopping over at Chattanooga, so that travelers may have an opportunity
-of seeing Lookout Mountain, the National Military Park and other
-Chattanooga sights.
-
- * * * * *
-
-At the request of Col. C. P. Atmore, general passenger agent of the
-Louisville & Nashville Road, the passenger agents of roads having
-interests at Memphis, Tenn., met in that city February 14, to arrange a
-passenger association.
-
- * * * * *
-
-At a meeting of the truck farmers, held at Chattanooga, S. C., February
-19, to consider the matter of transportation of vegetables and fruits
-to New York, a member had this to say in praise of the famous Old
-Dominion line of steamers:
-
-“They have fast steamers especially constructed for carrying highly
-perishable freights; they have ample tonnage for handling all the
-business that comes to them, and their deliveries in New York are not
-only convenient to the trade, but are made more rapidly than any other
-line with whom we do business.
-
-“In addition to their already large fleet they are about to launch
-two splendid new steamers, the “Jamestown” and “Yorktown,” which will
-be ready by April 10, and are expected to be the fastest coastwise
-steamers out of New York.
-
-“Our experience with the Old Dominion Co. covers more than thirty
-years. During that time they have always been found willing to do
-all in their power to assist the grower both in improved service
-and in giving as low rates of freight as are consistent with fast
-transportation.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Atlantic Coast Line system has been one of the most liberal and
-progressive roads in the South in fostering the trucking business along
-its line. It has made a specialty of its truck traffic for many years,
-and to its enterprise is largely due the magnitude of the business
-which is now done out of Charleston.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Middle Georgia & Atlanta road, from Atlanta to Milledgeville, has
-just been completed. It is seventy-five miles shorter from Atlanta
-to Milledgeville by this route than by any other. Over forty miles of
-the line between Covington and Eatonton has no bonded debt whatever,
-$450,000 of the stock being taken and paid for by Georgia people. The
-ultimate destination of the line is Savannah. W. B. Thomas is general
-manager.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Atlantic & Danville, which extends from Danville across Southern
-Virginia to the Seaboard, has attracted considerable interest from the
-fact that a company has been organized, composed largely of bondholders
-of the road, to build a line from Danville to Bristol, Tenn., to be
-called the Virginia Seaboard & Western. The Atlantic & Danville is to
-be sold by order of the court on April 3, and, it is expected, will be
-purchased by the bondholders. The new road, if built, will be about
-115 miles long and connect with the East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia
-system at Bristol. It would give the latter an outlet on the Atlantic
-seaboard and develop much mineral property of east Tennessee and
-southern Virginia, the product of which now has no means of reaching
-furnaces.
-
-
-
-
-HOTELS.
-
-
-The great Four Seasons Hotel at Harrogate, Tenn., has been reopened.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Messrs. G. S. Atkins & Sons, proprietors of the Ocean Hotel at Asbury
-Park, N. J., have bought the Brock House at Enterprise, Fla., together
-with 2300 acres of adjacent land.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Messrs. Stephen Green, of Philadelphia, Martin Lane, of Wilmington, and
-Levi Z. Condon, of Baltimore, have organized the Luray Caverns Co. to
-operate the Luray Caverns, build a hotel, &c.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The proprietors of the San Marco hotel, of St. Augustine, Fla., as one
-method of entertaining their guests, allow them to pick, for use in the
-hotel, vegetables and fruits from the hotel garden, and on pleasant
-mornings many of the guests may be seen before breakfast picking
-radishes, peas, tomatoes, lettuce, &c., to be served at meals.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The business men of Columbia (S. C.) are talking about raising money
-to build a great hotel. Since the change in the Atlantic Coast line
-route, by which Columbia is put on the main line between Florida and
-the North, it is thought that a big resort hotel could do a profitable
-business.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The outlook for the coming season at Mountain Lake park, in Western
-Maryland, is very promising. Twenty or more new cottages will be built,
-and many of these have already been spoken for.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Royal Poinciana hotel, of Lake Worth, Fla., which has been erected
-on the site of the old McCormick house, is doing a large business.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Macon (Ga.) news is urging the building of a great hotel at Macon
-in emulation of Savannah and the Florida cities.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Florentine hotel, at Huntington, W. Va., has passed into the hands
-of Messrs. L. H. Cox and R. F. Jones. Mr. Cox is from Louisville, Ky.;
-Mr. Jones formerly conducted the Joy house at Findlay, Ohio. They state
-that large improvements will be made.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Hotel Indian River, at Rock Ledge, Fla., has 350 guests and expects
-to be crowded all through the month of March.
-
- * * * * *
-
-A new hotel is to be built at Charleston, S. C., at a cost of something
-like $450,000. It is to cover a block 150×545 feet. The plans provide
-for broad verandas adjoining the parlors and opening upon a garden
-space to be larger than any similar grounds owned by any hotel in the
-country.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Fort Worth, Texas, expects to have a new and first-class hotel.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The court has refused to confirm the recent sale of the Oglethorpe
-hotel at Brunswick, Ga., and has ordered a new sale.
-
-
-
-
-CORRESPONDENCE.
-
-
-A Valuable Suggestion from England.
-
-A reader of the SOUTHERN STATES living at Florence, Ala., sent a copy
-of the January number to a friend in England, and has received from
-him the following very interesting and noteworthy letter, which we are
-permitted to publish:
-
-“Many thanks to you for the January number of the magazine, “the
-SOUTHERN STATES,” which I received this morning. I presume you sent
-it, knowing that the interesting letters relating to the subject of
-immigration to the Southern States so fully coincide with the views I
-have long held and have expressed to you concerning immigration from
-Great Britain to the South.
-
-“Those views were verified again only a few days ago in the following
-manner: A friend of mine, who is a builder, wished to “talk with me
-about America,” rather a big order if he had considered a little,
-as having but limited means and a growing family he “thought of
-emigrating.” _Where_ should he go? He spoke of many of the States I
-know well, but he knew nothing of the South, except that they had
-oranges and alligators in Florida. He was a fairly intelligent man,
-too. After a long conversation, the length of which you will understand
-when I tell you that I conducted my friend from the blinding blizzards
-of Nebraska to the genial sunshine of Alabama, I promised to get him
-some printed information from some of the emigration agents in London,
-so that he could form an idea as to the requirements, capabilities and
-resources of the South. Well, I tried to keep my promise, and called
-on numerous agents. I could obtain _any amount_ of information about
-any part of Canada and the Western States, but in this great city of
-6,000,000 of people, I, an experienced Londoner, could not obtain a
-line about Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana or
-any other Southern State, except Florida, and as I enjoyed life in
-the latter State for over three years I could describe a gopher or a
-“Florida cracker,” better than the agent could. Is it to be wondered at
-that people from England know the West and are ignorant of the beauties
-of the South? There, you have your Southern difficulty in a nutshell.
-We have over 35,000,000 of people on these little islands, very few
-of whom really know anything whatever of the Southern States. We have
-tens of thousands of men--small capitalists, manufacturers, skilled
-artizans, farmers, dairymen, market gardeners, and business men of all
-classes--who would give up the, in most cases, hopeless struggle here
-(hopeless as far as a comfortable competence is concerned), and cross
-over to the Southern States with their wives and families _if they
-only knew_ the power of their skill, industry and perseverance in a
-country where those qualities will give an ampler, fairer and a more
-just reward than here. These people, the hewers of wood and drawers
-of water, who are the backbone of every prosperous country, require
-information, _official_, _authoritative_, _reliable_ information, about
-Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, &c., and it is simply because
-such information is lacking, difficult to obtain, or unreliable when
-it is obtained, that so many go West and Northwest, whilst others, who
-_could_ be induced to go South, stay and struggle on in the old rut
-for want of being waked up. I feel perfectly sure that if a bureau
-of information were established here in London and supplied with
-literature, maps, &c., descriptive of the Southern States, and properly
-advertised throughout Great Britain, the results would be quickly felt,
-whilst the expense would be infinitesimal compared with the benefits
-which would eventually accrue. Such a bureau, however, would have to be
-managed by a man (or men) of integrity and experience, who should be as
-unbiased as possible, and entirely free from sectional prejudice. An
-agent should have sufficient business tact to know that he would never
-benefit Georgia or Alabama by disparaging Colorado or California. I
-know that many agents in England try to detract from every other State,
-and every other section of a State, except the little spot they are for
-the time pecuniarily interested in getting settled up. Their aims are
-narrowed down to simply getting commissions on the railway and ocean
-tickets, and a small prearranged percentage on any little land purchase
-the immigrant may make from the agent in America, who has glowingly,
-and very, very often untruthfully, described.
-
-“A Southern States bureau of information, such as I suggest for London,
-should be kept entirely free from the machinations of the unscrupulous
-land speculator, who, we all know, has in too many cases most seriously
-injured States and localities, simply to gain some small selfish end
-of his own. In my opinion the expenses of such a bureau of information
-should be borne by Southern railroad enterprise, and the London bureau
-should work in conjunction with established agencies, or sub-agencies,
-in all the large towns and cities in Great Britain, and also be in
-close touch with agencies in the United States, working with the same
-object, viz.: To induce immigration to the Southern States. The South
-as it really is can stand on its own merits, and is good enough for
-anybody, no matter what class--capitalists, cotton kings, iron masters,
-coal owners, farmers, or earnest, industrious artizans. The South can
-supply every requisite for all, from the raw material to the finished
-product. These are a few of the facts that people here in England are
-ignorant of and _should_ be _informed about_, whilst many of your own
-people in the North and Northwest are not much better informed on many
-points. A couple of summers ago I was laughed at at my hotel in New
-York because I remarked, “I cannot stand this sultry heat any longer;
-I’LL GO SOUTH, _where it is cooler_.” I was considered a “bullheaded
-Britisher;” but I was right, anyhow, for it _was_ cooler in Florence,
-Ala., than in New York!”
-
-
-A Letter from Western Georgia.
-
-Mr. George W. Truitt, of LaGrange, Ga., one of the most advanced and
-successful of the present generation of progressive Georgia farmers,
-writes to the SOUTHERN STATES as follows:
-
-“Noticing your commendable efforts to advertise the attractions and
-resources of the South and induce immigrants to seek homes in this
-country, I ask space in your columns for a review of some of the
-inducements this immediate section offers.
-
-“This county--Troup--is in Western Georgia with the city of LaGrange as
-its county seat.
-
-“LaGrange has a population of about 4,000 and is beautifully situated,
-850 feet above sea level--on the Double Daily mail route from New
-York to New Orleans, and on the new and splendid line from Palatka,
-Fla., via Macon, Ga., to Birmingham, Ala. For healthfulness it has no
-superior. It has two of the best female colleges in the South, and
-an excellent male high school. The various religious denominations
-are represented by nine churches. The town is lighted by electricity
-and has a fine system of water works. Two strong banks furnish all
-necessary money for business enterprises. The famous “Terraces” or
-Terrell flower gardens are within a mile of the heart of the town.
-There is a $400,000 manufacturing plant here, embracing the LaGrange
-Cotton Mills, foundry and machine shops, oil mills and guano factory,
-all under our management.
-
-“There are two carriage factories, a plow factory, planing mills,
-variety works and ice factory all inside the city limits. A canning
-factory will soon be erected, and a public school system will be
-established.
-
-“LaGrange is surrounded by one of the best agricultural regions in
-Georgia.
-
-“The farm lands are fertile, easily cultivated and yield abundantly
-under intelligent culture. There has not been anything like a failure
-of crops in twenty-five years through this section. The climate is all
-one could wish. Extreme heat and cold are rare. Our lands are rolling,
-with natural drainage; plenty of timber and pure water. Farmers can
-work their lands in half a day after the heaviest rains.
-
-“The agricultural interest is undergoing a great and rapid change for
-the better. We have abandoned the one-crop idea.
-
-“Since January 1st, 1894, there has not been sold at this point more
-than one car of Western corn and meat. It has not been many years since
-forty cars of those two items were sold in about the same time.
-
-“Lands here can be bought at a bargain. Our largest land owners see
-the great importance of increasing our white population, and are
-in thorough accord and sympathy with any movement looking to an
-improvement in that direction, and stand with open hearts and friendly
-hands to welcome a sturdy thrifty class with a little money and plenty
-of will and energy.
-
-“One attraction, of the many worthy of an immigrant’s consideration
-in this county, is the fact that the farmer has a home market for his
-surplus farm products. Within a few months from now there will be a
-demand, within a circle of fifteen miles around LaGrange from the
-cotton mills already in operation and nearing completion, for 10,000
-more bales of cotton than the county raises; that means 30,000 bales;
-we raise annually about 20,000. Many thousand bales will be sent direct
-from the fields, as it is gathered, to the factory, where the spot cash
-will be in waiting for the cotton and the seed, the value of the seed
-amounting to, or adding to the cotton, at least one cent a pound. The
-mill operatives furnish a market for thousands of dollars’ worth of the
-farmers’ surplus food products.
-
-“Clover and grasses grow to perfection here, the Bermuda grass
-especially, which furnishes nine months pasturage and yields
-bountifully of a hay second only in nutritive value to the purest
-timothy.
-
-“Here are some facts and figures from actual experience in farming in
-this vicinity: $96 worth of Bermuda hay from one and a quarter acres;
-$60 worth of rust proof oats from one acre; $64 worth of corn from one
-acre; 2180 pounds lint cotton (a fine variety) from one acre, sold for
-$174.40 and the seed brought $120.
-
-“We have a farmer in this county who twelve years ago was not worth
-over $1000 and who now owns unencumbered property worth over $30,000;
-made it all farming; has never engaged in any other business.
-
-“The thanks of every Southern man and woman are due you for the service
-you are doing them. And every respectable immigrant who is influenced
-by you to seek a home anywhere in this State, I know will not live here
-long before his obligations to you will be expressed.
-
-“This country and any other will be truly great when the man who pushes
-the plow is landlord of the sod he turns.”
-
-
-Interest in the South Extending.
-
-A real estate and immigration agent in Iowa writes to the SOUTHERN
-STATES as follows:
-
-“I have been reading the SOUTHERN STATES, and am deeply interested in
-its work. I have been engaged in immigration work myself for thirty
-years, and I readily see some of the difficulties in the way of
-promoting immigration to the South. These can be readily overcome. With
-the use of proper methods, there is nothing in the way of bringing
-about a large movement from the Northern States to the South. The
-people of the North are finding it a matter of necessity to change
-their location, and this matter of moving to the South is of as much
-interest to them as it is to the people of the South. The matter
-rests largely with the railroad companies. With proper inducements
-and co-operation, agents could be gotten to go through the South on
-tours of inspection, whose reports on their return would influence
-large numbers of families in their communities. They would, of course,
-bear their own expenses, but they should have free transportation over
-the railroads. Facilities of this sort should, of course, be extended
-only to men of standing and reputation and influence at home, whose
-favorable report would lead to the removal of numbers of families
-in a body. I have taken parties of farmers into the West and the
-Northwest. I am in a position to explain to inquirers every feature of
-every county, for example, in Kansas and Nebraska. It would be easier
-to get them to go South; but I am sure of what information to give
-concerning Kansas and Nebraska, while my knowledge of the South is to
-some extent limited. I have a great many inquiries about the South. I
-am solicited now by a number of the best farmers of Iowa to go South
-and look the country over, get a list of lands for sale, prices, terms,
-etc., and find out for them what the conditions actually are. There
-is great interest in the South, and from all I hear and read it seems
-to be infinitely superior as a place for home-seekers to the far West,
-but the railroads and others interested have got to be as liberal in
-developing and fostering immigration efforts as the Western railroads
-have been, in order to bring about any extensive movement of this sort.”
-
-
-No Hard Times in North Arkansas.
-
-Mr. W. M. Duncan, president of the Citizens Bank, Eureka Springs, Ark.,
-writes to the SOUTHERN STATES as follows:
-
-“In this section of Arkansas, commonly spoken of as North Arkansas, by
-which is meant the two northern tiers of counties across the State,
-the financial condition of the farmers is better than at any time
-during the past five years. They are raising increased food supplies,
-and yet have very materially decreased their debts and improved their
-properties. Very little cotton is grown north of the Boston mountains;
-corn, oats, rye and sorghum being the chief cereals, while cattle,
-hogs and sheep are raised to great advantage and profit. There has
-not been a failure of any crops in the last five years. The outlook
-for the farmers this year is very good, and that of itself makes the
-general business situation of the towns and cities in this section most
-favorable.
-
-“The great financial depression through which the country has recently
-passed was felt less in this section of the Southwest than in any
-other, from all reports. The reason was, our farmers were all well
-stocked with fat marketable hogs and cattle, and were able thereby
-to quickly realize on the same and meet the calls on them from their
-bankers, made necessary by the foolish alarm from lack of confidence so
-generally experienced in all financial institutions.
-
-“Our greatest industry, yet very small, fruit raising (especially
-apples), merits the attention of all persons looking for a location
-to engage in apple raising. The apples of North Arkansas have taken
-the first prizes at New Orleans, San Francisco, Boston and the World’s
-Fair. There are several thousand acres of young apple trees which will
-bear the first fruit during the coming year, and as many more trees
-have been planted during the past two years. Our climate is especially
-adapted for this.
-
-“The present status of business with the merchants and general stores
-is a great deal better than expected, and by early summer it is
-believed the return to the customary good trade will be accomplished.”
-
-
-A Strong Disposition to Move South.
-
-Mr. G. B. Randolph, of Anniston, Ala., writes to the SOUTHERN STATES
-as follows about his observations on recent trip to the Northwest: “I
-met many farmers and stock-raisers; also small fruit growers. (The
-latter can do but little in that section). I find a strong disposition
-among the people there on account of the severe winters and bad roads
-to come to a more agreeable climate. This of course is to be expected;
-people will naturally gravitate to a country holding out the greatest
-inducements. Here we not only have mild winters but our summers are not
-as hot as those in Illinois. A case of sunstroke is unheard of in this
-State. Our soil is productive and easily tilled. The character of our
-soil is red clay and sandy loam, and will produce anything that can be
-raised in the temperate zone. A great deal of attention is now being
-turned to fruit, vineyard and berry culture. Also we are proving this
-to be a fine country for tobacco culture. We have a remarkably healthy
-country. A case of lung trouble I never knew of originating here. As an
-indication of the attention being paid to this section, will say that
-within the past two days I have had inquiries for lands from the States
-of New York, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. Will be glad to answer any
-inquiries from prospective settlers. We have heretofore been greatly
-handicapped by excessive railroad rates to prospectors and immigrants;
-now I am glad to say the roads are showing a spirit of liberality, and
-we now have excursions the eighth of each month. Round-trip tickets for
-one fare good for twenty days are being sold by the different lines in
-the North for all points in this section.”
-
-
-
-
-NEWSPAPER COMMENT.
-
-
-The Yazoo Delta.
-
-The Memphis Appeal-Avalanche says: “From present indications the labor
-problem in the Mississippi valley is about to solve itself. The answer
-is a simple one--the substitution of white labor for black.
-
-“Everything seems to indicate that the shiftless, easy-going,
-debt-making negro, dependent all the year round on the man who is
-running him, will soon be a thing of the past. Of course there are
-some negroes who are exceptions to the rule--who pay their debts
-when they make them, who live economically, who know the value of a
-dollar--but they are few and far between.
-
-“That the Mississippi Delta is the garden spot of the earth no one
-doubts. Its soil is ever responsive to the hand of the tiller. It is
-capable of raising the most diversified crops. As a cotton country it
-has no equal. All kinds of fruit flourish in its kindly temperature.
-The forest abounds in the most valuable woods. As a stock raising
-country it is equal to the blue grass region of Kentucky. All that the
-Delta needs is the hand of man to develop it, and man is beginning to
-realize that his labor will count for more there than anywhere else.
-
-“As an example of the difference between Caucasian and negro labor, an
-instance which recently came to light is invaluable. A wealthy planter,
-owning a Delta farm, let part of it to some foreign families; the rest
-to negroes. The foreigners worked hard. They raised diversified crops.
-They lived as cheap as they could, and at the end of the year they
-had not only paid their rent, but they had their barns stocked with
-supplies and well-filled bank books. The negroes had not paid their
-rent and were heavily in debt, besides being dependent on outside help
-for supplies to run them through the year to come. The two classes of
-tenants were exactly opposite, the one representing independence, the
-other dependency.
-
-“The Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad, recently purchased by the
-Illinois Central system, passes directly through the Delta. It owns a
-great deal of the land through which it passes, and is now making a
-systematic effort to settle it with immigrants from the Northwest and
-Europe. At present a large tract of land, known as the Bogue Phalia
-district, is receiving the benefit of most of this effort, and the
-families are rapidly moving in and taking possession.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Times-Union, Jacksonville, Fla., utters these profound truths:
-“Capital is like Providence in just one respect. It helps those who
-help themselves. It will take no risks in a community where the people
-brand investments as bad by refusing to take part in them. Capitalists
-know that men everywhere are looking for good investments, and an
-enterprise that does not secure home support is presumed to be a
-bad investment, no matter how much talk there is for the purpose of
-convincing men to the contrary. The present is an auspicious time.
-Millions of dollars of Northern capital are seeking investment, and
-they will go to such places as prove rather than assert faith in the
-investments they offer.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Atlanta Constitution, in making editorial comment on an item in the
-SOUTHERN STATES, says:
-
-“We contend that the South is the most promising section in the Union
-for enterprising farmers who will conduct their business in the right
-way. The Northern and Western farmers are beginning to see this. They
-are coming to the conclusion that it is short-sighted policy for them
-to purchase land at $100 or more per acre when they can buy plenty of
-good farming land in the South at from $5 to $25 per acre. A Northern
-farmer needs at least forty acres, and this will cost him in his own
-section $4000. This sum would buy him at $25 per acre a Southern farm
-of 160 acres, but he can easily find good land at much lower figures.
-Indeed, with $1500 or $2000 a farm of 150 or 200 acres can be purchased
-in a productive region. The Northern farmer who comes South and sticks
-to his diversified crop plan will keep out of debt and make money
-from the start. He will find, too, that he will enjoy here the same
-conveniences, facilities, institutions and society that he has always
-been accustomed to at home. He will suffer none of the drawbacks
-of moving to a new country among strangers. Our people are native
-Americans--98 per cent. of them--and the Americans from other sections
-who come here easily assimilate with them, and there is no sectional
-prejudice to make it unpleasant for strangers. When an immigrant makes
-it apparent that he is a good citizen his Southern neighbors readily
-extend the right hand of fellowship without asking him where he hails
-from.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-Here is the opinion of an editor who moved from Nebraska to Tennessee
-and is now editing the Advance of Harriman:
-
-We came South from a State as fair as any under the sun. In some
-respects it is unequalled by any land we have ever seen. But that is
-not what makes a country desirable for a life-long, all-the-year-round
-residence.
-
-With all the desirable qualities of Nebraska, and there is no Northern
-State that can excel or even equal it, there are some disadvantages
-that render it more than a hundred per cent. inferior to this country.
-
-In the first place, there are no minerals, no timber, and,
-consequently, no manufacturing to supply a home market for produce. All
-surplus grain must go to a foreign market, and the distance and freight
-are so great, as to leave but very little for the farmer. Corn more
-frequently sells for less than twenty-five cents a bushel than it does
-for more than that, or even that figure.
-
-Then the long winters and severe blizzards. We know what they are, for
-we battled with them for a good number of years, and are in a position
-to judge between the climate of that country and this.
-
-Concerning the outlook for farming in this country, we are convinced of
-two facts.
-
-The first is, that the same kind of farming given to this Southern soil
-that is given to the the land in the North will result in just as good
-crops. Of this we have no doubt whatever.
-
-The second is, that while the farmers of the Northwest have to sell
-their produce for the lowest possible price, depending entirely on a
-foreign market, here, with our stores of undeveloped minerals, and
-immense quantities of timber to be manufactured, the farmer can depend
-on a good local market for the next hundred years.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Age-Herald, Birmingham, Ala., says: “The disposition among Northern
-and Northwestern farmers to come South is every day becoming more
-apparent. They long for the salubrious climate and fertile soil of the
-South. When the South is covered by small farms owned by industrious
-white farmers, then it will blossom as the rose. The negro shows a
-disposition to get away from the farm. He is a social creature and
-loves the society and excitement of the town. He flocks to the furnaces
-and mills around the city. He can stand heat and enjoys the hot work
-of the furnaces. He makes more at the public works. He is thriftless
-and cannot manage, and can’t make farming pay. It is possible that
-there will be a considerable shifting of places between the whites and
-blacks, resulting in good to the entire country.”
-
-
-
-
-WHAT THE NEWSPAPERS SAY OF THE “SOUTHERN STATES.”
-
-
-The entire attention of the editor and contributors of this magazine
-is devoted to the promotion of the South as a farming region, and to
-the distribution of information which will at once attract immigrants,
-show them where they may with the best advantage locate, and tell
-them what to expect when they arrive. It is an undoubted fact that
-many thousands of acres of land of remarkable productive capacity are
-going begging for occupants in nearly all of the States south of Mason
-and Dixon’s line at very low prices, and it seems to be the case that
-the Northern or Eastern farmer of thrifty, economical and industrial
-habits and with a practical knowledge of his business will not fail
-to succeed in the South. “The South and Immigration” is the first
-article in the present issue, and it consists of letters from prominent
-railroad officials, showing the aids which are extended to immigrants
-by these organizations. The next paper is made up of letters from
-Southern banking institutions whose universal testimony it is that a
-steadily increasing financial prosperity is in progress throughout
-these States, and the “Letters from Northern and Western Farmers Giving
-Their Experience in the South” tend to prove the same statement. This
-magazine is serving as the medium for the carrying on of an enormous
-and an invaluable work.--Boston Herald.
-
- * * * * *
-
-It is a just and true mirror of the Southern country and an invaluable
-aid in its upbuilding and advertisement. The ignorance of the world
-concerning all things Southern is astonishing, and is fostered and
-increased by immigration agents and land companies by wilful and absurd
-misrepresentation concerning its people, its climate, its methods
-and everything connected with it viewed as a home for prospective
-settlers. Until recently the South has had no champion against this
-maligning. To combat these errors and let the world know the truth is
-the mission of the SOUTHERN STATES, and the steadily increasing influx
-of immigrants to this portion of the Union is in a great measure due to
-its intelligent and unceasing efforts.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The SOUTHERN STATES is devoting itself to a remarkable degree
-to illustrating the attractions of the South for farmers and
-manufacturers, and to this end is printing in its monthly numbers
-letters from farmers and railway managers throughout that section of
-the country, who show what the possibilities are in dealing with the
-soil and in gaining access to the markets of the nation. The forces
-of immigration have been chiefly directed to the North and West until
-a large portion of that country has been occupied; but the industrial
-resources of the South have only just been touched, not developed, and
-the railways are calling loudly for people who are ready to immigrate
-to different parts of the South and purchase small farms. At the same
-time a large number of the farmers give an account of their actual
-experience in the different Southern States as agriculturists.--Boston
-Herald.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The SOUTHERN STATES should meet with substantial endorsement from every
-Southerner interested in the upbuilding of his section.--Commercial,
-Union City, Tenn.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Mr. Wm. H. Edmonds has disposed of his interest in the Baltimore
-Telegram, which was rapidly increasing in popularity as one of the
-best literary weeklies in the country, and assumed the editorship and
-management of the SOUTHERN STATES, the monthly magazine started a few
-months since by the Baltimore Manufacturers’ Record. Mr. Edmonds is now
-engaged in a work thoroughly congenial to him, the main object of the
-SOUTHERN STATES magazine being identical with that he had mapped out
-for the Telegram when he purchased the paper. The SOUTHERN STATES under
-the new editor will, we are assured, rapidly increase in popularity,
-especially in the South. Mr. Edmonds is thoroughly identified with
-the progress of the South, material and industrial, and his exclusive
-devotion to the magazine work guarantees a publication of the highest
-literary character and extraordinary general interest. The Enquirer-Sun
-extends its best wishes to the new management.--Enquirer-Sun, Columbus,
-Ga.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The SOUTHERN STATES, an illustrated monthly magazine published in
-Baltimore, has begun a movement which is calculated to do more good
-than anything heretofore projected to induce the sturdy farmers of
-the Northwest to seek more congenial homes in the Southern States
-where the rigors of climate are not present to obstruct and hinder the
-husbandman.--The Landmark, Norfolk, Va.
-
- * * * * *
-
-It is impossible to estimate the amount of good work that is being
-done for the South by that splendid magazine, the SOUTHERN STATES. In
-its January number “The South and Immigration” is discussed by the
-leading railroad officers, representing nearly 30,000 miles of Southern
-railroads, and this and the other subjects treated are handled in an
-eminently practical way.--The Post, Houston, Texas.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The SOUTHERN STATES, a magazine published by the Manufacturers’ Record
-Publishing Co., Baltimore, is doing more for the South than perhaps any
-one publication in this heaven-favored land.--The Times, Selma, Ala.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The News notes with pleasure the efforts of the SOUTHERN STATES to
-bring into favorable notice the great advantages the South possesses
-in the agricultural field, and every Southerner who loves the Southland
-should secure a copy of the SOUTHERN STATES for February, as it
-contains the experience of men who have given different localities in
-the South a fair trial in the agricultural line, and we are glad to
-see from the actual experience of men who are capable of judging that
-the South ranks second to no other section in farm production, and is
-way above them all in the successful production of fruit.--Chattanooga
-(Tenn.) News.
-
- * * * * *
-
-This magazine is doing a splendid work for the development of the
-South.--The Citizen, Jacksonville, Fla.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Every issue of the SOUTHERN STATES marks a literary and artistic
-improvement, which is most gratifying to the people of the South, in
-whose interests the magazine is published.--The Post, Houston, Texas.
-
- * * * * *
-
-One who has any thought of removing to the South will find this
-magazine a most valuable guide.--Western Farmer, Lafayette, Ind.
-
-
-
-
-
-End of Project Gutenberg's The Southern States, March, 1894, by Various
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-<pre>
-
-The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Southern States, March, 1894, by Various
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: The Southern States, March, 1894
- An illustrated monthly magazine devoted to the South
-
-Author: Various
-
-Editor: William H. Edmonds
-
-Release Date: October 8, 2016 [EBook #53231]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SOUTHERN STATES, MARCH, 1894 ***
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-http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
-generously made available by The Internet Archive)
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-
-
-<p class="transnote">Transcriber’s Note: obvious printer’s errors have been repaired.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p>
-
-<h1>THE<br />
-<span class="smcap">Southern States</span>.<br />
-<br />
-<span class="smaller">MARCH, 1894.</span></h1>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
-<img src="images/illus1.jpg" width="600" height="385" alt="" />
-<p class="caption">THE FRENCH BROAD RIVER.</p>
-</div>
-
-<hr />
-
-<h2>SKY-LAND!</h2>
-
-<p class="author"><i>By James R. Randall.</i></p>
-
-<p>The late Judge William D. Kelley was
-an intensely practical man, and so not
-given to rhapsody, but he has left on
-record that Western North Carolina was
-the most beautiful country upon which
-his feet or eyes ever rested. He had
-visited many lands and gazed upon
-many transcendent panoramas unrolled
-by the Master of the Universe. He was
-a loyal and devoted son of Pennsylvania,
-and enthusiastically loved and admired
-her noble scenery, but when he beheld
-the unrivalled majesty and picturesqueness
-of Western North Carolina, his
-honest soul expanded with the prospect,
-and, in a burst of genuine candor, he
-declared that never before had he looked
-upon a region at once so sublime and
-entrancing. What Judge Kelley uttered
-has been, by many other enthusiasts, repeated
-in varying phrase and similar
-tenor. It is not called the Land of the
-Sky because of its altitude. There are
-numerous localities that surpass it in
-this particular, but rather, I think, because
-of a peculiar phenomenon of the
-region, where the azure atmosphere that
-we call the skies descends, or seems to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span>
-do so, actually and magically upon the
-tree tops and mountain sides, so that the
-dazzled spectator almost instinctively
-puts forth his hand to grasp the mysterious
-panoply. When a child of
-earth is thus moved, as it were, by
-heaven, with the blue ether glorified by
-sunlight, and the alpine groups transformed
-in shape by fugitive clouds, no
-wonder his mind becomes blissfully inebriated,
-his soul uplifted, and his senses
-plumed to take wing from the solid
-globe that imprisons his feet. The dullest
-fancy cannot resist the spell.</p>
-
-<p>The ardent, poetic temperament has
-a conditional foretaste of what it is to
-escape the flesh envelope and assume
-spiritual alertness. But it is not always
-thus that this gorgeous land presents
-itself. It has moods of tremendous
-energy, and to make returning mildness
-more alluring, as the cunning master of
-music intersperses rude chords in his
-glorious melody, it veils the comely
-perfection of its face in a storm of
-frowns, but only such as triumphant
-beauty can assume betimes. Then the
-alpine cliffs are garmented with mist,
-while the Hyder Ali of Cloud Land
-poises on the declivities, concentrated
-with black wrath, before rushing down
-in fragmentary battalions upon the plains
-below. But there is no ravage. The
-little hut of the inhabitant remains unscathed,
-still emitting from its rough
-chimney a curling smoke, and the lordly
-mansion, perched on some aspiring
-peak, stands steadfast, while the fairy
-maiden shrined there playfully dabbles
-her white fingers in the foam of the
-upper deep. From the dark canopy of
-the great giant of the Smoky range leaps
-the live lightning, and a thunder roll
-bellows or crackles or mutters in a
-myriad strange defiles, but we know
-that behind this lowering front, hinting
-of God’s smile behind the tempest, our
-winsome Lady of the Sky is laughing
-still, with the spring in her brilliant eyes,
-and the wild flowers, smitten by sunshine
-in her golden hair. Anon, as the
-seasons are made mutable, another
-phase is disclosed. The air grows cold
-as if in the clutch of some Siberian intruder,
-and feathery flakes pour down
-their “snow storm of stars,” and the
-mighty monsters of the mountain world
-yield placidly to their chill, pallid cerements,
-but we feel that this is one of our
-enchanter’s displays of infinite variety,
-and that our spirits are held in thrall for
-another transformation. And what a
-valiant exaltation the chill breath of the
-ozone-ladened breeze fixes in our blood,
-and what roses in our cheeks! How
-we dominate with resistless stride the
-pedestrian paths, or how we credit
-the fable of the Centaur, when, in
-the fervor of environment, we partake
-of the joy and very existence of
-the nimble steed we have bestrode adventurously!
-In other climes and with
-other surroundings we have felt languor,
-or dullness, or restive incapacity, but
-here, with the potent inspiration of the
-panorama and the atmosphere, our
-whole being bounds with daring briskness
-and mastering activity. In the
-overwhelming sense of powerful forces
-put in play, we do not ask if life be
-worth living, but thank God that we are
-alive and filled with the alchemy of Sky
-Land. When these agencies react and
-demand the unbent bow, we lounge, it
-may be on the porches of the grand
-hotel, with eyes restful upon Pisgah
-and the enormous petrifaction of the
-rat that never budges from its lair.
-Perchance, with appetite made robust
-and undeniable, we attack the toothsome
-repast provided, but ever and
-anon we glance through the big
-windows at the splendid pictures beyond,
-as if we were afraid that some
-stray expression of the amphitheatre
-would escape us unaware. We stroll,
-happy and satisfied, to the piazza, and
-loll in an easy chair, puffing at pipe or
-cigar, but never ceasing to confront admiringly
-the scenes that intoxicated us
-from the first. The sun has driven its
-fiery, glowing chariot beyond the vast
-barrier of loam and basalt, but left a
-sparkling, glowing, radiant wake behind.
-The clouds are blushing like traditional
-brides, and the sorcerer of the sky has
-grouped them among shining lakes and
-islands and the watching perspective that
-this inimitable artist alone can fashion
-and dissolve. You presently understand
-how the poet merely revealed
-what he had seen when Night dropped<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span>
-her crimson mantle and pinned
-it with a star. And it was no exaggeration
-when the grim Carlyle
-bade us witness how Bootes drags
-his reluctant dogs in a leash of sidereal
-fire, or how mailed Orion flames his
-plumes ’mid bright-battalioned planets.
-As the mystic dusk robes the familiar
-scenery with a pall, we hear the insect
-world, if it be the proper season, conversing
-in a thousand tongues, startled
-anon by the shrill cry of a night bird,
-and possibly we wonder if the momentary
-shadow on the orb of the moon
-was the vagrant pinion of Minerva’s
-bird, or the flashing stroke of the eagle,
-put to flight from his eyry slumber.
-Then the vision fades, and some drowsy
-sprite, circling in the atmosphere, infects
-us with somnolency. We cannot resist
-it, unless perchance strong coffee or
-some such insidious decoction has violated,
-for a time, the blessed ministering
-of sleep that men, who have
-betrayed or lost it, would give millions
-to enjoy. We move to our
-apartment in amiable indolence, and
-hardly has our head touched the inviting
-pillow when we reach that condition
-wherein, as Lew Wallace says, even the
-wicked cease to sin. And if we have
-scientifically and rationally allowed
-the wholesome air to enter a little at
-the top and a little at the bottom
-of our window, what slumber we
-enjoy, unless we have deliberately assailed
-and violated every law conducive
-to repose! We know that while we rest
-no noxious thing can enter our lungs,
-but the pure, sweet, invigorating wind
-from the heights is visiting our whole
-system and repairing what other atmospheres
-may have put in peril. What a
-blessing, after such refreshment, to rise
-in the earlier morning and prayerfully
-go to the window for another glance at
-the wonderland that has made us a
-willing prisoner to its enticements! We
-salute the mountains as loyal friends,
-and they, after a vogue of their own,
-appear to reciprocate our salute. They,
-too, appear renovated with the dews of
-night, and their variegated vestments
-glitter with adornment. The fascinating
-curves of the French Broad river cleave
-the landscape, and the swift, clear tide
-laves the feet of the giant peaks, whose
-fertile valleys, smiling it may be with
-agricultural abundance, betoken that this
-is a fertile as well as a grand and attractive
-region. How that fine farm called
-Tahkeostee projects itself like an immense
-backbone upon the undulating
-piedmont, and how you scheme about
-the happiness of a proprietor who holds
-the title to such a domain! But you
-need a nearer view, and, as all manner
-of vehicles or horses are at disposal,
-you take an excursion there, crossing
-the railway track and handsome bridge
-to emerge upon a firm country road.
-You look back, and the prospect is
-brave with splendid hotels, villas of all
-manner of architecture, and the city of
-Asheville, which, because chiefly of the
-tourist travel, is rapidly taking rank with
-the first cities of the State, by manufacturing,
-by drainage and by the discovery
-that all of the pure air on earth cannot
-make amends for water contamination.
-And so, with generous, innocent
-fountain sources everywhere at the bidding
-of man, Asheville and all Western
-Carolina have nothing to crave for in the
-way of physical health and happiness.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
-<img src="images/illus2.jpg" width="600" height="415" alt="" />
-<p class="caption">VIEWS NEAR ASHEVILLE.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Wooed by the spirit of adventure,
-you spur your horse higher and higher
-up the ascent, and find that some rich
-man has fixed his abode in more or less
-of grandeur atop the alpine plateau,
-and you look down upon humbler mountains
-and far away into the vista, where
-the locomotive is pushing its path from
-Henderson, or it may be Hickory Gap.
-Descending the road you follow along
-the bright, rippling stream, passing habitations
-of various kinds, now rude or
-humble, and now comfortable or charming.
-At last you reach a spot that the
-poet Moore would have raved about in
-undying song, for it is worthy of any
-singer, who, however tuneful, might
-well despair of bringing justice to the
-realm of so much beauty. The dwelling
-there is not a palace, but evidently the
-abode of taste and wealth. The garden
-is what you have dreamed about, when
-young and addicted to Lalla Rookh.
-What a wealth of flowers and how artistically
-displayed! The air is perfumed
-all about this fairy kingdom and you
-instinctively look askance for the apparition<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span>
-of Prince Charming, or the Fair
-One with the Golden Locks. The
-Prince I have not seen, but the Fair
-One was visible and, with her guidance,
-I am permitted, in a luxurious nook, to
-scan the surrounding glories. There is
-no other just such site for perfect habitation,
-for it is at the meeting of the
-waters, which glisten far below. Here
-the impetuous French Broad rushes to
-the embrace of the gentle Swannanoa,
-and here their mingled tides laughingly
-and pellucidly hasten to kiss the awaiting
-and absorbing sea. The mountains
-are marshalled on dress parade in one
-mighty ring around this centre of loveliness,
-and the dream you have fallen
-voluntarily into is only dissolved, and
-not unpleasantly, by the matter-of-fact
-tracks of steel that glisten at the base of
-the hill, and the snorting or clanging or
-whistling engine that plunges, with its
-train, toward the station, which is now,
-by local significance, well known as the
-place where our modern Kubla Khan,
-Mr. George Vanderbilt, must alight to
-visit the matchless pleasure dome he
-has decreed on the heights beyond the
-summer lodge of the Fair One with the
-Golden Locks, where, in imagination,
-we are now spectator. It is needless
-to repeat how much Mr. Vanderbilt has
-spent or will continue to spend upon
-what fame heralds as the most
-complete and magnificent estate
-owned by any private
-gentlemen, and one that few
-royal personages could obtain.
-Without summing up the oft-repeated
-and dry statistics of
-the dimension of his residence,
-out-houses, stables, barns and
-acres, it is enough to understand
-that, after the method
-of another marvelous man
-who has metamorphosed St.
-Augustine, unstinted opulence
-and modern art have met<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span>
-for material transformation. No amount
-of money could reproduce the
-natural splendor of the location,
-but science and skill and Aladdin’s
-lamp, which is ready money and a
-superabundance of it, can rear castles
-and improve grounds in a way to be
-worthy of such scenes of Arcadian
-majesty and beauty all around. It
-speaks well for the rich young man,
-who is highly educated, most accomplished,
-and a lover of literature in all of
-its development, while kind and gentle
-and benignant, that he should have determined
-upon this place of all the
-places in the world to rear his incomparable
-home and be a veritable monarch
-of much that he surveyed, though
-not all. And yet, having once had
-vision of this alluring sphere, it would
-be indeed a source of astonishment if it
-failed to exercise upon him the sorcery
-I so feebly portray. The fancy takes
-flight and pictures to itself what may be
-the result of such a scheme. Will he,
-when the palace is completed and everything
-exhausted to fashion it as he
-aspired, be any more content than he
-was before? Will he abandon the
-mighty Babylon of the East and abide
-at his gorgeous Southern hermitage,
-with its imperial setting? Will he simply
-flit there, from time to time, and, at
-other seasons, leave his domain, like a
-haunted palace, a stupendous show-place
-or proverbial folly? Will he settle
-there, and perchance wed the Fair One
-with the Golden Locks, becoming racy
-of the soil of the Old North State,
-dispensing joy, hospitality, munificence
-and rational bounty? Will he, having
-more than emulated the author of
-Vathek in construction, live, like Beckford,
-to behold the ruin of his aspiration?
-But what is the use of tossing
-these gilded juggler balls in the air of
-imagination, and making inquiries of
-that future which does not belong to
-any mortal? Suffice it practically, that
-young Mr. Vanderbilt has appreciated
-the South, yielded homage to her
-natural magnetism, and made his deeds
-speak louder than words of praise.
-Let us take for granted that he will
-never weary of his designs and that
-Providence has in store for him and his
-surroundings special and exceptional
-benedictions.</p>
-
-<p>Adjacent to Mr. Vanderbilt’s principality
-are the grounds of the Kenilworth
-Inn, which would have delighted Amy
-Robsart and disarmed her enemies.
-Never did British beauty of any country
-preceding this command, even at the
-hands of royalty, so many comforts as
-the Kenilworth lavishly displays for the
-delectation of the most exacting creature.
-When this is said, what need of multiplying
-words or measuring with yard-sticks
-the magnificence of the various
-compartments of the house or its broad
-baronial park? Unless you are impervious
-to all enticement, you will be
-impelled to see these marvels through
-your own eyes and then compare your
-impressions with mine.</p>
-
-<p>Perhaps you who visit Western North
-Carolina find instinct within you some
-of the fiery blood of Orion or Nimrod
-or Buffalo Bill, and wish to exercise it
-in the slaughter of beasts and birds.
-Well, with your improved weapon, with
-all modern lethal devices, in dear old
-clothes that are already creased in the
-seams and baggy at the knees, you
-may, with the rugged father of Esmeralda,
-or one of her tough, nimble
-brothers, follow the black bear to his
-cave or track partridges, grouse or
-squirrels to their leafy haunts, and make
-them acquainted with death or anguish.
-You may, even without having conned
-the pages of Isaak Walton, be impassioned
-for snaring diplomatic and
-pugnacious trout, with an insect engendered
-by the artificer or with the native
-minnow; and, if so, your selection of
-streams will be easy and your game-bag
-should be bulging with trophies when
-you homeward wend your way, with
-appetite of a ploughman for the fare
-of a French chef who has been beguiled
-by Col. Coxe as the presiding genius of
-his kitchen and larder. And the
-Colonel will, after supper, make merry
-with you, as becomes an elegant gentleman,
-who has carried his accomplishments
-all over the world, and who
-laughingly declares that he is “the only
-man extant who was killed on both
-sides during the war.” He had possessions
-at the North and South, and his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>
-respective substitutes were among the
-unreturning brave. So, by proxy, he
-was slain twice, and yet is still alive to
-the gratification of a host of friends and
-admirers. You will be sure to get an
-invitation from him to drive, with a
-jocund company of both sexes, in his
-tally-ho-coach, which is as well appointed
-as any in the land, and it is a
-memorable thing to see him handle the
-ribbons over four thoroughbreds that
-were nurtured on bluest and most succulent
-of Kentucky grass. A drive
-with Colonel Coxe and such ladies and
-gentlemen as he groups around him is
-an experience that you will fondle, some
-day, when business or a kindred commonplace
-tie fetters you to a dull or
-smoky town. You will then comprehend
-that poor girl, a rustic heroine and
-living martyr, when she could forgive
-the miserable man who had repaid her
-with ingratitude and desertion, but
-could not divine how, though he left
-her, he could leave “The Mountings.”</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
-<img src="images/illus3.jpg" width="600" height="415" alt="" />
-<p class="caption">MOUNT MITCHELL&mdash;6700 FEET ABOVE THE SEA.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>In a rollicking mood you may venture
-to pay a pop-call on Bill Nye, who,
-though he pokes perfunctory, periodical
-fun at the Sky Land, clings to it, when
-he can, like a fellow does to his skin,
-and, in serious interludes, loves even its
-occasionally disreputable roads, which
-are, at any rate, picturesque and informal.
-He may escort you to a friend’s
-place of concealment, the den of “the
-chemist,” the alchemist of moonshine
-whiskey, warranted, no doubt, to kill at
-three hundred yards. I have always
-pitied these proscribed brethren, the
-victims of our internal, or what no less a
-person than Thomas Jefferson is credited
-with denominating “infernal” law.
-The moonshiner naturally has as much
-right to boil his fruit or grain into spirits
-as the farmer has to put hominy hot
-in the caldron, but the law places a negative
-upon his claim, and fosters and
-pampers the trusts that so much trouble
-the Democratic conscience, but are ingeniously
-utilized to pay pensions or run
-the government. So the mountain
-chemist is given to hiding and, at times,
-when hunted too persistently, to shooting
-his pursuers. This is all wrong, because
-unlawful, but it is hard to instruct
-the grey matter of his brain on
-such subjects. It is grewsome to see
-these lank, leathery, unkempt, semi-barbarous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>
-brethren brought into court
-with manacles on their limbs and summarily
-consigned to doleful exile in distant
-dungeons. You will, when you see
-them and their wives and their progeny,
-wonder how such a country can produce
-such specimens of humanity, but it is
-easily understood when explanation is at
-hand. In that region are reared the
-best of cattle, sheep, poultry and fruits,
-but the moonshiner disdains them. He
-prefers, or habit and poverty compel
-him to prefer, soggy, hot biscuit, excessive
-coffee, cadaverous, greasy bacon,
-assassinated in a frying pan. He drinks
-too much of his own fiery decoction and
-too little of the salubrious water that
-leaps, gushes and sparkles on every
-hand. If one could capture young
-moonshiner girls and boys, feed them on
-civilized diet, girdle them with proper
-comfort, garment them decently, treat
-them amiably and educate them wholesomely,
-the transformation would be
-thorough, startling and supreme. It
-would be an object lesson conveying its
-own moral, and this would be the evolution
-of many Esmeraldas off the mimic
-stage, and many a sturdy, comely,
-valiant, intellectual man, who might succeed
-in the Senate such typical Carolinians
-as Vance and Ransom.</p>
-
-<p>Speaking of Vance, if you loitered in
-Sky Land, in midsummer, you might
-make your way to Gombroon, his highland
-roost, and be sure of an old-fashioned
-welcome. No man has a
-heartier nature and no man is more of an
-adorer, so to speak, of Western North
-Carolina. He would tell you characteristic
-anecdotes of his wonderful career
-and hold you, as the ancient mariner
-did the wedding guests, with wit and
-wisdom, such as Master Coleridge never
-“dreamt of in his philosophy.” So you
-would understand from him what potent
-possibilities this clime possesses, and
-how from the very elements there is
-distilled a subtle essence that holds in
-solution the formation of noble men
-and beautiful women.</p>
-
-<p>If, for instance, you had an agreeable,
-harmonious company of friends and
-acquaintances at Battery Park Hotel,
-and longed for an ideal trip, not too
-long, and which would entertainingly
-add to your stock of enchantment, I
-doubt not that Mr. McKissick, who is
-young and genial and intelligent, as
-becomes a cavalier South Carolinian
-and manager of a great caravanserai,
-would suggest a trip to the Hot Springs,
-which, by rail, is not many miles away.
-If you could prevail upon McKissick to
-join your party, it would be an accentuated
-treat, for he has been an
-ardent, expert, accomplished newspaper
-man, and is bubbling over with high
-health and fresh humor. This maroon
-is altogether delicious. From the car
-window you get rapid but incessantly
-changing views of the French Broad,
-which, crossed and recrossed and
-paralleled, is never out of sight. It is
-mild and clear flowing; it is turbulent,
-swift and vocal; it is free from impediment;
-it is vexed with rapids and frustrated
-with boulders as if a battle of
-Titans had been contested to stormy
-demolition; it is always charming. The
-time consumed in the passage has never
-for an instant tormented you, and even
-the most voluble talker is content to let
-his tongue “keep Sunday”&mdash;as an old
-darkey said&mdash;in the presence of this
-water course which descends in glory
-through the mountain defiles. These
-mountains enclose you, but they are not
-like their Swiss family bare and bleak
-and tawny, but lush with emerald
-foliage or cultivated to their very brows.
-The Mountain Park Hotel at Hot
-Springs, like all first-class establishments
-hereabout, is equipped sumptuously.
-It has miles of piazzas. It
-nestles in a happy valley. The river
-runs hard by, and, at this point, is narrow
-but energetic. It is a cold stream,
-but here, a few feet from the surface,
-hot fountains are latent, and any positive
-disturbance of the earth-crust is followed
-by vaporous exhalations. The baths
-are seductive, the more so, perhaps, because
-you are immersed in dazzling
-marble tanks and the liquid purrs you
-like velvet in motion. You can drink
-vast quantities of this fluid for it has
-amazing lightness and makes a delicate
-stomach feel “like a gentleman.” Wondrous
-tales are told of its curative faculties,
-and I take for granted that a
-rheumatic or dyspeptic man or woman<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>
-soon gets ashamed, in such ablution
-and bibulation, of racking muscles and
-azure imps. By what volcanic agency
-this phenomenon occurs we can only
-conjecture. The probability is that the
-central fires are nearer than usual to the
-surface, or that the boiling waters that
-can ordinarily be reached by hard,
-pertinacious mining toil, thousands of
-feet deep, find here some propulsion and
-channel of their own and need only a
-touch to make them disclose their virtues.
-If they do not “create a spirit
-under the ribs of death,” they spur on
-an appetite that may have lost all zest,
-and when a man is impatient for his
-meals and partakes of them with satisfaction,
-disease has small hold upon
-him.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
-<img src="images/illus4.jpg" width="600" height="435" alt="" />
-<p class="caption">THE SWANNANOA.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>One of the weird sights of this region
-is a mountain fire. On a dark night
-such conflagrations are, of course, more
-spectacular, and when belts of flame
-cover large areas and are detached<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>
-fiercely from one another, the resemblance
-to Kilauea, the burning lake of
-the Sandwich Island, is startling. In
-these days of Hawaiian perturbation
-and discussion one could easily imagine
-that he was in the Eden Isle of the
-Pacific ocean, and might look for dusky
-maidens darting by on horseback with
-red hybiscus flowers blushing in their
-lustrous black hair.</p>
-
-<p>This enchanted region is reached by
-the Richmond &amp; Danville railroad,
-whose lines furnish approach also to
-many other places in the alpine
-location of South Carolina and Georgia
-that merit equal attention with these
-scenes so imperfectly described or
-sketched from memory. Cæsar’s Head,
-near Greenville, is a genuine curiosity,
-and even the old European or Rocky
-Mountain traveller admits that the prospect
-from this precipitous elevation is
-awesome and inspirational. At the old
-town of Clarksville, in North Georgia,
-the scenery is transcendent. Once you
-have seen Mount Yonah you will never
-forget it, and when will ever fade from
-your recollection the prodigious carving,
-by witchery in distant perspective, of
-the Cherokee chief stretched gigantically
-upon his sky-line bier? From the
-porches of Roseneath villa you best discern
-this strange conformation. There
-he extends, in tremendous dimensions,
-graven on the horizon, a distinct and
-spectral Indian shape, with drooping
-plumes. The people thereabout know
-him familiarly as Skiahjagustah. You
-may, in quest of gold, for the region is
-full of it, seek to penetrate this mysterious
-personage, but he will vanish as
-you approach him, transformed to common
-rock and tree and shrub, and yet
-reappear by enchantment when you go
-back to Roseneath and summon him
-from beyond the Soquee river. Here
-asthma has no clutch and rheumatism
-ceases to torment. A German workman
-came here crippled from New Jersey, and
-presently grew perfectly well in this climate.
-He is busily at work in wood and
-iron in a shop of his own, and happy in
-possession of a little farm, which has a
-famous vineyard like unto those which
-gem the banks of the Rhine or Moselle.</p>
-
-<p>Just beyond Clarksville is one of the
-most beautiful valleys in all this world&mdash;the
-Vale of Nacoochee&mdash;with Yonah
-dominating the fertile plain, and the
-upper Chattahoochee river purling
-around it. Here the mound builders of
-the continent had cherished habitation,
-and here they left monumental signs of
-their existence. Here the Cherokee
-loved to dwell, and just on the banks of
-the river and circumjacent to the
-mound, where clover and corn attain exceptional
-proportions, is a cemetery fat
-with Indian death. From Clarksville to
-Toccoa and Tallulah Falls is a mere
-jaunt of an hour or so. But why attempt
-to portray the graceful cascade and the
-terrible torrent? Ben Perley Poore, who
-had roamed in many lands and had
-adoration of all sights of nature of a
-high and exceptional kind, once told me
-that after all of his wanderings the
-scenes that lingered longest and fondest
-in his memory were those around Clarksville
-and Tallulah. Oh, you must see
-for yourself the unrivalled Georgia
-waterfall, with its tremendous chasm
-and precipitous descent, not in one roar
-of waters, but by successive leaps and
-bounds and plunges, alternately divided
-in swirling pools before dashing headlong
-down to the palpitating plain. Each
-fall is distinct in itself and of varied
-fury, as you will perceive either from
-the brink of the abyss or in touch
-with the vital torrent. This, too, is
-the Sky Land&mdash;glorious land&mdash;and
-here, in the coming time, as elsewhere
-in the alpine region of the South, many
-thousands will come ecstatically. St.
-Augustine waited long for a Flagler and
-Asheville for a Coxe, but they came in
-the ripeness of time and amazingly well
-did they perform the work appointed for
-them. If some men like these should,
-in their opulence, propose to magnify
-Clarksville, Nacoochee and Tallulah,
-what new splendors will come to the
-Land of the Sky, and what blessings
-will be lavished upon thousands of
-human beings who only need to know
-the South to love it, and who are beckoned
-back to health and strength and
-happiness where</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-<div class="verse">“Far, vague and dim,</div>
-<div class="verse">The mountains swim.”</div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p>
-
-<h2>THE SOUTH BEFORE THE WAR.</h2>
-
-<p class="author"><i>By Richard H. Edmonds.</i></p>
-
-<h3>I.</h3>
-
-<p>In order to understand and appreciate
-the progress made by the South
-during the last ten years it is necessary
-to know something of its condition
-prior to the war and immediately after
-that disastrous struggle. “The New
-South,” a term which is so popular
-everywhere except in the South, is supposed
-to represent a country of different
-ideas and different business methods
-from those which prevailed in the old
-ante-bellum days. The origin of the
-term has been a subject of much
-discussion, but the writer has rarely
-seen it ascribed to what he believes to
-have been the first use of it. During
-the war the harbor and town of Port
-Royal, S. C., were in the possession of the
-Northern forces, and while they were
-stationed there a paper called “The
-New South” was established by Mr.
-Adam Badeau, who was afterwards
-General Grant’s secretary. This was
-probably the first time that the term
-was applied to the Southern States. Its
-use now, as intended to convey the
-meaning that the progress of the South
-of late years is something entirely new
-and foreign to this section, something
-which has been brought about by an
-infusion of outside energy and money
-is wholly unjust to the South of the
-past and present. It needs but little
-investigation to show that prior to the
-war the South was fully abreast of the
-times in all business interests, and that
-the wonderful industrial growth which it
-has made since 1880 has been mainly
-due to Southern men and Southern
-money. The South heartily welcomes
-the investment of outside capital and
-the immigration of all good people,
-regardless of their political predilections,
-but it insists that it shall receive from
-the world the measure of credit to
-which it is entitled for the accomplishments
-of its own people. In the rehabilitation
-of the South after the war
-Southern men led the way. Out of
-the darkness that enveloped this section
-until 1876 they blazed the path to
-prosperity. They built cotton mills and
-iron furnaces and demonstrated the
-profitableness of these enterprises.
-Southern men founded and built up
-Birmingham, which first opened the
-eyes of the world to the marvellous
-mineral resources of that section, and to
-Southern men is due the wonderful
-progress of Atlanta, one of the busiest
-and most thriving cities in the United
-States. When the people of the South
-had done this then Northern capitalists,
-seeing the opportunities for money-making,
-turned their attention to that
-favored land.</p>
-
-<p>The Southern people do not lack in
-energy or enterprise, nor did they prior
-to 1860. Since the formation of this
-government they have demonstrated in
-every line of action, in political life, on
-the battlefield, in literature, in science
-and in great business undertakings, that
-in any sphere of life they are the peers of
-the most progressive men in the world.
-From the settlement of the colonies until
-1860 the business record proves this.
-After 1865 the conditions had been so
-completely changed that the masses
-lacked opportunity, and to that alone
-was due their seeming want of energy.
-The population was largely in excess of
-the number required to do all of the
-work that was to be done. At least one-half
-of the whole population was without
-employment, for the war had destroyed
-nearly all the manufacturing interests
-that had been in existence; agriculture
-was almost the only source of work
-for the masses. With no consumers for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>
-diversified farm products it would have
-been folly to raise them. Cotton and
-cotton alone was the only crop for
-which a ready market could be found,
-and it was also the only crop which
-could be mortgaged in advance of raising
-for the money needed for its cultivation.</p>
-
-<p>The Northern farmer is enterprising.
-He raises fruits and vegetables and
-engages in dairying and kindred enterprises
-because he has a home market
-for these things. The Southern farmer
-had none and could not create one. He
-might deplore his enforced idleness
-when he saw his family in want, but that
-would not bring him buyers for his eggs
-or chickens or fruit when there was no
-one in his section to consume them.
-The almost unlimited amount of work
-for the mechanics and day laborers
-generally at the North enabled every
-man to find something to do. In the
-South there was almost an entire absence
-of work of this character. Men hung
-around the village stores because there
-was no work to be had which would
-yield them any returns. With the
-development of manufactures there
-came a great change. The opportunity
-for work had come, and the way in
-which the people who had hitherto been
-idlers rushed to the factories, the furnaces,
-and wherever employment could
-be secured demonstrated that they only
-needed the chance to prove their energy.</p>
-
-<p>The greatest blessing that industrial
-activity has brought to the South is that
-it is daily creating new work for
-thousands of hitherto idle hands, and
-creating a home market wherever a
-furnace or a factory is started for the
-diversified products of the farm. The
-latent energy of the people has been
-stimulated into activity, and the whole
-South is at work.</p>
-
-<p>But to fully understand the South in
-its relation to business matters, it is
-necessary to study its business history
-before the war had brought about a
-degree of poverty which has no equal
-in modern history.</p>
-
-<p>In the early part of this century, and
-even before then, the South led the
-country in industrial progress. Iron
-making became an important industry
-in Virginia, in the Carolinas and in
-Georgia, and Richmond, Lynchburg and
-other cities were noted for the extent
-and variety of their manufactures.
-Washington’s father was extensively
-interested in iron making, and Thomas
-Jefferson employed a number of his
-slaves in the manufacture of nails. South
-Carolina was so imbued with the industrial
-spirit that, about the beginning of the
-Revolution, the State government offered
-liberal premiums to all who would
-establish iron works. By the census of
-1810 the manufactured products of the
-Carolinas and Georgia exceeded in
-value and variety those of all New
-England combined. The South Carolina
-Railway, from Charleston to Hamburg,
-built by the people of South
-Carolina, was the leading engineering
-accomplishment of its day, not only in
-this country, but of the world. Greater
-than this, however, was the road projected
-by Robert Y. Hayne, of Charleston,
-to connect Charleston and
-Cincinnati, and thus make the former
-city the exporting and importing port
-for the great West. Unfortunately for
-the South Hayne was sent to the United
-States Senate, and the growing sectional
-bitterness, because of slavery, so completely
-absorbed his attention that his
-great railroad undertaking had to be
-abandoned.</p>
-
-<p>The stimulation given to the cultivation
-of cotton by the introduction of
-the gin and the extension of slavery,
-with the liberal profits in cotton cultivation,
-as prices ruled high for most of
-the time from 1800 on to 1840, caused a
-concentration of capital and energy in
-planting. But between 1840 and 1850
-there were several years of low prices,
-and attention was once more directed to
-industrial pursuits. The decade ending
-with 1860 witnessed a very marked growth
-in Southern railroad and manufacturing
-interests, but there was no decline in
-the steady advance that was making the
-South one of the richest agricultural
-sections of the world. During this
-time railroad building was very actively
-pushed, and the South constructed 7562
-miles of new road, against 4712 by the
-New England and Middle States combined.
-In 1850 the South had 2335
-miles of railroad, and the New England<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>
-and Middle States 4798 miles; by 1860
-the South had increased its mileage to
-9897 miles, a quadrupling of that of
-1850, while the New England and
-Middle States had increased to 9510
-miles, or a gain of only about 100 per
-cent. In 1850 the mileage of the
-two Northern sections exceeded that of
-the South by 2463 miles. The conditions
-were reversed by 1860, and the
-South then led by 387 miles. In the
-decade under review the South
-expended, according to official figures,
-over $220,000,000 in the extension of
-its railroads, the great bulk of this
-having been local capital. This activity
-was not confined to any one State, but
-covered the whole South, and every
-State made a rapid increase in its mileage.
-In Virginia there was an increase
-from 515 to 1771 miles; the two Carolinas
-gained from 537 to 1876 miles;
-Georgia from 643 to 1404; Florida
-from 21 to 401; Alabama from 132 to
-743; Mississippi from 75 to 872; Louisiana
-from 79 to 334, and Kentucky
-from 78 to 569. Neither Texas, Arkansas
-nor Tennessee had a single mile of
-railroad in 1850, but in 1860 Tennessee
-had 1197 miles, showing remarkable
-activity in construction during the
-decade, while Texas had 306 miles, and
-Arkansas 38.</p>
-
-<p>The percentage of increase in population
-in the South from 1850 to 1860,
-even including the slaves, was 24 per
-cent., while in the rest of the country,
-the gain due largely to immigration, of
-which the South received none, was 42
-per cent. Yet from 1850 to 1860 the
-South increased its railroad mileage 319
-per cent., while in the rest of the country
-the gain was only 234 per cent. The
-South had one mile of road in 1860 to
-every 700 white inhabitants; the other
-sections all combined had one mile to
-every 1000 inhabitants. Thus counting
-the whites only, the South led the
-country in its railroad mileage per capita,
-and if the slaves be included, the South
-still stood on a par with the country at
-large in per capita railroad mileage.</p>
-
-<p>While devoting great attention to the
-building of railroads, the South also
-made rapid progress during the decade
-ending with 1860 in the development of
-its diversified manufactures. The census
-of 1860 shows that in 1850 the flour
-and meal made by Southern mills was
-worth $24,773,000, and that by 1860
-this had increased to $45,006,000, a
-gain of $20,000,000, or nearly one-fourth
-of the gain in the entire country, and a
-much greater percentage of gain than in
-the country at large, notwithstanding
-the enormous immigration into the
-Western grain-producing States during
-that period. The South’s sawed and
-planed lumber product of 1860 was
-$20,890,000 against $10,900,000 in 1850,
-this gain of $10,000,000 being largely
-more than one-third as much as the
-gain in all other sections combined,
-although even counting in the slaves the
-South had less than one-third of the
-country’s population.</p>
-
-<p>The advance in iron founding was
-from $2,300,000 in 1850, to $4,100,000
-in 1860, a gain of $1,800,000, a very
-much larger percentage of increase than
-in the whole country. In the manufacture
-of steam engines and machinery
-the gain in all of the country except the
-South was $15,000,000, while the gain
-in the South was $4,200,000, the increase
-in one case being less than 40 per cent,
-and in the other over 200 per cent.
-Cotton manufacturing had commenced
-to attract increased attention, and nearly
-$12,000,000 were invested in Southern
-cotton mills. In Georgia especially this
-industry was thriving, and between 1850
-and 1860 the capital so invested in that
-State nearly doubled. It is true that
-most of the Southern manufacturing
-enterprises were comparatively small,
-but so were those of New England in
-their early stages. The South’s were
-blotted out of existence by the war;
-New England’s were made enormously
-prosperous, justifying a steady expansion
-in size, by the same war. In the
-aggregate, however, the number of
-Southern factories swelled to very
-respectable proportions, the total number
-in 1860 having been 24,590, with an
-aggregate capital invested of $175,100,000.</p>
-
-<p>A study of the facts which have been
-presented should convince anyone that
-the South in its early days gave close
-attention to manufacturing development,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>
-and that while later on the great profits
-in cotton cultivation caused a concentration
-of the capital and energy of that
-section in farming operations, yet, after
-1850, there came renewed interest in
-industrial matters, resulting in an astonishing
-advance in railroad construction
-and in manufactures. But this is only a
-small part of the evidence available to
-conclusively prove the great energy and
-enterprise of the six and a half million
-white people who inhabited the South.</p>
-
-<p class="center">(<i>To be Continued.</i>)</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
-<img src="images/footer1.jpg" width="400" height="100" alt="Decorative footer" />
-</div>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span></p>
-
-<h2>AN AMERICAN ITALY.</h2>
-
-<p class="author"><i>By Erwin Ledyard.</i></p>
-
-<p>The Southern States of the Union
-have received only a small proportion of
-the tide of immigration that has flowed
-into this country during the last half
-century, and especially during the last
-twenty-five years, swelling the population
-of new commonwealths, causing
-towns to spring up, like Aladdin’s
-palace, in a night, and giving to cities a
-growth phenomenal and marvelous. It
-is not the purpose of this article to
-inquire why this has been the case; it is
-sufficient to state a fact that is indisputable.
-During the past decade the people
-of these Southern States have turned
-their attention seriously to the question
-of attracting immigration, and thus increasing
-their industrial importance and
-utilizing some portion of the immense
-tracts of land now lying idle. Books
-and pamphlets descriptive of the climate,
-soil, products, and resources of the
-different States have been published,
-conventions have been held, and agents
-have been appointed. The results of
-these efforts are now beginning to be
-seen. The number of foreign settlers in
-the South is steadily increasing, and the
-class of immigrants coming into the
-section is, generally speaking, a most
-desirable one. They are men of sufficient
-intelligence to think and act for
-themselves, and to leave the beaten
-paths that have been followed by most
-of their compatriots.</p>
-
-<p>For a number of years the Irish were
-the most numerous class of immigrants
-that came to the South. They settled
-for the most part in the cities, and, as
-they have done elsewhere, early exhibited
-great aptitude for politics, and much
-inclination for municipal offices. For
-the most part they were useful and
-patriotic citizens, taking a deep interest
-in public affairs and thriving in their
-various vocations. Then came the
-Germans, also industrious, and more
-thrifty than their Celtic predecessors.
-They also, with few exceptions, became
-inhabitants of cities. Caring less for
-the machinery and minutiæ of politics
-than either Americans or Irish, they
-devoted a large portion of their leisure
-time to social relaxation, and to musical
-and dramatic societies, and taught native
-as well as foreign born citizens the useful
-lesson that a moderate use of wine
-and beer would give much more rational
-enjoyment than an immoderate use of
-spirits, and would leave no headache
-afterwards.</p>
-
-<p>During all this time, extending to
-some eight or ten years ago, few immigrants
-coming into the South settled in
-the country. Some may have realized
-that “God made the country but man
-made the town,” but few felt like venturing
-into what was <i lang="la">terra incognita</i> to
-them, a region where, in their opinion,
-the negroes were the only people that
-ploughed, hoed and planted, and where
-they would be compelled to compete
-with that class of labor. More is now
-known about the South, and the fact
-that white men in that section have for
-years been working small farms by their
-own individual labor is now fully recognized,
-and in Texas and other Southern
-States citizens of foreign birth have
-turned their attention to tilling the soil.
-The tide of immigration no longer
-spends itself when it reaches the cities.</p>
-
-<p>This fact is especially apparent in the
-large counties of Mobile and Baldwin in
-the southern part of the State of Alabama.
-Some years ago a settlement of
-Italians was located near Daphne in
-Baldwin county, close to the eastern
-shore of Mobile Bay. The colony has
-thrived and prospered, engaging in fruit
-and grape culture and agricultural pursuits.
-A short walk brings its members<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>
-to the town of Daphne, where they can
-look out upon a sheet of water thirty
-miles long and from twelve to fifteen
-miles wide, which, though not so beautiful
-as Naples’ famous bay, is still fair to
-look upon, and glows sometimes with as
-gorgeous sunsets as those that are
-reflected by the blue waters of the Mediterranean,
-while the smoke that rises from
-its shores is not that of a slumbering
-volcano threatening devastation and
-destruction, but of industry and commerce,
-promising peace, prosperity and
-happiness.</p>
-
-<p>The success of this colony is attracting
-other Italians to Baldwin county,
-and also to its neighbor across the bay,
-Mobile county. Quite a number have
-bought lands along the line of the
-Mobile &amp; Ohio Railroad, on a plateau
-or table land that begins some twenty
-miles from the city of Mobile, and which
-extends to the northern limit of the
-county. This plateau is from 350 to 380
-feet above the level of the sea, and from
-five to ten miles in width. The Italians
-who have settled on it have cleared their
-land for cultivation and have built themselves
-comfortable houses. They are all
-putting out fruit trees, principally pears
-and plums, and grape cuttings of various
-kinds. The pear trees are mostly what
-are known as “Le Conte” and “Bartlett,”
-while the grapes are “Delaware,” “Concord,”
-“Catawba” and some other varieties.
-They will probably in time turn
-their attention to winemaking, and can
-then make use of the “Scuppernong”
-grape that grows almost wild in the
-section of country in which they have
-located and rarely fails to bear abundantly.</p>
-
-<p>These Italians are a very different
-class of people from those one meets in
-the purlieus of the fruit quarters or in the
-slums of large cities. They are mostly
-from the north of Italy, although some
-of them hail from Naples and its neighborhood.
-They are intelligent, industrious,
-orderly and law-abiding, and they
-are so polite and cheery in their manners
-and demeanor that it is a pleasure to
-meet them. They seem to regard
-people of property and position, near
-whose places they reside, in the light of
-friends and advisers, entitled to deference
-and respect. Many good people
-in this country have formed their ideas
-of Italians from what they have read of
-the lazzaroni of Naples or the vendetta-loving
-inhabitants of Sicily. Others
-have an undefined notion, gathered from
-operas and melodramas, that most
-Italians who are not proprietors of
-hand-organs and monkeys wear either
-red nightcaps and striped shirts or tall
-hats shaped like the old time sugar-loaf,
-jackets or coats with metal buttons and
-short coat tails, and leggins composed
-to a large extent of particolored ribbons.
-This costume they accentuate with a
-sash or belt containing a stiletto and a
-pair of villainous looking horsepistols,
-and an old-fashioned muzzle-loading
-gun with a crooked stock. These simple
-folks would be much surprised if
-they could see the sons of Italy who
-have brought their lares and penates to
-the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.
-They dress as the average American
-citizen dresses and the only vendettas
-that they swear are against those birds
-and animals that injure their crops.
-Their hope is soon to sit under their
-own vine and fig-tree in a land truly
-flowing with milk and honey, and to
-make their lives bright with the light-hearted
-gaiety and peaceful content that
-made existence pleasant even amidst
-the exactions and privations of sunny,
-but overtaxed and overcrowded Italy.
-Already the sounds of music are borne
-on the evening air as these pioneers in a
-great movement of their race rest at the
-close of day from their labors, and
-rejoice over their freedom from heavy
-burdens, and in that feeling of independence
-that the ownership of land gives
-to foreigners of small or moderate
-means.</p>
-
-<p>These settlers can truly be regarded
-as to the advance guard of a race movement
-that will eventually make of
-Southern Alabama, Southern Mississippi
-and a portion of Western Florida an
-American Italy. The coming of Italians
-to Alabama can no longer be considered
-as an experiment. As has been previously
-stated, the settlement in Baldwin
-county was made some six or eight
-years ago. These people can live on
-less than either Americans or negroes,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>
-for they have been accustomed to the
-strictest economy at home. The great
-fault of the colored race, and to a large
-extend of their white employers in the
-South, is wastefulness. When negroes
-can make a living on land in the section
-of country under consideration, Italians
-will surely be able to do so. They have
-the utmost confidence in their ability to
-do so. The negro is not satisfied unless
-he has meat to eat every day in the
-year. The workers on farms and in
-orchards and vineyards in Italy are accustomed
-to live on bread, fruit and
-vegetables for weeks at a time. Their
-repasts often consist of a piece of bread
-and a bunch of grapes, or a piece of
-bread and an onion.</p>
-
-<p>That this class of immigrants will
-greatly benefit the section to which it
-has been attracted, to use a Gallicism,
-goes without saying. They will make
-good citizens, for they would not seek
-rural life if they were the adherents of
-any special political propaganda. Experience
-has fully demonstrated the fact
-that all foreigners holding extreme
-opinions in regard to government and
-social order that come to this
-country, Russian Nihilists, German
-Socialists, French Anarchists, Irish
-Dynamiters, and Italian Red Republicans,
-make their homes in cities, and
-generally in large ones. The quiet of
-country life is distasteful to them. They
-must live in the midst of agitation and
-turmoil, and constantly attend gatherings
-where they deliver or listen to
-incendiary or socialistic harangues, or
-existence becomes almost unendurable to
-them. These settlers in South Alabama,
-on the contrary, are well satisfied with
-the institutions of the country to which
-they have come in search of homes,
-appreciate the safety and security that
-are caused by the supremacy of law and
-order, and look forward to prosperous
-and happy lives in a land where war is
-unknown, where the balance of power
-does not trouble the souls of statesmen,
-and where no immense armaments are
-maintained by imposing heavy and
-grievous burdens on the people. They
-have come to stay, and many will follow
-in their footsteps. The region to which
-they have betaken themselves has for
-years been a market garden for the
-West. It will now also become an
-orchard and a vineyard. We are living
-in an age of progress, and wonderful
-changes and developments are ahead of
-us.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p>
-
-<h2>LETTERS FROM NORTHERN AND WESTERN FARMERS,
-GIVING THEIR EXPERIENCE IN THE SOUTH&mdash;VI.</h2>
-
-<p>[The letters published in this issue form the sixth instalment in the series
-commenced in the October number of this magazine. These communications are
-published in response to numerous inquiries from Northern people who desire to
-know more about agricultural conditions in the South, and what is being
-accomplished by settlers from other sections of the country. These letters were
-written by practical farmers and fruit-growers, chiefly Northern and Western
-people who have made their homes in the South. The actual experiences of these
-settlers, as set forth in these letters, are both interesting and instructive to those
-whose minds are turned Southward.&mdash;<span class="smcap">Editor</span>.]</p>
-
-<h3>Fruit-Growing in Middle Georgia.</h3>
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Charles T. Smith</span>, Concord, Ga.&mdash;Concord
-is located in the fruit belt of
-Middle Georgia. The country is slightly
-rolling and well watered. The soil is
-productive and can easily be brought to
-a very high state of fertility. For years
-cotton has been the staple crop, but
-King Cotton has a powerful rival now
-in peaches and grapes. Fruit-growing
-was introduced into Middle Georgia
-about twelve years ago. The first plantings
-were small and there were many
-scoffers. The industry proved to be
-very remunerative, and each year
-showed an increased acreage until fruit
-farms of 100 to 500 acres are now not
-uncommon, and hundreds of carloads
-of grapes and peaches are shipped
-annually and are known far and wide
-for their superior quality. Georgia
-grapes and peaches bring a higher price
-in all the leading markets than the same
-fruits from any other State in the Union,
-and with each season their popularity is
-increased.</p>
-
-<p>The future outlook is very encouraging.
-The prices to be obtained now
-are not so large as heretofore, but with
-increased production came better
-methods of growing and hauling and
-better shipping facilities, and the profits
-to be derived are much the same, and
-far more satisfactory than any other
-crops that can be grown. This industry
-has been largely fostered by Northern
-men, who have always been with the
-foremost in progress. Their efforts
-have been crowned with success, and
-they may now look with pleasure not
-only on the handsome properties they
-have amassed but also on this splendid
-new industry in the development of
-which they have been pioneers.</p>
-
-<h3>A Northern Man’s Observation of
-Southern People.</h3>
-
-<p><span class="smcap">L. S. Packard</span>, Pine Bluff, Moore
-county, N. C., formerly of Warrensburg,
-N. Y.&mdash;Few persons realize from passing
-through the South what the soil is
-capable of producing under careful cultivation.
-After a stay of several years
-among Southern people I have learned
-much about them and their modes of
-work, the care the lands ought to have
-and the yields that can be expected
-under good cultivation. I give in brief
-my observations:</p>
-
-<p>Southern men and women are justly
-entitled to the credit they get for being
-the most hospitable people in the United
-States. The majority of them live easy,
-enjoy life and are contented to go forward
-in the quiet ways of their fathers.
-Some, however, are branching out, learning
-to make money and are accumulating
-fortunes on the farms and in the
-factories. It is the general belief of the
-Northern people that Southern people
-cannot succeed.</p>
-
-<p>To show an instance where a Southern
-born man has succeeded I shall confine my
-article to one man and to one farm, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>
-in my future letters give the names of
-Northern men who have come South.
-Within a mile of the Seaboard Air
-Line in the county of Clark and State of
-Georgia, Mr. John Smith has a farm of
-several hundred acres. He started with
-small means but has improved, buying
-more land and stock, building larger
-barns and better houses each year until
-he has one of the finest and best equipped
-and regulated farms in the United States.
-His grain, clover and grass fields are as
-fine as any in Pennsylvania or New York.
-His stock is well kept and creditable in
-number and quality; they will compare
-favorably with the best in Ohio, Michigan
-or any part of the Northwest. His cotton
-fields are beautiful beyond description.
-He has every convenience in the
-way of modern machinery. He has
-built and equipped a railroad from his
-farm to Athens, Ga., and has erected a
-cottonseed oil mill, fertilizer factory and
-conducts a general mercantile business
-to supply tenants and employees.</p>
-
-<p>Mr. Smith’s farming operations were
-enough to convince me that all the soil
-needed was careful cultivation and constant
-attention to yield three times the
-profit of any in the Northern or New
-England States.</p>
-
-<p>Recently I met Mr. J. T. Patrick, of
-Southern Pines, N. C., who is a noted
-worker for Southern development and
-perhaps one of the best posted men in
-the South in regard to the developments
-going on in that section. I spoke to
-him about Mr. Smith. Mr. Patrick said:
-“I have seen his farm and it is a credit
-to Mr. Smith and the South, but there
-are many more Southerners who are
-doing as well as he, but I suppose you
-have not seen their farms. Major R. S.
-Tucker, of Wake county, Dr. W. R.
-Capehart, of Bertie county, and thousands
-of others scattered over the South
-are owners and managers of as fine
-farms as you can find in any part of the
-United States. You Northern people
-do not get out from the line of railroad
-to see what our people are doing, and
-we are generally judged, condemned
-and sentenced by people who ride
-through our country at the rate of forty
-miles an hour on a Pullman palace car
-and don’t know the difference between
-a cotton plant and a stalk of buckwheat.”</p>
-
-<p>There is a great deal of truth in what
-Mr. Patrick said. Northern men who
-come South to learn ought to come
-down prepared to stay long enough to
-go into the country and see the farms
-and not judge the South from a poorly
-conducted farm, but from those managed
-with intelligence.</p>
-
-<h3>Political Opinions Not Counted.</h3>
-
-<p><span class="smcap">James M. Dickey</span>, Superintendent
-National Cemetery, Corinth, Miss.&mdash;In
-1881 I was a resident of Lamed-Pawnee
-county, Kansas. From March 1, 1882,
-to March, 1884, was stationed at Barrancas,
-Fla., near Pensacola. From April,
-1884, to the present time have been a
-resident of Corinth, Miss.</p>
-
-<p>My observations during this time have
-been somewhat limited, but in the material
-progress the agricultural classes
-have made considerable advance. The
-old-time theory that cotton was the only
-crop to be raised with profit has been
-discarded. Corn, potatoes, tomatoes,
-strawberries, grapes, fruits, etc., and
-nearly all classes of products that the
-truck gardener can raise will find remunerative
-sale. Climate and healthfulness
-are exceptionally good. I have not been
-under the care of a physician during the
-period of nine years.</p>
-
-<p>Churches are Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian
-and Christian. Schools of
-Corinth are public, graded into primary,
-intermediate, grammar and high school.
-Seven months, with two months additional
-of pay school, to such patrons as
-may elect to send.</p>
-
-<p>The one great and all important question
-that has been asked of me by visitors
-to this place is: “How do the people
-treat you? Are you ostracized from
-society?” etc. My answer has been, and
-I have no reason to change it, that a
-person’s habits and deportment are his or
-her passport or entree to society. It
-makes no difference in North Mississippi
-whether a person came from Georgia or
-Michigan; the social reception is the
-same.</p>
-
-<p>The political liberality of the citizens
-is as good as anywhere. While having
-their own honest convictions, they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>
-respect the convictions of others.
-My political views are in a minority,
-but during all this time no one
-has questioned or impugned my motives
-or convictions or hindered the rights of
-suffrage.</p>
-
-<h3>Middle Georgia as Compared with the
-North and West.</h3>
-
-<p><span class="smcap">G. N. Barker</span>, Longstreet, Ga.&mdash;As
-one who has been a resident two
-years in Middle Georgia after ten years
-residence in the West and Northwest,
-occupied in stock raising, etc., I may be
-able to point out a few advantages and
-differences relative to these parts. What
-will strike the farmer most on arriving in
-this section is the total absence of grass
-meadows or any visible facilities for the
-pasturing of stock, but curiously enough,
-an abundance of fairly nutritious hay
-may be cut during summer, of sufficient
-nutritive value with the assistance of a
-little grain for stock. The corn crop is
-light per acre to one used to the West;
-oats, however, yield well when well
-cultivated, and are off the ground in
-May, the same ground making also a
-good hay crop the same year. Bermuda
-grass makes an inexhaustible supply of
-pasture for all stock, except three winter
-months when green rye, barley or oats
-will take its place. Italian rye grass I
-have found grows luxuriantly during
-winter and spring, and it makes more
-milk than almost any herb. Red top
-grass also succeeds well. During summer
-there is an abundance of forage
-crops for all classes of stock, and of
-good nutritious quality. Stock is
-healthy here, provided it is kept
-clean and not overfed with too highly fattening
-foodstuffs. My health has vastly
-improved in this climate and I have recovered
-from the exposures of the
-Northwest. The land here is poor and
-run down, but good cultivation and
-moderate manuring soon restore a fertility
-that is astonishing to anyone seeing
-only what is done without fertilizer.
-The greatest drawbacks in this section
-are the total inability of the laborer,
-merchant and business man to comprehend
-or encourage anything but cotton.
-All kinds of fruits flourish with good
-care bestowed upon them.</p>
-
-<p>Farmers coming from other parts will
-have to either do or closely superintend
-the minute details of their business;
-nothing can be left to the colored labor
-and they have not yet had any practice
-with the better methods or implements.
-Lumber is cheap; also carpenters very;
-to one accustomed to Western prices, so
-many comforts may be had unattainable
-out there. The heat is no drawback,
-not being anything like the maximum
-attained in North Dakota and Montana,
-but the summer is long and debilitating
-to the newcomer, who must use discretion
-in taking too much sun the first
-season. Good foundation stock of all
-kinds can be bought here at moderate
-prices. Living is very cheap and work
-not hard, if cotton is let alone, as
-there is more time all-the-year-round to
-work than in colder regions. Roads are
-moderate and railroads numerous, obviating
-the distances to be traveled out
-West to and from one’s station and
-postoffice. As a place of residence for
-comfort, absence of great atmospheric
-changes, cheapness of living and land,
-and other things necessary to the comfort
-of a farmer, I consider the South
-has many and varied advantages over
-the North and West.</p>
-
-<h3>From New Hampshire to North Carolina.</h3>
-
-<p><span class="smcap">R. M. Couch</span>, Southern Pines, N. C.&mdash;The
-statement of facts I shall make in
-this letter will lean to the conservative in
-all cases, as after a residence of eight
-years and an extensive correspondence
-with inquirers after facts, I have learned
-that the truth is good enough and exaggeration
-folly. By the advice of my
-physician I left New Hampshire and
-located here, and have not been North
-even on a visit since, and as the climate
-was the first consideration with me, let
-me say unqualifiedly that I believe it as
-near perfect all the year round as can be
-found in any part of the world. I am
-confirmed in this conclusion by the
-testimony of scores who have sought
-this haven of health after trying such
-places as Colorado, California, New
-Mexico, Arizona, and even the South of
-France and Italy. The healthfulness of
-this section being established, the next
-question which confronted me was the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>
-means of support, and as we make no
-claim that this soil (a light sandy loam)
-is adapted to general farming, we were
-compelled to look to the fruit industry
-as the most likely to help us out, and
-well are we repaid for the venture. It
-is proved that a dry atmosphere and
-porous soil produces very fine flavored
-fruit and that in this climate, also, the
-fruit “colors” up better and makes a
-much better appearance than that grown
-in a colder and less sunny climate. But
-one strong hold on the fruit industry
-lies in our geographical position as regards
-the ripening season, which brings
-our fruit into market, out of competition
-with any other section. This fact was
-proved by our shipments last season.</p>
-
-<p>Within five years there have been
-planted in this immediate section 1500
-acres in fruit, and in order that your
-readers may have the advantage of direct
-correspondence with any or all the
-growers of fruit, I will give the names
-from memory: C. J. Eaglesfield was
-the pioneer on a small scale; S. N.
-Whipple, extensive peach, plum, grape
-and nut farm; Van Lindly Orchard Co.,
-350 acres peach, pear, plum and blackberry;
-Niagara Grape Co., 107 acres in
-grapes; Southern Pines Fruit-Growing
-Co., eighty acres in grapes; Benjamin
-Douglas, Jr., of Orange, N. J.; Tarbell
-&amp; Carlton, H. P. Bilyeu, Dr. C. W.
-Weaver, C. D. Tarbell, Thomas Carlton,
-Fred Oberhouserheur, James H. Murray,
-S. W. Thomas, Charles H. Thompson,
-Edwin Newton, Doctors Boynton,
-Stevens and R. M. Couch, Rev. A. A.
-Newhall, B. Van Herff, J. T. Wilson,
-Dr. W. P. Swett, H. P. Stebbins, J. A.
-Morriss, R. S. Marks, L. S. Johnson,
-C. C. Mitchell, John Huttonhomer, F.
-J. Folley, Rev. J. W. Johnston, Mrs. L.
-A. Raymond, Mrs. Louisa Young, P.
-Pond, Fred Dixon and others. There
-were shipped from this point last season
-150 tons, being the first bearing year of
-the oldest vineyards of much size. The
-bearing vineyards and orchards the
-coming season will more than double
-the shipments, and in two years all the
-vineyard trees mentioned will come to
-bearing.</p>
-
-<p>The prices in Washington and New
-York last July were six and seven cents
-per pound for black grapes, and thirteen
-and fourteen cents per pound for Delaware
-and Niagara, and $3.50 to $4.50
-per bushel crate for peaches and plums.
-The demand was as good at the close of
-the season as at first. Write to Dr.
-C. W. Weaver, S. N. Whipple, H. P.
-Bilyeu, C. D. Tarbell, C. B. Mabore for
-prices obtained for their own shipments.
-Dr. Weaver realized from three acres
-of his best Delaware grapes $150 per
-acre net.</p>
-
-<p>I have thus, in a rambling way, given
-your readers an idea of the climate and
-agricultural resources of the sand hills
-of Moore county, N. C.</p>
-
-<p>Southern Pines is a town eight years
-old, in the midst of the turpentine
-region of North Carolina, sixty-eight
-miles southwest from Raleigh, on the
-Raleigh &amp; Augusta Railroad (part of
-the Seaboard Air Line), fifteen hours
-from New York, and is six hundred feet
-above sea level, the highest point in the
-whole turpentine belt. The soil is a
-sandy loam and has a perfect drainage.
-Malaria is unknown. The presence of
-the long-leafed pine in large quantities
-causes the generation of ozone to such
-a degree as to make this locality almost
-a specific for throat and lung difficulties.
-Many physicians and a large number of
-the cured and benefited testify to its
-wonderful effects. The town is filled
-mainly with Northern people, and has
-four hotels, a good school, and church
-services every Sabbath. There are
-three stores, and railroad, telegraph and
-express offices. There are many fine
-residences and a large hotel 300 feet
-long and four stories is being built with
-modern improvements.</p>
-
-<h3>Fruit-Growing in Texas.</h3>
-
-<p><span class="smcap">R. T. Wheeler</span>, Hitchcock, Galveston
-county, Texas.&mdash;I have examined
-and am very much pleased with your
-magazine, and particularly the department
-of agricultural correspondence.
-This is an exceedingly interesting and
-important feature, well calculated to
-accomplish much in the settlement and
-development of the South. Your journal
-has a high mission and is on the
-right road.</p>
-
-<p>Unlike most of your correspondents<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>
-I am a native of this State, and a lifetime
-resident of this section, and therefore
-naturally biased in favor of this
-country, climate and people, free, however,
-from any prejudice against any other
-portion of the country. While I am not
-in the strict sense a farmer, and have no
-skilled acquaintance with any branch of
-horticulture or agriculture, I have had
-ten years’ practical acquaintance with
-the cultivation of this soil, and my ten
-years’ residence at this station, fourteen
-miles from Galveston City, has given me
-the opportunity of observing its rapid
-progress and development within the
-past five or six years, from a purely
-stock country, a naked prairie, in which
-lands were worth not exceeding fifty
-cents per acre, devoted exclusively to
-raising ordinary Texas cattle, it requiring
-at a low estimate ten acres to
-support one cow of the value of about
-$6, to a prosperous and independent
-fruit and truck farming community,
-having over 150,000 pear trees set to
-orchard, over 100 acres in strawberries
-now ripening and ready for market,
-yielding from $300 to $600 per acre;
-some 300 acres more in cultivation in
-general vegetables, a church, good
-public schools, with an average attendance
-of over fifty scholars daily, good
-stores, about twenty artesian wells flowing
-good, pure, wholesome water in the
-greatest abundance, from a depth of
-about 600 feet, nurseries and rose
-gardens with several hundred varieties
-of roses now in full bloom in the open
-air, without a poor man or woman, and
-not one that is not making a good
-living, a community whose reputation is
-co-extensive with horticulture within the
-States and Canada, whose products are
-well-known in Chicago and other markets,
-and whose strawberries have sold
-as far West as Salt Lake City.</p>
-
-<p>Very much of the wonderful development
-of this country is due Col. H. M.
-Stringfellow, who some nine years since
-introduced the Le Conte and Kiefer
-pears, and whose orchard, in the language
-of an ex-governor of Texas, is
-“simply a world-beater.” Last year, as
-we all know, was both a drouth and a
-panic year, and yet on his thirteen-acre
-orchard Mr. Stringfellow cleared considerably
-over $5000 on pear fruit alone,
-and much more on the sale of rooted
-pear cuttings, these pears being propagated
-by cuttings. I could write a
-book about this country and then be in
-the same trouble as the Queen of
-Sheba, but I fear that this letter is
-beyond reasonable length. Notwithstanding
-this extraordinary development,
-lands are still comparatively cheap;
-the best can be had from $20 to $50
-per acre.</p>
-
-<h3>An Opinion of Arkansas After Three
-Years’ Trial.</h3>
-
-<p><span class="smcap">J. M. Sowle</span>, Dryden, Ark.&mdash;I came
-here from Michigan in June, 1890.
-Located at a place now called Dryden,
-just west of Gilkerson on the St. Louis
-Southwestern Railway, with seventeen
-families and a few single men; seventy in
-all. The B. &amp; S. W. Railroad now runs
-through our town.</p>
-
-<p>Two families returned to stay; three
-more got lonesome here in the woods
-and went back expecting to stay, and
-before they were back two months
-acknowledged that they were homesick
-to come back and did come back, as
-they liked the society here, as well as
-the fine weather and good health.
-Everyone here now are here to stay,
-and most of them have bought land.</p>
-
-<p>We have such nice warm sunshine
-and weather in the winter. Health best
-of any place we were ever located. Out
-of the seventy people in the three years
-and eight months, have had eight
-persons sick enough to go to bed. One
-two-year-old girl died; another three-months-old
-babe died; she was well at
-midnight, found dead in bed in the
-morning; and one woman fifty years
-old died with consumption, think hereditary,
-as her father, mother and five
-brothers and sisters died with the same
-disease. The three who died are
-counted in the eight sick, except the
-babe.</p>
-
-<p>The soil here is good and never fails
-to raise crops on account of drouth or
-any other cause. We have raised fifty
-bushels shelled corn to the acre on our
-poorest land, and a bushel of potatoes
-to twenty-four hills, and in fact nearly all
-kind of crops are extra good. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>
-county is naturally suited to peaches,
-plums and grapes. General good crops
-are corn, cotton, wheat, oats, timothy,
-clover, red top, blue grass, blackberries,
-raspberries, apples, pears and quince.</p>
-
-<p>Society is good; more church members
-in proportion to population than
-any place I ever was in. Laws are
-enforced here better than any place I
-ever lived.</p>
-
-<p>This county is a peaceful and safe
-county to live in, as we have the best of
-accommodating neighbors, as well as
-law-abiding citizens.</p>
-
-<h3>A General Answer to Many Letters of
-Inquiry.</h3>
-
-<p><span class="smcap">A. K. Fisher</span>, Abbeville, Ga.&mdash;My
-letter published some time ago in your
-magazine brought me so many letters of
-inquiry concerning this section, our
-mode of farming, cost of getting land
-ready for cultivation, etc., that it required
-a long letter to each, and I have been
-unable to comply. I write this letter
-now to cover all the ground of inquiries.</p>
-
-<p>Abbeville has about 2000 inhabitants,
-is county seat of Wilcox county, Ga., is
-on the Savannah, Americus &amp; Montgomery
-Railroad, sixty-five miles east
-of Americus, where the railroad crosses
-the Ocmulgee river. This river is
-navigable; Brunswick is near its mouth.</p>
-
-<p>Abbeville has two churches&mdash;Methodist
-and Baptist; Presbyterians also have
-service there. Schools generally are not
-as good as in most of Northern States,
-but are gradually improving; have some
-teachers from the North.</p>
-
-<p>Heretofore the products from this section
-have been lumber, spirits turpentine,
-rosin, cotton, some beef cattle and wool.</p>
-
-<p>A few years ago fortunes were made
-in a short time in lumber and turpentine
-business when properly managed, but
-most of the operators increased their
-business, bought large tracts of land,
-borrowed money, etc. Now the prices
-of those products have declined to or
-below cost of production, and for the
-past two years our banks have not been
-loaning money, so those parties are
-obliged to sacrifice their lands. Although
-this section has been settling up
-rapidly, lands can be bought for less
-than two years ago.</p>
-
-<p>In past twenty years cotton has
-declined from twenty to seven cents per
-pound. When cotton brought from
-fifteen to twenty cents per pound the
-cotton planter had all the money he required
-and raised nothing else for market.
-As a class they spent their money freely;
-if more money were required before the
-crop was made they could readily get
-advances on cotton crop; now the staple
-is below cost of production, still many
-are obliged to grow cotton, as it is the
-only crop on which they can get
-advances. To change requires an
-expenditure for farming implements and
-machinery for putting in and harvesting
-the crop, stumps are to be gotten out
-of the way, etc. To grow fruit requires
-several years to realize. Most of the
-planters own large tracts of land, and
-are anxious to dispose of a part; some
-are hoping each year the acreage in
-cotton will be reduced (by many putting
-their lands in other crops), thereby
-enhancing the price of cotton and they
-be benefited. They prefer to grow
-cotton, having never done anything else.
-Some who tried hay failed on first trial,
-as they did not have proper implements,
-and they exposed it to dews and rain
-after it was cured or partly so.</p>
-
-<p>The timber in this locality is long
-leaf pine, excepting along the river,
-where is abundance of hardwoods, viz:
-different varieties oak, hickory, ash,
-gum, cypress and some elm. The pines
-are not thick on the land; the principal
-roots go straight down; the surface soil
-is sandy, intermixed with dark pebbles
-and clay subsoil. The mode of clearing
-land is to deaden by girdling the trees,
-burn the logs and trash on the ground,
-fence and put in the plough. To one
-not accustomed to it, this looks very
-slovenly, but I believe it is the best plan,
-as in a few years the trees rot and fall
-to the ground. The trees are no more
-in the way than the stumps; the dead
-hearts can much more readily be split
-into rails or burned than when green.
-The heart rails will last fifteen years; it
-costs about $10.00 per thousand to
-put rails into fences; rails are ten feet
-long. I am building board fences;
-lumber costs me at mill $5.00 per
-thousand feet. There are plenty of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>
-mills. I have my posts split from dead
-hearts and faced with axe; they cost me
-about three cents each at fence. When
-the ground is wet a man can dig seventy
-holes in a day; when dry the clay subsoil
-becomes very hard and one half above
-number would be good work.</p>
-
-<p>I have taken stumps from 200 acres
-land at a cost of about $2.00 per acre;
-generally would cost from $2.00 to $6.00
-per acre, according to length of time land
-had been cleared. I have not tried
-dynamite; some have, but cannot state
-whether it gave satisfactory results; I
-believe it would, especially in new land.
-We plant our corn in rows, generally
-six feet apart and from two to three feet
-apart in a row, one stalk in a place. At
-last working of corn we put in one or
-two rows of peas to every row of corn;
-the peas and corn mature at same time.
-When corn is gathered we gather peas
-enough for seed, then put in the hogs
-and they fatten from the peas. Some
-varieties of those peas will remain on
-the ground all winter and grow the next
-summer. The pea crop is worth as
-much as the corn crop.</p>
-
-<p>Corn grown here is worth seventy
-cents per bushel. From sixty acres I
-got over 1200 bushels of corn. I used
-on the sixty acres two tons of phosphate
-that cost here $16.00 per ton
-mixed with the manure from four mules
-and 200 bushels cottonseed worth fifteen
-cents per bushel. Some make more,
-some less, according to cultivation and
-amount of fertilizers used. One of my
-neighbors for several years past has been
-making forty bushels of corn to the acre.</p>
-
-<p>From 100 acres in oats I got 2000
-bushels; these are rust proof and always
-in demand for seed; I sold all for sixty
-cents per bushel. I used no fertilizers
-under the oats; I generally cut two
-crops of hay same season from same
-land after I cut my oats. I plough,
-harrow and roll the ground in June. I
-use under the hay guano worth about
-$6.00 to every acre and get two tons of
-hay per acre worth here $18.00 per ton.
-This grass comes spontaneously after
-the land is cultivated a few years and
-makes excellent hay. It does not grow
-North. This year one of my neighbors
-cut from twelve acres 600 bushels of
-oats; put no fertilizers under the oats,
-but had the year previous oats on same
-land, and after the oats were cut, in
-June, he planted it in peas; when the
-peas matured he turned his hogs in; by
-October the hogs had gathered the
-peas, then he ploughed under the pea
-vines and sowed in the oats. This is
-the most economical way of improving
-our lands. The crop of peas pays for
-all the expense. We feed but little corn
-to our hogs.</p>
-
-<p>Wheat is grown but little in this
-section. When cotton was worth twenty
-cents per pound no one would raise
-wheat, so the mills were either torn or
-rotted down, but in a short time there
-will be a mill to grind wheat in the
-vicinity. There are plenty of mills to
-grind corn. Nearly all the vegetables
-grown North do well here, and come
-into the market much earlier, and many
-that do not grow there do well here.
-Cabbage and Irish potatoes do well here,
-but when planted in spring mature early
-in summer and do not keep longer than a
-couple of months; when planted in
-July they mature in fall and keep tolerably
-well, but sometimes it is difficult to
-get a stand of plants in July.</p>
-
-<p>This is about 32° north latitude;
-peaches, pears, plums, grapes and some
-varieties of apples do well here, and
-all begin bearing at much younger age
-than North; perhaps are not as long-lived,
-but heretofore no care has been
-taken of them.</p>
-
-<p>In the woods the grass grows during
-summer from one to one and one-half
-feet high, and makes a splendid pasture,
-especially for six months, commencing
-in April. The cattle, sheep and hogs
-are never fed. At this time of the year
-all are poor, but in May both cattle and
-sheep are in good order. By having
-some winter pastures to keep the cattle
-fat for winter market the beeves would
-bring fancy prices in the home market.
-There is plenty of good beef here in
-summer; in winter our beef comes
-from the West (cold storage) and costs
-by the quarter eight cents per pound.</p>
-
-<p>We sow oats from September to
-February; I pasture mine some in
-winter, but there are a number of grasses
-that make here a good winter pasture.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>
-Alfalfa is being grown with success in
-some portions of this State; no doubt
-would do well here. These cattle,
-sheep and hogs on the range have never
-been improved by crossing with
-improved breeds; the rule has been to
-leave every tenth male for breeding
-purposes. By crossing the native ewes
-with some of the improved breeds, and
-feeding some on pasturing in winter,
-lambs could be put into Northern markets
-much earlier than from the States
-farther North. These cattle and sheep
-are all gotten up at a certain time for
-shearing and marking, when those for
-market are sold to buyers who ship
-them to the cities to sell to butchers.
-Some of the stock is never seen by the
-owners. The young are marked with
-the mark of its mother, the fleece of
-wool tied up and marked, the owner
-notified, he pays for sheering and gets
-it. All land not fenced is range and
-free to all. One might own 1000 head
-of cattle and not own an acre of land.
-Hogs live and grow on range but do
-much better when fed some; those near
-river get fat from acorns.</p>
-
-<p>Building material is cheap. Kiln-dried
-and dressed flooring and ceiling
-from $8.00 to $12.00 per M feet; No. 1
-Brick at kiln $5.00 per M.</p>
-
-<p>Butter is worth thirty cents per pound,
-eggs fifteen cents per dozen,
-sweet milk ten cents per quart, buttermilk
-five cents per quart.</p>
-
-<p>A number of parties from Ohio came
-to this section last February; some
-bought when they came, others bought
-this winter; all remained. They say
-they do not feel the heat any more than
-in Ohio, as we have more breeze and
-the nights are pleasant. Sunstrokes are
-unknown. A few days ago a party
-from Ohio bought 300 acres of land
-one and one-half miles from Abbeville,
-thirty acres of which is cleared, all
-salable timber cut from the balance, but
-enough for farm purposes on the land;
-buildings worth $150; no orchard; 250
-acres fair pine lands, fifty acres of but
-little value, price paid $1600; $1150
-cash, $450 in twelve months. The
-buyer intends going into the dairy
-business; also fruit and improved stock.
-Lands can be bought at from $2.00 to
-$10.00 per acre, according to distance
-from railway, improvements, etc., and
-my experience is a better profit can be
-made farming from an acre here than
-from an acre in the Northern States,
-where their lands are valued at from
-$50.00 to $75.00 per acre. Taxes are
-about fifty cents on values of $100.
-Near rivers, ponds, etc., are subject to
-some fevers. I have lived here for past
-twelve years; have not had case of fever
-among my family or hands on the place.</p>
-
-<p>We have no sand flies nor mosquitoes,
-except near ponds and water courses
-there are mosquitoes. We are not subject
-to tornadoes or cyclones as in some
-parts of the West. Our labor is mixed,
-mostly negroes. Farm hands are paid
-from $8.00 to $12.00 per month and
-rations. A ration consists of four
-pounds of bacon and one peck meal for
-six day’s work. Where it is white labor
-they are boarded in the family of the
-farmers. The negroes here are strong
-competitors in many of the trades,
-especially carpenters, blacksmiths and
-painters; also masons. Our climate is so
-mild that it is not necessary for comfort
-for a house to be plastered or ceiled
-inside; very few farmers’ houses are;
-neither is so expensive clothing required
-as in the North. On the nights of the
-fifth and sixth instant we had very little
-ice on shallow water on the ground;
-those were the coldest nights this winter.
-I have seen snow a few times in last
-twelve years; have seen none this
-winter. Ploughs can run all winter. A
-few peach trees are in bloom now
-(February 14th). There are no government
-or State land to homestead or for
-sale in this State, but plenty of lands
-for sale either unimproved or improved.
-We cultivate too much land here; we
-should cultivate less and work and
-fertilize better.</p>
-
-<p>The people are anxious for Northern
-farmers to come and settle here and
-will render home seekers any service in
-their power, furnish them stock to ride
-or drive and take care of them whilst
-they are procuring locations, etc. I
-would not advise anyone without some
-capital to come; anyone coming should
-come with the expectation of working
-for himself and not for others. I notice<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>
-that the Big Four and St. Louis Railway
-are selling round-trip tickets to
-points in Georgia, good for twenty days,
-for one fare. These tickets are issued
-for March 8th and April 9th.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<h2>ITEMS ABOUT FARMS AND FARMERS</h2>
-
-<h3>Small Farms In Florida.</h3>
-
-<p>It seems strange that farmers of the
-North will purchase land for farming
-purposes at $100 or more per acre when
-in the South there is an abundance of
-land at from $5 to $25 an acre, from
-which, acre for acre, a larger revenue
-can be derived. Because of the variety
-of products raised in the North no farm
-of less than forty acres is regarded as
-sufficiently large to maintain a family.</p>
-
-<p>The tendency in the North is towards
-larger farms, and many farmers are not
-satisfied with a farm of less than 160
-acres. Make the acreage only forty, and
-the farm is worth $4000. On twenty
-acres of land in Florida that can be
-bought at $25 per acre, one can get a
-larger annual return in dollars than he
-can from the $4000 farm in the North.</p>
-
-<p>This statement needs no proof. It is
-being demonstrated year by year all over
-the State, and only needs to be understood
-by the great army of home-seekers
-of the country to bring such an influx
-of them as will make Florida one of
-the most populous portions of the country.
-Thousands of people in the North
-want just such homes as are within
-their reach here. They have not money
-enough to pay for a satisfactory home at
-the high prices of the North, but they
-possess enough property to be able to
-secure a good home in Florida. If they
-could only be enlightened as to what
-awaits them here, they would come in
-force.&mdash;The Citizen, Jacksonville, Fla.</p>
-
-<h3>Improved Methods of the Southern
-Farmer.</h3>
-
-<p>The Savannah Morning News sees
-cause for favorable comment in the
-improved methods of the Southern
-farmer. It says: “Contrasted with the
-average Southern farm of fifteen years
-ago, the average Southern farm of today
-presents a striking object lesson of the
-New South’s progress. Plows, hoes and
-other agricultural implements are no
-longer left in the fields, or without
-shelter in the barnyards, overnight, or
-for weeks at a time, according to the
-whim of the user. Wagons and carts
-are not left standing, covered with mud,
-at the most convenient place to drop
-them. Harnesses are not thrown on a
-fence, or a peg, or a hitching post,
-exposed to the weather, until wanted.
-These things now have their orderly
-places under shelter and are properly
-looked after. Rainy days are no longer
-spent in loafing about the kitchen, but
-employer and hired man put in the
-time of the rainy day in the barn
-mending harness, oiling machinery,
-tightening wagon bolts, etc.”</p>
-
-<p>All of this goes to show thrift and
-economy, and partly explains why many
-a Georgia farmer has surplus funds to
-loan at interest.</p>
-
-<h3>Condition of Georgia Farmers.</h3>
-
-<p>At a meeting of the Georgia State
-Agricultural Society, held at Brunswick,
-Ga., February 14, Col. Waddell, the
-president of the society, said, in an
-address:</p>
-
-<p>“The condition of the farmers of
-Georgia is not really understood. The
-view entertained by the optimist being
-too rosy, that of the pessimist too
-depressing. They are nearer out of
-debt than they have ever been, they
-have more home-raised supplies than
-for many years, and they are managing
-their affairs with more judgment and
-prudence than ever before. But they
-experienced the pinching scarcity of
-money, and some of them are burdened
-with debts which would have been
-cancelled but for the shrinkage in the
-value of their lands and the products<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>
-of their farms. You who are practical
-farmers know there is no money in
-raising cotton at seven or eight cents a
-pound, and that our only hope of success
-is in producing every possible article of
-necessity at home. Fortunately, we are
-not dependent on the cotton crop, for
-in variety and diversity of products, and
-in soil and climate, Georgia produces
-unequalled advantages, and these advantages
-are being recognized and
-utilized more and more every year.”</p>
-
-<h3>Texas Tobacco Growers Organize.</h3>
-
-<p>The tobacco growers have formed an
-association for mutual benefit and for
-the promotion of this branch of crop
-cultivation. It is to be called the Cigar
-Leaf Tobacco Growers’ Association, and
-intends publishing a paper in the
-interests of Texas tobacco.</p>
-
-<p>O. A. Smith, of Willis, is president;
-H. F. Malone, of Willis, vice-president,
-and J. F. Irvine, secretary and treasurer.
-The executive committee is composed
-of the following: Clark Arnold, of
-Galveston; J. M. Buckley, of Willis;
-T. G. Wools, of Hondo; J. H. Bruning,
-of Galveston; J. J. Strozier, of Willis;
-C. F. Rhode, of Galveston; O. A.
-Smith, of Willis, and H. S. Elders, of
-Willis.</p>
-
-<p>The by-laws of the National Tobacco
-Growers’ Association, as adopted at
-Washington, are adopted by this association.</p>
-
-<h3>Profitable Rice Culture.</h3>
-
-<p>The New York Journal of Commerce,
-in an article on rice growing in Southwestern
-Louisiana, says: A couple of
-years ago the crop was excessive, but
-the last crop is well sold up, and there
-is little doubt that the consumption of
-rice will vastly increase in this country.
-Scientifically and practically it is one of
-the best of foods, and the taste for it is
-growing. Portions of this section of
-Louisiana are sufficiently watered by
-natural overflow, but a good deal of it
-is artificially irrigated. Some of the
-farmers say that it is a little more work
-to cultivate rice than wheat or corn, but
-most of them think it is less; there is
-no great difference in the cost. The
-general testimony is that it costs $5 or $6
-an acre to cultivate it, exclusive of irrigation,
-which, as already said, is not
-always necessary. A dollar for seed,
-two for cultivation and two for harvesting
-is the estimate of many farmers,
-though a few put the cost at a dollar or
-two more, and some go as high as $10
-or $12. Ten barrels in the rough is
-regarded by many cultivators as a fair
-average crop, but yields of twelve and
-fifteen barrels are common. The farmers
-generally get from $2 to $3 a barrel, and
-sometimes a little more. A rice cultivator
-at Lake Author, La., writes: “I can
-say honestly and positively that a man
-can make a big fortune in four or five
-years raising rice.... I know a
-number of farmers that have for the
-past three years averaged fifteen barrels
-per acre, and their net average price per
-barrel for the three years was $2.85.”
-These figures give gross receipts of
-$42.75 per acre.</p>
-
-<h3>Fruit Growing in Louisiana.</h3>
-
-<p>At the recent annual meeting of the
-Louisiana State Agricultural Society, F.
-H. Burnette, the horticulturist of the
-State Experiment Station at Baton
-Rouge, read an interesting paper upon
-Southern fruits.</p>
-
-<p>Prof. Burnette has given much time
-to the development of the fruit industry
-of Louisiana, experimenting upon the
-different varieties of fruit indigenous to
-the climate, utilizing his knowledge of
-foreign horticulturing and experimenting
-at the station. He gave a full report of
-these experiments. The paper was of
-especial interest to small fruit growers,
-dwelling upon the varieties of peach,
-pear and orange which can be grown
-with success in Louisiana, and of the
-new variety of Japanese and Chinese
-plums and persimmons which he has
-grown at Baton Rouge with success.</p>
-
-<p>At the same meeting Judge Lewis,
-of Opelousas, spoke of the cultivation
-of figs as a marketable crop and
-one which has never failed of
-producing remunerative results by close
-attention to the cultivation of the trees.
-He also spoke of the preserves made in
-Opelousas of the rind of the sour orange
-and also of figs, which are sold in the
-stores of Opelousas. The fig tree is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>
-self-supporting, and as an orchard which
-produces and supplies itself, being free
-from climatic influences. He spoke
-at length upon the possibilities of canning
-the fruits of Louisiana and shipping
-them to Northern markets.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The farmers of Sumter county,
-Georgia, the county in which Americus
-is located, are more and more abandoning
-the all cotton business and turning
-to the growing of fruits.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Mr. J. B. Dubose of Ridge Spring,
-Edgefield county, S. C., has experimented
-with great success in the growing
-of celery. It is claimed that the
-product of his farm is equal in every
-way to the best Kalamazoo celery.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The business of truck gardening
-around Weldon, N. C., has undergone
-great development in the last year or
-two. To accommodate this growing industry
-the Wilmington &amp; Weldon railroad
-is putting in additional side track
-facilities.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The State of Georgia has one of the
-agricultural experiment stations established
-by the United States Government,
-which has been in existence about four
-years. Its purpose is to aid the farmers
-of the State by experiments in the preparation,
-fertilization and cultivation of the
-soil, etc. It is maintained by an annual
-appropriation of $15,000 by the United
-States government. The property used
-for the purposes of the station belongs
-to the State. This property consists of
-130 acres of land with buildings, including
-dairy, ginnery, greenhouse, tobacco
-barn, laboratory, etc.</p>
-
-<p>A bulletin of results is published once
-a quarter and is sent free to any citizen
-of Georgia engaged in any branch of
-farming. The station is located at
-Experiment, near Griffin. Its organization
-is as follows: R. J. Redding,
-director; H. C. White, Ph. D., vice-director
-and chemist; H. N. Starnes,
-horticulturist; James M. Kimbrough,
-Agriculturist; H. J. Wing, dairyman.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">A number of Germans living near
-Axtell, Texas, have recently engaged in
-the apiary business with much success.
-Mr. L. J. Miller who lives in that neighborhood
-produced 1187 pounds of honey
-last year, and 165 pounds of beeswax.
-The honey brought twelve and a half
-cents and the wax seventeen and a half
-cents.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">A recent bulletin issued from the
-Texas Experimental Station gives some
-interesting comparisons of the four
-leading crops in the State. The cotton
-crop of Texas covers 4,520,310 acres,
-and is worth $69,439,476; the corn crop
-covers 3,166,353 acres and is worth
-$28,429,125; the wheat crop covers
-442,337 acres and is worth $5,244,303;
-the sweet potato crop covers 29,928
-acres and is worth $1,503,764. According
-to the above statistics the value of
-each crop per acre is: Cotton, $15.36;
-corn, $8.94; wheat, $11.88; sweet potatoes,
-$50.24. The cost of growing an
-acre of either is not materially different.
-Here is a big difference in favor of sweet
-potatoes.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Mr. Jere Mabry, of Belton, Texas,
-reports as the result of his work for 1893,
-on a rented farm of eighty acres, cash
-receipts aggregating $1,974.91. Besides
-what he sold he raised, for the most part
-his food supplies. His total cash expenses
-were $506.85, leaving $964.06 as
-the net cash profit of the year’s work.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">An intelligent farmer of Rowan
-county, N. C., said the other day: “The
-farmers in my county were never better
-off. They have plenty of corn, wheat,
-meat and other produce, and many of
-them have a bale or so of cotton stored
-away. There is no necessity for the
-cry of hard times among the farmers of
-Rowan. True, they have little money,
-but they do not need it, they have all at
-home that they can consume. Why,
-many of the farmers are raising everything
-they need on the farm. I know
-of men who now have plenty of meat
-who a few years ago did not raise a hog,
-so you see they are growing wiser and
-are prospering as all good farmers
-should. True, a few of Rowan’s farms
-are mortgaged and badly in debt, but
-they are generally of that sort that
-lounge around town in idleness the
-greater portion of the time and let their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>
-crops go, trusting to a mortgage for the
-next year.”</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The “Southern Pines Orchard Co.”
-purchased in 1890 1200 acres of wooded
-land near Southern Pines, and 360 acres
-of this has been cleared and planted as
-follows: 51,000 peach trees, 5000 pears,
-1000 plums, 16,000 blackberry. In that
-section the peach crop never fails. Last
-year the new trees bore a few peaches
-and this year they are expected to bear
-freely. The president of the company
-is Mr. J. Van Lindley, of Greensboro,
-N. C., who is also proprietor of the
-Pomona Nurseries at Greensboro.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">During the last few weeks there has
-been much activity among the farmers
-in the vicinity of Oglethorpe, Ga., and
-from all parts of the county as well. The
-time has again rolled round when they
-must plant their crops, and right energetically
-are they going at this duty.
-Not near so much fertilizer is being
-used as in previous years, and the
-farmers of Macon county, Ga., are
-reported by the Macon News to be in
-better condition than in a long time.
-Nearly all have more than a sufficiency
-of home-raised meat to supply them
-during the year. Few complaints are
-heard of hard times.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Some advanced tobacco growers in
-Texas have been experimenting with
-the object of growing a fine quality of
-Cuban cigar leaf, and the results, it is
-said, have been entirely satisfactory.
-The reports from Brazos, Paris, Calhoun,
-Nueces, Liberty, Grimes, Walker, Montgomery
-and other counties show that a
-very fine quality of Cuban tobacco can
-be grown in Southern and Southeastern
-Texas.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The rice acreage in Orange county,
-Texas, will be materially increased this
-year, and there will be almost a corresponding
-increase in fruit farming, for
-which that section is eminently adapted.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Mr. G. W. Duncan, of Greenville,
-Ala., has fattened thirty-nine hogs this
-season on twenty acres of ground peas,
-and says there are enough peas in the
-ground now to fatten as many more
-hogs and to keep them fat for a month
-yet.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span></p>
-
-
-<h2>FRUIT-GROWING POSSIBILITIES OF THE SOUTH
-ATLANTIC SEABOARD.</h2>
-
-<p class="author"><i>By Clark Bell.</i></p>
-
-<p>I am asked to contribute a paper to
-the <span class="smcap">Southern States</span>, giving my
-impressions of my first trip South. I
-will reply as I have done to my friend
-Mr. Clark Howell, of Atlanta, Ga., for
-the columns of his paper, from the stand-point
-of a business man and farmer, and
-not in my relation to the party who
-recently visited the seaboard States,
-composed in the main of medical editors,
-their wives and friends.</p>
-
-<p>Too much praise cannot be awarded
-Dr. W. C. Wile, of Danbury, Conn., for
-promoting and organizing the party of
-Northern medical editors and their
-friends, thus bringing to their attention
-the unusual advantages of the Piedmont
-section of the Southern seaboard States
-to Northern emigration.</p>
-
-<p>These distinguished gentlemen will
-shortly communicate their views through
-their respective journals, but what I shall
-say now will be quite free from all professional
-considerations.</p>
-
-<p>Either North Carolina or Georgia
-must be regarded as the paradise of the
-fruit grower. I have had a large experience
-in vine growing and wine making
-in Western New York, having planted
-one of the first vineyards on the shores
-of Lake Keuka, and being one of the
-promoters of the Urbana Wine Co., and
-I am familiar in a practical way with that
-most remunerative culture of the black
-raspberry, in Yates county, New York,
-which furnishes the evaporated dried
-fruit so much now in demand, and may
-fairly be classed as one qualified to
-speak, in a practical way, as to the general
-features of fruit growing. The
-wine-growing industry, yet in its infancy
-in North Carolina, has gone far enough
-to demonstrate an assured success in a
-lucrative way, to those who carry on its
-productions on business methods. The
-experiments made at Southern Pines, N.
-C., have gone far enough to leave no
-manner of doubt of splendid results in
-the near future.</p>
-
-<p>The difficulty with which the Northern
-grower has to contend are the high
-price of land and labor and the early
-frost. Labor in both Georgia and North
-Carolina is abundant and cheap. Eight
-dollars per month will cover the wages
-of men with rations, which can be computed
-at $2.50 per month. Frost is
-quite out of the question. The cost of
-land in desirable locations is as low as
-$3 to $10 per acre, and if unimproved
-land is taken a net of $10 would be
-ample to put good land ready to plant
-the vine. The plow can run in both the
-States every month in the year.</p>
-
-<p>By way of Norfolk, the markets of
-New York and Philadelphia are as
-accessible to the fruit growers of these
-States as to Western New York, in both
-time and rate. North Carolina seems
-to have been chary of the immigration
-of foreigners. Of that great flood of
-European blood that has for the past
-twenty-five years poured into the ports
-of New York, neither North Carolina
-nor Georgia has received anything
-worth naming. It has swept like an
-enormous wave over the West, but not
-on the South Atlantic seaboard. You
-would secure those who are desirable
-and by proper work could do so.</p>
-
-<p>The citizens of Northern States do
-not correctly understand your section.
-They should visit and carefully look
-into the capacities of your States.
-Nothing dispels illusions like contact
-and personal examination. The North
-is full of active, energetic, industrious
-men inured to labor, who do not know<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>
-what advantages you offer or they
-would flood into and buy up your
-unoccupied lands and form a splendid
-factor in the New South now forming.
-Would the Northern settlers be hospitably
-received? At the North this would be a
-controlling question. General Manager
-Winder, of the Seaboard Air Line,
-assures me that in his State the Northern
-settler would be most welcome. Ex-Governor
-Jarvis, of North Carolina, in
-a recent conversation, assured me that
-the Southern welcome would be whole-souled,
-full and free from the slightest
-danger of interference. I have equally
-high authority in Georgia of a similar
-state of public sentiment. Northern
-settlers would, strange as it may sound
-to you, need to be assured in these
-respects.</p>
-
-<p>The present depressed state of financial
-affairs is not against such an immigration
-now. Your splendid railways
-should give especial facilities in reduced
-freights to actual settlers. Austin Corbin,
-one of our greatest railroad workers,
-transports free over his railways every
-pound of material an actual settler puts
-on his land in improvements. I would
-advocate free transportation of the
-household goods of every actual Northern
-settler by your great railway lines.</p>
-
-<p>I do not dare to state what I think
-of the future of North Carolina and
-Georgia within the next fifty years.
-Yes, twenty-five years. No Georgian
-or Carolinian would believe as much as
-I see coming in the next generation.
-With a climate that not only rivals, but
-excels that of Italy, I say to Georgians
-and North Carolinians if you will yourselves
-open to Northern eyes the enormous
-advantages of your grand States,
-you will witness a spectacle within the
-next thirty years as marvelous as that
-we saw in Atlanta, where a magnificent
-city has arisen, phœnix-like, from the
-ashes made by Sherman’s army. And
-the new States of Georgia and North
-Carolina will come into a new and
-grander life, which will be as much a
-wonder to the next generation as Atlanta
-is to this.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="border-bottom">
-
-<p class="center larger">THE SOUTHERN STATES.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="title">
-
-<p class="center">THE<br />
-<span class="smcap larger">Southern States</span>.</p>
-
-<p class="center smaller">AN ILLUSTRATED MONTHLY MAGAZINE<br />
-DEVOTED TO THE SOUTH.</p>
-
-<p class="center smaller">Published by the<br />
-<span class="larger">Manufacturers’ Record Publishing Co.</span><br />
-Manufacturers’ Record Building,<br />
-BALTIMORE, MD.</p>
-
-<p class="center smaller">SUBSCRIPTION: $1.50 a Year; $1 for Six Months</p>
-
-<p class="center">WILLIAM H. EDMONDS,</p>
-
-<p class="right">Editor and Manager.</p>
-
-<div class="border-double">
-
-<p class="center">BALTIMORE, MARCH, 1894.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="bold smaller">
-
-<p>The SOUTHERN STATES is an exponent of the
-Immigration and Real Estate Interests and
-general advancement of the South, and a journal
-of accurate and comprehensive information
-about Southern resources and progress.</p>
-
-<p>Its purpose is to set forth accurately and
-conservatively from month to month the reasons
-why the South is, for the farmer, the settler, the
-home seeker, the investor, incomparably the
-most attractive section of this country.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-</div>
-
-<hr />
-
-<h3>An Opportunity for Capital.</h3>
-
-<p>In the general discussion of the various
-agencies to be depended on to bring about
-an enlarged and accelerated Southern immigration
-movement, there seems to have
-been little thought given to private enterprises
-as one of them.</p>
-
-<p>A great deal has been said about the
-duty and self interest of railroads in the
-matter, and much has been spoken and
-written in advocacy of aggressive measures
-on the part of the States. It is quite true
-that the railroads should pursue the most
-liberal policy in fostering and developing
-immigration. Every farmer who settles in
-the territory of any road becomes a permanent
-producer of traffic for that road, and
-whether the railroad company be the
-owner of lands or not, the most profitable
-expenditures it can make are such as will
-help to populate and build up the country
-tributary to its lines. It is also true that
-every Southern State should have an immigration
-department or bureau, conducted
-not by small politicians, but by the
-most capable men to be had, and not supported
-by niggardly appropriations, but
-amply supplied with sufficient money to
-make possible the most progressive and
-comprehensive methods.</p>
-
-<p>But, unfortunately, the ideal is not going
-to be reached as to either the railroads or
-the States. Both will in the aggregate
-come very far short of what ought to be
-done, and this will be more pronouncedly
-and lamentably true of the State governments.</p>
-
-<p>Outside of these agencies, then, how is
-the cause of immigration to be advanced?
-The question and the conditions giving
-rise to it suggest an opportunity for capital
-and enterprise. In almost any part of the
-South very large areas of land may be gotten
-together at very low prices. With
-money enough to buy and properly develop
-farm lands, and with judicious management,
-there is hardly any limit to the profitable
-business that could be done by immigration
-or colonization companies. For
-example, a company that could buy say
-10,000 to 20,000 or more acres of land in a
-body, or make up this acreage by consolidating
-a number of farms bought from
-different owners, and then divide this up
-into small farms of twenty, forty, eighty or
-more acres, construct roads throughout the
-entire area, drain the whole of it, put it
-all in the best shape for the most advanced
-farming or gardening operations, building
-houses, &amp;c., and then direct themselves
-to the work of colonizing it or selling to
-individual settlers, such a company, with
-sufficient capital and properly managed,
-could quickly settle up almost any area of
-land and make enormous profits for its
-stockholders. Besides the tracts sold as
-small farms, there would necessarily be one
-or more centrally located village sites which
-would become immediately valuable as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>
-town property. There is nothing easier
-than getting Northern farmers to go South.
-The conditions of farming and of
-life at the South are so incomparably
-superior to those at the North that they
-need only to be pressed upon the attention
-of Northern farmers to be availed of. In
-its millions of acres of cheap lands the
-South has the advantage of an entirely
-new and undeveloped country, and has
-with this all the advantages and comforts
-and attractions of an established and advanced
-civilization. The South is in the
-main more healthful than any other part of
-the United States, its range of farm and
-garden products is greater, it offers better
-opportunities for profitable agriculture,
-and it is in all respects a section where
-life can be lived in greater comfort than at
-the North. Convinced of these facts, hundreds
-of thousands of substantial and
-well-to-do farmers in other parts of the
-country would quickly move to the South.
-In fact, there is even now, all over the
-North and Northwest a disposition to go
-South. As was stated in a letter published
-in the January number of the <span class="smcap">Southern
-States</span>, “there are thousands who would
-move South if somebody would start the
-ball rolling.” These are the conditions.
-Properly utilized, they can be made to furnish
-a wide and rich field for some of the
-millions now lying idle and non-productive
-in the financial centres.</p>
-
-<h3>The Virginia Legislature and Immigration.</h3>
-
-<p>The legislature of Virginia, in its very
-proper and commendable desire to promote
-immigration to the State, is discussing
-the enactment of some extraordinary
-legislation. A bill now before the senate
-provides for the appointment of a commissioner
-of immigration, who shall keep on
-file in his office a description of any lands
-submitted to him by any owner or real-estate
-agent, and shall receive a commission
-of not more than 5 per cent. upon the
-sale of any such lands in lieu of salary.
-Evidently, to the mind of the author of
-this bill, the benefits of an increase in the
-population of the State terminate with the
-sale of lands, and are confined to owners
-of such lands. The narrowness of a measure
-that would impose upon any one class
-of people the expense of an immigration
-department is manifest. The innumerable
-and widely ramifying benefits resulting
-from judicious immigration effort are
-shared by everybody, and the expense
-should be borne by everybody.</p>
-
-<p>Aside from this inequity, there are many
-objections to the plan of giving the proposed
-commissioner an interest in the sale
-of lands. As an officer of the State he
-should be free from any possibility of bias
-as to any part of the State or any specific
-properties.</p>
-
-<p>Let a commissioner of immigration be
-appointed by all means, and let an adequate
-fund be set apart for the expenses of
-his department, but let this come out of
-the receipts from taxes, and thus be equitably
-apportioned among all classes.</p>
-
-<h3>Florida’s Obligation to Mr. Disston.</h3>
-
-<p>To say that no other State owes as much
-to any one man as Florida owes to Hamilton
-Disston, of Philadelphia, is a comprehensive
-statement, but it is probably true.
-About fifteen years ago some Northern
-capitalists were induced to consider the
-idea of building railroads in Florida. It
-was found on investigation that the State
-could not grant any of its lands to railroad
-companies, since all the lands of the State
-were covered by a general mortgage
-which had been made to secure the State
-bonds. Without this inducement nobody
-was willing to put a dollar into railroad
-building in Florida, for the reason that the
-early returns from traffic could not be
-expected to be such as would justify it.
-In this emergency Mr. Disston came to the
-rescue of the State. He bought 4,000,000
-acres of Florida land, paying for it enough
-to discharge the entire State debt, thereby
-releasing the lands owned by the State, and
-placing it in a position to make grants to
-railroads. Immediately following this,
-contracts were made with New York
-capitalists, and Florida entered upon an
-era of railroad building and general development.</p>
-
-<p>Of course it is beyond question that the
-enormous resources and capabilities of
-Florida would in time have brought railroads,
-with the development that accompanies
-them, but it is also true that but for
-this timely intervention and help from Mr.
-Disston, the beginning of this period of
-growth and prosperity would have been
-delayed, possibly many years.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>Following this timely succor, Mr. Disston
-has now put the State under further obligation
-to him for one of the most stupendous
-and one of the most successful works
-of general improvement ever undertaken
-in this country. As was briefly told in the
-February number of the <span class="smcap">Southern
-States</span>, he has reclaimed for the State
-many millions of acres of land that but for
-his enterprise would have been permanently
-a waste. True, he has himself
-reaped large rewards, as it is proper that
-he should have done, but this does not lessen
-the benefits the State receives, and
-moreover, the risk has been all his own,
-since the only return the State was to
-make to him for the millions of dollars
-spent in his drainage works was a share of
-the lands reclaimed from overflow.</p>
-
-<p>The value of the services that Mr. Disston
-has rendered Florida are beyond estimate.</p>
-
-<h3>How to Do It.</h3>
-
-<p>The News, of Birmingham, Ala., very
-correctly maintains that reduced railroad
-rates will not accomplish much in the way
-of inducing immigration, unless the measure
-be accompanied by liberal advertising.
-The News says:</p>
-
-<div class="blockquote">
-
-<p>Ten good settlers can be brought down
-from the effects of good advertising, without
-any half rates, where one can be
-brought down from the mere effects of
-half rates, and as a rule those who come
-solely on account of low rates never
-become settlers, but combined, the two do
-good service, reaching the better class.</p></div>
-
-<p>The <span class="smcap">Southern States</span> is the channel
-through which to reach the attention of
-the North and Northwest. It is the only
-Southern immigration journal; the only
-publication that can be looked to for information
-about the soil, climate, agricultural
-capabilities, etc., of the whole South.
-It is alone in this field. There has never
-been a time when there was such eagerness
-for facts about the South. From New
-England, the Middle States, the West, and
-notably from the Northwest, requests for
-sample copies and letters of inquiry about
-the South are pouring in upon us.</p>
-
-<p>Advertisements in the <span class="smcap">Southern
-States</span> will be read every month by many
-thousands of people all over the North
-and Northwest, who are eagerly seeking
-such information as will enable them to
-determine what part of the South is most
-likely to suit them.</p>
-
-<h3>No Such Danger.</h3>
-
-<p>The Boston Herald, in an editorial on
-the work of the <span class="smcap">Southern States</span>, says:
-“The reports are extremely favorable in regard
-to richness and variety of crops, and
-the chief danger seems to be that the speculators
-in Southern lands, as well as many
-of the railroads, hold their lands at such
-prices as to dissuade the poorer but industrious
-class of immigrants from taking
-them up.” The danger apprehended by
-the Herald does not at all exist. There
-are many millions of acres of the best land
-in the South that can be had for prices that
-are merely nominal. The trouble is not
-that there is any fault to be found with the
-land, but there are not people enough in
-the South to cultivate more than a small
-part of the land, and the surplus is, therefore,
-in a sense valueless, no matter how
-rich and productive it may be. There are
-a good many millions of acres of railroad
-land, and in some of the States State land,
-that can be had for such prices and upon
-such terms as nobody can find fault with.
-And as to the private holdings of individuals,
-there is too much land in every
-part of the South unused, and therefore
-too many owners anxious to sell a part of
-what they own, to make possible any speculative
-putting up of prices.</p>
-
-<h3>How to Reach Prospective Immigrants.</h3>
-
-<div class="blockquote">
-
-<p>That North Carolina needs immigrants
-of the right kind is too universally admitted
-to call for proof; and that all efforts
-heretofore made in this direction have
-been practically a failure seems also clear. It
-seems equally clear that circulars, handbooks
-and the State press fail of their purpose
-in this respect, because they never
-reach the class we desire to influence.&mdash;The
-Gazette, Washington, N. C.</p></div>
-
-<p>The Gazette is right. Many thousands
-of dollars are wasted in printing books
-and pamphlets that nobody ever reads.
-There is a way, however, to reach the
-class it is desired to influence. It can be
-done through the <span class="smcap">Southern States</span>.
-The <span class="smcap">Southern States</span> is a journal of
-information about the South. It is engaged
-in the work of making known
-the resources in soil, climate and agricultural
-capabilities, of the Southern
-States. And such is the desire for accurate
-and comprehensive information about this
-section that although the magazine has
-been in existence only a year it goes into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>
-every part of New England, the Middle
-States, the West and the Northwest, and is
-read by thousands of farmers and business
-men who are seeking to inform themselves
-as to the most attractive localities in the
-South.</p>
-
-<p>The <span class="smcap">Southern States</span> furnishes a
-channel through which to reach effectively
-the class of possible immigrants needed
-in the South.</p>
-
-<h3>Work of Southern Railroads in Promoting
-Immigration.</h3>
-
-<p>In the general and very proper demand
-for railroad aid to the cause of Southern
-immigration, it should not be forgotten
-that many of the Southern roads have
-been for years giving conspicuous and
-liberal attention to this work. Through
-the efforts of such roads, for example, as
-the Mobile &amp; Ohio, the Illinois Central,
-the Baltimore &amp; Ohio, the St. Louis, Iron
-Mountain &amp; Southern, the Missouri,
-Kansas &amp; Texas, the St. Louis Southwestern
-and others, hundreds of thousands
-of substantial farmers, artisans and business
-men have been induced to move to
-the South, and all of those roads are constantly
-enlarging their immigration work.
-A notable instance of broad and progressive
-management in furtherance of immigration
-is furnished by the Georgia Southern
-&amp; Florida road, whose methods were
-made the subject of an article published
-in the January number of the <span class="smcap">Southern
-States</span>.</p>
-
-<p>Other Southern roads are becoming
-roused on this subject. The Seaboard Air
-Line system, which has a management as
-progressive and liberal as any road in the
-country, is preparing to inaugurate a comprehensive
-immigration policy, and the
-Richmond &amp; Danville road is also adopting
-measures to induce Northern farmers
-to settle along its lines. The Louisville &amp;
-Nashville and the Central Railroad of
-Georgia systems are also taking advanced
-steps in the same direction.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The introduction of artesian water in
-some of the Southern towns, notably
-Albany and Brunswick, Ga., has revolutionized
-the health of those places; the
-two localities named, which were formerly
-noted for the prevalence of malarial and
-other disorders, being now equally noted
-as health resorts. The last Georgia town
-to enter the artesian well procession is
-Quitman, Ga. The April number of the
-<span class="smcap">Southern States</span> will contain an exhaustive
-article by Mr. James R. Randall, on
-drinking water. Mr. Randall has for many
-years been making investigations on this
-subject, and his article will be a revelation,
-not only to the general public, but to most
-physicians and hygienists as well.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Augusta Chronicle, quoting the
-sage remark of a man who had amassed
-much wealth, who when asked how he had
-made his money, said that he always
-bought when everybody wanted to sell,
-and sold when everybody wanted to buy,
-urges that the present is the time for people
-with money to make investments.
-Prices of every sort have reached a minimum,
-and in view of the assured early
-reaction and the inevitable rebound to very
-high prices that will follow the long term
-of depression, this would seem to be as
-the Chronicle suggests, the time to buy
-things.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">No sooner is Atlanta well under way
-with its great International Exposition
-project for 1895 than Macon comes to the
-front with an exposition enterprise of its
-own. A movement has been started to
-hold an exposition in the fall of 1894.
-These Georgia towns are great hustlers.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">In Mr. Clark Bell’s article, published
-elsewhere, there is this statement:</p>
-
-<div class="blockquote">
-
-<p>“Austin Corbin, one of our greatest
-railroad workers, transports free over his
-railways every pound of material an actual
-settler puts on his land in improvements.
-I would advocate free transportation of the
-household goods of every actual Northern
-settler by your great railway lines.”</p></div>
-
-<p>This is commended to the attention of
-Southern railroad managers.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Legislature of Virginia seems to
-have some spite against real estate
-agents. Not satisfied with the present
-burdensome and wholly unjust tax imposed
-upon real estate dealers in the State, it is
-proposed now to make the real estate
-agents bear the expense of a State immigration
-commission.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Mr. John T. Patrick, of Southern Pines,
-N. C., secretary of the Southern Bureau of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>
-Information, deserves much commendation
-for his enterprise and public spirit in
-having arranged for an excursion through
-the South of the editors of a number of
-leading Northern medical journals. This
-undertaking of Mr. Patrick’s is in furtherance
-of an effort to correct the impression
-that still exists in the minds of a great
-many Northern people that the South is
-an unhealthful section.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">At the last meeting of the Commercial
-&amp; Industrial association, of Montgomery,
-Ala., the president said in his monthly
-report: “The association should advertise
-the city and hold forth its advantages
-in every way possible which will attract
-capital and cause enterprising citizens to
-locate here. A new era of growth and
-enterprise will come apace and Montgomery
-should be prepared to reap the
-rewards that flow from it.” This admonishment
-may be heeded with profit by
-every community in the South.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Mr. Clark Bell, the writer of the
-article on the fruit growing possibilities of
-the South Atlantic seaboard, is a New York
-lawyer, and editor of the Medico-Legal
-journal of New York. He has had a quite
-extensive practical experience in fruit
-growing, and his judgment as to the capabilities
-of the South for this branch of agriculture
-is that of a competent expert.
-Mr. Bell was one of the party of editors of
-medical journals who recently made a tour
-of the South Atlantic States under the
-auspices of the Southern Bureau of Information,
-located at Southern Pines, N. C.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">It seems incomprehensible to a Southern
-man that there should be any doubt in
-the minds of Northern people as to whether
-Northern settlers will be well received in
-the South or not. Mr. Clark Bell, in an
-article in this number, says: “Northern
-settlers would, strange as it may sound to
-you, need to be assured in these respects,”
-and he thinks it necessary to quote the
-assurances on this point that he had from
-distinguished Southern gentlemen. Not
-only will Northern farmers and business
-men be well received in the South, but
-they will find awaiting them a most eager
-welcome. The newspaper utterances all
-over the South, the statements of public
-men, the personal letters to the newspapers
-from farmers and merchants, the
-actions of commercial bodies, indicate not
-only a welcome to the Northern settler, but
-a keen appreciation of the value to the
-South of immigration from the North, and
-a most eager desire for this immigration.
-No Northern man, who is respectable
-enough to have standing in his own community
-at home, need have any fear but
-that he will find in the South the utmost
-consideration and good will.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The superior train service on the Chesapeake
-&amp; Ohio is well known to all patrons
-of that system. During the month of January
-train No. 1 made the run between
-Washington, D. C., and Cincinnati, twenty-nine
-days, exactly on time, and on the
-other two days lost but twenty minutes.
-Train No. 2 made every trip between the
-cities on time, and the “Fast Flying Virginian,”
-one of the finest express trains in
-the country, reached Cincinnati thirty out
-of thirty-one trips on time, although it was
-an hour late out of Washington on seven
-trips, caused by waiting for connections.
-This is a month’s record that the operating
-department can be proud of.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span></p>
-
-<h2>Immigration News.</h2>
-
-<h3>The Yazoo Delta.</h3>
-
-<p>The assistant land commissioner of the Illinois
-Central Railroad, Major G. W. McGinnis,
-in a recent interview on the subject of
-immigration to the Yazoo Delta, spoke as
-follows:</p>
-
-<p>“I believe that the time has now come for
-the introduction of white labor. Our road,
-besides having agents all over the Northwest,
-have men in Germany and also in Holland,
-gathering families together to settle up our
-land. There are many residents of Dakota
-and other Northwestern States who want a
-milder and a better climate, with a soil more
-fertile than that of the Northwest. All these
-advantages are possessed by the Delta.</p>
-
-<p>“The greatest interest is manifested in the
-movement. Scarcely a day passes but what
-we receive from fifty to seventy-five letters of
-inquiry.</p>
-
-<p>“The colonists who have already taken advantage
-of our offers and settled along the
-Delta, are making money hand over fist. They
-are raising cotton, corn, vegetables, stock and
-fruit. The largest peaches I ever saw in my
-life came from the Delta.</p>
-
-<p>“When our work is done we will see every
-man his own landlord, and by the way, these
-foreigners are apt to steer clear of that condition,
-so prevalent in the South, of being land
-poor. They want no more land than they can
-cultivate with the aid of their families, say
-forty acres. In fact, some of them buy no more
-than twenty. They make up the greatest population
-for agricultural districts possible to
-imagine. They have made the Northwest
-what it is.</p>
-
-<p>“When the movement is once fairly started
-there will be no stopping the rush of immigration.
-Northern people all move in bodies.
-When one comes all come.”</p>
-
-<h3>Alabama Farmers Invite Settlers
-From the North.</h3>
-
-<p>The following resolutions were adopted at a
-meeting of the State Agricultural Society of
-Alabama, held at Birmingham, February 23:</p>
-
-<p><i>Resolved</i>, By the State Agricultural Society
-of Alabama, that we invite to Alabama all
-honest and industrious farmers that should be
-desirous of changing their home, and extend
-to them a cordial welcome, assuring them that
-the right hand of fellowship will be extended
-to them, and that feeling that is always
-accorded one good citizen from another will
-be extended to them by the farmers of the
-State.</p>
-
-<p><i>Resolved</i> (2), That we will cordially indorse
-and sustain our honorable commissioner of
-agriculture and his excellency, the governor of
-Alabama, in a vigorous and continuous effort
-for immigration made through the Department
-of Agriculture under existing law. At the
-same meeting, Mr. Chappell Cory, editor of
-the Birmingham Age-Herald, read by invitation
-a paper in advocacy of efforts to induce
-immigration from the North.</p>
-
-<h3>The Railroads and Immigration.</h3>
-
-<p>The organization of land companies for the
-purpose of inducing immigration to West Tennessee
-is most commendable, especially when
-these companies are conducted upon the plan
-of that one which proposes to open up the territory
-along the line of the Paducah, Tennessee
-&amp; Alabama railroad. The capital of the
-company is very small, and there is little profit
-in the enterprise for those who have formed
-the company. They intend merely to direct
-the attention of immigrants to the advantages
-which this heaven-blest region holds for the
-thrifty and hard-working farmer. The road is
-a new one, but it runs through a most fertile
-region, especially adapted to small farming.
-The Illinois Central railroad has done much
-to attract settlers to Mississippi, and every
-railroad in this section should be equally alert.
-It was the railroad agent who made States out
-of Territories in the Northwest, and it is a
-most assuring sign that he is now taking hold
-of the Southern country. The railroad company
-is the best of all immigration or colonization
-societies. It can accomplish more at
-less expense than any other. The example set,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>
-therefore, by the officials of the Paducah, Tennessee
-&amp; Alabama, is commendable in the
-highest degree. The prosperity of a railroad
-depends upon the population of the country
-through which it runs, and the more rapidly the
-country is built up the sooner will the stockholders
-realize upon their investment. The
-public has a profound interest in such enterprises.
-The Appeal-Avalanche has no support
-to give to purely speculative and boom
-schemes, but it is in favor of all enterprises
-the object of which is to put forward the advantages
-of soil, climate and distributing
-facilities which Tennessee and other Southern
-States enjoy to such an exceptional degree.&mdash;Memphis
-Appeal-Avalanche.</p>
-
-<h3>The Louisville &amp; Nashville is Pushing
-Immigration Work.</h3>
-
-<p>Col. C. P. Atmore, the general passenger
-agent of the Louisville &amp; Nashville railroad, is
-pushing the matter of immigration to the South
-with great vigor. When approached on the
-subject recently he said that the Louisville &amp;
-Nashville road had several agents in the
-Northwest and in Europe, who were sending
-families down rapidly. It is the intention of
-the road to put between 200 and 300 families
-on its line between Paris and Memphis.</p>
-
-<p>The Louisville &amp; Nashville is now running
-home-seekers’ excursions from points at a rate
-of one fare for the round trip, with a view to
-encouraging the movement. It owns many thousand
-acres of land between New Orleans and
-Flomaton, Ala., and also between Pensacola
-and River Junction.</p>
-
-<p>On the Nashville, Sheffield and Florence
-branch of the line in question there is a Norwegian
-colony of about 200 families. This
-colony has done remarkably well, and the road
-is much pleased with its venture.</p>
-
-<h3>The Texas Coast Section Filling Up.</h3>
-
-<p>At Velasco, Texas, recently several carloads
-of fine draft stock belonging to newly arrived
-farmers from Nebraska were received, and the
-next day several carloads of household goods
-for another colony from Kansas, who had
-bought farms in Brazoria county, were unloading.
-M. M. Miller, of the Velasco National
-Bank, and others have received letters from
-parties who are coming with families and
-stock from both of these States and from New
-Mexico, Iowa, Missouri and Illinois.</p>
-
-<p>At the present rate Brazoria county’s population,
-it is said, will be doubled by the end
-of the present year; at least 90 per cent. of
-increase began coming in less than two
-years ago.</p>
-
-<h3>Colonization Plans for Florida.</h3>
-
-<p>Mr. O. J. Johnson, excursion, land and
-colonization agent, of Minneapolis, has been
-prospecting in Florida for a site for settling
-immigrants from the North and Northwest.</p>
-
-<p>Mr. Johnson will take a good many hundred
-people South, he says, if he has the right
-encouragement. He was the immigration
-agent of the Northern Pacific railroad for nine
-years.</p>
-
-<p>Four business men of Minneapolis are
-interested with Mr. Johnson. They are
-Mr. N. C. Westerfield, Dr. William E. Wheelock,
-Messrs. P. S. McKay and C. E. Channel.
-Their idea is to purchase a tract of land of
-from 10,000 acres upward, divide it into
-smaller farms and lots and then sell these lots
-to such settlers as they want.</p>
-
-<p>“I’ve had a deal of experience in this line,”
-said Mr. Johnson, “and know what is to be
-done. I am well satisfied with Florida’s climate
-and attractions, and know that we can
-settle many hundreds of good people. We
-have a large number of inquiries already, and
-I am satisfied we can place all the people we
-want to handle. The farmers of Dakota and
-other points in the Northwest are dissatisfied,
-and hundreds and hundreds of them will come
-the moment they are assured that this State
-promises them a fair living with the work they
-have to devote now to a mere existence.”</p>
-
-<h3>A Fruit-Growing Association to Locate
-in Texas.</h3>
-
-<p>Officers of the Rock Island Fruit Growers’
-and Improvement Association are in Texas inspecting
-lands. It is the purpose of the association
-to acquire a large tract of land in the Gulf
-coast region of Texas, in the centre of which to
-lay out a town site, giving to each member of the
-association a town lot. A maximum and minimum
-ownership of land is restricted by the by-laws
-of the association. Reservations are
-made for school, church, town hall, park and
-cemetery purposes. No lands can be held in
-unimproved state for speculation; a certain
-portion of each owner’s land must be improved
-during the first year by planting fruit, vegetables
-or other horticultural products, and at
-least two acres additional each succeeding
-year until each owner’s lands are under cultivation.
-When the products are ready to ship
-the shipments will be made in car lots to the
-most advantageous markets of the country.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>The association expects to number 100 families,
-composed of persons who will go into the
-Texas coast region and make their homes,
-their previous occupations having been fruit
-growers, gardeners, mechanics from the government
-works on the island of Rock Island,
-clerks, artisans, etc. While their fruit trees
-are developing the members of the association
-will raise garden truck for shipment. The
-officers of the association propose visiting the
-most advantageous sections of the Gulf coast,
-from Houston to Corpus Christi, and will devote
-about four weeks time to that purpose.
-The originator of the enterprise is Mr. I. E.
-Whistler, whose attention was directed to
-Texas as a fruit growing country by seeing
-and testing some fine specimens of peaches
-shipped from Tyler, Texas, last June to New
-York City, which rivaled the best California
-peaches in size, and far surpassed them in
-flavor. The officers of the association making
-this tour are I. E. Whistler, president; J. O.
-Logan, vice-president, and W. E. Hilton,
-trustee.</p>
-
-<h3>The Great Work of the Mobile &amp; Ohio.</h3>
-
-<p>Although the Mobile &amp; Ohio Railroad
-only traverses a few miles of Alabama, yet it
-has done probably more in the way of inducing
-immigration to the State since 1890 than
-any other line, through extensive advertising,
-combined with excellent folders and maps,
-which have been extensively distributed
-through Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
-Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, etc. They
-also pursue the same liberal policy with local
-land agents and all engaged in promoting immigration
-along their road, distributing their
-advertising matter, and granting to them
-courtesies which are necessary to insure local
-parties to endeavor to give them the benefit of
-their work in securing immigrants. Alabama
-wants 10,000 families from the North to settle
-within her borders in the next twelve months,
-and only by hard combined work of the people
-and railways can it be accomplished, and
-now is the time to organize and keep the ball
-rolling. Let us get a move on us in this matter,
-and we can accomplish our object.&mdash;The
-News, Birmingham, Ala.</p>
-
-<h3>Farmers to Organise an Immigration
-Society.</h3>
-
-<p>The farmers around Augusta, Ga., are becoming
-interested in a proposed plan to organize
-an immigration society, and many have
-expressed a desire to take an active part in
-perfecting a permanent organization of that
-kind.</p>
-
-<p>A prominent merchant farmer from Wilkes
-county stated recently that the people of his
-section of the country were very much enthused
-over the organization of an immigration
-society in Augusta.</p>
-
-<p>“You would be greatly surprised,” he said,
-“to know how many of our merchants and
-planters have taken up the idea, and how
-anxious they are to see such an organization
-established at Augusta. Our people are willing
-to help in every way possible, for they
-realize that they are to reap the benefits, and
-consequently are desirous of sharing the
-labors.</p>
-
-<p>“You see, the farmers are generally land
-poor throughout the entire country, and what
-they want to do is to get some one who will
-work, and take some of it off their hands.”</p>
-
-<h3>Immigration Bill Before the Virginia
-Legislature.</h3>
-
-<p>The legislature of Virginia is trying to
-devise some method to promote immigration
-to the State. A bill has been introduced in
-the Senate, creating the office of Commissioner
-of Immigration of Virginia, and providing for
-the election of such an officer, who shall properly
-advertise the advantages of the State and
-shall, at the request of any real estate agent or
-owner of land, keep on file a list of lands for
-sale and shall refer all contemplating purchasers
-impartially to the various sections of the
-State, according to their requirements.</p>
-
-<p>It is provided that the commissioner shall
-receive a commission of not more than 5
-per cent. upon the sale of any lands sold
-through his department. Any owner of
-land situate in Virginia shall have the right
-to list for sale the same with the Commissioner
-of Immigration, who shall advertise, without
-cost to the owner, the fact that such lands are
-offered for sale.</p>
-
-<p>The bill concludes by providing that the expenses
-attached to such an office shall be paid
-out of the fund arising from the tax on manufacturers
-of fertilizers.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Colonel E. S. Jemison, president; M. G.
-Howe, general manager; Major Tom Cronin,
-superintendent, and General John M. Claiborne,
-immigration agent of the Houston East
-and West Texas railway, are trying to interest
-the people along their line in some plan
-whereby immigration can be brought to that
-section of the State.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p>
-
-<p class="tb">Mr. J. T. Merry, of Harlem county, Nebraska,
-writes from Velasco, Texas, to his
-home paper as follows:</p>
-
-<p>“Here we are in Velasco, Texas, the land of
-sunshine and flowers. Surely this is destined
-to be a large city; within three miles of the
-mouth of the Brazos river, and a large, deep
-harbor, where ships come and go at pleasure,
-and load right here in this city heavier than at
-any point on the Gulf coast. Of course the
-country is new, but vegetables and fruit trees
-of all kinds are growing nicely. Good fruit
-and vegetable land can be bought from $4 to
-$12 per acre. The country all around, except
-on the Gulf side, is a gentle undulated plain,
-which is being settled with people from the
-Northern part of the State and from the Dakotas
-and Nebraska in the main, and Iowa,
-though some are from Missouri and other
-points.”</p>
-
-<p class="tb">A Swedish gentleman who has had considerable
-experience in establishing colonies of
-his countrymen in the United States, has been
-conferring with Mr. John M. Lee, of Shreveport,
-La., representing the land department of the
-Vicksburg, Shreveport &amp; Pacific Railroad Co.,
-and looking over the ground, and says he can
-locate several hundred families if the conditions
-are favorable.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Mr. W. E. Pabor, founder of the Pabor
-Lake colony, near Fort Meade, Fla., has recently
-been visiting his old home, Denver,
-Col., and has induced a number of families to
-move to Florida.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">There is more land open to settlement in
-Arkansas than there was in the Cherokee Strip.
-The Little Rock Democrat wisely says:
-“Counting all kinds of our public lands in Arkansas,
-government, State and railroad, we
-have nearly 7,000,000 acres. If we could
-divide these lands into homestead tracts, advertise
-them extensively and donate them at
-stated periods to actual settlers, what an
-impetus would be given to the State. What
-the State needs is not money for her lands, but
-active and enterprising home builders, who
-would become wealth producers and tax builders.
-A liberal land policy on the part of the
-State and the railroads would soon result
-in a vast increase in our wealth and population.”</p>
-
-<p class="tb">One of the largest excursion parties of land-seekers
-that ever went South over the Mobile
-&amp; Ohio railroad arrived at Mobile lately in
-charge of Mr. F. W. Greene, general agent of
-the Mobile &amp; Ohio railroad, at St. Louis. The
-party consisted of all classes of home-seekers
-and investors, who have become interested in
-that section of country through the efforts of
-the passenger department of the Mobile &amp; Ohio
-railroad. Over 200 people made up the excursion,
-some stopping off at places in Mississippi
-and Alabama. They went from Michigan,
-Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota, Indiana and
-Ohio.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Further developments regarding the steamship
-line to be established between Galveston
-and Denmark indicate that it will be of great
-importance to the Southwest. It is intended
-to use the vessels in transporting immigrants
-from Norway, Sweden and Northern Europe
-direct to Texas and the West by way of Galveston.
-Heretofore these passengers have
-been sent to New York, and from that point
-reached their future home by rail. The Fort
-Worth Chamber of Commerce has become interested
-in the project and heartily approves it.
-Vice-Consul Thygge Sogart, of Denmark, now
-located in Kansas City, is a promoter of the
-line.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Mr. Hamilton Disston says that Mr.
-Schulzen, a prominent Scandinavian, will
-establish a Scandinavian colony near Kissimmee.
-Mr. Disston met Mr. Schulzen at the
-Columbian Exposition, and impressed him
-with the fertility of the soil of Southern Florida,
-and advised him to try it. This he did, and became
-so satisfied with the prolific growth of sugar
-and peaches that arrangements have been made
-to settle Scandinavians on the South Florida
-railway, between Runnymede and Kissimmee,
-at once. Mr. Schulzen’s father and brother
-are now North disposing of their farms preparatory
-to settling in Florida.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The last monthly report of the president of
-the Commercial Industrial Association, of
-Montgomery, Ala., contained this paragraph:</p>
-
-<p>“There is now a general interest in the subject
-of immigration to the South. The marked
-falling off in railroad earnings, with prospects
-for continued small returns, has aroused the
-great lines in the South to the necessity of
-making well directed efforts to induce Northern
-and Western people to visit the South and
-invest along the various roads. Some of the
-leading lines have called conventions of their
-agents to discuss ways and means to promote
-an increase of traffic and business. This association,
-with the other commercial bodies of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>
-the State, will assist in every laudable effort to
-induce desirable people to build up the waste
-places of the State, increase the population
-and promote the general prosperity.”</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The North Alabama Immigration Company
-is an organization formed at Florence, Ala.,
-for the purpose of bringing immigrants to
-Lauderdale county and surrounding sections.
-The officers are J. Overton Ewin, president;
-R. G. Banks, general manager; R. T. Simpson,
-Jr., attorney, and John Rather Jones,
-secretary and treasurer. The company expects
-to take several excursion parties to that
-section of Alabama from the Northwest. Dr.
-N. A. Nelson is the Northwestern agent at
-Dawson, Minn.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The section of the valley of Virginia
-around Lexington has attracted some attention
-from prospective purchasers from the
-North, West and Northwest, who are going
-to locate at some point in the Shenandoah
-Valley. Additional inquiries are being made
-for homes and farms, and the prospects are
-that as soon as the weather opens a number of
-these parties will pay that section a visit to
-look over the country.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The immigration movement to Southwest
-Texas is progressing at a lively rate. The
-new settlers are mostly from Kansas and Nebraska.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">C. R. Camp, a home-seekers’ traveling agent,
-expects to take an excursion of Northwestern
-farmers to points in the South some time in
-March. His plan is to inaugurate a series of
-monthly excursions, beginning about March 1
-and continuing twelve months. He says the class
-of people he will bring South are among the
-best citizens of the North and Northwest,
-farmers who are hard working and practical,
-who want good farming land, and are making
-the change on account of the climate.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">A large number of farmers from Nebraska,
-Iowa, Illinois and Kansas, have settled in the
-neighborhood of Port Lavaca, Texas. It is
-here that the Phillips Land Co., of Kansas
-City, Mo., has bought some 6000 acres of land,
-and divided it up into small farms for German
-colonists.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">On February 16th a party of sixty persons
-from Iowa and Nebraska reached Fort Worth,
-Texas, on the way to the Gulf Coast to investigate
-the fruit-growing capabilities of that
-region. Most of the party are descendants of
-the people who built up Nebraska, and made
-that State take a front rank among the wealth-producing
-States of the Union. While most
-of them are doing well at home, they are
-anxious to live in a more congenial climate,
-and have had their eyes on Texas for a long
-time.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">In consequence of numerous inquiries from
-the Northwestern States, Mr. M. V. Richards,
-of the Baltimore &amp; Ohio Railroad Co., has
-arranged a number of special rate land excursions,
-as they are called, from Chicago and
-points west of the Ohio river to Baltimore &amp;
-Ohio points in the Shenandoah Valley, in
-order to induce settlers to come to this region.
-Mr. Richards intends to make the most of
-the reduction in rates allowed by the Southern
-Passenger Association on certain dates in
-February, March and April for the purpose of
-aiding Southern immigration.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">A large number of land seekers recently
-visited Crowley, La., and most of them bought
-property. Indiana and Nebraska were among
-the States represented. The visitors report
-great dissatisfaction among the farmers of their
-States, and say that Louisiana will receive
-many immigrants this year.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Messrs. Sappington &amp; Howell, Little
-Rock, Ark., are working on a plan to combine
-the State and railway lands in Arkansas, aggregating
-7,000,000 acres, and offer them for
-sale at nominal prices on an opening day, to
-be fixed.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">A dispatch from Rockford, Ill., says that
-quite a company of Rockford’s Swedish population
-are planning to move down to Mississippi
-this spring.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville,
-Ala., is in receipt of many letters from the
-West asking about farm lands in the neighborhood.
-Huntsville is one of the most delightful
-towns in the South. It is surrounded by a
-splendid farming country.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Norwegian prospectors are going into
-Lawrence county, Tenn., every day and the
-majority of them buy homes. There are over
-100 families here. They are good farmers and
-make good citizens.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">A movement is on foot to locate upon the
-rich prairie and timbered lands adjacent to and
-just west of Charlotte Harbor, Fla., a colony of
-Bohemian agriculturists.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p>
-
-<p class="tb">It is reported that a tract of land aggregating
-about 12,500 acres, at Wilson Station, Ala.,
-on the Louisville &amp; Nashville railroad, has
-been bought for a German colony. The first
-settlement will be named “Milton Grove,” in
-honor of Mr. Milton H. Smith, president of
-the Louisville &amp; Nashville railroad.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">A recent settler at North LeRoy, Fla., is so
-much delighted with the country that he has
-persuaded seventeen families of his former
-neighbors in Missouri to move to Florida.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The business men of Baton Rouge, La., are
-organizing a development club, to further the
-interest in securing immigration, etc.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">A party of twenty Illinois capitalists,
-including Mr. A. L. Klank, a nurseryman of
-Champaign, Ill., has been looking over Arkansas
-with a view to making large investments in
-fruit farms.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Chicago, Rock Island &amp; Pacific railway
-recently took 200 home-seekers to Texas from
-Kansas and Nebraska, and 400 more were to
-follow.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">It is said that a transaction is now under
-way by which 3000 families, representing a
-population of 15,000, are to be located in the
-Yazoo Delta.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 285px;">
-<img src="images/footer2.jpg" width="285" height="100" alt="Decorative footer" />
-</div>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p>
-
-<h2><span class="smcap">Real Estate News.</span></h2>
-
-<h3>Baltimore’s Suburban Development.</h3>
-
-<p>The annual report of the Roland Park Co.,
-of Baltimore, makes a showing that, considering
-the extreme business depression of the last
-year and a half, is quite remarkable. The
-Roland Park Co. is engaged in developing a
-fine suburban residence park north of Baltimore,
-three or four miles from the centre of
-the city. The first building operations were
-begun in October, 1892. The first house was
-completed early in the spring of 1893. On the
-30th of December, 1893, the date to which the
-annual report is brought down, the residences
-built and under construction represented a
-total cost of more than $300,000. In the space
-of a year a locality that was in effect nothing
-more than farm property has been transformed
-during a period of unprecedented financial and
-business stagnation into a beautiful and
-rapidly growing residence suburb, with all the
-comforts and conveniences and appurtenances
-of life in the thickly built up part of the city.
-Between thirty and forty families have moved
-out to the park for permanent residence, and
-are living in houses that cost from $4000 to
-$15,000 each. At the initiation of this enterprise
-there was not a man in Baltimore who
-would have looked for such development as
-this, even with favorable business conditions.</p>
-
-<p>Baltimore is an anomaly in this matter of
-suburban residence. Up to two or three years
-ago the city had no rapid transit, and consequently
-no suburban development. Its half
-million people lived in compactly built rows of
-brick houses, having neither front nor side
-yards. The enterprise of the Roland Park Co.
-was the first suburban development undertaking
-of a high class and on a large scale.
-Messrs. Jarvis and Conklin, of Kansas City
-and New York, who have invested in this
-country something over $30,000,000 of English
-money, bought 500 or 600 acres of land immediately
-north of Baltimore, and proceeded to
-develop it as a first-class residence suburb. An
-avenue 120 feet wide was constructed through
-the property, and a double track electric road
-was built through the property to a resort at
-Lake Roland, and coming down to the centre
-of the city at the City Hall and postoffice. A
-system of water works, a complete scientific
-sewerage system, paved roadways, asphalt
-sidewalks, along which shade trees were set
-out, and electric lights and other conveniences
-and accessories to comfort were provided.
-Under the management of Mr. Edward H.
-Bouton, the vice-president and general manager
-of the company, the progress that has been
-made in the actual building up of the locality
-has been much beyond what was expected, and
-there are many reasons for the assurance that
-this will seem small in comparison with the
-progress that will be made during the coming
-spring and summer.</p>
-
-<p>The present high rate of taxation in the city
-proper, and the recent large expenditures for
-public improvements that will necessitate an
-early increase in the tax rate are tending to
-send people into the suburbs. This and many
-other potent causes point to a rapid building
-up of Baltimore’s suburban territory.</p>
-
-<h3>Substantial Improvement at Atlanta.</h3>
-
-<p>Real estate is getting active at Atlanta.
-One firm alone, since January 1st, has sold
-$128,000 worth of property in the city and
-vicinity. Samuel Goode, a realty expert,
-gives the following opinion of the outlook in
-Atlanta:</p>
-
-<p>“The practical certainty that the United
-States prison will be located in Atlanta, the
-direct probability that the Grand Army of the
-Republic will hold its next convention here,
-and the settled fact that the greatest exposition
-ever seen in the South will be opened
-here in 1895&mdash;these things combined have
-given our people hope and confidence in the
-continued rapid growth of Atlanta, and the
-timid have begun to find courage enough to
-turn their money loose for loans and direct
-investments in real estate. Indeed, the change
-for the better has been very perceptible to
-dealers in the last sixty days. It is not any
-particular advance in prices which is so
-marked, because, in this respect there has
-never been any falling off, but it is the fact<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>
-that people are beginning to buy at the normal
-prices. The best prices realized for property
-at all have been obtained within the past six
-months.</p>
-
-<p>“Another evidence of returning confidence
-and activity is found in the desire and willingness
-of owners to sell their property at auction.
-We already have a variety of property to be
-thus sold early this spring. There has been a
-spirit of fairness and liberality manifested by our
-citizens, one towards another, in the past year,
-which is truly commendable; and the result is
-that creditors basing their security upon real
-estate have not forced property for sale and
-broken prices and distressed if not ruined their
-debtors; but they have exercised a wise forbearance,
-and will soon be rewarded by full
-payment of all that is due them, and values
-have been sustained in Atlanta as in no other
-city within my knowledge. All signs point to
-an active spring market, and to the investing
-here of much outside capital.”</p>
-
-<h3>Suburban Development at New Orleans.</h3>
-
-<p>A syndicate of St. Louis people is constructing
-a suburban residence park at New
-Orleans. A body of land recently bought for
-that purpose measures about 700 feet frontage
-on St. Charles street by 8000 feet deep. The
-plans call for an ornamental entrance in the
-middle of the front, and a graveled driveway
-through the middle of the plat. As projected
-the entrance will be defended by handsome
-gates, the carriage opening being about 100
-feet wide, and two gates for foot passengers
-on either side. Electric lights, prettily arranged,
-will stud the edge of the arch leading
-to the apex, where an ornamental structure of
-iron work will support additional bulbs.
-About 1500 feet of roadway have been built,
-leading from the gateway back into the
-grounds, while equal distances of Schillinger
-pavement have been laid on either side. A
-plat has been reserved in the middle for shade
-trees and shrubbery.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Capital City Real Estate and Investment
-Company, with a capital stock of $30,000,
-has been organized at Austin, Texas. H.
-P. N. Gammel is president.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Daytona, Fla., is rejoicing in much real
-estate activity.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Two of the most noted stock farms in Kentucky,
-both near Lexington, have recently been
-sold. Mr. Jno. T. Hughes, the well-known horseman,
-has purchased the Prince George place
-for a reported sum of $60,000. J. R. Keene,
-the Eastern horseman, has bought the Castleton
-farm, the property of Colonel Ford, of
-Virginia. The price is given as $70,000.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Southern Farm Agency, of Lynchburg,
-Va., has recently sold some farms to
-Northern people, and advertises in this issue of
-the <span class="smcap">Southern States</span> a number of very fine
-properties that can be had at very low prices.
-The Southern Farm Agency, by the way, is
-one of the most enterprising and progressive
-real estate concerns in the South.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The president of the Commercial and Industrial
-Association of Montgomery, Ala., in
-his last monthly report, says: “The real-estate
-market of Montgomery shows some evidences
-of improvement. From returns compiled
-of this city for the month of January it
-is shown that the increase of sales is more than
-20 per cent. over the corresponding month of
-last year. The values of desirable business
-and residence property and also of well situated
-and improved agricultural lands have remained
-steady and are firmly held. It is also
-believed the spring and summer will show still
-greater activity, with perhaps an increase in
-values. There are comparatively few vacant
-houses for a city of Montgomery’s size, but
-the prospects and building operations will
-show some falling off the coming year.”</p>
-
-<p class="tb">A tract of 1575 acres near Velasco, Texas,
-has been sold to J. B. Wagoner and J. T.
-Gould, of Eureka, Ill., for $19,687.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The late S. S. Houghton, a millionaire, and
-head of the noted Boston dry-goods house of
-Houghton &amp; Dutton, built a few years ago a
-magnificent winter residence at Homosassa on
-the gulf coast of Florida. Mr. Houghton died
-last spring, and his widow has sold the Homosassa
-estate to Mr. J. A. Rowell, vice-president
-of the Merchants’ National Bank, Ocala.
-The building and grounds are said to have
-cost $100,000.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The building occupied for nearly thirty
-years by the People’s Bank in Louisville, Ky.,
-has been sold to the Bank of Commerce, and
-will in a few weeks be occupied by the last-named
-institution. The price paid was $27,000.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">A delegation of Northern lumbermen,
-under the charge of E. C. Randall, a real
-estate operator of Chicago, recently spent
-some time inspecting timber lands in South
-Arkansas.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span></p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Little Rock (Ark.) Gazette publishes
-lists of recent land transfers in that city and in
-the county, from which it appears that the
-real-estate business of that locality is not
-suffering much from the hard times.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The governor of Arkansas and the State
-Commissioner of mines, manufactures and
-agriculture have invited the real-estate dealers
-of the State to file with them descriptions of
-properties for sale in order that they may have
-definite information to furnish people who are
-seeking homes in Arkansas and write to
-them for information about prices and location
-of lands.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">It is said at Fort Worth, Texas, that there
-has not been for years such demand and inquiry
-for property as there is now. The influx
-of immigration has been unprecedented, especially
-in North and West Texas, many of the
-newcomers having located in Tarrant county, in
-which Fort Worth is situated. Renting agents
-report that the demand for houses largely exceeds
-the supply.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Texas land office has leased 375,000
-acres of land to J. S. Daugherty, of Dallas,
-Texas, for a term of five years. This is said
-to be the largest amount of land ever leased to
-any one person by the State. The lease will
-bring a revenue to the public free school fund
-of $15,000 annually.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Southern Farm Agency, of Lynchburg,
-Va., has just sold to Mr. A. E. Miltimore, of
-Catskill, N. Y., 2000 acres of land in Appomattox
-county, on the Norfolk &amp; Western
-Railroad. Mr. Miltimore has already taken
-down several carloads of sheep and horses, and
-intends making it a fine stock farm, for which,
-in many respects, it is said to be most admirably
-adapted.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Mr. George H. Zerr, of Reading, Pa., has
-purchased a fine estate near Morrisville, Fauquier
-county, Va., and will reside there.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Pittsburg capitalists have bought thirty-two
-acres of land near Wheeling, W. Va.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Florence, S. C., is having considerable
-real estate activity.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Mr. W. P. Clyde, of the Clyde Steamship
-Co., has bought 2000 acres of land on Hilton
-Head Island, near Beaufort, S. C., at $3.00
-an acre. Mr. Clyde was already the owner of
-a farm on the island.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The annual statement of the Roanoke Development
-Co. for 1893, recently issued, shows
-a satisfactory state of affairs. Shareholders
-have purchased nearly $282,000 worth of the
-company’s lots, paying for them partly in
-stock. In addition to this the company sold
-$14,258 worth of lots to outsiders. Thus far
-the sales have amounted to $340,428, which is
-an average price of $2535 per acre. The company
-still has 1153 acres unsold. The officers
-of the company are P. L. Terry, president;
-Malcolm W. Bryan, vice-president; S. W.
-Jamison, treasurer; L. R. Sollenberger, secretary.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">George Logan, of Salem, Va., has just
-bought a farm of 318 acres adjacent to that
-town for $9000.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">E. F. Porter, one of the leading lumbermen
-of Kansas City, has been down to inspect
-with a view to purchasing a tract of 25,000
-acres of pine and oak timber land in South
-Arkansas owned by the land department of the
-St. Louis, Iron Mountain &amp; Southern Railway.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">A large tract of land, known as Cliffbourne,
-at Rock Creek Park, near Washington, D. C.,
-was sold recently to Francis G. Newlands for
-$185,000.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">A farm of 265 acres near Staunton, Va., has
-been sold by J. B. Smith and H. G. Eichelberger,
-of Staunton, to a gentleman from
-Maine, who will move down with his family.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Mr. O. Van Buskirk, of Mt. Sterling, Ohio,
-has bought 330 acres of land near Florence,
-Ala., and will move there. Several families
-besides his own will accompany him.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Mr. R. S. Oglesby, of Lynchburg, Va., recently
-sold a farm in Bedford county to James
-W. Dawson, of the John Shillito Co., Cincinnati,
-Ohio.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The real estate agents in the South who are
-known in the North and West are receiving
-constant inquiries about farm lands. The
-majority of inquiries seem to come from
-Dakota.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">E. Mallen, of Ironwood, Mich., has purchased
-a farm near Cloverdale, Ala., and is
-interesting some of his fellow countrymen in
-Lauderdale county. Mr. Mallen is a Finlander,
-and has been farming a number of
-years in the Northwest. A number of his
-friends expect to buy farms and locate in the
-same county.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span></p>
-
-<p class="tb">There has been lately a decided improvement
-in the demand for stores and business
-places in Richmond, Va. Messrs. J. Thompson
-Brown &amp; Co. report a number of large
-leases.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The town of Springfield, Fla., is enjoying a
-building boom. About thirty dwellings are
-being erected, and a number of residences
-and stores are being planned. Real estate business
-is brisk.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">A ranch, in Calhoun Co., Texas, two miles
-from Port Lavacca, containing 22,000 acres
-owned by Mr. W. H. Thomas, has been bought
-by a Northern syndicate for $132,000. It will be
-cut up into small tracts and colonized. The
-plans for its development also provide for the
-building of factories, hotel, &amp;c.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Vicksburg, Shreveport &amp; Pacific Railroad
-Co. has sold to Otto Plock, of Paris,
-France, 7,554 acres of land situated in Ouachita
-Parish, La. The consideration was $26,440.68
-cash. It is said to be the purpose of the
-purchaser to establish a large colony of Swedes
-on these lands, selling the lands to them in
-small lots on easy payments.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Real estate continues active at Fort Worth,
-Texas. There is a great demand for small
-houses. “If I had twenty-five such houses today
-I could rent them all before night,” said Mr. W.
-R. Sanner, a real estate agent. “I do not
-know a better investment,” he continued,
-“than to build such residences, with modern
-improvements, to cost from $1,000 to $2,500.”
-Messrs. Huffman &amp; Co. have in hand a trade
-in adjacent counties, for Ohio parties, which
-represent the sum of $20,000. California
-parties are negotiating for pasture land held at
-$16,000.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Messrs. J. Thompson Brown &amp; Co., Richmond,
-Va., received recently a letter from
-Callao, Peru, from a gentleman who wishes to
-purchase real estate at Richmond. The same
-firm reports that every mail brings them from
-two to five letters from parties in the West and
-Northwest, who write they have decided to
-settle in Virginia, and want information as to
-real estate, etc. In the past ten days they have
-been in negotiation with one or more parties
-in Ohio, Michigan, New York, Minnesota,
-Chicago, Pennsylvania, Colorado, St. Paul,
-Indiana, Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas, Wisconsin,
-and other points who wish to purchase
-farms, manufacturing or building sites. From
-one of the locations named they are trying to
-locate a colony of fifty families on a tract of
-5000 acres.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">A dispatch from Rocky Mount, N. C.,
-states that parties from the North are
-negotiating to purchase 20,000 acres of land
-in Nash and Halifax counties for development
-and investment.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Island City Abstract Co. has been
-organized at Galveston, Texas, with H. M.
-Truehart, president; I. A. Harrington, secretary,
-and Joseph Lobit, treasurer, and $20,000
-capital.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">“The Real Estate, Title and Guarantee
-Co.,” has been organized at Newport News,
-Va., with the following named officers: Carter
-M. Braxton, president; L. P. Stearns, vice-president;
-Charles Sheppard, secretary; Arthur
-Lee, treasurer. The capital is $100,000.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">A New York capitalist has just invested
-$62,500 in real estate in New Orleans. The
-transaction was made through Messrs. Robinson
-&amp; Underwood, real estate agents, New
-Orleans, who state that other purchases will
-follow this.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Messrs. G. M. Reynolds &amp; Co., of Norfolk,
-Va., sold recently a number of lots adjacent to
-Portsmouth, improved and unimproved, for an
-aggregate of $13,000.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span></p>
-
-<h2><span class="smcap">Notes of Southern Progress.</span></h2>
-
-<h3>Atlanta’s Proposed Exposition.</h3>
-
-<p>The people of Atlanta are pushing their
-proposed exposition with the same vigor with
-which they undertook the preliminary organization.
-The enthusiasm which has marked
-every step of progress shows how thoroughly
-in earnest Atlanta is, and gives promise of
-what may be expected from the exposition.
-Director-General Palmer is getting his working
-force into good shape, and reports that
-from all sections of the country the most hearty
-and enthusiastic commendations are being
-received. If carried out on the scope upon
-which it has been planned, this exposition will
-be for the South what the World’s Fair
-was for Chicago and the country at large.
-It will centre in the South an amount of
-interest scarcely appreciated now, but which
-will mean the investment of many millions
-and in time of many hundreds of millions of
-dollars. It will also mean a stimulation of the
-Southward trend of population, and thousands
-who are thinking of moving South will be determined
-by the work of the exposition. Everything
-indicates that the exposition will be
-on a scale far surpassing anything that has
-ever before been seen in the South.</p>
-
-<h3>Improving the Dismal Swamp Canal.</h3>
-
-<p>Preparations are being made by Messrs.
-Ross &amp; Sanford, of Baltimore, to begin the
-work of deepening and otherwise enlarging
-what is known as the Dismal Swamp Canal.
-The canal, which is twenty-two miles long,
-will be dredged to an average depth of ten
-feet and widened to sixty feet. This will
-require the removal of 3,000,000 cubic yards of
-material. As the capacity of the average
-dredge is 3000 yards per day, the magnitude
-of the work can be appreciated. Another
-important work will be the construction of
-two main and two secondary locks, the main
-locks to be 250×40 feet each in the clear. By
-the lock system the water in the canal level
-can be raised to a height of thirteen feet.
-When the work is finished vessels with nine
-feet draught can pass through the waterway
-without difficulty. Some of the lumber needed
-to build the dredges to be employed has
-already arrived at the scene of operations.</p>
-
-<p>The amount of money to be expended in
-this work will be fully $1,000,000. This
-passageway is to be used extensively by
-lumber barges, fruit and truck steamers
-and other craft plying between Hampton
-Roads and North Carolina waters. The improvements
-will tend to greatly increase the
-trade between Norfolk, Portsmouth and the
-tidewater country south of those cities.</p>
-
-<h3>Shipping Alabama Coal to Mexico.</h3>
-
-<p>The increase in coal business at Pensacola,
-Fla., is very marked, and an excellent
-demand is noted for Alabama coal,
-which thus far has been the only kind sent
-from that city. The Export Coal Co. reports
-that it has one contract for 11,000 tons to be delivered
-at Tampico by March 1, also another
-for 60,000 tons to be delivered at Vera Cruz
-and Tampico during 1894. The company also
-has 30,000 tons to be filled on an order from
-Galveston by June 1. The exports of Alabama
-coke are very small as yet, but the indications
-are that the amount will be greatly increased
-this year.</p>
-
-<h3>Newport News Development.</h3>
-
-<p>Everything seems to be contributing to
-the building up of a great seaport city at Newport
-News, Va. The business over the fast
-freight line established by the Cleveland, Cincinnati,
-Chicago &amp; St. Louis and Chesapeake &amp;
-Ohio from the West to Newport News is being
-increased by grain shipments from along the
-Chicago &amp; Northwestern. A through rate has
-been made on cereals for export to Liverpool,
-with the result that the new line is not only
-securing business from Missouri and Kansas
-and the country traversed by the “Big Four”
-system, but the territory in Dakota, Minnesota,
-Wisconsin and Iowa for which the Northwestern
-is an outlet. As the latter has about
-3500 miles of lines in these States, the
-great advantage of having the Northwestern
-as a feeder is apparent. The people who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>
-are forwarding the business have very
-thoroughly examined the facilities at Newport
-News and were so pleased with them
-and the way the business has been handled
-that they intend making more extensive
-exports by way of that port.</p>
-
-<p>In this connection it is reported that the
-Vanderbilts have privately secured a larger
-interest in the Chesapeake &amp; Ohio and in
-Big Four than they have ever held, and
-mean to control absolutely that line from
-Chicago to the seaboard, with the line of
-steamers from Newport News.</p>
-
-<h3>Southern Coal in Chicago.</h3>
-
-<p>President M. H. Smith, of the Louisville
-&amp; Nashville, has arranged for a reduction of
-coal rates from Jellico, which will permit
-of the introduction of Jellico coal into Chicago
-and Illinois and Michigan points on
-the same basis as West Virginia coal.
-This will, it is reported, also include the
-Middlesborough district. The reduced rate
-will doubtless result in a great increase in
-the Western shipments of Kentucky coal, the
-superior quality of which has created for it a
-Western demand, despite high freights.</p>
-
-<h3>Opening Texas Coal Mines.</h3>
-
-<p>The extensive coal deposits near the Rio
-Grande, in Presidio county, Texas, it is
-stated, are to be opened and mined on an
-extensive scale by the San Carlos Coal Co.,
-which controls 53,000 acres of land containing
-veins of semi-bituminous coal forty-one
-inches thick in some places. President S.
-A. Johnston, of the company, in a letter
-to the Manufacturers’ Record, says that
-his company has made a contract to sell at
-least 115,000 tons yearly to the Southern
-Pacific Railroad. The Northern office of the
-company is at Pittsburg, Pa.</p>
-
-<h3>Another Florida Canal.</h3>
-
-<p>Work is about to begin on a canal in
-Florida which will be of great importance
-to the lumbering and agricultural interests
-of the section through which it is to pass.
-It will extend from a point in Marion county,
-at the head of Ratcliff’s prairie to Mill Creek
-swamp. It will be eleven miles long and thirty
-feet wide at the bottom. The estimated cost
-of dredging the canal is $75,000. The
-object of the canal is to reclaim thousands
-of acres of submerged swamp lands, covered
-with rich muck from five to ten feet in
-depth, with a clay bottom, and to provide
-transportation for pine and cypress timber.</p>
-
-<p>The syndicate interested has purchased
-15,000 acres of land along its line. When
-the improvements are completed they expect
-to engage largely in the growing of
-rice and sugar-cane, and hold out inducements
-to settlers who desire to buy rich lands
-cheap. D. D. Rogers, at Ocala, is engineer.
-Among the capitalists interested is Christian
-Ax, of the firm of G. W. Gail &amp; Ax, Baltimore.</p>
-
-<h3>Another Big Enterprise for Norfolk.</h3>
-
-<p>Following the announcement that the Chesapeake
-&amp; Ohio is to enter Norfolk comes the
-statement that the United States Cotton Warehouse
-&amp; Loan Co. has asked for legislative
-authority to build wharves, warehouses, elevators
-and other buildings; also to construct
-and operate a terminal railway not over five
-miles in length. It is also to conduct a general
-wharfage and warehouse business, with a
-capital of at least $50,000. The main office is
-to be in Norfolk or Portsmouth. The corporators
-are Edward A. Pierson, of New York;
-John H. Dingee, of Philadelphia; J. Andre
-Mottu, of Norfolk; J. R. McMurran, of St.
-Paul, Minn.; Heber Alter, of Philadelphia;
-James Y. Leigh, of Norfolk; S. Henry Norris,
-of Philadelphia; William Burrington, of Philadelphia;
-Herman Niemeyer, of Portsmouth;
-Fergus Reid, of Norfolk; C. W. Murdaugh,
-Marcellus Miller, of Berkley; Parke Poindexter,
-of Berkley; William Goddin, of Philadelphia;
-William Schmoele, Jr., of Portsmouth;
-John L. Vaughman, O. P. Heath, S. L. Burroughs
-and Walter S. Taylor. A number of
-well-known capitalists appear in the list, and
-the enterprise evidently means much for Norfolk
-and vicinity.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Florence Pump Co., of Florence, Ala.,
-has made a contract with a Philadelphia firm
-to supply $40,000 worth of pumps.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The water works plant at Yorkville, S. C.,
-has been completed, tested and accepted by
-the town council. The plant consists of
-about three miles of mains, a stand pipe
-seventy feet high on a fifty-foot tower, 120 feet
-in all, with a capacity of 60,000 gallons. The
-water is forced into the stand pipe by a pump
-of 500,000 gallons capacity, and the stream
-which furnishes the water will furnish (estimated)
-150,000 gallons a day. There are 800
-feet of hose, and the total cost, including
-hose, was $16,800.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span></p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Shea Plating and Manufacturing Co., of
-Cleveland, Ohio, has entered into a contract
-to remove to Macon, Ga., and the work of
-transferring the plant has begun.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Railroad communication and the building
-of ice factories on the west coast of Florida,
-have resulted in the building up of an important
-fishing industry, which is growing rapidly.
-St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Dunedin, Ozona,
-Sea Side and Tarpon Springs are the principal
-shipping points, and there was forwarded from
-these ports for 1893 a total of 7,901 barrels.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Fort Worth Gazette says of Terrell
-Texas: “Never before in the history of Terrell
-and vicinity has there been such demand for
-homes and tillable grounds. Many persons
-having large pastures are cutting them up in
-farms, at least a portion, and if the demand
-increases the large pastures will have to be
-given up to farming interests instead of grass
-pastures. Several thousand acres of new land
-will be put in cultivation this year in this
-county.”</p>
-
-<p class="tb">For several weeks Messrs. Rand, McNally
-&amp; Co., printers and publishers, have had an
-agent in the South prospecting for the most
-suitable place, in point of business and situation,
-to establish a distributing house, their
-main houses being in New York and Chicago.
-Charlotte, N. C., has finally been fixed upon as
-the most desirable point.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Newport News had the honor of constructing
-the first iron and steel merchant vessels
-built in the South, and the largest
-ever launched in the United States. El Cid,
-made famous by being turned into a warship
-for the Brazilian government, enjoys
-the distinction of having broken all records
-in the passage between New York
-and New Orleans. El Norte, El Rio, and
-El Sud are not far behind her. Following this
-distinction comes the docking for repairs of the
-big American liner New York, which was
-done February 19. The New York is the
-largest ship ever docked in America. No
-other yard on this side the Atlantic could do it.
-The Newport News dock has but one rival in
-point of size&mdash;the government dock, at Brooklyn&mdash;and
-it is doubtful if that is large enough
-to admit of her entrance. As soon as the big
-ship touched the dock a force of 1000 men
-was put to work upon her.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">A new manufacturing enterprise of some
-importance is about to be inaugurated at Bedford
-City, Va., by Mr. W. B. Dunn, who has
-organized the Bedford Manufacturing Co., with
-himself as secretary. The company’s purpose is
-to manufacture custom-made clothing to be
-sold at manufacturers’ prices, making a specialty
-of trousers, using the product of all leading
-Southern woolen mills, as well as other fine
-foreign and domestic goods. It is intended
-to appoint agents in all towns and cities in the
-South having 4000 inhabitants or more.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The city hall at Richmond, Va., recently
-completed at a cost of $1,370,000, is one of
-the finest municipal buildings in the country.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">It is announced that the Boston capitalists
-who have decided to invest about $300,000 in
-an office-building in Atlanta, Ga., have secured
-a site and are to have plans prepared at
-once. Mr. H. M. Atkinson, who is their
-Atlanta representative, states that the building
-is to be fire-proof, ten stories high and will
-contain all the features of the modern
-structure for offices.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Hon. Jonathan Norcross, of Atlanta, Ga.,
-is having plans prepared for a five-story
-building for offices to cost several hundred
-thousand dollars.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span></p>
-
-<h2><span class="smcap">General Notes.</span></h2>
-
-<h3>Small but Vigorous.</h3>
-
-<p>The Houston East &amp; West Texas Railroad,
-running from Houston, Texas, to Shreveport,
-La., is not very much of a road as to mileage,
-but there is more hustle about it than most
-roads of ten times the length exhibit. With
-only 232 miles of road the company is doing
-more relatively towards the development of
-the country it traverses than almost any other
-road in the country. Recently a development
-department has been created and put in charge
-of General John M. Claiborne, an old newspaper
-man. Among other methods of building
-up the territory of the road, and besides the
-usual concessions to settlers in the way of passenger
-and freight rates, the company has
-offered to contribute to a common fund an
-amount equal to all that can be raised by the
-people of the counties through which the road
-passes, the money to be spent in getting in
-settlers. The road promises to locate at least
-one family for every two dollars the citizens
-of these counties will raise. The country
-through which this road passes includes some
-superb farm and garden lands, and large areas
-of original forest timber, pine and hard woods,
-and with the energy and push of the managers
-of the road it will not be long before immigrants
-will be pouring into their country.</p>
-
-<p>The officers of the road are E. S. Jemison,
-president; M. G. Howe, vice-president; M.
-S. Meldrum, secretary and treasurer, and
-T. Cronin, superintendent, all of Houston.</p>
-
-<h3>Mr. A. A. Arthur and Middlesborough.</h3>
-
-<p>The people of Middlesborough, Ky., and
-Middlesborough property owners living elsewhere
-are making strenuous efforts to induce
-the Middlesborough Town Lands Co. to reappoint
-Mr. A. A. Arthur to the active management
-of the company’s affairs. Ever since
-the termination of Mr. Arthur’s management
-the town has been in a state of virtual stagnation,
-and it is believed that Mr. Arthur alone
-can rescue it from collapse and restore it to its
-former condition of growth and prosperity.</p>
-
-<p>Several delegations of citizens and property
-owners have called on the company’s present
-commissioner at Middlesborough, Mr. Lionel
-H. Graham, of London, and urged him to
-bring about the appointment of Mr. Arthur.
-On February 17, a mass meeting was held, at
-which the following resolutions were adopted:</p>
-
-<p><i>Resolved</i>, By the people of Middlesborough
-in mass meeting assembled, that the opportunity
-presented by Mr. L. H. Graham, who is
-now in our midst as the representative of the
-stockholders of the Town Lands Co., seeking
-information and encouragement for the guidance
-of his associates, be seized, and that we,
-the citizens and property owners of Middlesborough,
-who have borne the brunt of all the
-troubles of past two and one-half years, and
-have witnessed and studied both administrations,
-and who have been with the stockholders
-in prosperity and adversity, respectfully
-but emphatically ask a return to the old original
-plan of administering the affairs of the
-Town Lands Co.</p>
-
-<p><i>Resolved</i>, That we know that all the great
-and valuable resources upon which the city
-was started still exist; we have seen railroads
-brought to us and great enterprises created in
-our midst. The necessities of a city have
-been established, all legitimate expenditures
-have been made and nothing now remains to
-be done to re-establish credit, activity and
-progress, but the appointment of a leader, a
-wise and liberal man, one of intelligence,
-wide experience, integrity and extended connections,
-one in whom we can place great confidence.</p>
-
-<p><i>Resolved</i>, That in Mr. A. A. Arthur, creator
-and projector of Middlesborough and all the
-adjacent territory, we find such a man. None
-other has so great an interest. We will stand
-by him and we believe and know that he alone
-can pull you, the stockholders, and us, the citizens,
-out of the abject state in which we now
-are.</p>
-
-<p><i>Resolved</i>, That we most heartily ask for and
-will most cordially approve the reappointment
-of Mr. A. A. Arthur to the active management
-of the Middlesborough Town Lands Co.; we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>
-believe that he can rescue this city from ruin,
-and the sooner the management is placed in
-his hands the sooner will confidence be
-restored and values be re-established.</p>
-
-<p><i>Resolved</i>, That the interests of the Town
-Lands Co. are alike the interests of the city
-and the citizens thereof; one cannot prosper
-without the other, hence the citizens and property
-owners are profoundly earnest in their desire
-to see Mr. Arthur restored to power, as they
-believe that his restoration will give new life
-not only to Middlesborough but to Southeastern
-Kentucky as well, and that we will enter
-upon a career of unexampled prosperity.</p>
-
-<h3>The Annual Fair at New Berne, N. C.</h3>
-
-<p>The annual fair of the East Carolina Industrial
-Association was held in New Berne on
-February 19th to 23d, inclusive, and was formally
-opened by Gov. Carr with a sterling
-address, in which he referred to the tidewater
-region as the garden spot of the continent,
-enumerating its resources and estimating their
-economic value, present and prospective. The
-exhibit, as a whole, was a surprise to home
-visitors as well as strangers, especially in
-marine, agricultural and mechanical products.
-Its mineral exhibit was remarkable in respect
-to native ores and precious stones. Thirty-one
-counties in the State are mining gold at a
-profit. Nuggets were shown which were valued
-at $52 and upwards. Eighty-five varieties of
-commercial woods were shown. There was a
-great variety of building stones. Tomato
-plants six inches high, garden peas three inches
-high, and strawberry blossoms were shown.
-The department of ladies’ work was superlative.
-Dairy products were meagre, only three samples
-of butter being shown. There was a
-great variety of feed in bales&mdash;native grasses,
-stock peas and corn fodder. Fine samples of
-wool and blankets were exhibited. The same
-blankets took a premium at Chicago. Some
-fine Southdown sheep from the Tucker farm
-near Raleigh were on view. There were some
-fine Jersey, Devon and Alderney cattle, and
-superior Berkshire and Red Jersey pigs and
-fat hogs, running up to 600 pounds in weight.</p>
-
-<p>The fish and oyster exhibit, with the nets
-and apparatus, is always a prominent feature of
-the annual expositions, and was well sustained.
-Roe shad were remarkably fine.</p>
-
-<p>There was an attractive exhibit of live and
-dead game and fur-bearing animals, and two
-curious hybrids between turkey, guinea fowl and
-Plymouth Rock hen. The floral exhibit was
-simply exquisite, and the colonial relics and old
-family plate and curios were very interesting.
-There was never such a poultry show seen on
-earth for quality and variety. At least two
-kinds were shown!</p>
-
-<p>In the department of Women’s Work the
-productions of deft fingers were astonishing in
-all fabrics, laces, gold embroidery, feathers,
-flowers, etc., rivaling Japanese art, and causing
-Valenciennes to blush with jealousy.
-Altogether, there was a wonderful diversity of
-industrial products of which the old North
-State and all her sisters may be proud. New
-Berne herself has earned honors.</p>
-
-<h3>An Immigration Bill in the Maryland
-Legislature.</h3>
-
-<p>A bill is to be introduced in the legislature
-of Maryland, which is now in session, enlarging
-the powers of the chief of the bureau of
-industrial statistics so as to give him authority
-to provide for the settlement of immigrants in
-Maryland. The bill makes it the duty of the
-chief of the bureau to collect reliable information
-in every county of the State bearing upon
-the question of immigration, and authorizes
-him to appoint a local immigrant commissioner
-in each county. The local commissioners are
-to receive $2.50 a day for each day of actual
-service and personal expenses, the expenses
-are to be itemized and certified to before a justice
-of the peace, and $1.00 for each immigrant
-sixteen years of age and over settled by
-them in their respective counties. Their duties,
-under the direction of the chief of the
-bureau, are to procure the statistics and information
-necessary to properly set forth the
-facts, advantages and conditions of the counties,
-to perform such other duties appertaining
-to the work of the bureau as may be required
-and to procure options on farm lands at such
-prices and upon such terms as will be within
-the means of the immigrants desiring to locate
-upon them and to give them such assistance,
-care and information within their province as
-may be necessary.</p>
-
-<p>The owners of lands upon which options
-have been thus secured shall upon the sale
-of the lands through the agency of the bureau,
-pay to the chief of the bureau a commission
-of 5 per cent. upon the gross amount
-of the sale, the sum thus obtained to be used
-in defraying the general expenses of the bureau
-and to be accounted for by the chief of
-the bureau in the itemized statement of receipts<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>
-and expenditures which he is at present
-required by law to publish in his report
-and to make to the State comptroller.</p>
-
-<p>The chief of the bureau is authorized to
-visit such States and countries as in his judgment
-may be necessary, or to send an authorized
-agent, for the purpose of securing immigrants,
-having special regard to the character
-and responsibility of the immigrants.
-He is to adopt such means of advertising the
-State’s advantages as may commend themselves
-to his judgment, including such maps,
-charts, &amp;c., as may be best calculated to
-illustrate the geographical, geological, topographical
-and physical features of the State,
-and to make contracts with railroads, steamship
-and other transportation companies and
-the masters of sailing vessels to secure a low
-rate of transportation for immigrants and to
-make the necessary arrangements for their
-temporary reception and accommodation
-upon their arrival until they can be located.</p>
-
-<p>The bill provides the sum of $10,000, or so
-much thereof as may be necessary, in addition
-to the present annual appropriation of
-the bureau to carry out the provisions of the
-law.</p>
-
-<h3>Packing-Houses in the South.</h3>
-
-<p>The people of the South have so long been
-accustomed to buying their meat from Northern
-and Western markets that the suggestion
-of packing-houses in the Southern cities is full
-of novelty and surprise. Packing-houses distributed
-over the Southern territory would be
-the incentive for farmers to raise more hogs
-and cattle and a better quality, and thus create
-a source of revenue now practically closed to
-them.</p>
-
-<p>Are not our people convinced of the folly of
-selling their marketable live stock to drovers
-and buying their meat, thus paying the cost of
-transportation both ways, besides the profit
-each handler obtains?</p>
-
-<p>Pork and beef raised on our own farms and
-cured in our own packing-houses would keep
-at home the large sums of money sent off annually
-for the meat supply of the people.</p>
-
-<p>The grocerymen of Jackson purchase every
-year about $100,000 worth of meat and lard
-for consumers in this immediate section, and
-it is easily seen that a packing-house in Jackson
-would be a profitable industry. It would
-furnish a home market for hog and cattle-raisers,
-and stimulate the production of the
-best qualities. Every step in this direction is
-an important gain, and the subject deserves
-the earnest attention of our live and progressive
-citizens.&mdash;The Whig, Jackson, Tenn.</p>
-
-<h3>Sponge Fishing in Florida.</h3>
-
-<p>The vessels that are used in the business are
-chiefly schooner-rigged and vary in size from
-five to twenty-five tons burden. They carry
-crews ranging from five in number to fifteen
-for the largest vessels, nine men to the boat
-being the average number. The odd man in
-each case is the cook, who remains aboard to
-provide for the inner wants of the crew
-(generally amazingly large) and sails the craft
-while the balance are off in the small boats
-called dingeys in search of sponge. Each
-vessel is provided with poles of various lengths,
-from fifteen to fifty feet, to be used according
-to the depth of water in which they are working,
-which have attached to them three pronged
-hooks shaped like the teeth of a garden rake,
-somewhat heavier, with which the sponge are
-detached from the objects to which they are
-adhered and drawn into the dingey.</p>
-
-<p>Two men are necessary to operate a dingey,
-one, the “hooker,” using the pole and the
-sculler keeping the boat in motion, following
-the directions of the hooker, where he leans
-over the side looking through an ordinary
-wooden bucket with a glass sealed in its
-bottom for the sponge, which, when discovered,
-is secured with the hooks.</p>
-
-<p>The fisherman are most all former inhabitants
-of the islands; many of them have lived
-in the Bahamas, and there are about equal
-numbers of white men and negroes.</p>
-
-<p>They are designated “Conchs” by the people
-living upon the mainland, from their making
-use of that shell animal for edible purposes
-when living upon their native islands.</p>
-
-<p>A trip is of eight to ten weeks’ duration,
-unless it is mutually agreed by the owner and
-the crew that it shall end sooner, and a
-“broken” trip is one which does not pay expenses
-incurred, and does not happen often,
-except during a period of disaster like that
-just passed through.</p>
-
-<p>When the trip is finished the catches are
-carried to market where the purchaser bids
-upon them at a certain price per bunch or for
-the lot, having previously estimate from his
-thorough knowledge of the goods their value
-in pounds.</p>
-
-<p>Before sending them to the various markets
-they are first trimmed neatly and cleaned of
-all rock and shell, and then packed in bales of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>
-convenient sizes in a compress which reduces
-them to small bulk and renders them easily
-handled.</p>
-
-<p>Owing to the scarcity of the supply the demand
-is at present very great, and excellent
-prices are obtained.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Newnan (Ga.) Cotton Mill (6300 spindles)
-will put on a night force to operate its
-mill, so that it can catch up with the orders
-with which it is now overrun.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Mr. L. C. Porter, proprietor of the Windsor
-hotel of Minneapolis, Minnesota, has decided
-to remove with his family to Wilmington, N. C.
-He has been in North Carolina since the 28th
-of December.</p>
-
-<p>“I want to get away from the cold, long
-winters of the Northwest,” he said, “and I
-came here to prospect. I have been traveling
-North, East, South and West, and my observation
-is that you have the finest climate I have
-ever seen. If you hadn’t this advantage in climate
-and your fine opportunities for investment
-along with it, you wouldn’t catch me settling
-here.”</p>
-
-<p>It is said that Mr. Porter has in hand a plan
-to establish a colony of Scandinavians in
-Eastern North Carolina. He expects to settle
-from fifty to 100 thrifty families somewhere
-near Wilmington. For twenty years he has
-been engaged in fostering colonies on the new
-lands of Wisconsin and Michigan.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">A Young Men’s Business Association is to
-be organized at Knoxville, Tenn.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Savannah is getting up a commercial club.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Macon, Ga., expects to be visited about
-March 10 by a party of investors and home-seekers
-from Indiana, who have been induced
-by the Macon Bureau of Advertising &amp; Information
-to go down on a prospecting trip.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Commercial Club, of Anniston, Ala., is
-going to have an exhibit room in which to
-show the agricultural, mineral and industrial
-resources and products of Calhoun county.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Mr. Chappell Cory, secretary of the Birmingham
-Commercial Club, has taken great interest
-in the matter of immigration. Recently at a
-meeting of the State Agricultural Society, he
-delivered a very able address on the subject,
-which was exceedingly well received by the
-farmers before whom it was delivered. In the
-latter part of February, at his invitation, a
-number of the real estate men of Birmingham
-met to discuss the subject of immigration.
-Mr. H. D. Lane, commissioner of agriculture
-of the State, was present, and addressed the
-meeting. Following his speech there was a
-general discussion of the subject, after which
-the following resolution was adopted:</p>
-
-<p><i>Resolved</i>, That we cordially endorse the movement
-for immigration as outlined by Commissioner
-Lane, and pledge him our hearty co-operation,
-both as real estate men and as
-citizens of Birmingham and of Alabama.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">At Atlanta, Ga., a $500,000 company has
-been formed to engage in establishing country
-banks wherever good openings are found.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">A large party of prominent coal operators
-of Chicago and other Western cities have been
-examining Kentucky coal fields with a view
-to handling Kentucky coal on a large scale,
-and also of investing in coal properties.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">A new water-power cotton mill will be built
-in South Carolina on Penny-Shoals, Tiger
-river, near Wellford, by a company recently
-incorporated as the Tuscapan Mills Co. Mr.
-C. E. Fleming, of Spartanburg, is at the head
-of the enterprise.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The public lands in Arkansas, government,
-State and railroad, aggregate more than 7,000,000
-acres. There are over 4,000,000 acres of
-government lands subject to homestead entry.
-Any male citizen of the United States who is
-the head of a family, or over twenty-one years
-of age, is entitled to enter 160 acres of land
-by paying the following fees: For forty acres,
-$6; for eighty acres, $7; for 120 acres, $13; for
-160 acres, $14. The State has also 1,200,000
-acres which it will sell at $1.25 per acre, or
-any citizen over the age of twenty-one years,
-or the head of a family, can secure a donation
-of 160 acres by paying a fee of $10. In addition
-to this the St. Louis, Iron Mountain &amp;
-Southern Railway Co. has over 2,000,000 acres
-which it will sell on five years’ time at from
-$2 to $5 per acre, receiving notes in payment
-therefor, bearing 6 per cent. interest. During
-the last two years there have been donated to
-settlers 166,940 acres of land, and deeds made
-to 131,957 acres to settlers who had fulfilled
-the requirements of the law.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">It is not generally known that nearly the
-whole of the extreme western part of Texas
-is fenced in and divided up into enormous pastures.
-There is one pasture, for instance,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>
-traversed by the Fort Worth and Denver
-Railroad, that it takes a fast express train four
-hours and a quarter to cross. Another, in
-Dickens, Crosby and Emma counties, belonging
-to the Espinella Cattle Co., contains over
-1,500,000 acres. If this pasture were in the
-shape of a square it would be about fifty miles
-each way, requiring therefore, 200 miles of
-fencing.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Empire Plaid Mill, at High Point, N.
-C., is crowded with orders. The plant has
-been running on double time for some months
-until very recently.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">From the annual report of the Board of
-Trade of Eufaula, Ala., of which Mr. C. B.
-Goetchius is secretary, it is learned that
-Eufaula has had a very active business year
-in spite of the hard times. The residences
-and stores that have been built during the
-year aggregate in cost about $50,000. As an
-indication of the comparative business done in
-1892 and 1893, it is stated that the cash receipts
-at the railroad office were $8500 greater
-in 1893 than in 1892. During the recent
-period of financial and business disasters and
-failures there was not a single failure in
-Eufaula, and not a business house closed with
-the exception of one case of temporary embarrassment,
-which was quickly arranged.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Liberty Woolen Manufacturing Co., of
-Bedford City, Va., has secured another contract
-from the government to make goods for
-the army. This time the order calls for 7000
-broad yards at a cost of over $8000.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The last annual message of the mayor of
-Augusta, Ga., which has been printed in
-pamphlet form, is a very comprehensive review
-of the city’s affairs for 1893.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Sixty newspaper men from North Dakota
-are visiting Texas.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Eufaula Cotton Mill Co., at Eufaula,
-Ala., has just completed an addition to its
-plant at a cost of $50,000. At the same place
-a new cotton mill is being built by another
-company&mdash;the Chewalla Cotton Mill Co.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The managers of the Seaboard Air Line
-have become greatly interested in the matter
-of immigration. Mr. R. C. Hoffman, of Baltimore,
-the president of the line, and Major J.
-C. Winder, the general manager, at Wilmington,
-N. C., are considering plans for procuring
-the settlement of Northern farmers in their
-territory. The Seaboard Air Line traverses a
-country suited in the highest degree for farming
-and stock raising, and especially for growing
-early fruits and vegetables.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The citizens of Tuskaloosa have organized
-“The Commercial Association of Tuskaloosa
-county.” The officers and directors are: President,
-A. F. Prince; Vice-president, George W.
-Christian; Secretary, Walter Guild. Board of
-Directors: Festus Fitts, Victor Friedman, W.
-C. Jemison, J. C. Harrison, A. S. Vandegraaff,
-H. F. Hill, George A. Searcy, Charles R.
-Maxwell, T. N. Hays.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Richmond &amp; Danville Railroad has
-issued a very handsomely illustrated book,
-“Snow Balls and Orange Blossoms,” a copy of
-which will be sent on application.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Mr. George W. Truitt, of LaGrange, Ga.,
-has published a pamphlet called “Talks to the
-Farmers of Dixie.” It is full of valuable
-advice and suggestions.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry
-Dock Co. has in hand contracts that will keep
-it busy for two years.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Several hundred laborers have been put to
-work on the Chesapeake Beach railway, which
-is to connect Washington, D. C., with a proposed
-resort on the Chesapeake bay in Southern
-Maryland. It seems remarkable that this
-superb body of water has been up to this time
-so little made use of by the cities of Washington
-and Baltimore. This new resort at
-Chesapeake Beach will be a boon to both
-cities. It will be within less than an hour’s
-ride of Washington, and will be readily and
-quickly accessible from Baltimore also.</p>
-
-<p>The Chesapeake Beach railroad passes
-through a section of country admirably suited
-to truck gardening as well as general farming.
-Mr. Washington Danenhower, whose office is
-in the Loan &amp; Trust building, Washington,
-has already had some negotiations looking to
-the locating of a colony of farmers from the
-Northwest along the line of the road.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Sibley Manufacturing Co., of Augusta,
-Ga., has begun an extensive addition to its
-cotton mill. The output of the mill will be
-greatly increased.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">It is astonishing to people who are unacquainted
-with the details of Florida business
-life to hear of the amount of business<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>
-done in the little towns in the interior and
-along the coast. Indeed, it surprises some of
-those who live here to see the summing up of
-the annual business done by individual firms
-in those towns, and if one didn’t in some way
-get at some tangible reason for these figures
-one would be disposed to question their correctness.
-But when one drives out into the
-surrounding country and sees the many orange
-groves and the many broad acres planted in
-vegetables a key is found that unlocks the
-situation.</p>
-
-<p>In Florida, instead of large areas of land in
-cultivation, there are the native growths only
-dotted here and there with openings, and
-planted to fruits and vegetables. It requires
-but little stock to cultivate them and but few
-hands, comparatively speaking, to do the work.
-The crop raised on one acre of Florida soil on
-an average is equal to that of fifteen to twenty
-acres in cotton regions, and every dollar is for
-export, the grower receiving the cash for his
-crop, and then he reinvests it for the necessaries
-of his household and farm. There is
-where the volume of business done by the
-Florida merchants comes in.&mdash;Jacksonville
-Times-Union.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The cultivation of the castor bean may be
-attempted in Texas on a larger scale than
-heretofore. The United States Consul at
-Breslau, Germany, Mr. Frederick Opp, has
-been making inquiries about the climate and
-soil of Texas for Max Strahl, who is thinking
-of purchasing land in Bexar county for the purpose
-of raising the plants mentioned. According
-to Mr. Strahl’s statement, the castor plant requires
-much less rain than cotton; can be harvested
-in a much shorter space of time; requires
-only one-third of the amount of labor, and
-yields a much greater profit to the producer.</p>
-
-<p>In a letter to the San Antonio Express Mr.
-Opp says: “I have sent a sample of the beans
-to the Department of Agriculture at Washington.
-I trust that Mr. Strahl will soon positively
-decide to settle in Texas and inaugurate
-the enterprise. He is an expert in castor
-plant growing and raises large quantities
-in India.”</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Rock Island &amp; Texas Town Co. owns
-a 300 acre tract of land near Boyd, Texas,
-which has been divided into ten acre tracts for
-small fruit and vegetable farms.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The citizens of Nacogdoches, Texas, have
-organized a society, the purpose of which will
-be to induce immigration to Nacogdoches
-county and advance the general interests of
-that section. Lists of lands for sale, with
-prices, &amp;c., and general information about the
-locality will be furnished on application. The
-president of the society is George H. Davidson.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Mr. Guy M. Bryan, a banker of Bryan,
-Texas, who owns large areas of property in
-Brazoria county, near Velasco on the Gulf
-coast, is arranging to bore artesian wells to
-flood a considerable area of ancient lake beds,
-which he will convert into extensive rice farms.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">A report now being prepared by Mr. F. H.
-Newell, of the United States Geological Survey,
-on the condition, amount, and location of
-the public land still in the hands of the government,
-shows that there are about 600,000,000
-acres of government lands. The
-report states, however, that all the vacant
-land remaining to the government in the West
-is either mountain country or else land which,
-owing to scanty rainfall or other conditions,
-is fit only for grazing.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The National Builders’ Association of the
-United States will hold its next convention in
-Baltimore in October, 1895. Mr. Noble H.
-Greager, of Baltimore, is president of the association;
-Mr. Charles A. Rupp, of Buffalo,
-first vice-president; Mr. James Meath, of Detroit,
-Mich., second vice-president; Mr. Wm. H.
-Sayward, of Boston, secretary, and Mr. George
-Tapperk, of Chicago, treasurer.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Rock Hill Cotton Factory Co., of
-Rock Hill, S. C., which has heretofore made
-yarns only, is now adding 192 looms to its
-plant.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Mr. George C. Power, industrial commissioner
-of the Illinois Central and Yazoo &amp;
-Mississippi Valley Railroad Companies, in
-an interview with a reporter of the New
-Orleans Picayune, said: “I have been down
-south of the Ohio river with two or three
-parties who are desirous of locating wood-working
-factories. Those parties have expressed
-themselves as being well pleased with the
-lumber found there and the facilities for handling
-it; also the welcome which had been given
-them by the Southern people. It is more than
-likely two of the parties will locate within the
-next week or ten days.</p>
-
-<p>“I find that although the banks wherever I
-visited have plenty of money, yet they cannot
-loan it to advantage. At some places the
-loans to farmers are being curtailed, but in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>
-majority of places the applications for loans
-are fewer than in several previous years. The
-hotels are crowded with traveling salesmen,
-all of whom appear to be doing good business,
-selling principally dry goods, clothing, hats,
-caps, shoes and articles of similar character,
-and very few provisions. Many places are
-purchasing a better class of dry goods than
-they had in twenty years back. The merchants
-anticipate a very good spring trade.</p>
-
-<p>“To show how small farmers are doing, I
-will cite one case. In the Yazoo Delta a farmer
-has grown all the provisions&mdash;corn and
-seed&mdash;for his new crop, and has sufficient left
-over to purchase a reaper for his coming hay
-crop. He has contracted for the produce of
-five acres of potatoes, seven acres of onions,
-and he will be self-supporting from this date
-forward. He is only one of a great many, and
-it seems to me that with fewer applications
-for loans and less demand for money to carry
-cotton, capital must seek other sources of employment.
-A large portion of it will most
-probably be invested in sound manufacturing
-industries, which will make a market for raw
-materials that are now to a great extent valueless.”</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Charlotte, N. C., has grown tired of its
-inert Chamber of Commerce and proposes to
-organize a more active and progressive Board
-of Trade.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Chamber of Commerce, of Huntsville,
-Ala., is receiving many inquiries from Northern
-farmers, who want to know about farming
-conditions around Huntsville.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">It is stated that there are not enough houses
-at Columbia, S. C., to accommodate the increasing
-population, and that an excellent
-opportunity is given to erect an office building.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The secretary of the Bureau of Information
-of Newport News, Va., is in constant receipt
-of letters asking for information about Newport
-News and the adjacent country.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Denison Land &amp; Investment Co., of
-Denison, Tex., has elected A. P. Childs,
-of Bennington, Vt., President; E. H. Hanna,
-of Denison, Vice-president, and A. H. Coffin,
-of Denison, Treasurer.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">C. S. Durling, of New York, was the
-originator of the refrigerator business in Florida,
-being the first man to run iced cars for
-the transportation of fruits and vegetables to
-New York. Before he began to do so berries
-could only be shipped by express, and only
-then when the weather was cool and the berries
-sour. Now Florida berries are sent
-North as late as May 1.</p>
-
-<p>A refrigerator company will begin business
-at Gainesville, Fla., this week, and for the
-extra charge of ten cents per package they insure
-the arrival of truck at destination in the
-same condition as when put aboard the cars
-here.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Some of the cities of Tennessee have become
-interested in the idea of having an exposition
-to celebrate the State’s centennial. At
-a meeting of the Nashville Commercial Club
-a resolution was adopted providing for a committee
-of twenty-five members, composed
-of seven from the Commercial Club, six from
-the Board of Trade and three each from the
-Southern Engineering Association, the Historical
-Society and the Art Association, to
-make arrangements for a convention to be
-held in the city in March to discuss plans for
-an exposition.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Board of Trade of Nashville, Tenn., is
-one of the few such concerns that has life and
-activity and progressiveness. Major A. W.
-Wills, the recently elected secretary, is a man
-full of zeal and energy, and he will make the
-board of trade a power in the advancement of
-Nashville and the surrounding country.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The stockholders of the Luna Cotton Mills,
-Fort Mill, S. C., have voted to extend the
-plant and add considerable new machinery,
-including 100 looms.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Within the last twelve month taxable values
-in Texas have increased $30,000,000.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<h2>RAILROADS.</h2>
-
-<h3>The Richmond &amp; Danville to the Front.</h3>
-
-<p>The Richmond &amp; Danville Railroad Co. has
-issued the following circular offering special
-inducements to settlers:</p>
-
-<p>“The Richmond &amp; Danville Railroad adopts
-this means as one of its many methods of
-bringing to the attention of prospectors and
-home-seekers the numerous advantages possessed
-by the territory which it traverses.</p>
-
-<p>“Realizing that each section of this great
-land of ours is dependent to a certain extent
-upon the prosperity of the whole, we have no
-desire to depreciate any section, but to make<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>
-known the possibilities which are within the
-reach of those who contemplate a change.</p>
-
-<p>“We have received hundreds of inquiries
-from parties located in the North and Northwest
-who desire information in regard to a
-milder and more congenial climate, the character
-of soil, etc. Those and all others who
-may desire information, we invite to visit
-points upon our lines which cover the States
-of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina,
-Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, and to induce
-immigration we will make to <i lang="la">bona fide</i>
-prospectors special concessions in rates from
-our Eastern junction points.</p>
-
-<p>“The climate and products of the last four
-States above named are well known, but Virginia
-and North Carolina have not been so
-fortunate in this respect.</p>
-
-<p>“The climate in these sister States (Virginia
-and North Carolina) is about the same, showing
-an average the year around of about 55°
-Fahrenheit, with no extreme heat or cold,
-which enables farmers to raise two or more
-crops upon the same land in one season. The
-soil is adapted to any crops which are raised in
-the Southern or Middle States, and is especially
-favorable for trucking, the profits of
-which are enhanced by reason of the close
-proximity to the best Eastern markets, viz:
-Lynchburg, Richmond, Washington, Baltimore,
-Philadelphia and New York. It is also
-admirably adapted to fruit and grape culture.</p>
-
-<p>“Without discriminating in favor of any
-portion of either of these States, we feel at
-liberty to direct especial attention to the Blue
-Ridge section of North Carolina as being excellently
-adapted to the culture of fruit and
-grapes, the mountains and hillsides at many
-points being now covered by vineyards and
-orchards, which yield handsome revenues to
-their owners, while the rich valleys are utilized
-for cereals and tobacco.</p>
-
-<p>“Considering the productive qualities of
-these Virginia and North Carolina lands, they
-may be had at most reasonable prices and on
-accommodating terms.</p>
-
-<p>“In order to protect ourselves against imposition,
-it is necessary to throw some safeguard
-around the issuance of reduced rates for
-prospectors, as above indicated, and as all
-prospectors, before starting on a trip of this
-nature, correspond with some land agency or
-real estate agent, we will request all applicants
-for these reduced rates to obtain identification
-at the hands of such agent or land agency as
-they may have corresponded with.”</p>
-
-<p>Inquiries may be addressed to W. A. Turk,
-general passenger agent, 1300 Pennsylvania
-avenue, Washington, D. C.</p>
-
-<h3>Another Mississippi Bridge.</h3>
-
-<p>The Southern Pacific Railroad Co.’s bridge
-to be built across the Mississippi river at New
-Orleans, La., will, it is believed, be the largest
-steel railroad bridge in the world, considering
-the quantity of metal used in its construction
-and its length. It will be a double-track
-bridge about 10,500 feet long. The approach
-spans will vary from twenty-five to 150
-feet in length, according to the height of the
-towers. The main river bridge will be built
-on the cantilever principle, and will be 1070
-feet in length, with spans of 608 feet on either
-side. The pier foundations will extend from
-a point eighty feet below the bottom of the
-river, and will be sunk by open dredging.
-The estimated weight of metal required is 25,000
-tons, or 50,000,000 pounds. The cost will
-be about $5,000,000.</p>
-
-<p>The bridge will give the Southern Pacific
-system an all-rail entrance into New Orleans,
-and form a most important link in railroad
-communication between Texas and the Southwest
-and the Gulf States east of the Mississippi
-river.</p>
-
-<p>The largest railroad bridge completed is
-over the Firth of Forth in Scotland. The
-main structure is 5330 feet long, but the approaches
-are said to be shorter than the New
-Orleans bridge.</p>
-
-<h3>A Judicial Decision of Great Interest to
-Railroads.</h3>
-
-<p>In two suits recently brought against the
-Texas &amp; Pacific road, a New Orleans judge has
-rendered a decision that is of very general interest.
-The decision in brief is that a railroad is
-bound by the admissions contained in the bill
-of lading just as the shipper is bound by the
-terms. Several weeks ago two suits, exactly
-the same except for the amounts involved and
-the complainants’ identity, were filed against
-the Texas &amp; Pacific road. In both damages
-was asked for cotton received in a damaged
-condition, which the bill of lading sets forth
-had been received by the road in good condition.</p>
-
-<p>In both cases the plaintiffs introduced the
-bills of lading in evidence. They showed by
-the signature of the authorized agents of the
-road that the cotton had been received by the
-road for shipment in good condition. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>
-road in its defense attempted to prove that the
-cotton was received in the same condition as
-when delivered, and that it had not been
-damaged in transportation.</p>
-
-<p>The plaintiffs both proved that upon the
-receipt of the bills of lading, specifying that
-the cotton had been received by the road in
-good condition, they had paid for it by sight
-drafts in favor of the shippers.</p>
-
-<p>In his decisions, both of which were the
-same, the judge held that evidence to disapprove
-the statements contained in the road’s
-bill of lading was inadmissible, and that the
-bill of lading placed the responsibility for the
-condition of the cotton with the road. For
-these reasons judgment in both cases was for
-the plaintiff. The conclusion of the court was
-that when the consignee pays by sight draft
-upon the averment of the bill of lading evidence
-that the goods were not received in good
-condition is not admissible.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">It is stated that in furtherance of a plan to
-shorten the distance between St. Louis and
-points in Western Texas and Mexico, a syndicate
-has been formed to complete the Red
-River &amp; Southwestern road, which is projected
-from a point on the Rock Island road in the
-Indian Territory through Western Texas to
-San Angelo, to connect with the Southern
-Pacific at Spotswood Junction. It is estimated
-that the new route would shorten the distance
-between Mexico and St. Louis fully 600 miles,
-while points in Southwestern Texas will be
-200 miles nearer the latter city.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">C. W. Cheers, formerly assistant general
-freight agent in Birmingham of the Kansas
-City, Memphis &amp; Birmingham, but who resigned
-on January 1, has been appointed
-general freight and passenger agent of the
-Savannah, Americus &amp; Montgomery, with
-headquarters at Americus.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Much interest has been aroused by the
-bills pending in the Virginia legislature to
-incorporate the Richmond &amp; Northern and
-Richmond &amp; Manassas roads. The former
-is claimed to be a projected road from Richmond
-to Fredericksburg, and the latter
-between Richmond and Manassas. Either
-would form part of a line from Richmond very
-nearly to Washington, and it is intimated that
-the Baltimore &amp; Ohio may be interested in
-one.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">It is stated that the Baltimore &amp; Ohio is
-preparing to build its branch road from a
-point north of Georgetown, D. C., to Fairfax
-C. H., Va., on which work was begun some
-time ago, but suspended for some unknown
-cause. Fairfax is but a short distance from
-the Richmond &amp; Danville road, with which
-the Baltimore &amp; Ohio has close relations, and
-it is evident that the building of this branch
-means a connection with the Richmond &amp;
-Danville.</p>
-
-<p>The Norfolk &amp; Western road is also securing
-the necessary legislation to enter Washington.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">One of the indications of the rapidly-developing
-trade between the North and
-South is the establishment of a fast through
-freight from New York to the South by the
-Atlantic Coast Line. Freight under the
-new regulation, no matter how small the
-consignment, is rushed through from the
-North without delay. With each succeeding
-season this service has been expanded
-and improved, keeping pace with the development
-of the industries which produced
-it, until finally it has reached a point of
-usefulness and perfection upon which it would
-be difficult to improve. Until the present
-season, however, this special service has been
-confined to a northward-going schedule, but
-lately it has become apparent that the demand
-for a similar service from the North to the
-South was daily becoming more and more
-urgent. The Atlantic Coast Dispatch has also
-established a line of refrigerator cars out of
-New York for Charleston, the service being
-designed to furnish the safest and most expeditious
-transportation for all southward-going
-perishable freight. These cars will prove of
-especial advantage to the large shippers of
-apples, butter and other perishable articles.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">It is believed that the Richmond &amp; Danville’s
-present management will soon secure a
-seaboard outlet at Norfolk or Portsmouth,
-either by acquiring the Atlantic &amp; Danville,
-which, as stated elsewhere, is to be purchased
-by the English bondholders at foreclosure sale
-and reorganized, or by building a new line.
-The plans of a new company which has been
-formed to build an extension of the Atlantic &amp;
-Danville from Danville to Bristol, Tenn., passing
-through rich and undeveloped coal and ore
-lands, are told of elsewhere. The building of the
-proposed Virginia Seaboard &amp; Western road, and
-the control of the Atlantic &amp; Danville by the
-Richmond &amp; Danville, would give the latter not
-only a new seaboard terminus, but also a large<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>
-coal, timber and ore traffic from Tennessee
-and Virginia, as well as establish a new
-route from Tennessee, Kentucky and the
-Northwest to the Atlantic.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The projectors of the Gulf &amp; Interstate
-Railroad to extend from North Dakota to the
-Gulf of Mexico have secured an option on
-property at Port Bolivar, on Galveston bay,
-opposite Galveston, Texas, with a view to
-making that the terminus of the road.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The New York, Texas &amp; Mexican and the
-Gulf, Western Texas &amp; Pacific roads, both
-parts of the Southern Pacific system, have
-elected the following-named officers: President,
-J. Kruttschnitt; vice-president, W. S.
-Hoskins; secretary, B. M. Smith; treasurer,
-W. J. Craig.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">A movement is on foot to establish a steamship
-line between Jacksonville, Fla., and
-Providence, R. I.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Baltimore &amp; Ohio is said to be planning
-to extend its Valley division from Lexington to
-Roanoke.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Clyde Steamship Co. is considering an
-extension of its service to New Orleans.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Business on the Norfolk &amp; Southern is developing
-to such an extent in North Carolina
-that the company has decided to establish six
-new stations in that State.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Illinois Central Railroad is exhibiting
-great energy in the matter of inducing immigration
-to the South. Mr. E. P. Skene, land
-commissioner of the road, at Chicago, Captain
-J. F. Merry, Manchester, Iowa, assistant passenger
-agent, Mr. J. M. Eberle, of Chicago,
-land and immigration agent, Mr. C. W. McGinnes,
-land commissioner of the Yazoo &amp;
-Mississippi Valley Railroad, located at Memphis,
-Mr. J. T. Savage, division superintendent
-of the Yazoo &amp; Mississippi Valley Railroad,
-at Greenville, Miss., are all giving active
-and comprehensive attention to this work.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Mr. C. J. Haile, the general passenger
-agent of the Central Railroad, of Georgia,
-is taking advantage of the excursion rates
-offered to prospectors, by authority of the
-Southern Passenger Association, to distribute
-in the Northwest circulars setting forth the
-agricultural attractions of the country tributary
-to his roads. Mr. Haile is an enterprising
-and progressive railroad man, and fully comprehends
-the value of having the country traversed
-by his road thickly populated by Northern
-farmers.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Mr. W. C. Rinearson, general passenger
-agent of the Queen &amp; Crescent route, is trying
-to arrange with the Southern Passenger Association
-to have tickets for his line, via Chattanooga,
-carry the privilege of stopping over
-at Chattanooga, so that travelers may have an
-opportunity of seeing Lookout Mountain, the
-National Military Park and other Chattanooga
-sights.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">At the request of Col. C. P. Atmore, general
-passenger agent of the Louisville &amp; Nashville
-Road, the passenger agents of roads having
-interests at Memphis, Tenn., met in that
-city February 14, to arrange a passenger
-association.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">At a meeting of the truck farmers, held at
-Chattanooga, S. C., February 19, to consider
-the matter of transportation of vegetables and
-fruits to New York, a member had this to say
-in praise of the famous Old Dominion line of
-steamers:</p>
-
-<p>“They have fast steamers especially constructed
-for carrying highly perishable freights;
-they have ample tonnage for handling all the
-business that comes to them, and their deliveries
-in New York are not only convenient to
-the trade, but are made more rapidly than any
-other line with whom we do business.</p>
-
-<p>“In addition to their already large fleet they
-are about to launch two splendid new steamers,
-the “Jamestown” and “Yorktown,” which
-will be ready by April 10, and are expected to
-be the fastest coastwise steamers out of
-New York.</p>
-
-<p>“Our experience with the Old Dominion Co.
-covers more than thirty years. During that
-time they have always been found willing to do
-all in their power to assist the grower both in
-improved service and in giving as low rates of
-freight as are consistent with fast transportation.”</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Atlantic Coast Line system has been
-one of the most liberal and progressive roads
-in the South in fostering the trucking business
-along its line. It has made a specialty of its
-truck traffic for many years, and to its enterprise
-is largely due the magnitude of the business
-which is now done out of Charleston.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Middle Georgia &amp; Atlanta road, from
-Atlanta to Milledgeville, has just been completed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>
-It is seventy-five miles shorter from
-Atlanta to Milledgeville by this route than by
-any other. Over forty miles of the line between
-Covington and Eatonton has no bonded
-debt whatever, $450,000 of the stock being
-taken and paid for by Georgia people. The
-ultimate destination of the line is Savannah.
-W. B. Thomas is general manager.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Atlantic &amp; Danville, which extends
-from Danville across Southern Virginia to the
-Seaboard, has attracted considerable interest
-from the fact that a company has been
-organized, composed largely of bondholders of
-the road, to build a line from Danville to
-Bristol, Tenn., to be called the Virginia
-Seaboard &amp; Western. The Atlantic &amp; Danville
-is to be sold by order of the court on
-April 3, and, it is expected, will be purchased
-by the bondholders. The new road, if built,
-will be about 115 miles long and connect with
-the East Tennessee, Virginia &amp; Georgia
-system at Bristol. It would give the latter an
-outlet on the Atlantic seaboard and develop
-much mineral property of east Tennessee and
-southern Virginia, the product of which now
-has no means of reaching furnaces.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<h2>HOTELS.</h2>
-
-<p>The great Four Seasons Hotel at Harrogate,
-Tenn., has been reopened.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Messrs. G. S. Atkins &amp; Sons, proprietors
-of the Ocean Hotel at Asbury Park, N. J.,
-have bought the Brock House at Enterprise,
-Fla., together with 2300 acres of adjacent
-land.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Messrs. Stephen Green, of Philadelphia,
-Martin Lane, of Wilmington, and Levi Z.
-Condon, of Baltimore, have organized the
-Luray Caverns Co. to operate the Luray
-Caverns, build a hotel, &amp;c.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The proprietors of the San Marco hotel, of
-St. Augustine, Fla., as one method of entertaining
-their guests, allow them to pick, for
-use in the hotel, vegetables and fruits from
-the hotel garden, and on pleasant mornings
-many of the guests may be seen before breakfast
-picking radishes, peas, tomatoes, lettuce,
-&amp;c., to be served at meals.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The business men of Columbia (S. C.) are
-talking about raising money to build a great
-hotel. Since the change in the Atlantic Coast
-line route, by which Columbia is put on the
-main line between Florida and the North, it
-is thought that a big resort hotel could do a
-profitable business.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The outlook for the coming season at Mountain
-Lake park, in Western Maryland, is very
-promising. Twenty or more new cottages
-will be built, and many of these have already
-been spoken for.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Royal Poinciana hotel, of Lake Worth,
-Fla., which has been erected on the site of the
-old McCormick house, is doing a large business.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Macon (Ga.) news is urging the building
-of a great hotel at Macon in emulation of
-Savannah and the Florida cities.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Florentine hotel, at Huntington, W. Va.,
-has passed into the hands of Messrs. L. H.
-Cox and R. F. Jones. Mr. Cox is from Louisville,
-Ky.; Mr. Jones formerly conducted the
-Joy house at Findlay, Ohio. They state that
-large improvements will be made.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Hotel Indian River, at Rock Ledge,
-Fla., has 350 guests and expects to be crowded
-all through the month of March.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">A new hotel is to be built at Charleston, S.
-C., at a cost of something like $450,000. It is
-to cover a block 150×545 feet. The plans provide
-for broad verandas adjoining the parlors
-and opening upon a garden space to be larger
-than any similar grounds owned by any hotel
-in the country.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Fort Worth, Texas, expects to have a new
-and first-class hotel.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The court has refused to confirm the recent
-sale of the Oglethorpe hotel at Brunswick, Ga.,
-and has ordered a new sale.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<h2>CORRESPONDENCE.</h2>
-
-<h3>A Valuable Suggestion from England.</h3>
-
-<p>A reader of the <span class="smcap">Southern States</span> living at
-Florence, Ala., sent a copy of the January
-number to a friend in England, and has received
-from him the following very interesting
-and noteworthy letter, which we are permitted
-to publish:</p>
-
-<p>“Many thanks to you for the January number
-of the magazine, “the <span class="smcap">Southern States</span>,”
-which I received this morning. I presume
-you sent it, knowing that the interesting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>
-letters relating to the subject of immigration
-to the Southern States so fully coincide with
-the views I have long held and have expressed
-to you concerning immigration from Great
-Britain to the South.</p>
-
-<p>“Those views were verified again only a few
-days ago in the following manner: A friend of
-mine, who is a builder, wished to “talk with
-me about America,” rather a big order if he
-had considered a little, as having but limited
-means and a growing family he “thought of
-emigrating.” <em>Where</em> should he go? He spoke
-of many of the States I know well, but he
-knew nothing of the South, except that they
-had oranges and alligators in Florida. He
-was a fairly intelligent man, too. After a long
-conversation, the length of which you will
-understand when I tell you that I conducted
-my friend from the blinding blizzards of
-Nebraska to the genial sunshine of Alabama,
-I promised to get him some printed information
-from some of the emigration agents in
-London, so that he could form an idea as to
-the requirements, capabilities and resources of
-the South. Well, I tried to keep my promise,
-and called on numerous agents. I could
-obtain <em>any amount</em> of information about any
-part of Canada and the Western States, but in
-this great city of 6,000,000 of people, I, an
-experienced Londoner, could not obtain a line
-about Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia,
-Louisiana or any other Southern State,
-except Florida, and as I enjoyed life in the
-latter State for over three years I could describe
-a gopher or a “Florida cracker,” better
-than the agent could. Is it to be wondered at
-that people from England know the West and
-are ignorant of the beauties of the South?
-There, you have your Southern difficulty in a
-nutshell. We have over 35,000,000 of people
-on these little islands, very few of whom really
-know anything whatever of the Southern
-States. We have tens of thousands of men&mdash;small
-capitalists, manufacturers, skilled artizans,
-farmers, dairymen, market gardeners,
-and business men of all classes&mdash;who would
-give up the, in most cases, hopeless struggle
-here (hopeless as far as a comfortable competence
-is concerned), and cross over to the
-Southern States with their wives and families
-<em>if they only knew</em> the power of their skill,
-industry and perseverance in a country where
-those qualities will give an ampler, fairer and
-a more just reward than here. These people,
-the hewers of wood and drawers of water, who
-are the backbone of every prosperous country,
-require information, <em>official</em>, <em>authoritative</em>, <em>reliable</em>
-information, about Georgia, Alabama,
-Louisiana, Tennessee, &amp;c., and it is simply
-because such information is lacking, difficult
-to obtain, or unreliable when it is obtained,
-that so many go West and Northwest, whilst
-others, who <em>could</em> be induced to go South, stay
-and struggle on in the old rut for want of
-being waked up. I feel perfectly sure that if
-a bureau of information were established here
-in London and supplied with literature, maps,
-&amp;c., descriptive of the Southern States, and
-properly advertised throughout Great Britain,
-the results would be quickly felt, whilst the
-expense would be infinitesimal compared with
-the benefits which would eventually accrue.
-Such a bureau, however, would have to be
-managed by a man (or men) of integrity and
-experience, who should be as unbiased as possible,
-and entirely free from sectional prejudice.
-An agent should have sufficient business
-tact to know that he would never benefit
-Georgia or Alabama by disparaging Colorado or
-California. I know that many agents in England
-try to detract from every other State, and every
-other section of a State, except the little spot
-they are for the time pecuniarily interested in
-getting settled up. Their aims are narrowed
-down to simply getting commissions on the
-railway and ocean tickets, and a small prearranged
-percentage on any little land purchase
-the immigrant may make from the agent
-in America, who has glowingly, and very, very
-often untruthfully, described.</p>
-
-<p>“A Southern States bureau of information,
-such as I suggest for London, should be kept
-entirely free from the machinations of the unscrupulous
-land speculator, who, we all know,
-has in too many cases most seriously injured
-States and localities, simply to gain some
-small selfish end of his own. In my opinion
-the expenses of such a bureau of information
-should be borne by Southern railroad enterprise,
-and the London bureau should work in
-conjunction with established agencies, or sub-agencies,
-in all the large towns and cities in
-Great Britain, and also be in close touch with
-agencies in the United States, working with
-the same object, viz.: To induce immigration
-to the Southern States. The South as it really
-is can stand on its own merits, and is good
-enough for anybody, no matter what class&mdash;capitalists,
-cotton kings, iron masters, coal
-owners, farmers, or earnest, industrious artizans.
-The South can supply every requisite
-for all, from the raw material to the finished<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>
-product. These are a few of the facts that
-people here in England are ignorant of and
-<em>should</em> be <em>informed about</em>, whilst many of your
-own people in the North and Northwest are
-not much better informed on many points. A
-couple of summers ago I was laughed at at my
-hotel in New York because I remarked, “I
-cannot stand this sultry heat any longer; <span class="smcap">I’ll
-go South</span>, <em>where it is cooler</em>.” I was considered
-a “bullheaded Britisher;” but I was
-right, anyhow, for it <em>was</em> cooler in Florence,
-Ala., than in New York!”</p>
-
-<h3>A Letter from Western Georgia.</h3>
-
-<p>Mr. George W. Truitt, of LaGrange, Ga.,
-one of the most advanced and successful of
-the present generation of progressive Georgia
-farmers, writes to the <span class="smcap">Southern States</span> as
-follows:</p>
-
-<p>“Noticing your commendable efforts to advertise
-the attractions and resources of the South
-and induce immigrants to seek homes in this
-country, I ask space in your columns for a review
-of some of the inducements this immediate
-section offers.</p>
-
-<p>“This county&mdash;Troup&mdash;is in Western Georgia
-with the city of LaGrange as its county seat.</p>
-
-<p>“LaGrange has a population of about 4,000
-and is beautifully situated, 850 feet above sea
-level&mdash;on the Double Daily mail route from
-New York to New Orleans, and on the new
-and splendid line from Palatka, Fla., via Macon,
-Ga., to Birmingham, Ala. For healthfulness it
-has no superior. It has two of the best female
-colleges in the South, and an excellent male
-high school. The various religious denominations
-are represented by nine churches. The
-town is lighted by electricity and has a fine
-system of water works. Two strong banks
-furnish all necessary money for business enterprises.
-The famous “Terraces” or Terrell flower
-gardens are within a mile of the heart of the
-town. There is a $400,000 manufacturing plant
-here, embracing the LaGrange Cotton Mills,
-foundry and machine shops, oil mills and
-guano factory, all under our management.</p>
-
-<p>“There are two carriage factories, a plow
-factory, planing mills, variety works and ice
-factory all inside the city limits. A canning
-factory will soon be erected, and a public
-school system will be established.</p>
-
-<p>“LaGrange is surrounded by one of the best
-agricultural regions in Georgia.</p>
-
-<p>“The farm lands are fertile, easily cultivated
-and yield abundantly under intelligent culture.
-There has not been anything like a failure of
-crops in twenty-five years through this section.
-The climate is all one could wish. Extreme
-heat and cold are rare. Our lands are rolling,
-with natural drainage; plenty of timber and
-pure water. Farmers can work their lands in
-half a day after the heaviest rains.</p>
-
-<p>“The agricultural interest is undergoing a
-great and rapid change for the better. We
-have abandoned the one-crop idea.</p>
-
-<p>“Since January 1st, 1894, there has not been
-sold at this point more than one car of Western
-corn and meat. It has not been many years
-since forty cars of those two items were sold
-in about the same time.</p>
-
-<p>“Lands here can be bought at a bargain.
-Our largest land owners see the great importance
-of increasing our white population, and
-are in thorough accord and sympathy with any
-movement looking to an improvement in that
-direction, and stand with open hearts and
-friendly hands to welcome a sturdy thrifty class
-with a little money and plenty of will and
-energy.</p>
-
-<p>“One attraction, of the many worthy of an
-immigrant’s consideration in this county, is the
-fact that the farmer has a home market for his
-surplus farm products. Within a few months
-from now there will be a demand, within a
-circle of fifteen miles around LaGrange from
-the cotton mills already in operation and nearing
-completion, for 10,000 more bales of cotton
-than the county raises; that means 30,000
-bales; we raise annually about 20,000. Many
-thousand bales will be sent direct from the
-fields, as it is gathered, to the factory, where
-the spot cash will be in waiting for the cotton
-and the seed, the value of the seed amounting
-to, or adding to the cotton, at least one cent a
-pound. The mill operatives furnish a market
-for thousands of dollars’ worth of the farmers’
-surplus food products.</p>
-
-<p>“Clover and grasses grow to perfection here,
-the Bermuda grass especially, which furnishes
-nine months pasturage and yields bountifully
-of a hay second only in nutritive value to the
-purest timothy.</p>
-
-<p>“Here are some facts and figures from actual
-experience in farming in this vicinity: $96
-worth of Bermuda hay from one and a quarter
-acres; $60 worth of rust proof oats from one
-acre; $64 worth of corn from one acre; 2180
-pounds lint cotton (a fine variety) from one
-acre, sold for $174.40 and the seed brought
-$120.</p>
-
-<p>“We have a farmer in this county who twelve
-years ago was not worth over $1000 and who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>
-now owns unencumbered property worth over
-$30,000; made it all farming; has never engaged
-in any other business.</p>
-
-<p>“The thanks of every Southern man and
-woman are due you for the service you are
-doing them. And every respectable immigrant
-who is influenced by you to seek a home
-anywhere in this State, I know will not live
-here long before his obligations to you will be
-expressed.</p>
-
-<p>“This country and any other will be truly
-great when the man who pushes the plow is
-landlord of the sod he turns.”</p>
-
-<h3>Interest in the South Extending.</h3>
-
-<p>A real estate and immigration agent in
-Iowa writes to the <span class="smcap">Southern States</span> as
-follows:</p>
-
-<p>“I have been reading the <span class="smcap">Southern States</span>,
-and am deeply interested in its work. I have
-been engaged in immigration work myself for
-thirty years, and I readily see some of the difficulties
-in the way of promoting immigration
-to the South. These can be readily overcome.
-With the use of proper methods, there is nothing
-in the way of bringing about a large
-movement from the Northern States to the
-South. The people of the North are finding
-it a matter of necessity to change their location,
-and this matter of moving to the South is
-of as much interest to them as it is to the people
-of the South. The matter rests largely
-with the railroad companies. With proper inducements
-and co-operation, agents could be
-gotten to go through the South on tours of inspection,
-whose reports on their return would
-influence large numbers of families in their
-communities. They would, of course, bear
-their own expenses, but they should have free
-transportation over the railroads. Facilities of
-this sort should, of course, be extended only to
-men of standing and reputation and influence
-at home, whose favorable report would lead to
-the removal of numbers of families in a body.
-I have taken parties of farmers into the West
-and the Northwest. I am in a position to explain
-to inquirers every feature of every
-county, for example, in Kansas and Nebraska.
-It would be easier to get them
-to go South; but I am sure of what information
-to give concerning Kansas and Nebraska,
-while my knowledge of the South is to
-some extent limited. I have a great many inquiries
-about the South. I am solicited now
-by a number of the best farmers of Iowa to go
-South and look the country over, get a list of
-lands for sale, prices, terms, etc., and find out
-for them what the conditions actually are.
-There is great interest in the South, and from
-all I hear and read it seems to be infinitely
-superior as a place for home-seekers to the far
-West, but the railroads and others interested
-have got to be as liberal in developing and fostering
-immigration efforts as the Western railroads
-have been, in order to bring about any
-extensive movement of this sort.”</p>
-
-<h3>No Hard Times in North Arkansas.</h3>
-
-<p>Mr. W. M. Duncan, president of the
-Citizens Bank, Eureka Springs, Ark., writes
-to the <span class="smcap">Southern States</span> as follows:</p>
-
-<p>“In this section of Arkansas, commonly
-spoken of as North Arkansas, by which is
-meant the two northern tiers of counties across
-the State, the financial condition of the
-farmers is better than at any time during the
-past five years. They are raising increased
-food supplies, and yet have very materially decreased
-their debts and improved their properties.
-Very little cotton is grown north of the
-Boston mountains; corn, oats, rye and sorghum
-being the chief cereals, while cattle,
-hogs and sheep are raised to great advantage
-and profit. There has not been a failure of
-any crops in the last five years. The outlook
-for the farmers this year is very good, and that
-of itself makes the general business situation
-of the towns and cities in this section most
-favorable.</p>
-
-<p>“The great financial depression through
-which the country has recently passed was felt
-less in this section of the Southwest than in
-any other, from all reports. The reason was,
-our farmers were all well stocked with fat marketable
-hogs and cattle, and were able thereby
-to quickly realize on the same and meet the calls
-on them from their bankers, made necessary
-by the foolish alarm from lack of confidence
-so generally experienced in all financial institutions.</p>
-
-<p>“Our greatest industry, yet very small, fruit
-raising (especially apples), merits the attention
-of all persons looking for a location to
-engage in apple raising. The apples of North
-Arkansas have taken the first prizes at New
-Orleans, San Francisco, Boston and the
-World’s Fair. There are several thousand
-acres of young apple trees which will bear the
-first fruit during the coming year, and as many
-more trees have been planted during the past
-two years. Our climate is especially adapted
-for this.</p>
-
-<p>“The present status of business with the merchants
-and general stores is a great deal better<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>
-than expected, and by early summer it is
-believed the return to the customary good
-trade will be accomplished.”</p>
-
-<h3>A Strong Disposition to Move South.</h3>
-
-<p>Mr. G. B. Randolph, of Anniston, Ala.,
-writes to the <span class="smcap">Southern States</span> as follows
-about his observations on recent trip to the
-Northwest: “I met many farmers and stock-raisers;
-also small fruit growers. (The latter
-can do but little in that section). I find a
-strong disposition among the people there on
-account of the severe winters and bad roads to
-come to a more agreeable climate. This of
-course is to be expected; people will naturally
-gravitate to a country holding out the greatest
-inducements. Here we not only have mild
-winters but our summers are not as hot as those
-in Illinois. A case of sunstroke is unheard of
-in this State. Our soil is productive and easily
-tilled. The character of our soil is red clay
-and sandy loam, and will produce anything
-that can be raised in the temperate zone.
-A great deal of attention is now being turned to
-fruit, vineyard and berry culture. Also we
-are proving this to be a fine country for tobacco
-culture. We have a remarkably healthy
-country. A case of lung trouble I never knew
-of originating here. As an indication of the
-attention being paid to this section, will say
-that within the past two days I have had inquiries
-for lands from the States of New York,
-Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. Will be
-glad to answer any inquiries from prospective
-settlers. We have heretofore been
-greatly handicapped by excessive railroad
-rates to prospectors and immigrants; now I am
-glad to say the roads are showing a spirit of
-liberality, and we now have excursions the
-eighth of each month. Round-trip tickets for
-one fare good for twenty days are being sold
-by the different lines in the North for all points
-in this section.”</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<h2>NEWSPAPER COMMENT.</h2>
-
-<h3>The Yazoo Delta.</h3>
-
-<p>The Memphis Appeal-Avalanche says:
-“From present indications the labor problem
-in the Mississippi valley is about to solve
-itself. The answer is a simple one&mdash;the substitution
-of white labor for black.</p>
-
-<p>“Everything seems to indicate that the shiftless,
-easy-going, debt-making negro, dependent
-all the year round on the man who is
-running him, will soon be a thing of the past.
-Of course there are some negroes who are exceptions
-to the rule&mdash;who pay their debts when
-they make them, who live economically, who
-know the value of a dollar&mdash;but they are few
-and far between.</p>
-
-<p>“That the Mississippi Delta is the garden
-spot of the earth no one doubts. Its soil is
-ever responsive to the hand of the tiller. It
-is capable of raising the most diversified crops.
-As a cotton country it has no equal. All kinds
-of fruit flourish in its kindly temperature.
-The forest abounds in the most valuable woods.
-As a stock raising country it is equal to the
-blue grass region of Kentucky. All that the
-Delta needs is the hand of man to develop it,
-and man is beginning to realize that his labor
-will count for more there than anywhere else.</p>
-
-<p>“As an example of the difference between
-Caucasian and negro labor, an instance which
-recently came to light is invaluable. A
-wealthy planter, owning a Delta farm, let part
-of it to some foreign families; the rest to negroes.
-The foreigners worked hard. They
-raised diversified crops. They lived as cheap
-as they could, and at the end of the year they
-had not only paid their rent, but they had
-their barns stocked with supplies and well-filled
-bank books. The negroes had not paid
-their rent and were heavily in debt, besides
-being dependent on outside help for supplies
-to run them through the year to come. The
-two classes of tenants were exactly opposite,
-the one representing independence, the other
-dependency.</p>
-
-<p>“The Yazoo &amp; Mississippi Valley Railroad,
-recently purchased by the Illinois Central
-system, passes directly through the Delta. It
-owns a great deal of the land through which it
-passes, and is now making a systematic effort
-to settle it with immigrants from the Northwest
-and Europe. At present a large tract of
-land, known as the Bogue Phalia district, is
-receiving the benefit of most of this effort,
-and the families are rapidly moving in and
-taking possession.”</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Times-Union, Jacksonville, Fla., utters
-these profound truths: “Capital is like Providence
-in just one respect. It helps those who
-help themselves. It will take no risks in a
-community where the people brand investments
-as bad by refusing to take part in them.
-Capitalists know that men everywhere are
-looking for good investments, and an enterprise
-that does not secure home support is presumed
-to be a bad investment, no matter how
-much talk there is for the purpose of convincing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>
-men to the contrary. The present is
-an auspicious time. Millions of dollars of
-Northern capital are seeking investment, and
-they will go to such places as prove rather
-than assert faith in the investments they offer.”</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Atlanta Constitution, in making editorial
-comment on an item in the <span class="smcap">Southern
-States</span>, says:</p>
-
-<p>“We contend that the South is the most
-promising section in the Union for enterprising
-farmers who will conduct their
-business in the right way. The Northern
-and Western farmers are beginning to
-see this. They are coming to the conclusion
-that it is short-sighted policy for
-them to purchase land at $100 or more
-per acre when they can buy plenty of good
-farming land in the South at from $5 to $25
-per acre. A Northern farmer needs at least
-forty acres, and this will cost him in his own
-section $4000. This sum would buy him at
-$25 per acre a Southern farm of 160 acres,
-but he can easily find good land at much
-lower figures. Indeed, with $1500 or $2000
-a farm of 150 or 200 acres can be purchased
-in a productive region. The Northern farmer
-who comes South and sticks to his diversified
-crop plan will keep out of debt and make
-money from the start. He will find, too,
-that he will enjoy here the same conveniences,
-facilities, institutions and society that he has
-always been accustomed to at home. He
-will suffer none of the drawbacks of moving
-to a new country among strangers. Our
-people are native Americans&mdash;98 per cent.
-of them&mdash;and the Americans from other
-sections who come here easily assimilate with
-them, and there is no sectional prejudice
-to make it unpleasant for strangers. When
-an immigrant makes it apparent that he is
-a good citizen his Southern neighbors readily
-extend the right hand of fellowship without
-asking him where he hails from.”</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Here is the opinion of an editor who moved
-from Nebraska to Tennessee and is now editing
-the Advance of Harriman:</p>
-
-<p>We came South from a State as fair as any
-under the sun. In some respects it is unequalled
-by any land we have ever seen. But
-that is not what makes a country desirable for
-a life-long, all-the-year-round residence.</p>
-
-<p>With all the desirable qualities of Nebraska,
-and there is no Northern State that can excel
-or even equal it, there are some disadvantages
-that render it more than a hundred per cent.
-inferior to this country.</p>
-
-<p>In the first place, there are no minerals, no
-timber, and, consequently, no manufacturing
-to supply a home market for produce. All surplus
-grain must go to a foreign market, and
-the distance and freight are so great, as to
-leave but very little for the farmer. Corn
-more frequently sells for less than twenty-five
-cents a bushel than it does for more than that,
-or even that figure.</p>
-
-<p>Then the long winters and severe blizzards.
-We know what they are, for we battled with
-them for a good number of years, and are in a
-position to judge between the climate of that
-country and this.</p>
-
-<p>Concerning the outlook for farming in this
-country, we are convinced of two facts.</p>
-
-<p>The first is, that the same kind of farming
-given to this Southern soil that is given to the
-the land in the North will result in just as
-good crops. Of this we have no doubt whatever.</p>
-
-<p>The second is, that while the farmers of the
-Northwest have to sell their produce for the
-lowest possible price, depending entirely on a
-foreign market, here, with our stores of undeveloped
-minerals, and immense quantities of
-timber to be manufactured, the farmer can depend
-on a good local market for the next
-hundred years.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The Age-Herald, Birmingham, Ala., says:
-“The disposition among Northern and
-Northwestern farmers to come South is every
-day becoming more apparent. They long for
-the salubrious climate and fertile soil of the
-South. When the South is covered by small
-farms owned by industrious white farmers,
-then it will blossom as the rose. The negro
-shows a disposition to get away from the farm.
-He is a social creature and loves the society
-and excitement of the town. He flocks to the
-furnaces and mills around the city. He can
-stand heat and enjoys the hot work of the
-furnaces. He makes more at the public works.
-He is thriftless and cannot manage, and can’t
-make farming pay. It is possible that there
-will be a considerable shifting of places between
-the whites and blacks, resulting in
-good to the entire country.”</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span></p>
-
-<h2>WHAT THE NEWSPAPERS SAY OF THE “SOUTHERN STATES.”</h2>
-
-<p>The entire attention of the editor and contributors
-of this magazine is devoted to the
-promotion of the South as a farming region,
-and to the distribution of information which
-will at once attract immigrants, show them
-where they may with the best advantage locate,
-and tell them what to expect when they arrive.
-It is an undoubted fact that many thousands
-of acres of land of remarkable productive
-capacity are going begging for occupants in
-nearly all of the States south of Mason and
-Dixon’s line at very low prices, and it seems
-to be the case that the Northern or Eastern
-farmer of thrifty, economical and industrial
-habits and with a practical knowledge of his
-business will not fail to succeed in the South.
-“The South and Immigration” is the first
-article in the present issue, and it consists of
-letters from prominent railroad officials, showing
-the aids which are extended to immigrants
-by these organizations. The next paper is
-made up of letters from Southern banking institutions
-whose universal testimony it is that
-a steadily increasing financial prosperity is in
-progress throughout these States, and the
-“Letters from Northern and Western Farmers
-Giving Their Experience in the South” tend
-to prove the same statement. This magazine
-is serving as the medium for the carrying on
-of an enormous and an invaluable work.&mdash;Boston
-Herald.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">It is a just and true mirror of the Southern
-country and an invaluable aid in its upbuilding
-and advertisement. The ignorance of the
-world concerning all things Southern is astonishing,
-and is fostered and increased by immigration
-agents and land companies by wilful
-and absurd misrepresentation concerning its
-people, its climate, its methods and everything
-connected with it viewed as a home for
-prospective settlers. Until recently the South
-has had no champion against this maligning.
-To combat these errors and let the world
-know the truth is the mission of the <span class="smcap">Southern
-States</span>, and the steadily increasing influx of
-immigrants to this portion of the Union is in a
-great measure due to its intelligent and unceasing
-efforts.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The <span class="smcap">Southern States</span> is devoting itself to
-a remarkable degree to illustrating the attractions
-of the South for farmers and manufacturers,
-and to this end is printing in its monthly
-numbers letters from farmers and railway
-managers throughout that section of the country,
-who show what the possibilities are in
-dealing with the soil and in gaining access to
-the markets of the nation. The forces of immigration
-have been chiefly directed to the
-North and West until a large portion of that
-country has been occupied; but the industrial
-resources of the South have only just been
-touched, not developed, and the railways are
-calling loudly for people who are ready to immigrate
-to different parts of the South and
-purchase small farms. At the same time a
-large number of the farmers give an account of
-their actual experience in the different Southern
-States as agriculturists.&mdash;Boston Herald.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The <span class="smcap">Southern States</span> should meet with
-substantial endorsement from every Southerner
-interested in the upbuilding of his section.&mdash;Commercial,
-Union City, Tenn.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Mr. Wm. H. Edmonds has disposed of his
-interest in the Baltimore Telegram, which was
-rapidly increasing in popularity as one of the
-best literary weeklies in the country, and assumed
-the editorship and management of the
-<span class="smcap">Southern States</span>, the monthly magazine
-started a few months since by the Baltimore
-Manufacturers’ Record. Mr. Edmonds is now
-engaged in a work thoroughly congenial to
-him, the main object of the <span class="smcap">Southern States</span>
-magazine being identical with that he had
-mapped out for the Telegram when he purchased
-the paper. The <span class="smcap">Southern States</span>
-under the new editor will, we are assured,
-rapidly increase in popularity, especially in
-the South. Mr. Edmonds is thoroughly
-identified with the progress of the South,
-material and industrial, and his exclusive devotion
-to the magazine work guarantees a
-publication of the highest literary character
-and extraordinary general interest. The Enquirer-Sun
-extends its best wishes to the new
-management.&mdash;Enquirer-Sun, Columbus, Ga.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The <span class="smcap">Southern States</span>, an illustrated
-monthly magazine published in Baltimore, has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>
-begun a movement which is calculated to do
-more good than anything heretofore projected
-to induce the sturdy farmers of the Northwest
-to seek more congenial homes in the Southern
-States where the rigors of climate are not
-present to obstruct and hinder the husbandman.&mdash;The
-Landmark, Norfolk, Va.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">It is impossible to estimate the amount of
-good work that is being done for the South by
-that splendid magazine, the <span class="smcap">Southern States</span>.
-In its January number “The South and Immigration”
-is discussed by the leading railroad
-officers, representing nearly 30,000 miles
-of Southern railroads, and this and the other
-subjects treated are handled in an eminently
-practical way.&mdash;The Post, Houston, Texas.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The <span class="smcap">Southern States</span>, a magazine published
-by the Manufacturers’ Record Publishing
-Co., Baltimore, is doing more for the South
-than perhaps any one publication in this
-heaven-favored land.&mdash;The Times, Selma, Ala.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">The News notes with pleasure the efforts of
-the <span class="smcap">Southern States</span> to bring into favorable
-notice the great advantages the South
-possesses in the agricultural field, and every
-Southerner who loves the Southland should
-secure a copy of the <span class="smcap">Southern States</span> for
-February, as it contains the experience of men
-who have given different localities in the South
-a fair trial in the agricultural line, and we are
-glad to see from the actual experience of men
-who are capable of judging that the South
-ranks second to no other section in farm production,
-and is way above them all in the successful
-production of fruit.&mdash;Chattanooga
-(Tenn.) News.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">This magazine is doing a splendid work for
-the development of the South.&mdash;The Citizen,
-Jacksonville, Fla.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">Every issue of the <span class="smcap">Southern States</span> marks
-a literary and artistic improvement, which is
-most gratifying to the people of the South, in
-whose interests the magazine is published.&mdash;The
-Post, Houston, Texas.</p>
-
-<p class="tb">One who has any thought of removing to
-the South will find this magazine a most valuable
-guide.&mdash;Western Farmer, Lafayette, Ind.</p>
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-<pre>
-
-
-
-
-
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