Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1858-02-11

A Card.

A Card.
The conditional location of the Southern
University, upon the Cumberland mountain.
in Franklin county, has called forth great
deal of misrepresentation and vile SANDER
from certain editors and others, who have
been disappointed in obtaining the location In
their immediate vicinity. II was to be expect
ed that some growing and discomfort would
have been manifested by those who were dis
appointed, but no one could have supposed
such dishonorable means would have been re-
sorted to for the purpose of defeating the To-
cation, after it had been fairly and honestly
made. Among the many ISLANDERS that have
been heaped upon Sewanee, my attention has
been called to one in the PATRIOT of the 18th
ult and headed "Nilk Sick Sewanee.n The
author of this charge assumes the name of
warren" If Warren means to say there Is,
or ever was, any milk sickness on Sewanee, it
is to my certain knowledge untrue.
To Warren's article, my friend, DIR. Shap-
ard has fully responded, and leaves me little
else to do but to sustain the statements he has
made. To the charge of envy and malice. my
friend Shapard might have added selfinterest,
as one of the moving motives of Warren's vio-
lent onslaught upon Sewanee.
There is a watering place on the mountain,
in the neighborhood of McMinnville. The
present travel to that point is by way of the
Manchester railroad to McMinnville. and from
by stage
tain to Beersheba. Now, Warren sees pretty
plainly, that if the Southern University is
placed on Sewanee, this travel will be divert
ed from McMinnville, and take the Sewanee
railroad route; and in order to defeat this in
evitable result, Warren is willing to poison the
public mind by vociferating "Milk-Sick Sc
vance," "wretched population, I" "sterile soil,
&C., &C., and, if possible, by this miserable
trickery to get the location moved to Hunts
vile, or any other point, so as to get it out of
McMinnyille's sunshine. Ii is to be regretted
that the name of an honorable Revolutionary
hero should be prostituted to such purposes.
DR.. Shapard settled at Hockerville as
pratcing physician about eight years ago
this place is about six miles north of the pro-
posed site of the Southern University-and
commands the practice of all the coves in the
vicinity of Sewanee north, east, and south
For the last two or three years the Doctor has
been residing at Decherd; this has enabled
him to see the practice in the coyes west of
Sewannee, ard in the immediate vicinity of
the tunnel. The Doctor had heard of dis
ease called milk-sickness, and in the first years
of his practice was constantly upon the look
out for a case, but has never met with one;
and finally has given it up as a hopeless case.
| think now if the Doctor were to live to the
age of the antediluvians, his wishes might
perhaps never be gratitied
Ny experience in regard to milk-sickness in
the county of Franklin hes been much great
er than that of my friend DR.. Shapard l set
| tied as practicing physician at Winchester,
! Franklin county, forty odd years ago. The
| country at that time was just being cleared up
| and put into cultivation. Our cove lands near
| the mountain were of rich, alluvial soil and
| very heavily timbered In some of these
| coves the cattle were subject to disease,
| supposed to be produced by some poisonous
| matter which they obtained in those lCcali-
rb.,r cd in ha GyrStp md
! did not visibly affect the animal, and when
| the milk or beef, under those circumstances,
| was used. it became poisonous to the human
| system. As the first cases were mostly pro
duced from using the milk, the disease took
| the name of blilk-sick. Many cases of this
! kind came under my notice i'll the first years OF
my practice; but It's the cove lands began to
| be cleared up and put into cultivation. the ca
ses began to diminish, until finally none were
! TO be met with. The last case that | remem-
! Der to have seen, occurred some sixteen or
| seventeen years ago.
The districts to which the disease was con-
| fined. were limited. 1t existed in a small cove
| known as Morrs's cove about six miles north
! of Sewanec with bluff barrier intervening,
-! almost impossible. This cove is owned by
! Maj Rutlcdge, who authorizes me to say, that
he intends having it cleared and put into cul-
| tivatiOn in the course of the next summer. so
| that il there should be any poison remaining
| there, it will be entirely eradicated. Travel
| ling southwest with the mountain the next
| place where it once existed is Atkins cove.
| This is situated some six or seven miles north
| west of Sewanee. The cove is now in culti-
| walton and disease unknown. The next cove
| we meet with in the course of the mountain is
| Tallcy's. This lies west of Sewanec and is
! nearest to it. At time has the poison ever
| been known to exist in this cove, as can be
| fully proven by citizens who have resided
| there almost from the first settlement of the
| country. Pursuing the direction of the noun
tain, the next place where the poison once ex-
! listed. is in the neighbOrhoOd of the Tunnel
| This has been cleared and put into cultivation,
and the poison destroyed, no case having Oc-
| CURED in this locality for upwards of thirty
| years. is shown by the certificate of j. B..
| Hawkins, who resides near the spot, and
whose statement is appended to this card. |
| will Just here state Il fact incOntTovertible,
and which ought to satisfy the most skeptical
! on the subject of milk-sickness: During the
| time of the construction of the Nashville and
| Chattanooga railroad through the Sewanee
| mountain, which occupied IL space of three
! years, and perhaps not less than two thousand
| persons at all times on the line between Cowan
! and Tantalon, eating the milk, butter, and
| beef from the adjoining districts and not a
! solitary case Of milk-sickness occurred A
! large number of hands were also employed on
! the Sewanee Railroad for considerable length
! of time, and in like manner making an in
| discriminate use of milk, butter, and beef,
! with like result.
| Caperton's cove, which lies about two and
| half miles south of the Tunnel, was once
subject To the milk-sick disease; ii is now
| cleared and in cultivation, and We hear no
more of the complaint, so far rs the human
family is concerned. The next place We hear
| of it, is in Miller's cove, a small cove west of
! Norwood's, and mt least sixteen miles on an
air line from Sewanee. and by the curvation
! of the mountain thirty. No human being has
| been affected with the disease in the neighbor-
hood of this cove for the last twenty iive
| years. The stock has been known OCCASION
ally to get into il and die with the disease. Ii
| was this little cove that Mr.. Ncwman's Bill
was intended to protect.
| There have been no milk-sick fences or gates
| within the county of Franklin, so far AS
| know, for years past, and much as 1 have
| travelled the county, never have seen pla-
card warning the people of the danger of
milk-sckness. The truth is, we now scarcely
| ever think of it, aud only remember il as one
of the evils that has been, and that, like the
Indians, the wolves, and the snakes, has van
| ished with the settlement of the country.
WALLACE ESTILL, NJ. ID.
The remainder of DIR. EsruL's communion
tion will appear tomorrow.