The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1865-12-15
Letter from the SOxth.--NO. B.
MONTGOMERY, Ala, Nov. l8.


by its fresh made grave; at Montgomery
am by its cradle. How brief its NOR
tai pilgrimage. Did ever the work of
mans hands rise SO high, or fall so low,
before.
The Exchange Hotel, where | am stop
ping, is very large and pretentious, as it
ought to be to entertain the magnates of
the flash confederacy, but like all the no.
tells here, it fails woefully in the perform
ance. lchabod is written upon its walls
Its window curtains have been taken down
to make pantaloons of; the tin has been
stripped IN part from its roof to do up
canister in, and its furniture and crockery
are made up from odds and ends brought
together from distant places On the
milk pitchers you may read "Charleston
HOTEL" and on the coffee cups, Mills
House" On going to my room l found
it was double, and asked the servant if
there were no unoccupied single rooms
He said, "No, only round on the back
wing where they puts them when they gets
drunk" What, do they get drunk
now, or do you refer to confederate times?"
- Both, sir, they got drunk lots then, and
they does now, and we carries them in
back to keep them from dirtying up these
rooms" Not being entitled to back
room, contented myself with one already
occupied by one person, in front. On ex-
aiming the room found two lights of
glass broken out of the window at the
head of my bed, so stuffed in one of my
pillows, the two ends protruJling out into
the main street. Now, said |, Waiter,
bring up some soap He replied. 81
reckon YOU did not come from these we're
parts. We don't have soap" | could
see from the appearance on all sides that
this was only too true. On leaving the
room the waiter said, Don't put out
your boots to be BACKED, for they will
steal them" Thus torewarned and fore
armed slept my first sleep at the old con-
federate capital
This state is one of the poorest and
least civilized of all the Southern states.
The houses on a majority of the pIanta-
tons are made of logs, and the filthy.
neglected and tumble-down aspect of
things, is every where manifest No
Northern man can understand the extent
to which slavery has degraded the whites
here, until he has seen it with his own
eyes AT the villages where the cars
stop. YOU will seldom see a church. and
never a school house but shanticS, from
two to twenty-five in number, bearing in
great letters the words, "Bar Room :"
around which score of saddled horses
will be tied, for all the planters ride horse
back, and in which the chivalrv, with
long hair and wide-rimmed hats. with
butternut-colored pants and coarse gray
coats, with tobacco juice running from
the corners of the mouths, are gambling
and drinking villainous whiskey. AS the
cars pass they will stream out to the sta
ton, and delight their souls by cursins
the negroes and the Yankees. AT one of
these villages where the cars stopped a
long time to wood up, searched diligent-
ly to find white person of either sex at
work. l came upon gambling parties in
the bar rooms, and persons drinking whis-
ky. At length, however, | succeeded.
l saw white man in hut, knitting stock
ogs 1t was refreshing to see him ply
his needles, but as | seldom see a stocking
heel in this country, | conclude stock
ings are knit without them. At these
places you will seldom see Il door-yard
fence, or any grass, or even tree The
houses are set up from the ground, and
under them the hogs and chickens freely
run. This custom is universal south of
Virginia. 1t is believed that it is healthi-
cr to have hogs and fowls under a house,
than cellar, besides being more musical
A pump stands in the center of the vii
lage, to which the Rachels resort with
pals on their heads. Before each front
door, and especially the country hotels, is
wash basin standing on a bench, and
scattered variously in the sand will be
found pigs and negro children, and turkeys
and white children, and chickens and
dogs
This gambling in public, with piles of
money on the table, at first greatly shock
ed me, and ! thought it could not be COM
mon; but | was forced to an opposite
conclusion. You will see it on steam
boats, in rail-ears and in bar-rooms every
where in the Gulf states, with the young
boys eagerly looking on and awaiting their
time. 1t is the result of the idleness which