New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1870-06-23

| take long to discover that Mr.. George q.
| Clarke is q man who knows how to keep q
hotel. A supper, appetizing and profuse.
| served by alert and civil walters, was fol-
lowed in due time by inviting beds in fine,
airy rooms. with everything cleanly and
wholesome to correspond. Among other
piano in the ladies' psrlor. Mr.. Clarke OBJ.
tains and deserves favorable mention from
all who have experienced the excellence of
his management. So ended the first day.
| Next morning. we spent the couple of
hours between rising and the starting Of the
excursion train in taking notes of Amite'
| The town, We learned from an intelligent
| ''native," contains about six hundred in
habitants. of whom one hundred and fifty
are voters. The streets are wide and airy,
and are never slushy, even under long con.
| tinued rains. There is a Masonic Hall and
two church buildings, Catholic and Presby-
terian. The Methodist congregation have
! no building, and meet for worship over a
| store. The place rejoices in Division of
the Sons of Temperance,s and there is
but one place where liquors are kept, be-.
sides the bar of Clarke's Hotel. The people
as rule are quiet and moral, and have a
decided tendency to church going. The
place is q point for s'shipping" cotton on the
New Orleans and Jackson Railway, and
derives it's support from the custom of the
surrounding country. Among others Amite
has the advantage of large factory for cot
ton gins, and a mandatory OF cotton bat
ting, both of which employ numerous
hands. giving quite an impetus to the local
industry. Town lots fifty feet front by one
hundred in depth, can be bought for one
hundred dollars anywhere in the town, ex-
cept on the front street, where they cost q
little more. In short, We may say OF Amite
as of other towns on the route of the New
Orleans and Jackson Railroad, that they a. 9
eligible places to live in, and will be unex-
ceptionably so whenever the projected i'm
provements on the road, in consequent re-.
duction Of fares and freights, are effected by
Colonel McComb.
These improvements and reductions the
Colonel has already promised, and he has
ordered two thousand tons OF railroad iron,
and is going at once to work, with charac.
teristic energy, to augment the rolling steck
and increase to any desirable extent the
facilities of the road. We may here say,
that during the excursion, we took occasion
ct everv stopping place to ascertain
the drift of public opinion concerning
the recent change in the dictatorship
of the road, and, without an exception,
we found the public considered the
change not only desirable, but absolutely
necessary for the well-being of the road.
Without attempting to decry or disparage
the efforts of the preceding directorshiR, all
seemed TO be of one mind in regard to the
change that has just taken place. The feel
ing uppermost in regard to the matter was
that reduction in the rates of freight was
much wanted, and that now it would be
done.
At seven o'clock on Tuesday morning the
engine snorted 8 notice that all was ready
to continue the journey. Each hurried to
his place, and soon the neigh OF the
iron horse resounded as the train bowled
merrily along. Refreshed with rest, with
rational pleasure in store, the hearts of the
crowd waxed merry within them. As the
speed increased, and the chig-chig of the
engine was played acendrandO, accompanied
by the tat-tdt of the rails, the trees, as we
whirled past them, seemed from their diff
ference Of paralax to be turning round IN
dizzy waltz to the wild music of the train.
Sometimes the weird music played IN three
quarter time, anon it changed to common
time, but still the trees responded, and
with the funereal moss hanging all over
them, seemed like ghosts dancing at a
witches festival.
Smile Encore. "The deed is done, did
you not hear q noise?n lis the contact of
vitreous receptacles, token OF courtesy be-
tween those who imbibe the contents. There
was nothing fast and furious, however; the
Warmoth, apparently happy to get rid Of
conventionalities. passed forward with two
or three others, where he remained several
hours while the strong hand OF Captain
Williams held the iron horse in rein, during
a large part of the day.
Stopping for a minute only at Tangipahoa,
we were unable to obtain very specific in
formation respecting it. 1t contains num-
Der Of good buildings, Masonic hall, sew
eral churches, one Catholic, Baptist and
Methodist. It is also a point for shipping
cotton on the railroad, and supplies the
country around with goods and necessaries.
We could not ascertain with reliability the
exact amount of population.
Passing along, we found the country
abounding with the elements OF industry,
that was evidenced by the sawmills, brick
yards, tan yards, shingle yards. ETC., all
along the route, at no great intervals for
the most part. OF course there we're parts,
of some extent, unpromising enough, but
the reclaiming of this, even, seems to US
only q question of time.
Osyka, our next stopping place, ls short
distance on the other side of the line divd-
ing the States of Louisiana and Mississippi.
This, like all the towns on the line of the
railway, is shipping" point for cotton.
It contains several churches-Catholic, and,
we believe, German Protestant. This town
also contains Masonic hall. 1t is flour
ishng place, the German element forming
large portion of its population, which is con-
stantly increasing.
After leaving Osyka behind some distance,
we arrived at Carriers Hill, which is the
point where the railroad company procures
the gravel for a large portion of the road.
The height of this hill has made necessary
an excavation for the road, deeper than
anywhere else on the route, though that Is
trifling compared with what is done in many
sections of the country. 1t gives the COM
pany a capital material for the road, for
embanking, etc. The gravel is dug up by
means of an iron scoop, very heavy and
strong. This, with the requisite machinery,
is put in motion by locomotive, which also
propels the cars after they have been
loaded.
And now the near approach to Magnolia
was hailed with hungry joy. In few
minutes we were rushed into the town as If
the locomotive was hungry too; and 10,
there stood the Central House Hotel, emil
ing on us. When men are filled with food,
bland good nature is. as rule, the conse-
ouence; so we fancied that the hotel must
be smiling because it was filled with so many
good things edible and bibable. Mr.. Gottag,
the landlord, provided the party with an
excellent breakfast to which full justice was
done by everybody, and then every man felt
better-probably from sense of having
fulfilled his duty.
The excursion was resumed and the train
once more sped on its way: The road
passed through a country abounding in
evidences that wealth abundant could be
developed by a proper application of fore
sight, energy and capital to the work. In
deed. the very road on which we we're now
progressing, and the sequences to that road,
the various improvements already made,
prove that. There was no available water
fra n mort tion within miles unon miles.