The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1870-03-15
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eler meats, alter crossing from AlabstnRa
into Mississippi by ran. from Selma. is
the thsifty littls city of Meridian; SO
memorable in many respects during the
war. Here the. Mobile and Ohio Rail-
road crosses the Selma and Vicksburg
road, while the Meridian and Chatta-
nooga road runs Northeast from Me-
ridian, and another Southwestern road
is projected to New Orleans. This is the
Atlanta of the Southwest. The ropn-
lation cannot be more than couple of
thousand, and an hours stroll takes one
all round and about the town; but the
hustle and business of the town is truly
wonderful.
The chief business street runs parallel
to the Vicksburg Railroad, and distant
from it just the width of q square, uni
versally here called block. This space,
that some day is to. be block or series
of blocks of buildings, is now occupied
by eight brick machines, each turning
out 5000 bricks daily. Some beautiful
brick buildings have already been erected
elsewhere in town, from bricks made
here. The excavations of these brick
yards will soon be the cellars of fne
ranges of buildings. This is internal
improvements indeed.
Rambling through these brick yards
this morning, was attracted to small
cluster of men on the street, in the midst
of whom was a man haranguing most
vociferously, extolling his patent soap.
Farther on was another crowd, where
another patentee was whirling the bal
anoe-wheel of huge washing machine
in which were submerged dozen dirty
shirts, which he had bet he could wash
beautifully in five minutes; and he did
it too. Across the street, and little
higher up town, was third advocate of
patents pushing q wheeled plow in the
gutter, near the sidewalk, and proving
practically, that by his plow an amount
of garden work could be easily done in
one day, that the same hand could not
do with hoe or spade in week.
Presently music was heard, and, turn
ing the corner, saw four men standing
on some dry goods boxes; three of them
would play and sing comic songs, such
as 'Shoo Fly" Georgia Beans" "The
Little Gal in Blue" &C., and occasional
ly, between the tunes, sharp-witted
little fellow, who said he lived anywhere
West of Nashville and East of Memphis,
would amuse the crowd by narrating tho
wonderful cures effected all over the
world by his electric OIL" Similar ex-
hibitions are said to be of common oc-
currence, and are one of the many evil
dences of the life of the place.
To-day the town is filled with x-wag-
gons, drawn by one, two, three, or even
four yoke of oxen. Each driver has q
whip, with staff about seven feet long.
and thong three feet longer, and as
they move about with constant popping
and mournful commands to tho patient
team, they create a dismal impression,
only relieved by the constant changing of
the triangle and the noise Of the hammer.
Here. there and everywhere new
houses are going up, and in majority
VI luStauCeS Oh leaSeO lOLS. IneSo lOtS
are owned by an old settler, as most
vacant village lots are, who refuses to
sell, but leases to any and everybody on
the following terms: The lot is valued,
and eight per cent. on that amount is
annually paid by the lessee as rent; he
erects his building, and pays this same
annual rent for ten years from date of
lease. At the end of ten years the land
is to be revalued as though it were then
as nova vacant lot. Another eight
per cent is levied, and the same con-
tinues ten years longer. This continued
releasing every decade is to be repeated
for ninety-nine years, when the lease
ends, unless previously rendered null by
failure to settle upon the price of the
re-assessed lot at the expiration of any
decade. In this event, if neither the
parties concerned, nor arbitrators can
adjust the assessment, the lot with all the
improvements reverts to the owner. If
this does not become the source of life
long litigation in the future, it will be
wonderful.
The countrv aroun5 Meridion 10 Aot