Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-06-04
MISSISSIPPI.
BsuIah, PrsHlIos and NaBslsOh-A hHFdsT
and a Mystery,

Editors AppeGl-We arrived at Beu-
lab about sun-dOWn, and must ac-
knowledge that 1 was surprised to see
the county site of Bolivar county 50
badly situated. 1t is in low place,
with branches running through it in
different directions, necessitating the
keeping I'D Of two or three bridges in
the town, Pools OF stagnant water
were to be seen in several places, and
made up my mind that there was
but one class much benefited by
locating the town there, and that class
are the doctors, who, l think, have
all the work they can do, The locality
of the town, however, does not keep
good citizens away, for am sure /
met several Of that class, and ] am
much indebted to the following
gentlemen: Dr.. Shelby, Mr.. William
Shelby, Phil. II. Lee, and R. NJ.
Hardy, all of whom hope to meet
again and reciprOcate tsvOrs. I left
the last-named place about 8 O'Clock
Wednesday morning for Prentice,
going down the levee on the bank Of
Beulah Lake, where i had q good Op-
pOTtunity to examine it (the levee),
which / found TO be very deficient in
many places, and unless these partial
breaks are repaired before the next
high water, 1 think a large
portion of Bolivar county viii
be inundated: il is q certainty if the
waters get even as high as they have
been this year. The crops in that
portion Of the county passed through
are by no means fiattering. The corn
an many places is very fine, at least
the best we have seen in our travels,
while in other places it looks small.
This cotton is backward and is gene
rally in a very bad condition, the
fields looking more like pastures than
c0ttOu fields, heard several farmers
cOmplaining about the labor, saying
the negroes were not working very
SVeIl. which / am satisfied is true. As
4 was going from Beulah to Prentice
[ saw several squads idllng away
their time, and some even asleep
their mule and plOW by them. /
arrived 1T the latter place about noon
the same day and made my first trip
across the great Father Of Waters in
a skiff; / landed at Napoleon about
one O'Clock and found il very warm
and extremely dull, and presented
the appearance Of a town that expect
I'd TO hand in its checks the next over
fiOw. though the residents there don't
seem 10 be uneasy in that respect. l
met several gentlemen there, and
among them Mr.. John p. Singleton,
who gave me an account Of very
foul murder that was committed in
that town on last Sunday night, about
u O'Clock, by some unknown villain,
The unfortunate victim was COlOred
woman by the name OF Feely Smith,
who lived in the western portion OF
Ehe town, and was said to be q peace
able, hard-WOrking woman. She was
on the streets Sunday night, with
several Others Of her color, and went
home as usual; but on Monday morn
ing her house was shut up, and con-
tinued so until about Y o'clock, when
some person passing by went IN the
house and found the woman dead, hay.
ing received the contents Of a pistol
through her head. A jury was at once
summoned and many persons were
brought before them and examined,
but no clue to the perpetrator Of the
deed could be found, and the jury rem
dgred a verdict that she came to her
death by a pistol shot in the hands OF
some unknown party. 8.