Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-04-07


one, and the matters coming before the con-
vention were adjusted generally TO the
satisfaction of those interested. Previ-
GUS to the adjournment, the Hon. John
Screven, Mayor of the city and President |
of the Atlantic and Gulf railroad, gave
the delegates a reception at the Screven
House, at which there was ga feast |
of reason and flow of wine. Short, |
pihy and telling speeches were |
made by number of gentlemen, among
whom were Mayor Screven, Mr. Erastus 4
Brooks, of the New York Express, MIR. |
A. A. Barnes, of the Memphis and Char !
lesion Railroad, Mr.. G. D. Owens, of the |
Atlantic and Gulf Railroad, and Mr.. Ed
ward Vernon, editor of the National
RdiLlOGy Guide, and others whose nan ss
escape me at the moment. Il was mo
agreeable reunion, and inspired the dele
gates with much better opinion of Sa-
vannsh than they would Otherwise have
entertained. The weather has been SO
gloomy and forbidding that themembers
of the convention got to see but little of
Savannah and its people, and this ect of
hospitality sent them off in the best pos
sible humor. Many of the delegates are
| already on their way home, and others
will leave tonight, while quite number
will start 10 an hour or 80 on an excur-
| sion to Florida. e ~.aa..
Savannah is beautiful city, especially
the newer portions, and it is matter of !,
regret that there could not have been one
bright and beautiful day in which the
| men from the far off prairies and
the North, could have Tlsited- with their
ladies the objects of interest in and
around the city. In an article in Ap-
pJetOn'S Journal, descriptive of the city,
Col W. T. Thompson, says: SIN its
| general plan, Savannah is universally con-
coded to be one of the handsomest of
the American cities; and in view of its
| antiquity" having been settled by Gen.
Oglethorpe, the founder of the colony of
Georgia, in 1888, 'tand the fact that its
founders were for the most part poor ref
ugees, seeking home in the wilderness
among hostile ssvsges, it is matter of
surprise that they should have adopted
system at once so unique, practical and
tasteful. The streets-running near Y
east and west and north and south,
and crossing at right iangles-are of va
rious widths the very wide streets, which
run east and west, being alternated with
parallel narrower streets, and each block
intersected with lanes twenty two and a.
half in width. The streets running
| north and south are of nearly uniform
width; every alternate street passing
on either side of small public squares or
plszss, varying from one ard a-half to
three acres in extent, which are bounded
on the north and south by the narrower
streets, and intersected in the centre also
by wide street. These plazas-twenty-
four in number, located at equal distances
through the city, handsomely enclosed,
laid out in walks, and planted with the
| evergreen and ornamental trees of the
South, are among the distinguishing
| features of Savannah, and in the spring
and summer months, when they are car
| peted with grass, and the trees and shrub
berry are in full flower and foliage, afford
delightful, shady walks and play -greunds
| for the juveniles, while they are not only
ornamental, but conducive=to general
health by the free ventilation which they
afford. They have well been called ''The
lungs of the city. "" An impression has
prevailed pretty generally that the purpose
of these squares was to promote the COM
fort and health of the city-and they
certainly do that now; but it appears that
retreat for The settlers in the sur
rounding country, from the attacks
| of hostile Indians Mr.. Francis
Moore wrote in 1886, three years
| after the first settlements in Savannah,
that the use of this is, in case war
should happen, the villages without may
have places in town to bring their cattles
and families into for refuge, and for that
purpose there is 3 square left in every
ward, big enough for the outwards to en-
camp i'm Sin addition 10
these old camping grounds-maDy
OF which were occupied for
the same purpose by Gen. Sherman's
troops, during their occupation of the
city" CONTINUES Col. Thompson, ga pub
lie park, comprising some ten acres,
(since increased TO thirty acres), called
Forsyth Place, was a few years since,
laid out q considerable distance south of
the city limits. 1t is, however, now BE-
ing rapidly enclosed by buildings, and
will in a short time be the centre one of
the finest and most populous portions of
the city. Many of the original pine trees
were left standing on the grounds, which !
are laid out in serpentine walks, and Or |
namented with evergreens and towering |
trees and shrubbery. In the centre is a |
handsome fountain, after the model of |
that in the Place de Concorde in Paris, !
and which is supplied with water from |
the city waterworks. The lofty pines |
still standing, with the ornamental trees,
afford grateful shade; while the beauti-
full shelled walks, the luxurisnt grass, the
fragrant flowers, and the FLASHING foun- !
tain, make Forsyth Place delightful re-
treat from the noise, hustle, dust, aud |
heat of the city. Among the peculiar |
features of Savannah which command |
the admiration of strangers, are the wide |
ness of the principal streets, abouuding |
with shade trees, and the flower gar |
dens which, in the portions of the city !
allotted to private residences, are at |
tached to almost every house. Or |
namental trees of various species, mostly
evergreens, occupy the public squares,
and stud the sidewalks in all the princi-
pal thoroughfares; while the gardens
abound in ornamental shrubbery and
flowers of every variety Conspicuous
among the former are the orange-tree.
with its fragrant blossoms and golden |
fruit in their season; the magnolia, the
banana, which also bears its fruit, the
bay, the cape myrtle, the stately palmet-
to, the olive, the Gr6Or vitae, the flower |
ing oleander and the pomegranste. Flow.
ersare cultivated in the open air; many
choice varieties queen among them al, the |
beautiful CaDlelio Japonica, which |
t1ourishes here in greatest perfection, the
shrub growing to a height of twelve to |
fifteen feet-blooming in mid-winter. At
all seasons, Savannah is literally embow-
cred in shrubbery, and in the early spring
months, when the ANIMALS resume their
foliage, and the evergreens shed their
darker winter dress for the delicate green
of the new growth, the aspect of the
city is truly novel and beautiful, Justly
emitting it to the appropriate SO6riQuet
by which it has long been known, far and
wide, of the Forest City, The I'M
propitious weather prevented only few
of the more adventurous from seeing the
beauties of the Forest City, but as it is
they will carry with them many a plea
SAINT recollection of Savannah.
Bull street is the Boulevard of Savsn-
nah. In the centre of one of the squares
-, 4, -. L i