Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1874-07-03
TWO ALABAMA TOWNS.
Tuseumbla and Deeatur-A Sad Story
Of the War-A Brave Soldier
and his Monument.
Market 0YeFt-The Two Aspects OF
DecatHr-EVideBce Of Progress
i've RegeHerati0n-Etc.

/ From our Special Correspondent
! DECATUR, ALA, July l. 1874 -Deca-
( tur presents two aspects to a good hu-
mOFed traveler-One, Of h0ar antiquity;
the other, of progressive renovation.
Tuscumbia, on the contrary, is evil
{ deauy much older than HeTculaneum
or Pompeii, and iy buried deeper be-
meath the seori8 and ashes of war and
Reconstruction" than the house Of PHI
1 ny. There are private residences in des-
olRte Tuscumbia that cost twenty thou
sand dOIlars-and even forty thousand
in gold. There builders are beggars, CT
went down to the grave in poverty.
Now and then one still encounters
relic of the old aristOcracy Of cotton
planters, shUffiing in slippered feet and
threadbare fnery along the shady side
of village-street. He wears a look of
ineXpressible WEAKNESS, while a ragged
African, redOlent of civil rights and
reeking with OdOrOUs exudations of vul-
gar vanity, jOsties Tudely the former
master Of hundreds Of his race. Nery
certainly decency, ana civilization, and
intelligence, snd good morals, have
gained naught because Of social and
moral results OF the war between the
States. Poor, very poor were the peo-
pie when Radicalism, to reprOdGca
union, struck down society, aud law
and order, and progressive intelligence,
and savages became the cOuntTy's mas
ters. There have been excellent schools
In Tnscumbia, but these were closed;
and only recently, through the effJrts
Of Dr.. Abernathy and others, q school
building has been erected that cost If
teen thousand dollars. A proper teacher
is now wanted This institution bears
the name Of famous Confederate brig
adier-general who had Just left West
Point when hOstilities were inau-
gurated. A major general, now
Of West POiD5, ordered the
young hero TO aSsan a battery at
Chickamauga with an inadequate at
lacking column. The younger officer
protested against the absurd movement.
"Are you a coward p" asked the barba-
risn commander. There was no answer.
A regiment was destroyed, aud the
bravest, truest son of the south that fell
in the war was literally riddled with
bullets, This tasteful school-building,
endowed With ten thousand dollars by
the hero's father, and occupying the
site OF the old homestead where the
yOu8g soldier was born and the
fathers heart was broken, is his OUly
monument. 1t is worthy Of him. But
began this letter to tel OF
DECATUR,
once a famous interior town. Then its
people were rich, its homes attractive,
its children educated and women beau
tiful. Now the Older portion of the an
cient town is in ruins. The sign-bOards,
"FOr Rent,n have rOtted and fallen to
the broken, rude pavements, and an
cient rookeries have dingy, reddish
braun raaat darfKraf from rod
soil that has been driven into each crew
ice by rude blasts of the fiercest poverty.
Gardens of Eden still bloom in the
midst Of these old, abandoned homes of [
ancient opulence. Perfumes of Jasss-
mine burden the winds that toy among
roses and myrUes, and there were 1
pretty schoOi-girls with bare feet, I
IN bOme-spun dresses and hOme-spun I
satchels on their arms, tripping over 1
the broken hagatones. They eyed me I
very cuTiously. A stranger is rarely 4
seen, l am persuaded, in these modern .
days of modern Radical blessedncss in /
government, in the ancient by-ways of /
this dilapidated district Of Decatur. /
There stands the Old hotel not far from (
the river shore. Land was cheap and /
rooms as capaciOus as generosity and /
hospitality were b0undless when that /
oiu AdNIin AAnA sljAtttN ALS oA1 pCAboo I
rooms over the hillside that is mirrored |
in the sparkling depths of the TeREes-
see. The old bank building, with great, 1
heavy sandstone DOric pillars, looks .
down like the pyramids upon forty CEN /
turtles Of desolatOn wrought in
FOUR YEARS OF MADNESS.
The main street Of theaueient town runs .
nearly east and west, and when / saun-
tered along the shaded eastern sidewalk 1
at eight O'Clock in the morning, the sun .
was already shining fiercely, and the 1
people that were Out OF bed were on this |
shaded side Of the broad highway. A .
butcher was smashing the bones in .
tOugh-looking muttOn-chOps, a broken /
down ox-Wagon was careened, and |
within was the sleeping negro driver. /
His oxen were lying down quietly in /
he shade, while little white boy
asked me, anxiOusly enough, II / knew /
who would mend the broken wagon /
wheel. Here and there, forth from lit I
tie rusty dry-goods' stores, Hebrew
faces peered forth, and striped breeches
and rusty dimity were rapidly suspend
ed about the signboards 10 fiutter in the
winds through the sultry summer day.