Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1875-09-28
THE COUNTY HOTEL:
The brandy aud Watering place ef
shelby County,.

clever country gentleman has lately
Issued a pamphlet defending the Poor
house ring and denouncing the LEDGER
and its reporter, who gave to the public
the first published report Of tho curious
doings of that mysterious. institution,
called for mere amusement the County
P~oorhouse. Mr.. Brooks, j. P, gets a
snug salary Of fifty dollars per month
for doing comparatively rothing, and
this amounts ground from the people to
pay a county justice who is called Chair
man Of the Poor-house Commissioners.
He has for his commissioned Esquires
Herring, who, like himself, resides in the
country, and Elliott, who resides in this
city, and these latter gentlemen get
twenty dollars per month salary.
Esquire Brooks is the autocrat who lords
it over the Poor-house; his word is law
with the superintendent and other m
ployes who are so numerous around this
county elephant, called a Poor-house.
1t was in evidence before the recent in
vestigatiug committee that persons had
been in the habit of visiting the Poor
house as guests and staying there days
and weeks, all of which the unfortunate
county Of Shelby has to pay for. We
state now that the POor-house is an ele-
giant hotel, where Chairman Brooks and
his friends get free dinners on Sundays,
and other days, il necessary. 1t is a
kind Of brandyand watering place which
a crowd of people visit often to enjoy
themselves at the expense of the county.
1t is not unusual for a number Of ladies
and gentlemen residing in the country
adjacent to the Poor-house to visit that
institution, or rather pay a visit to its
officials. A big dinner, fit for a Roman
gourmand, is prepared and the county
foots the bill. Let US give a case in
point. When our reporter, accompanied
by Esquires Miller, Quigley and Poor
house commissioner Esquire Elliott, Wis
tied the Poor-house for the purpose of
investigating the Beatty scandal, quite a
party Of visitors was found at the place.
There was the chairman OF the Poor.house
commissioners Esquire G. L. Brooks,
his brother, Mr.. Nc Brooks, Clerk of the
Bartlett Court, hat fifth wheel to the
judicial wagon of Shelby county; Mr..
Ben Reaves, Of Bartlett, Capt. Die Ma
son, Colonel Mason and three or four
other gentlemen whom our reporter fails
10 remember. Quite a number of ladies
and children also graced with their pres
ence the grounds Of the institution. The
front lot looked like a livery stable or
wagon-yard, as horses were picketed all
around. 1t vas mysteriously limited to
our reporter before leaving the city
on his suggesting that it would be well
to take something along, that there was
plenty Of fine whisky at the Poor-house,
and such a precaution was unnecessary.
This hint given by commissioner Esquire
Elliott our reporter. found to be correct
in every particular. enthusiastically,
if not o%ftener, during the Investigation
all hands would adjourn to the drug
Office and take a smile and repeat the
smile as often as desirable. Our reporter
never let a man take o smile without be.
ing at his elbow. The supply of fine
whisky paid for by the county and in
tended for the inmates in cases Of sick
ness was dished out lavishly to visitors.
A splendid dinner, not equsled at Gas.
tons or at the hotels of the city, was pre-
pared for the guests, numbering about
twenty. All kinds Of vegetables,
prepared by a French cook, and
four different kinds of meat,
barbecued, roast, boiled, etc, steamed
on the superintendent table. 1t was a
meal that a Greek or Roman epicure
would have relished, and must have cost
at least thirty dollars. This is not an
unusual occurrence at the Poor-house,
and as the people have to pay for it, it
may as well be known first as last. We
beg leave to inform Esquire Brooks, the
autocratic Chairman of the County
Poor-houss Commissioners, that all this
is wrong, and that a poor-house is not q
brandy and watering place or hotel to
feed visitors free Of charge. Our re-
porter, with a sigh over the weakness Of
poor human nature, saw at a glance, the
rock that former investigating commit
tees split on where Bartlett Circuit
Court Grand Juries caved and recon-,
mended en- advance of S25 per month to
the salary Of the superintendent where
the whitewash was furnished in q solid
and liquid fern by the Poor-house man.
agement, and it might be thought impo
lite to accept the splendid Inequalities o
a poor-house and then expose its domes
tic economy. But our reporter wen
out there on duty-to write up every
thing and show the people Of Shelby
county. who pay over $4,000 pei
annum for this elephant, what q curious
thing a public institution may becom,
under the fostering care Of even The
Chairman Of the Poor-house Commits
sionera, Esquire c. l.. Brooks.
A. ".
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" YOU WISH TO DRESS WELL, 70 to A
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