The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-04-23
Fishing on ShoaI Creek.

LAUDERDALE Co., Ala,
April 18th, 1870.
!. To the Editor The HeyaId aud Mail.
9 This fishing party, composed of a
. glers from Franklin and Columbia, il
\ the latter place on the 9TH of April,
q wagon for this famous fishing plaC
q One of the original party, who did n
come, d. t., delayed their departure t
I L o'clock, p. M, and they had to dri'
I Charley, the horse, very hard in ord
+ to reach place to stay all night. Mig
{ overlook us before we drove up to Il
old General Allen place, six miles fro
! Lawrenceburg. We had so often hear
Uncle Tommy Douglass speak of til
stand as being princely place when /
droye stage to Florence many yea
ago, that we thought it must be gran
place to stop at. 1t is a brick mansion
which is unusual for this barren country
Just before we got there, we saw a yOun
man, although it was dark, walkiD
along the road in front of us, his step a
proud and lordly as if he were promen
aiding West Main Street of Columbis
where the young ladies would CRITICS
his bearing. One of our party remark
cd that he walked like Count James b
Childress. They soon overlook tn
young man, who proved to be none 9th
ar than Alfred Childress, of whom (
prominent Columbia lawyer, Tom Coch
ran, once remarked that if he had Al
| fred's GOODNESS and self~possessiOn, ant
| his brains, he would not ask Webster
Clay or Calhoun any odds in the marcel
up the hill of fame. Alfred had lefG Co
lumbia and returned to his home in
Lawrence on account of sickness
mumps, fearing that serious results
might follow if he did not do so. He is
nice young man, and will one day
be leading merchant in Columb ia. lie
was glad to see us, and told us to stop at
the old Allen stand. We reached that
place, ate supper, and were shown into
the parlOr, where strange, to relate, we
found Alfred C. sitting beside a beauti-
full young girl. One of our party, from
Franklin, said, next day, he would not
like to marry in house where biscuit
were raw on the bottom and burnt on
top, and chinches on the bed as large as
your finger nail, old enough to have bit
ten Uncle Tommy Douglass when he
drove the stage here forty years ago
This man, however, is married, and bis
wife is one of the neatest house keepers
in the State. Our party passed through
Lawrenceburg next morning, and met
the Journal family, who are clever fel~
lows, and get up a sprightly paper.
Here we got a negro boy, Lewis, to
cook for us, he being recommended to
us by Hiram Malone, Co.. Hannah
Gibbs and livery stable keeper. Col.
Gibbs said Lewis father was good man
having voted for him for Congress,
no dOubT.) The livery stable keeper
said Lewis was good for nothing else,
and he supposed he must be good to
have along in fishing party.
We passed through LorettO, a Germ an
town, just at dinner time. The church
bell is rung at twelve o'clock, and all
the Germans for miles around eat by
that bell. There are hundreds OF these
Germans in Lawrence county, and they
have done more to improve tho county
in five years than the average natives
would have done in fifty years. They
erect neat and handsome cottages, clear
up the ground, fix pp the fences, plant
out orchards, manure the soil, and in ev-
cry way improve and civilize the coun-
try. They are Catholics, and erect a
church in every neighborbood, and have
their priest. The natives, at least some
of them, are jealous of the Germans, and
talk against theua, No wonder, for their
own thriitlessness and laziness are
brought into prominence by contrast
with the thrift, industry and homely
virtues of the virtues of the Germans.
This contract Is seen by the traveller;
there is the tumble-down barn and
fence, rickety gate, dirt chimney, log
house, with the chinks out, razOr-back
hogs, yard full of cur-dogs, farms worn
out and grown up with bushes, house
full of children with uncombed, white
heads-all these denote unmisitak ably
tie farther, and you see handsome cot
tage, neatly painted, nice fence and
gate in front, good barn, sleek horses and
cattle, briers cut out of fence corners,
piles of manure all over the gardens and
felds-these indicate the presence of
German. Every man who desires the
prosperity of his country, and the recla-
nation of these barren wastes, should
encourage the Immigration of Germans.
And if the colored people Of Maury
county emigrate to Kansas in such num-
bers as to retard and iniure - farming
interest OFF,
4N'0AeN ,he county, our farmers should
supply their places with Germans. SO
long as the negroes stay with us, we
should give them work and help them
all we can, but if they aOiU leave, it
should be no cause for encouragement,
for their places can be supplied by the
Germans, the best immigrants in the
world to enrich a country and make
good citizens. 1t would be worth mill
lions of dollars to the State if 100, 900
Germans could be induced to buy
up the ban rem and now unproductive
lands of Lawrence, Lewis, Wayne, Per
ry and Hickman counties, and bring
them to high state of fertility, which
they would be sure to do, if it is possiN
bic.
But have digressed; this was intends
ed merely to be short history OF our
fishing trip. The party arrived here,
and have been finely treated by Mr..
Kilburn, proprietor of this property,
and others. A party OF anglers, Messrs.
Banks, Brown and others, stayed here
two days, after having fine luck, and
then went to the mouth in their canoes,
which they brought with them. They
are from Florence. Brown went off in
a sad mood, for an OLD SOW turned his
Jug over and broke it. Saturday even
ing Capt. Hilarious Andrews, of Column
bia, Joined us, and brought with him a
cook, Hugh. They came by rail. FRI
day it rained all day, but we fished IN
der umbrellas. But 1 must describe
this famous fishing place. Wilson built
large cotton factory. of about eighty
looms, here many years ago. He was
murdered during the war by bush
whackers. The factory was bought by
Baugh, Kennedy 4 Co., who sent to
England and purchased the best ma