The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1876-07-06
TRIP TO CHARLESTON.
The Crops along the Route.-Fort Moul.
trie Centennial.

trie Centennial.
Yielding to our propensity for sight.
seeing and our desire and fondness fol
uniting with our people in their efforts
to perpetuate the memories of and tc
increase the reverence and respect fol
occasions like that of the Fort Moultrie
victory one hundred years ago, we, to.
gether with two or three Others of oul
town and county, took our departure on
Monday morning for Charleston to wit.
ness the celebration of the centennial Of
that battle, which took place on the 28th
June, 1776.
Before giving you an account of the
celebration, however, we will devote some
attention to our observations as to the
condition of the crops along the line Of
the Greenville and Columbia Railroad
knowing that your readers are interested
more directly in agricultural news. As
we passed along through the country be.
tween Belton and Ninety Six, we were
pleased to see the corn and cotton crops
looking well, the only fault being in the
low state of cultivation. They needed
the plow more particularly, but no doubt
this neglect is more the result of the
heavy rains than any other cause. After
we passed Ninety Six and came into the
vicinity of the Saluda River, we were
panied to see such an almost total de-
struction of the corn crop, and in many
places the cotton crop also, the result Of
the recent great freshet. We have never
before seen such promising prospects
SO utterly blighted. In many instances
the corn had grown to the height of four
and five feet, but the River and other
smaller streams had been swollen to such
m extent that nearly the whole crop in
the bottom lands had been completely
inundated, and being kept in this condi-
ton several days, of course the crop is a
total loss. After we left the Saluda bot
toms and came into those of Broad River,
we observed the same destruction along
the course of that stream, and in some
cases it was even worse than in the Sa-
luda bottoms. But we were pleased to
see the farmers, where the ground had
sufficiently dried, busily engaged in re-
planting, Notwithstanding the lateness Of
the season. The cotton crop in this Sec
ton, though small one, looked better
and showed higher state of cultivation
than that above Ninety Six. The small
grain crop along the road is, with the
exception of few fields of spring oats,
all harvested, but is too often seen still
standing in the shock.
1t will be seen that Anderson and ad-
joining counties are not the only ones
that have suffered from the devastating
effects of this terrible freshet, but the
suffering is almostif not equally as severe
in the lower countless: But, like their
brethren along the Saluda and Broad
Rivers, we hope to see them accept the
consequences of this food as cheerfully
as their natures will allow, and soon
again have fourishing and promising
crops. We can say this much, however,
to the credit of the farmers of Anderson
County, throughout our whole trip we
failed to see any crops that will compare
fayorably with those of our own farmers,
where they have not been destroyed by
the freshet.
AS to the condition of the crops below
Columbia, we can say but little, as we
passed through that section at night;
but, judging from what we could see by
the light of the moon and stars, we con-
clude that the crops are few, and that
that region is inhabited principally by
frogs and mosquitoes.
When we arrived in Charleston on
Tuesday morning, we found everything
and everybody in great hurrah-hack-
men, newsboys, bootblacks, hotel-keepers
lin fact, everybody, old and young,
were rushing to and fro, and seemed to
consider every second of time as valua-
BILE. Our train had brought about five or
six hundred passengers, and it required
some time for us to secure conveyance to
our destination. When we reached the
main portion of the city, we found the
same hurry and hustle with which we
were met at the depot, except that it was
here confined principally to the managers
and clerks of the hotels, which were then
becoming crowded. Every train and
vessel that arrived during the day and
night brought hundreds of visitors, and
by Wednesday morning Charleston was
never before so crowded. The hotels
and private boarding houses were unable
to accommodate the visitors-in many
instances their parlors and piazzas being
used for spreading beds-and hundreds
were compelled to seek shelter under
the roof of private citizens. The mill
tary companies of the city were kept
busy from Tuesday to Wednesday morn
ing in receiving and welcoming the Wis
iting companies from the neighboring
cities, for whom accommodations had
been previously provided.
Early Tuesday morning the decora-
ton of the houses and streets began,
especially along the route the procession
was to pass the following day. The
tall and handsome buildings were deco
rated from bottom to top with evergreens,
Qo,s oe