Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1877-07-14
The Annual Meeting of the Tenmes-
see Press Association.

| Il and Y, the regular annual meet
ing of the Tennessee Press Associ
alton was held at Clarksville. There
was a fair attendance of the mem
bership from all sections of the State
also delegations from the Kentucky
Press Association, and from the
! Georgia Press, regularly cOmmiSS
iOned to visit us. Since the Organi
zatiOn of the Association sessions
have been held at various places in
| the State, butnever, anywhere, have
| the representatives of this industry
been more cordially received or roy.
ally entertained than by the refined
cultivated, generous, liberal and
high-tOned people Of Clarksville
The high appreciation shown and
the delicate tact with which it was
done, made some of the best press
men Of our Association question
if our profession, live, laborious,
brave and true as it unquestion-
ably is, comes fully up to the
high standard demanded by the en-
lightened and refined public senti-
ment of our people. The honors,
the courtesies, and the kindness eX-
tended with such lavish hands by the
people of ClarksVille the princely
hOspilalities of this peerless little
city by the Cumberland, told in un-
mistakable accents what Tennessee
ans expect to find in the persons and
characters of their editors. Coming
as they did from a community with
no superior and scarcely an equal on
the continent, we receive them as
the highest compliment that could
be paid to the past and present of the
Tennessee Press. The reception
speech was made by Hon. GustaVus
a. Henry-E'the old man eloquent
who in former years was known
as the eagle Orator of Tennessee, -
and the last of that noble, matchleSs
trio of old Whig leaders: Henry, OF
Montgomery; Haskell, of Madison,
and Sargent S. Prentiss, of Missis-
sippi. Though retired from public
life to the sacred precincts of dOmes-
tic and social privacy, the proud old
Titan still towers amongst his fell
lows,
''As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form,
Swells from the vale and midway leaves the
Though round its breast the rolling clouds
are spread,
Eternal sunshine settles on its head.
The response by the President, DIR.
r. NJ. Dickinson, of Paris, was beau
tifully conceived and gracefully ex-
pressed. Mrs. Nettie Power Hous-
ton Bringhurst, daughter of the il
lustriOus old hero of San Jacinto and
President of the Republic of Texas,
read her chaSte and beautiful poem,
prepared for the occasion and Gen.
Handy followed with an elegant
This comprised the public proceed
ings.
Clarksville is a place of eight or
ten thousand inhabitants. The first
settlement made west of the noun
tainS in Tennessee, is said to have
been made at the mouth of a little
river which flows into the Cumber-
land at this place. The location is
elevated and commanding, as it Oc-
cupies a number Of lofty hills, rock
ribbed, tree-crOWned and covered
with bluegrass sod, on the East
bank of the river. The business
houses, public buildings and most of
the private residences are built OF
brick or stone. Some Of the latter
are truly palatial and surrounded
with grounds, adorned with flowers,
trees and shrubbery. The streets
macadamiZed and most of them
planted with shade trees, so well
grown that the sunshine is excluded
almost entirely. We have travelled
over a good deal of the inhabited
world, but do not recall a more pleas
ant spot than ClarksVille. Chief am
Ongst her attractive public features
are the churches. The new EpiScO-
pal church, built of stone at a cost
of $40, 600, and rapidly approaching
completion, will be, when finished,
the finest building in the city. The
Presbyterians are also erecting a
very handsome new brick church.
The lofty spires of these buildings
can be seen for many miles in any
direction from the city.
Greenwood Cemetery, some two
miles south of the city, a new enter
prise started some three years ago
by private subscription, is a beau
tifu1 and tasty place, handsomely
laid out, elegantly adorned and
well kept. 1t compares favorably
with other cemeteries supported
by much larger cities, and reflects the
highest credit upon the taste, enter
prise, culture and public spirit of the
community.
Dunbar's Cave, four miles east of
the city, is a large cavern which en-
ters the breast of a bold, rocky cliff,
and is said to extend four and a halt
miles into the earth. We walked,
slipped, slid, crept and climbed in
over the wet and slippery floor about
four hundred yards, and suppOsing
the other four and a quarter miles
was about like we had come over,
and knowing we did MT want to eX-
plOre it if it was, turned back. The
outside surroundings of the cave are
quite picturesque and what novel
writers usually designate "romapti-
cally beautiful Our recolleetions
of some Of those surroundings and
other cOncOlnitants and cOmming-
lings, though a trifle vague, perhaps,
are very pleasant.
The business of fClarksville is based
on her chief products, tobacco and
wheat. In former years as much
as twenty-five thousand hOgsheads
of the former were shipped annual
! ly by the river, but since the era
Of railroads she handles some fif
| teen thousand, worth say $1,000, 900
The flour trade is very large, and
a heavy business is done in hay
stock, grain, &c. Her business
men are live, energetic and enter
prising and withal Ito talk shop a
little) the most liberal advertisers
in the State. Her finances are rep.
resented by three or four banks.
In literature there are two large
handsome, well printed weekly pa
pers, the Chronicle and Tobacco
Leaf. The Southern University anC
a number of fother schools and cole
ges, male and female; a highly oul
tiyated and talented pulpit, and by
odds the ablest bar of any interior
town In the State. eve have seer
the ClarksVille bar in its norma
state-interviewed the colossus il
his native Jungle, so to speak).
The entertainment closed with 6
GRAND banquet and ball, given by th'
9eOple of Clarksville to their guests
! at the Southern Hotel, on the even