Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1878-05-25
GEORGIA LETTER.

brief sketch of this city and its surroundingsl
may be OF Interest to your many intelligent i
readers, when :penned by one Of their own
sojournng here ior few weeks. c
l Will attempt. in feeble way. TO give a de
scription of the city of Atlanta, her citizens and
the Imm -dIate surrounding country.
Atlanta Is the capital of the state of
Georgia. situated on an elevated and somewhat
broken spur of the mountains. plainly seeing IN
the west and east k-nesaw and Stone noun
tains. On the top of the last General Leonidas
Polk WAS killed by sharp shooter in the late
war. Atlanta Is II growing and thriving city of
about 30. 600 Inhabitants, some hall dozen rail-
roads c"nc"nt tratlng here. The great through
travel from the north TO New Orleans passes
through the city. The business portion OF the
city is conpsctiy and substantially built, the
buildings being all OF brick and granite. tlarge
and fine quarres OF the latter III reach oil the
place) Many oil these buildings palntial IN
size and appearance. The church buildings are
mostly very large and imposing eiitices, costing
tens OF thousands Of dollars to erect them. some
dozen or more OF them finished in the most
costly AMI tasteful manner. Hotels are large and
handsome, ths Ktnebe house being foremost.
The state house cannot be boasted of. While it |
Is massive building, and answers the purpose |
| well. nevertheless, not by any means Il hund- |
some or attractive structure. and would no. be |
| recognized by the visiting stranger Us a state
house. Indeed, il WAS not bull; for this pur- |
| pose, but, l am informed, was built for an
opera house. and purchased by til. late radical
government for state house purposes al IN cnOr-
| nous sum OF money.
There Is now III course Of construction, i'm
medic iately across the street and opposite the
state house. a massive building OF brick and
| granite for custom house. This will b. an
| imposing and handsome eIiice when finished,
| ofwhich every citizen Of Atlanta will be proud,
| Atlanta abounds in manufacturers. such us
| cotton factories IRON and rolling mills, Touring
mills, SAW and planning mills, ice factories and
in short. all the various Inanuiac,orles found In
larger cities.
Fine pine lumber is to be had here in large
quantities and oil tn. most valuable klnds-iiner
. and more valuable lumber than get west.
, and all Georgia production. Superior undresscd
, clear pine lumber Sc lis Tor $40 per 900 feet
Atlanta. like most OF American cities, covers
much ground, and can properly be called a civ
, If magnificent distances, being fully four mile.
III length in one direction and over two miles IN
snother. 1t has very many costly and beauti
iul dwelling houses, all of which are adorned
by being surrounded with forest trees. ever
, green's of various kinds, shrubbcry and flowers.
= whose names are legion. These are Il striking
feature Of Atlanta residences, from the palace
to the most humble dwelling. showing Il cul-
tured and refined people.
@ In the western limits Of the city are located
n the barracks of the L. ;. army, and is now
I, gurrsoncd by 400 soldiers. The quarters cover
o an area OF fully ten acres OF ground The officers
dwellings uw.nty- three i'll number) are large.
handsome, two-story frame buildings, NIGEL!
:. furnished, each containing twelve rooms III.
ul 81 are nr.r " St1
@ buildings, well constructed, presenting nea
# and most cleanIy appearance. They also hav,
IL large cOmmissary, hospital and laundry build
= ings, all substantially built. The whole plac,
A presents OF comfort and snug arrange
. ment peculiar only TO military quarters. Col
= j. IL. Black is now comniandant of the post
4 Street railways are constructed throughout III
# city for the convenience OF her busy denzeIs b.
II day and by night. Gas brilliantly lights up tn
n city aa coon Dad sol hides his face behind tn
= western mountains. II Is at this place that tn
l. twelfth quadrangular asscmblage of the genera
= conference of the NJ. +. Church, south. is nov
IF holding its session. In attendance on this con
W ference is the collcg" OF bishops. lao OF the
,r talented and cultured oil her ministry, with a
u equal number of laymen, amongst whom may b
r found some very able and talented men. III
n writer has the honor of being a very humbl
# Ill cmner Of this distinguished body.
ls What shall We say OF her citizens | will tr
le and he brei in what shall have TO say of th
rs good people. The great mass OF her citizens ar
,e OF two classes, the Anglo Saxon, or pur
re southerner. and the colored citizen of Africa
10 descent, the former largely in the majority
TO Though the negro is here in numbers. we mis-
~ the luton and of Erin's Isle, seen in 81
AT Louis and other western and northern cities
I, Seitcr lo yon see John thinanan. 1ndeed
"i the white American citizen and negro make
- nearly the whole population. The whites ara
10 as a mass a noble specimen OF their race ben
I'D Of gosrl size, and generally frirndly-lookr
ey men and handsome lades. They sociabl,
Is kind-hcartci people, good type and represeI
Il! tatinn of the true south"rner.
en- Their homes, manners, dress AMI general Al
n pearance gives evidence Of refinement and e'ii
US catior. Churches and school houses are n ie;
ur nre Of the city. the Culored citizen sharing all
st with his old master and former owner, as is e.
ey idenced hy massive college buildings erected
nd the cost of the state, and having an annual al
he preparation of S. 900 for their support The CO
Ike lege buildings are illed with the sable sons
Id the south, TO whom taught all the high
ds branches of learning. together with the la
e, gua-es. Many of the scholars, am told, re,
u huently the various Latin and Greek author
TO So much for rebel and democrat rule. A pee
he liar feature to be seen in Atlanta. is the gre
Is number of coiored people engaged in the IN
,m chanical arts. You lind largely represented t
m carpenters, blacksmiths, boot and shoe max er
IS merchants, piastsrers. and fewer idlcrs than II
sht seen in our western cities and villages a,
re- last, though not least the morals of her cizc
"n must be .f n mach higher character than usual
10 found in city of 30, 900 souls, for have r
hat seen Il drunken man for two weeks The cou
lai try around Atlanta is broken and exceeding
the rough looking TO Mtssourian, the land bei
my rocky and poor. the soil, if If could be so-cae
ted is red and sandy, requiring the OF lar
go, amounts of fertilizers to nak- farming proitab
to Wheat, corn, oats and cotton the princil
cts crops. Ihe wheat and oat crops. this seasO
der ar. considered failures Grasses in this porti
be of the state, are poor; consequently but lit
'ne stock is raised and that Is of the most infer
er- kind. All the cattle have yet seen appear
on be degenerated breed of the Arkansas a
ted southwest Missouri OK. The country is W
ar watercd, and abounds in fine pine lumber a
Sc superior building rock. A peculiar feature Il
Ia strikes the visiting stranger Is the large numi
tn. of small wagons drawn by one animal in shat
oil The small donkey, mule and OK are brought il
to requisition rs motive power for these yehicl
Of and they bring to market wood-an eighth OF
ber cord-fodder, chickens, ducks, eggs, ,vegetabl,
Gu girls, old women and men. The whole on
Ist- would not sell ut auction, in your city, for 5
ian Atlanta is thriving place, and destined
the become great city. A. T. w
tent
this A few weeks ago, it was announc
this in official proclamatlons from IIava
al that the rebellion in Cuba had been ST
Ter, pressed, and this announcement W
With followed by almost daily bulletins of t
api- surrender of insurgents. Now it is
be- ported that the Spanish government h
persuaded Martinez Campos to rem;
!. in the island and prosecute anotl
campaign against the rebels. and b
promised him five million pounds a
IN ten thousand recruits whercwith to
)is- it. There must be Il pretty strong re
nth nant of the Cuban republic hidd
1t somewhere in the mountains, If so mu
its mouey-a sum almost equal to the
1,. -.