The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1880-06-01
I1pREssIoSs OF rae SOUTH.
A Chat with Judse Cochran About his
Trip 70 Charleston.


his residence on the Island the other
evening, and put him on the inquisitorial
rack, which no well regulated reporter is
without nowadays The Judge was rather
tough, and stood the pressure Of the screws
with spartan frmness, but being only
human, he finally suecumbed To the tor
ture and became communicative.
"What were your general impressions
in regard 70 social and business Lie in the
south7" we inquired.
"Well," said the object OF the inquisi-
ton, I'VE went by what Is known AZ the
Southern Coast Line, which took US
through Washington City, Petersburg and
FredericksburHh, Virginia, and Whining.
ton, North Carolina, to Charleston. Al
along the route, or at least the latter hall
of il, the country Is original sea bed, level
and syampy, and either barren or over
grown with wilderness. A good part OF
The road Is built upon trestles, with
sTamps beneath. The air is literally
laden with the fragrance OF blooming mag
uelias, but noticed that where the mag
nolia grows luxuiantly and Is indigenous,
| little else will grow"
"Are the inhabitants as busting peo'
pie as onrs?"
"Not by any means so, Nearly the ex:
elusive industry Of the section We trayersed
was gathering sap from the pine trees,
about the only trees that grow there, and
manufacturing turpentine from II. At one
of the stations asked man what priee
lbe could get for his turpentine after al
his trouble In collecting the sap and con
yerting II into the marketable fluid. de
aid he got 81 70 barrel. asked another
man what prices land commanded, With
ordinary improvements, and he told me II
would average s. an acre.
With Charleston, and the people there
both Judge Cochran and Mrs. Cochran
who accompanied him, were well pleased
The people, he says, are cordial and polite
as can be, and seem TO be, 10 degree, free
from sectional hatred. Still they show
that they have not forgotten the war, OF
lis results, and show disposition 10 men
ton it, II without bitterness, yet in q re
proschfnl way.
"Charleston," he said, "has fine har'
Dor, and with enterprise and capital might
be made thriving city; butt has not the
country q bout It 10 attract the class OF people
who would its prosperity. The en-
terprising business men there now are
German Jews, or SoTtherneTs, or else de
scendants OF persons who came irom the
North. The cotton business is large In
terest. Mr.. Lew Good, ]. Il. Downs
partner, resides in Charleston, and is OPP
Grating in cotton and rice extensively,
We saw several fields Of rice, but business
seemed TO be so mesgre compared TO ii
activity and Importance with US that one
could not help noticing 1t"
"Are there any factories there?"
1.-THE most important mills noticed
were the extensive fertilizer factories re
Gently constructed. They have discover
ed large deposits OF fossil fish and othel
materials rich in the elements that i'm
prove the soil, and are crushing them
into powder and selling them for man
ure. We visited one Of the beds, and
member Of our party, Rev. Francis Lob
dell, Of New York, picked up nastodor
tooth and section OF the vertebra. Ate
reaching home got q postal from hin
saying the tooth weighed thirteen anC
alfpounds, and measured eleven and
hall inches in length. The yerte6ra wa
seventeen inches in circumference"
Pine and cypress are the principle kind
OF timber, the Judge says. Cypress is valu
able for railroad ties, as 1t is almost i'm
peryious to decay. 1t il also used To-
shingles and cooper.stuf.
"What about politics? Are cur idea
concerning the situation down there
about right?" We asked. .
"Well, yes. met very few Republi
cans, and they were not at all frank II
stating 1t. They all said they could no
prosper in business and be active Repub
iicans, or express their views freely unlesI
they conceded with those Of the majority
Negroes are largely in the majority, anC
the white people claim that II they wert
permitted TO rule they would have bat
state OF affairs. So they don't permit then
to, and l don't believe they intend to
They are perfectly frank in expressing
their views, but do not show disposition
TO talk freely with Northerners. A mar
at Wilmington, n. O., told me that in hi
opinion the negroes are undoubtedly de
generating as race. They live in re
voting and beastly way, in seine respects
and their ideas OF liberty are that they arr
at liberty to do ashley please with wha
they consider their own. NameleSs crlmei
are said TO be common among them, and
1t is represented that their condition Is in
comparably worse than in the days o.
slavery. The course OF legislation Is &c
restore slavery as far as prasticable
In Arkansas they have q law thai
any man who steals an ear oil corn can be
declared guilty OF grand larceny, and sent
so States prison, and then be contracted
out to labor for private persons during his
term OF confinement. And these laws
discriminate against those counties in
which negroes are in majority in every
way. For instance, in certain counties
the Governor appoints Jury Commits
sioners, who choose the jurors. In the
others the Judges, who are elected by the
people, choose the jurors for their own
courts. The counties with negro MAORI.
ties are under the former system, and
those where the whites predominant IN.
der the latter"
Many other points were gathered, but
all in keeping with the above, and the
gist Of the Judges conversation will be
found in what we have written. His con.
versation Is very entertaining, and we
only regret our inability TO put in as
pleasing shape on paper.
Crop Statistics.