The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1880-06-19
YaxoO city, Miss.
YAZOO CITY, Miss, May %.

IAZOO OfTf, MISS, MAY 90
/ Editor observation-disclosures been called t.
this locality some two weeks since on private
/ business, thought perhaps II few lines from
this fartamcd and mUch-talhcl.of little city
might prove not unacceptable 10 the many
readers OF your excellent paper
Your correspondent having read many hnr
rowing and blood.curdling accounts in the 81
/ Il. b. and Chicago IaterOredo of the state oi
affairs here, The GaZDO Plan, lazDo MODS
and the generally dl,OrganlHei ana disrupted
condition of things IN jhs particular section
/ of Mississippi, experienced somewhat o! the
nervousness incident 10 "A first visit to one of the
new mining camps in the far West. To have
| met score or two of fierce buldOZcrS around
with siXtcen.shOOting rifles and the last I'M
prOvcmcnts IN the pistol line, in hot and yell
! ing pursuit of some poor helpless and innocent
man and brother of the colored persuasion
would have been taken by HIM to be the most
natural thing in the world. To his surprise,
however, after long and dusty ride from
Naughn's station on the G., st. l.. and \. .,
T. r., he found himself entering IA beautiful
little city Of $500 or 1000 inhabitants, nestled
costly at the foot Of IL series of abrupt and
picturesque hills and fronting upon the beau.
tiiul winding Iazoo river, and everything as
quiet orderly and apparently prosperous as
the most prim of New England towns.
The houses all seem well built and substan'
tial. Each dwelling is surrounded by luxuriant
southern shrubbcry, and the dark green of the
foliage, the magnolia and Cape jessamlne
trees, are relieved here and there by the beau
tiiu white blossoms. The streets are paved
with fine gravel and their cleanliness makes "A
St Lousan blush for his muddy home. A
stay Of two weeks here will prove to any one
not so prejudiccd as 10 be beyond the reach of
hat th,r, pI.l
people on earth than those of Iazoo city and
county After careful and persistent exam
ination, find that the relations between the
white and negro races here are kind and cor
dial The negroes are better fed better clad
and more comfortably housed than any labor
ing class that 1t has been your correspondents
fortune to NEE. Many of them own their
land; nearly all their stock and agricultural
implements. They all seem to have sufficient
ready money To- meet their immediate wants,
and where they are industrious and attentive
to their planting operations find no difficulty
in getting sufficient credit for all reasonable
needs. have conversed with many OF them
to try and find out what foundation, if any,
there is for the exaggerated statements Of their
oppressed condition that are so often seen in
the radical sheets SO tar have found none.
They expressed themselves as contented and
to ridicule it.
The white people here are straightforward,
courteous and en,ertaining their hospitality
is of the true southern type, and stranger is
welcomed with a cordiality which at once puts
him at his case.
The Yazoo valley 10 as rich in its soil as that
Of the Nile, the average yield Of cotton to the
acre is from a bale to bale and aquarter. The
city and county Of Iazoo since the advent of
the democratic party to power has been freed
from all debt, and the taxes are consequently
at the minimum There is quite a large
sprnkling of Germans throughout the coun-
ty With their usual thrift and indomltablc
energy they make the waste places bloom, and
stand rs living witnesses to the fact that emf.
grafton of white labor to this section would
be most heartily welcomed and thoroughly
appreciated.
The financial condition of the people of the
Yaz0o valley Is better now than at any time
since the commencement of the war. | was
told by the agent of the Parisot line of steam
boats which monopolize the trade Of the "a.
ZOO river that during the present season, out
Of several thousand drafts drawn by planters
and merchants along the river only two, and
those for trliling amounts of twenty-five or
thirty dollars, had been protested for n0n-pay-
ment.
As a general thing long before this date, the
planters have begun to draw On their commits,
sion merchants for advances in the way OF
money to prosecute their business, but | am
told that so far tins year few or none such APP
plications have been made, the planters all
seeming to have sufficient means to enable
them to refrain from this embarrassing Gus
tom. The county of Tazoo, it is unnecessary
to say, Is thoroughly democratic, and so long
as democracy produces such results as the
above the people do not seem inclined to quar-
rel with it.
There are more than forty good business
firms In lazoo City. There is located here a
large cOttonsced oil mill with SIX presses, and
several extensive saw mills all well patronlzed
and dong thriving business.
There is no more political excitement here
than in any Missouri town of the same size,
the general disposition of all classes seeming
to be to bury the asperities of the past and
work together for the common good,
ST IOIIS