Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1880-07-29
" But everybody's drunkw
~ What of in w

but eVfryDo0y'S drunk"
"What OF itYn
This was accompanied by stare of
surprise, ss though il were the mos, nat.
ural thing IN the world for everybody in
Norfolk 10 be drunk.
There is very little politics talked here.
The newspapers, such rs they are, run
column after column of Hancock fire,
stolen from Northern papers; but nobody
seems To care for the papers. The power
OF the press appears to be limited IN Nor
iolk. 1t is city OF dogs, ruui.sbops and
banks
Richmond is different city. 1t is
morality itself, and church spires loom w
everywhere, 1t is most beautifully stu.
sted on seven high hills, and il il had
underground drainage II would be a most
perfect city. And yet there is an air of
ilstnessaess and decay about everything,
mat impresses Northerner at once
You can walk for squares in the buses,
parts OF the city and in the busiest hours
oi the day without meeting u score of
persons.
The large stores looked deserted. The
wealth OF the city, what little there is, is
ued up In The tobacco interest and in in
dividual purses. There are great many
looacCo manufacturers here, bat AS they
give employment to class OF labor that
Is ignorant and unskilled, the masses of
the people are not benefited as they are in
| our Northern cities, where hundreds of
| splnales and lathes are whirling from
morn TIL night.
l TOOK Richmond man around with
me TO show me the town. Whenever we
came to particularly handsome resi-.
dence, asked: "Who lives here, and
what does he doY" The inyar!a b, o An.
swer was that Colonel and General or
Major So and so resided there, and that he
was never known TO have any business.
The city has a population Of $4,000. or
this number, over 80, 900 are culored How
the latter class exists is a mystery. They,
like the society of Norfolk, are exclusive;
they don't mix with the whites. There
seems to be some Misunderstanding about
the Fifteenth amendment down here. II
cannot be better illustrated than by the
conversation had with lad of 10 wears.
one OF the f. +. VS.. He was telling me
ABOUT tue splendid place the boys had 10
swim in the canal.
"Do the colored boys so in there, too ?"
asked.
ht wy iOOhNi III NE WIN unNlEHulHS0
| establishment and contempt.
"Niggers IN swimming with white
boysY l reckon not. They've got no
right to come where we are
"How do you keep them away ~
"Sione 'em, club 'em or do anything
with 'em we want tor
He then went on to tell me what a
beautiful place Belle Isle was, and ask
ed HIM If there was anything remaining
by which one could tell ii had been used
as a prison,
lie confessed his ignorance; he never
knew there had been prison there.
Don't you study the history of the
war in your schoolsY" | asked.
"Oh!" he answered contemp,uously
ave haven't got anything but Yankee
histories and we don't like their side"
Ii reconstruction is needed in the pres.
ent generation it would not be bad idea
to save a little for the next 1t looks AS
though it would need it.
| have met several Northern men who
| have come South thinking that by enter
| prise and industry they could do better
than at home. 1t was "a FOOLS errand''
! Tor them. SO soon as 1t was discovered
that they were Northerners, and, worse
than all, Republicans, nobody would have
anything to do with them, Now they
want TO 60 home. AS | said before, be.
fore | came here, was inclined to be
lieye that the Southern people were much
| abused, aud that they were waiting, with
fearful eyes and penitent hearts, to be
taken back into the fold, and that any.
thing 10 the contrary WAS all nonsense
Now my impressions are these: That so
/ long rs there is solid South all attem pts
at UNITY on grand scale will fail. The
! Southern Democrats don't want unity.
They are living In the hope that by oh.
stlnacy aud perseverance, they may yet
accomplish their end, and they hope 10 do
II by the election Of a Democratic pfesi-
| dent. To my mind, the thing narrows
down to this: A Republican President
would be elected by loyal men in the
| North Democratic President would be
elected by rebels Ia the South, and he
would, therefore, be the President OF the
! South. They don't take to Hancock very
| kindly down here, but will support HIM
on general principles Bayard was the
/ man they wanted However, they are led
/ to believe that Hancock will carry halt Of
| the Northern States, and they have no
/ doubt of his election. They are accord.
| ingly hopeful, and rebel claims are being
/ taken from their places in fre-proot safes
! tor use IN the near future.