The Portland daily press., 1881-12-09
The Tennessee Rugby.

Correspondence OF the Syr8cus6 JOurndl.l
The place is delightfully."- situated that is
beyond question. 1t has hotel as handsome
and as comfortable as many of the famous sum-
mer resorts If you wis ed to find aesthetic
society you would scarcely seek it among the
dug-outs of an agricultural colony in the back
woods of back wood state. Yet here in Rugby
you meet people who know all about the home
life of Emerson and Alcott and Carlyle, who
can repeat whole chapters from Dickens or
Harriet Martineau: who can discuss intelligent
iy the greenback question, analyze the last ser
mon of James Freeman Clarke or Lucy Stones
last editorial, or criticise Turneres pictures. On
the other hand, it has even among the appar-
eutly better class, persons who are not aware
that Tennessee receives laws from any other
capital than Washington; who never heard OF
Chaucer or his Canterbury Tales" although
they have spent all their lives in KenD, and
have not the remotest idea as to the reasons for
calling the hotel THE Tabard''; who cannot
detect the difference between ash and CEDAR or
do not know sandy from aclay soil. In other
words, the brightest and stupidest of English
and New English society are to be found at
Rugby.
The Rugby plantation to-day consists OF six
general classes, if 1 have observed correctly.
First there is number seeking health and
quiet easy life-people of wealth, either retired
from active business or with part of their time
at leisure These are abundantly paid for COM
ing here: have heard only praise of the eli
| mate and many wonderful things are told of
its curative properties. Some literary men,
tired of the hustle of the world, are to be in
cluded in this class, both English and Amer.
can, and think they have found what they
sought-immunity from intrusion, absolute
quiet, but not entire isolation from choice
society aud books. This class is designed to
become known. Az
The second class has but few representativ
at present.; it comprises farmers who have
| come with an earnest purpose to work for their
| families in the form of we'll worked fields and
well-developed characters. I have in mind
one splendid example of this class. He has
brought from the north of England seven
| Young sons. and all are devoted to the work of
| creating strong, grand future. They have
| all the advantages of pioneer life to help them
| form habits of sslf-reliance, aud none OF the
| pioneers isolation and slavery. This class
of settlers is not grumbliDg or repining.
The third class comprises spectators; they
are absolutely devoid of the true spirit of CO.
operation. They have bought land and built
houses, and established high scale of prices,
and have cherished large expectations. 1
| hardly need say that these men are badly frosl
| bitten, and are as homesck class OF people as.
| / ever saw. The fourth class expected to come
| here and jump into wealth at single bound.
/ They had no defnite idea of what was meant by
| emigration, but they supposed that farming in
| America was one of the simplest things III the
| world to do, and success was a mere question
| of few months. They came from London by
the dozen; had never seen an ak before; had
been selling mems fine fur, ishing goods or
haberdashery, or perad venture had head clerk
| ships in railway offices or had been private
tutors to rich mems sons They are saying that
Mr. Hughes deceived them with his announce
ments. They expected to find rich farms
| ready TO hand, and nothing for them to do but
hire a few negroes or white natives to do what
little work would be necessary.
Then there is the class of whom Will VIM
BILE is the type-yonDg men with allowances
from their fathers in England Their residence
| here is a sort of exile from home, where they
are disgrace or a nuisance They are holding
high carnival here in the forest; being in secret
| league with the moonshinerS of Kentucky,
they manage to keep themselves we'll in liquor,
and SO make life bearable As their existence
is in no way essential to the colony, except that
| they are first rate consumers. l would not
| have mentioned them had they not already
been falsely represented as types OF tom
| Hughes Arcadian agrculturists" 1t was
among this class of hangers on that the recent
| fever scourge broke out. Having made stubble
/ of themselves by their high or vicious living,
they were rapidly consumed by the disease, and
| not only communicated it to better people, but
we're the means of giving to the settlement
| bad name. Gwa
The sixth class consists of euterprising Amer
leans, who are looking with shrewd eyes to the
future. They foresee railroads and mines and
| iron work and lumber fields in all this region
| of Tennessee, and l believe that few years
| hence their dream will come true. They are
| developing the adjoining districts, and are de-
termined to do great things. Upon this class
| depends largely Rugby's character in the
| future. But the literary men also have broad
views, and, if the plan now in contemplation
| q am not at liberty to unfofiO shall be sue
cessfully developed the name given to the town
| will by and by be more than ever apt IT has
| been said that the Englishness of the place is
.disagreeably dominant and / think the charge
/ is to certain extent just. There is too much
sHaAAiss nAssSHef saEaa at vEhe oEpglish set
lessness of the English character has been
brought hither, trait that out-rascals much of
our Yankee meannesS. The device for getting
| $500 year from young man under the name
of tuition for teaching him the art of agricul-
| ture is what we in America would call fraud
In England it is a part of the apprenticeship
system. A number of young fellows here were
| silly enough to make a bargain of this sort, and
are now bitterly sssailing their "preceptors"
and the colony. That Rugby will "pick up"
| have no doubt. I hope for her own good to
see growth proceed gradually She has suffer
ed from too much newspaper advertising and
| too little downright industry. The ak and the
| spade should do a few years honest toll, and
| then the scribblers will be enabled to give an
honest account of the place. 3fIS