Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1881-09-06
LETTER FROM AN OLD
TIMER.
One Who Knew Memphis in 1895.
What the Place was and Can BE

EDITOR Unconditional not an old
man, i have lived TO see Memphis develop
from an Insignificant river town, the rem
.dezvous of iatboats and rowdies, having
its northern limits Exchage street, its great
thoroughfare Market street, its lending a
mud fiat crossed by a wooden bridge. Pinch
was then Memphis. The old johnson Ho-
tel and Farmers Exchange offered uncer-
tain repose for many Understandable
by reason ola superior race OF rats that dis
puted possession of the beds and rendered
clothing insecure. When Goodman q
Means established a house near the pres
ent location Of A. j. White on Front
street, they were thought to be rather too
visionary. In those early days there were
good men in Memphis, men Of fine busi-
ness capacity and who saw in the near
future the city that was to be, and had the,
large prop erty holders been us wise and
and enterprising, instead Of being a city
Of 10000, she would to-day, with all her
misfortunes, have had her hundreds Of
thousands with railroads radiatingto every
point of the compass. l hope the present
generation will be wiser than their faith
ers, for thus far Memphis has had great
ness thrust upon her; strangers and not her
own children have been her best friends,
and foreign capital is yet to raise her to
that position which her location, her I'M
surpassed natural advantages eHtitle her
TO. She will yet rival and doubtless sur
pass in true grandure her historic name
sake. So be it.
Years Of absence have enabled me 10
better contrast the present with the past,
and
THE twilight Of life gives me mystical lore"
/ speak with confidence when | say to
Mcmphians that an era Of unwonted pros
perity is just before them, a rich fruitage
is within their grasp, but they must be up
and doing. Your rich men must realize
that the durability of their wealth de-
ponds upon the prosperity and substantial
growth Of their city. Memphis has been
cursed, her progress dwarfed by one
ideaed men; men Of intensely selfish in
%stincts, whose prime object in life seemed
10 be TO enrich themselves, by absorbing
the hard earnings of all around them, and
depressing every laudable effort of enter
prising men. With few exceptions, the
men who have ornamented your city, have
built your railroads, have urged your
claims upon the world, have died in
poverty, and theirchildren, in many cases,
become objects Of charity, which it should
be your pride to dispense, but which is
sparingly bestowed.
Why is 1t that Memphis to-day has no
one thing of monumental interest," Where
are her elegant academies, colleges, ex-
changes, parks?
But for Elmwood, endearel to so many
by its sad associations, what points Of at
traction have you for the traveller. 1t is
true, you have some fine business houses,
and some very handsome private resi-
dences, yet there is an air of decay,
pOver.y, sluggishness manifest every
where. The pestilence is the rerdy excuse
for all this, but the pestilence itself was
to a great degree, the result of wicked
neglect on the part ofthe city, and in the
end may be (hOpe it will e. the efficient
means Of a surer growth. With q wise
and energetic administration of her affairs,
Memphis should and would be one Of the
healthiest cities in the west. Above the
usual fever line, with an equable climate,
and adapted to easy and perfect drainage,
there IS no excuse for pestilence.
l must confess that my short visit here
has been one of sadness, somewhat re-
Iieved by the pleasure of meeting the
very few old friends still left, many of
them, like myself, on the downhill Of life.
War, fever and time have gatberdd rich
and frequent harvests. Evon whilst here,
almost the only old citizen, who was here
in '35, passed away. L. II. Porter. /
meet with the children and grandchildren
of those who were my playmates and
schOOlmates in Lang Syne. The shadows
| IF Tho noct opa around rna ,uhorouor / c,
Traversing the old State Line road, or
treading your streets, l look in vain for
faces that were wont to greet me with
pleasant smiles. The old homes where ]
spent so many pleasant days, are almost
silent, or gone to strangers.
THE sweet SMILES that haunt me still, "
live only as shadow songs. Passing
away, passing away"-yes, all is changed,
but thank God there is a land where the
broken links win be restored, where the
withered flowers will bloom in perpetual
beauty.
Here's to the Bluff City. May her lest
days be her best, A. NJ. r.
FOREST HILL, TENN, August %.
P.S.-The above communication / in
tended handing you as | pissed through
Memphis, but was too long shout other
matters. | find effects of dlought as
dreadful here and on the route as else
where. Farmers and merchants very
gloomy. Corn being gathered to prevent
stealing. Cotton, although this county
and North Louisiana, will be gathered
long before November. Nearly half the
crop in the hill country is already picked
CANTON, MISS, September g..