Mexico weekly ledger., 1882-02-16
H n SOUTH.
Interesting Letter From an Old Citi.
zen who Has Just Returned
from the South.
,orrespondence of the Ledger.

VI MO, FeDruary z.-I1a'iA JUST
returned from a business trip South, and
meeting many friends who are inquiring
about the country, &C., l will endeavor to
answer all through the columns OF the
olive mans paper" AS the orange bus
mess is all the rage, 1 will speak OF that
first. The trees are planted and cultivated
very much as our apple trees, and at
seven years old are considered to be in
full bearing. They are long lived and
hardy, growing ON what we would call a
desert of white sand. 1t is said that one
acre of full grown trees will yield enough
fruit at present prices to sell for S5,o0O,
with but little expense, except gathering.
The next interest of the ''sunny country
is the pine forests. 1 often hear men ex-
press themselves with fear in regard to
the waste of timber, and some recon-
mend the planting of forest trees for fu-
ture use. To them 1 would say that the
State of Georgia alone has enough timber
to supply the United States for a hundred
years. 1 spent one day in Nashville,
Tennessee, during the recent high water.
While Nashville is a beautiful town from
one standpoint, l did not like it at others.
Hundreds of dwellings could be seen
with only their roof and chimneys above
water. Next city visited was Atlanta.
This is a great railroad centre, and does a
large business. While here We We're
aroused from our slumbers by the alarm
of fire, and being in an upper story we
naturally hunted the street with our
clothes and boots in hand. After the
scare was over we joined the throng, and
in a short time were as near the fire as the
heat would allow us. Several large bus
mess houses were entirely destroyed with
their contents, and one large hotel, the
Wilson House. In this house it is known
that one man was burned to death, as his
remains were dug from the debris the
next day, and l, with many others, went
to see him. He had just arrived On the
evening before with a lot of mules
from Richmond, Va. His remains were
gathered up, placed in a neat little case,
and sent to his friends. The next city of
note was Macon, Georgia. Here we tool
a stroll and visited the confederate mon
ument erected by the ladies of Macon in
memory of the fallen braves who gave
their lives for a cause they believed to be
list. We next went to see the old Macon
mule, and were told by an old darkey that
this faithful old fellow was 45 years old,
isin a good condition, and bids fair
to last a quarter of a century longer. He
only shows his age by being as white as
He is WI cared for by the rail-
road company, who W him, and is labor
free. The next place is the city of Jack
sonville, Florida. This is the Saratoga
of the South. 'Tis a beautiful place. To
see it now, one would Truly say, "This is
the Land of Flowers" With it's broad
streets, shaded by evergreen trees, and
beautiful flower gardens, ma:es one from
the North stop and wonder if his is not a
dream. 1t is situated on the banks of the
ST. Johns river, where may be sen long
lines of ships loading for all parts of the
world. Some twenty miles distant s the
ancient town of St. Augustine, and is still
inhabited by Spaniards, descendants of
that race who landed here over three hun
dred years ago. At this place may be
seen the Fort built by the Spaniards inits
early history. While it would naturally
%. tie ravages ol tinff1o Withont re'~ir.
it presents itself as a monument of those
adventures who built it, and will long
have the appearance of a fort. Some of
its original mounting may be seen. For
invalids this is a great resort, and for
persons of leisure and means to spare, it
presents all that is said of it; but, as a
country to make a home in, I could not
recommend it. Well, Bob, for fear of
your being wearied, | will round to good
bye. Yours truly, ED.