The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1883-07-21

friend at the right tine and place.
Had we the space to spare, we would
like to give detailed description Of
the manners and customs of the peo-
pie and a description of the town.
We will epitomise by saying that
most of them live in little adobe huts,
with thatched roofs and dirt floors, in
extreme filth and squalor. The peo'
pie struck us as being lazy, dirty and,
if provoked, very vicious. Most of
them we're Indians and Mexicans,
with spriukling of foreigners. The
town being in the "free zone," there
are several large importing whole.
sale dry goods and liquor houses,
who receive immense stocks of for
eign goods free of duty. The con.
sequence is, they can sell much cheap
er than American dealers can. But
the reader must not forget that Un-
Gle Sam has custom guards here also,
and it will not be healthy to try to
bring these goods across without pay
ing the everlasting tariff. However,
we learned that great deal of
smuggling was done near this place.
A regiment of Mexican troops is sta
toned at New Laredo, and Fort Nc
Intosh is garrisoned by American
troops on this side. We made a
pleasant call on Mr.. Penn, editor of
the Laredo Times, while there.
But we must move on. We took
cars and had pleasant run to Gal
weston, the "Oleander City," taking
the press and people by surprise.
They were preparing to give us re-
ception, but we slipped in on them
two days ahead of time. However,
they soon rallied, and got up for us a
delightful fish chowder and serenade
during the evening, when toasts and
speeches of welcome and thanks
abounded. The press club there had
just been organized, and had not got
themselves into good working order,
but they had details with us day and
night, showing ms the city and pay,
ing every attention possible for our
happiness and comfort. Among other
thoughtful and heartily appreciated
courtesies was the free use of the
Pagoda bath house, where suits We're
at our service at all hours. 1t is
hardly necessary to say that many of
our party were enjoying the delicious
surf baths all day and far into the
night. The elegant new Beach Ho-
tel fronts on the Gulf, and there is
constant breeze across the waters,
making this the pleasantest summer
resort immaginable. We were urged
to stay two or three days longer, and
were anxious 10 do so; but our time
was nearly up, and we had to tear
ourselves away. Right here we de-
sire to say that in nearly every town
in Texas we met representatives of
the Galveston News, the liveliest and
most widely circulated journal of the
southwest, and we have never met
pleasanter lot of gentlemen anywhere.
Mr.. Tarver the correspondent at Lar
edo, has our thanks for special cour-
tesies. Col. James L. Walker, the
genial and talented editor of the
News, and, in fact, all the staff of
that and the other city papers, were
very pleasant to this scribe. We
parted from them with regrets, but
hope some day to again visit their
lovely city by the sea and stay longer.
One of the pleasantest surprises to
us was at the beautiful little city of
Marshall, where we laid over few
hours. Learning we were there, the
city editors procured carriages aud
gave us a delightful drive through
the town. visiting the foundries and
machine shops of the Texas Pacific