The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1883-05-23
EX.PRESIDENT DAVIS.
4 Visit TO Him at Homie-HOw "M.
Onad" was Impressed by the Great
COnfedcratc-OMIY Praise from nil
| From the Detroit Free Prcss.

COnfedcratc-OnlY Praise from Ill
From the Detroit Free Prcs..l
II Is n drive of five miles over snndy road
and through the oaks and Dimes and pnlinet-
toes from Mississippi City to B"nuroir, the
home of jefferson Mvis, and M passed. over
The rouh the other April day. frightening an
! Alligator | ere, sktrtin= nm orange grove there,
and all Of Il auddrn breaking ont OF thc tore.t
| upnn the sandy shores washed Ivy the waves
! OF the gulf, | felt that he had well chosen the
home nl his Old age. His had been II lie OF
turmoil. even before the civil var was wills
pcrrti. He had been u giant In politics. war
rinr in Mexico. n diploinatist ana an anna 90
MIST In all tn" main tissues Of the dry, "nd Inc
problem at civil government! Fc" lives lafc
tccn go eventual
HIS SEIGIinoRs.
asked Il justice Of the pence VINO Grove me
down on his sprlnslesS waG N, drawn b.! a
span of two fat horses, If he knew JEFFERSON
Davis, aud lie answered
"Why. of c~ourSc-kn"wn lin Tor thirty
".And how do the people In this neislbor'
hood feel towards HIM
"EvrrybOdy likes him. lie Is q Hoon nel2h-
Dor, II %just-,nindcI citIzcn. nld has The re,
srrct and good viii OF every man, woman and
child ,-
npi.hhOrlIOul 2"
"Plrn.y of Them. and what's more q num-
her Of them nre now In his employ. lie was
kind To his people. ami when the war closed
and he finally ant here 10 Set'ir ho"h,oh'ns
~ his old saves were rrady to hire tn HIN NJ
any price. or those in his employ there isn't
money enough In The Stat, of Mississippi 10
hire them To leave him. lie has tWo large
cotton plantations. out<i ln OF the Rcnuroir
property, thus dire"tly and indirectly emu
plrying hundreds of cnloreh people, aud you
cant find one who hasn't u good word torhlrn.
! No, Stree. mister, there isn't u man In this
part of the country better thought of o. 4
teiglbor, q citizen and Ii man thun Jefferson
Davis"
The house is what we IN the North would
call 4 story and u hair cnttaYe In height, ana
It faces the gult. Around 1t Is a famous grove
Of oaks and other woods. and from mere ana
there Il tree, the long gray moss han IS down
aud swings In the breeze IN is weirh anu
dreamy way. Nature has done much tn beau
tlfy the grounds, and they are kept in Il neat
and tidy cnnditicn.
The Housa is roomy, finely furnished and.
q homelike Il, .osphere and II look OF COW
comfort. One can zee refinement and taste
everywhere. and none Of the home comforts
are SACRIFICED. From the veratda one can
look ont upon the ~tirelrss white-caps rnlling
In upon the sandy beach, and The neiyhoors
) are all that the word Implies
THE Ex-pREsIDEST.
I had only n mOmen 10 wait before the eH-
President cume In and gave meR hearty Rrnsp
Of the hand md words Of Welionei us..; a.
face wrinkIing with age, voice aa SOIL ana kiild
az Il mother's-sucll was the picture OF the
man who for four years held the dtstinies OF
u continent In his iron grip. In the zenith or
his power he may have appeared naughty and
imprriOus t0 some. but not to the generality.
A kinder face I have never met. and though
there IL something in the voice to warn one
that It's owner has held place and power. one
is soon charmed with liz kindness and touch
Of pathns.
Mr.. Davis is scventy.thrce years Of age and
his health is not Of the best. IL Is evident that
his life OF vIcIssitudc Is drawing TO a close,
and rs one realizes 1t he cannot but admire
the physical and mental machinery which
has stood the strain OF 90 m,icm .abnri Many
Of public life when Mr.. Davis assumed his
greatest. lie has been n man without rest
until within the Inst few years. His literary
work, entered upon long after his sixtieth
birthday, was a task which would have dis
courged many an author twenty ytnrs
younger, yet he made no pause until the last
chapter was In the publishers hands.
NORTH AND SOUTH.
He asked me about my southern trip
where | had been. whom | had met. and what
opinion I had formed OF the sentiment Of the
masses ami when l answered that The North
and South seemed moro closely united to-day
ed deep qualification. 1T Is n grand md pro-
~gressive country" he said, and the better the
people understand zach other the better for
our future as a country
He HSkpd me regarding the sentiment OF the
North. and I believe ! answered truly when ]
told him that rancUr and bitterness had died
out OF the hearts Of all but demagogues n
mnlrvolcnt politicians.
That ~ right he replied. land I trust that
no untoward event will sever the growing
cordial relations"
ABOUT WAR.
BY and by we driftei Into the subject Of
war. II was Mr.. Davis who gave General
Mcclellan his first upward steps. and It. was
Mr., Davis who appointed General Meade to
The Lake Survey, and was sharply criticised
for his selection. lie believed TINT McClel-
lnn's campaign against Richmond. had he
been permitted To carry itnut ~ planned, ami
received the hearty supr" RI OF the War De-
mrtment, must have resulted dlSastrOusly to
the Conf der .t,a.
II knew Nc, lellan, Meade, HUMPHREY and
nearly al the Federal Generals" said MIR
Davis, and many of them were my proiegcs.
Although they were fighting m, armies, |
could not resist II feeling OF pride In seeing 50
many of the Young men | had helped nd.
vance winning fame and proving all that had
bren predicted.'
Isked MIN to name the best Federal General
and he replied
:'There were two Me lcllan and Mcalc
Met lellan was Il grand engineer and Il great
General; Meade WAS Il steady fighter. and his
movement were more OF an enigma to Lee
than thuse or any other Federal General"
OLD AcoUAINTAHCEs.
Az we talked Of this and that Iiir names Of
generals. statesmen, governors and gn.en'
mrnt officials came up. and many OF them
proved t. be old acIutin!aIlc"s of Mr.. Davis.
In years ag0ne he md Ben Butler wrrs on the
best social terms, and 1t was the sam" with
sta; es, and with various gc"eriilS who won
| their laurels in war. The rx.Presihrnt had II
kind word and a good Wish for each and every
one, and he seemed to relieve that those who
had made their mark were entirely deserving
Of their success.
HIS CAPTURE.
In the State Library ut Jackson. Miss Is
a crnyon portrait Of Mr.. Davis as he appeared
when captured. asked him If 1t was correct,
and he replied
I had lain dOwn without removing u garment.
| had high cavalry boots. pantalOOns tucked
INTO the tops. q gray blouse and n s0lt nat.
Upon the alarm heinz given ! stepped ont or
the tent and snw n Federal cRvalrymnn thirty
or forty feet away. He ordered me to hnlt.
At the same moment Mrs. Davis threw over
, my shoulders II folded shawl. I saw that my
only chance OF escape WINS T." secure the horse
OF the Federal. I advanced straight upon
him, feeling that he would fire at me. but BIZ.
lievlng that he would miss his target. Had
this occurred there would have been O strug-
gle for the possession OF the horse; AS I up.
proacheh the soldier he lowered his carbine
as II to shoot. and at the M Mrs Davis
raised up and threw her arms around me.
weapon aside. and | walked hack To the fire
and stood there until made prisoner"
ALUNcH.
Two hours passed swiftly by "a we talked,
hut b core permitting me to depart Mr.. Davis
ordered II lunch and wns again the host in
stead of the historian. One who takes him by
the hand and looks Into his kind face must
respect him. One who seeg hhs white hairs
aid notes the evidences of old uge must feel
glad that his few last years are TO he full Of
peace und quielneSs. NJ, QUAD.
Bee Culture.
That bee keeping may be made n valuable
adjunct to the minor profit of n firm, no one,
who has given the matter an Intelligent and