The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1883-06-01
DOWN SOUTH.
Through Kentucky and Tennessee Van kee
enterprise felt Everywhere.
NJ Quad in a recent letter saws:

/
Through Kentucky and Tennessee Yam kee
enterprise felt Everywhere.
NJ Quad in recent letter SAYS:
ID is wonderful how the South is pick
ing mp. The boom was slow i'm coming,
but il has spread over all the South and
Is visible in every route of travel. Farm
ers are cleaning. refencing and putting
npnew buildings. villages are spreading
out and towns and cities are pushing en-
terprises involving large sums and rush
ing all kinds of business. Every day
and they cheerfully admit 1.-THE SONS
of the South are becoming more and
more imb,led with Yankee push and rush.
and every day that same enterprise il
showing beneficial results.
We in Michigan boast of our fright
smart small towns. but Kentucky and
this town Of Erin. numbering 500 pop
nlation, and having big hotel, a fine
court house and plenty of stores, one
could not have found five houses seven
years ago. Ten years ago it was
country made up of hills, thickets, for
ests and swales, with only few farms
worth working. A decade has worked
such earnings rs would not be credited
il told of II section i'm the North.
The border SOuthrOn has healed the
wounds of war. forgotten that he once
owned slaves, ceased to repine over his
losses. and ispushing ahead with snap
Ia his eve that means business. Late
falls. short winters and early springs are
an offset i'm Tennessee, when wheat fails
To yield more than fifteen bushels to the
acre. The average in West Tennessee
is not overtwenty, but il is good tObac-
60 country, and oats. corn, barley and
other cereals do finely.
In Georgia and Virginia the farmers
are crazy about fertilizers. and the wisest
among them admit that they are stimu-
lating their lands to- Over-exertiOn. In
| Western Tennessee g,lanO is scarcely
known. and the farmers seem to be dead
set against even the use of compost.
What small farmers around Detroit pay
fifty cents load for they were tumbling
into the river at Nashville the other day
to get rid of. One may ride for hours
and fail To see single field which has
been enriched with materials close Ut
| hand and without cost. Ii does not seem
to be from laZiness or shiftlessness, but
farmers explain that they haven't been
in the habit of so doing. The lands
| which now grow fifteen bushels of wheat
to the acre only want to fall into the
hands of our Northern farmers to Weld
| thirty.
THE MAN OF COLOR.
Eastern Tennessee. As | found il
year ago. is brimful of lazy, shiftless
and vicious negroes. West Tennessee is
almost clear of them- They are not
seen loaiing around the towns, are not so
often encountered on the highways, and
| Squatters are few and far between.
There are no more rigid ordinances
against them in this part of the State, but
| they seem to he possessed of different
spirit and have the confidence and res.
pect of the whites. Many own small farms.
| well stocked and are pushing right ahead,
and others employed at day labor are
| giving good satisfaction and earning an
homes, living.
want to give the colOred man all pos
S;ble credit right here. for know how
| shall iiudh him further South. Once
| beyond the Stale line and he will be
found rooSting ON the curb stones of every
town, asleep around every depot, and
an eXtortiOner at every hotel.
COURT DAY IN A TENNESSEE TOWN.
The Circuit Court opened as arrived
here. although there was no special Oc-
cason for il rs far rs my otlenSe was
concerned. Court day" in Il Southern
| town is sort OF Christmas and Fourth
of July rolled into one. The turkey is
left out. but the whisky is retained.
II looks odd enough 10 see the clerk of
the court smoking a pipe as he jotted
down his notes. but forgot him as saw
that three of the jurors, two of the law
yers and II witness were each putting a
cigar and Il prisoner on trial for burg
| larry hopefully looking for some one to
| offer him one. Some of the spectators
| felt il their bounden duty to remove theil
| hats, while Others had no feeling in the
case The only man saw in the court
room who didn chew plngtobacco and
| Try 10 spit six feet was Il lame man from
Stewart County. who excused himself
on the ground OF dyspepsia and wanted
Ia know if | could lend him drink of
whisky.
But the bic scene was on the outside.
| Two hundred farmers had come in on
| horseback or by team To size up the
racket. They argued politics and got.
mad. They discussed religion and dared
each "ihrrlo knock a chip OH the shout
der. They ''swappcd' horses and mules
and threw in broken. heads TO make il a
bargain The celebrated Indian doc
tor was on hand with his liver cure AMI
took in money rs fast rs he could pass
onl the bottles. The minstrel show was
on hand for an evening performance,
the man with the running mule won
three races. and those who could navi-
gate when light came were looked upon
rs .'pizen mean if they did not ofiera
hand to those who could not
| \ Northern farmer who wants good.
| 'illaIlr lands 1T fair value, good water
and ready markets. should not overlook
Tennessee if he turns his face south
ward. The winters are far milder than
ours. and the corn planting season is
over before we have shut our coal-stOves
or taken of our ovcrcOats. There are
many Northern men down here. some
in farming. others in business or rail
reading, and they all speak highly OF
the climate and of the people around
| them