, 1884-07-01
THE NEW SOUTH.
a Land of Comfortable Hotels and
Good Living.
"Cress'' shows That the sunny States
Have Been BaseIy Libeled-
How "A Town Has
Grown. "
birmingham tAla.p Cor. Inter ocean.l
Grown.

birmingham tAla.D Cor. Inter ocean,
When I left Washington on my trip
through the south 1 mot Feed Doug
lass, and his remark when l told him the dt-
rection Of my journey. Madame, you viii
hnd the south fifty years behind the times"
was inserted in my next letter.
Mr. Douglass prophecy did net surprise
me, for it Came after nineteen others Of Il
similar character. In Boston, Now York,
aud Philadelphia, commiseration and warn
ing were heaped upon ms. To wash in u tin
basin and wipe on a crash roller upon the
vernndah of a hotel, was the popular way Of
making Il toilet in the sunny states, 1 wis in
formed, until repetition grew tiresome;
suggestions as TO combining my diet to
eggs boiled in the shell, and potatoes with
their jackets on vera common and no less
than five pretty hamper baskets for carry
ing provisions on tho cars were sent me by
people who within u tew years had taken tbs
"Trip l contemplated. 1t was also grayeiy
fOrotold that as II rule the floors would he
found preferable to the beds for reasons I'M
necessary to mention, and that it was wise
TO look into a cup or glass before filling 1t.
1t was then in something Of the spirit Of q
heroine and martyr that / started, prepared
ITO rough it, "nIalse the best OF thiugs," and
TO endure petty miseries untold for the saks
of acquiring Information and gratifying IL
love Of the picturesque .-.
Now for the truth. | am too impatient to
tell it TO wait until the tour is completed,
aud feel warranted i'll putting to highJ the
snlse prophets, after 100 miles OF travel and
visits to nearly thirty small towns, us well as
the principal capitals of the south.
To begin with, l have not seen u tin basin
yet, and only in one small place where diu-
ner was served, saw out-of-loor convenienres
for nblutions, consisting OF half a dozen china
NyuSl-bukyiz aud M many rnIIpry f.p. fba man
only. Ladies' had a small room for their own
use.
Out OF all the meals served on highways
and byways, but two were TIMETABLE. They
were both served Mt the same place, Bay SIS
Louis, near New Orleans; but even in tbs
instance, cleanliness was not lacking, and
good milk and crackers were to no hal; the
remainder of the dinner embraced small Gsh,
50 full Of bones That it woull have taScu
more than the twonty minutes allowed
10 dissect them, very tough steak,
ham as hard as a stone. But even
this bin of fare was forgiven when a dozen
little darkies, swinging their heels behind
thonI, came running along, holding above
their woolly heads and black faces huge bou-
quets of superb ma snoiiu blossoms and big
bunches of the fragrant, snowy cape jessa-
irineS, in a setting of feathery green ferns. a
The usual price OF meals on tue roql is 80
cents, the highest IS cents, and ut Dal-
ton, Ga, the other night, delicious fried
chicken, new-laid eggs, cold ham, beefsteax,
potatoes, delightful ainnel-cakes, strawber-
ries and cream, we're served for 50 Genus. As
a rule. the cooking - good, even in private
families, and much AS the demoraliZation of
the negro since the war ls lamentei, il ls bet
ter than in the north. Dnah can Beat
Bridget every time.
Consideration for the northernerj prompts
the putting of cold bread on the table, though
it is passed to you with n look OF mixed pity
aud contempt. Hot soda biscuit, raised rolls,
cora mullins and bread, and beaten biscuits
arc put on the table three times a day Just as
they come out of the oven.
In whatever form the southerner takes his
corn it must DO piping hot. OF the different
varieties OF bread, the beaten biscuit is
esteemed the most delicate; nothing but
flour and water enters into its composition,
and When mixed into a cake of dough it is
beaten against a marble slab for a full half
hour, being again and again reduced to the
thickness of cardboard, doubled and
whBcked against tbs marble until it assumes
a peculiar whiteness AMI srnoothness, when it
IS cut the shape and size Of a Boston cracker,
and baked in a slow oven until it Assumes a
bare suggestion of brown
In the different hotels good milk, real but
ter, fresh eggs, and fish were always to be
had, and generally a fair variety of vegeta-
bles, cooked in the English fashion. For ex.
ample, asparagus boiled whole with melted
butter, string beans cut lengthwise served
with plain butter, and green peas with sprigs
of mint. The best meat we had came from
Chicago. As for fruit it must be ndmitted there
was until this week, a struggle, as there is u
lauIentable lack Of truck farms, anil the
higher prices paid for light produce tempts
the market gardener to send his supplies
north.
The hotels. as Il rule, are clean, tho rooms
comfortable and large, and the only OBJ
jectionable insect have seen is the musqu ito,
who is holding Il musical festival in New
Orleans.
The poorest hotels were in the places one
least expected-that is, in the large cities.
where the buildings themselves were of fine
dimensions, but the management bad and the
table FAR from accordance with the arcGi-
lecture. For the most part they are long
established obstetrics, living on the reputa.
ton achieved long ago.
The lest accommodations are in the new
towns of the south, which are as remarkable
in their way as the newly born cities of the
west; nay, more SO, for the southerner has
hardly found his feet before he has begun to
trample under them old prejudices, and the
present generation has put its shoulder to the
wheel to work out the new south.
This very town from which l date my let.
ter was, twelve years ago, u cotton planta-
tion. 1t has now 1000 inhabitants, seven
Witherow blast furnaces, rolling-mills, cot.
ton manufacturers, machine-shops and other
industries. besides schools, churches. good
business blocks and several hotels. The one
l am in Is kept by two men, ono from Wis.
cousin, the other from NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
meeting. They make the travellers of both sec.
tions comfortable. The other day Sir Titus
Salt, who was looking round Tor something To
put his guineas into, came here, and by a mis-
take went to a rival and inferior hotel. Sir
Titus being n Briton, In duty bound makes him
self as dowdy and shabby IA he can on his
travels. The landlord looked at him when
he entered, booked him as doubtful" and
when the baronet, finding only one towel in
his room, walked into his office and asked il
he couldn't have another, the proprietor re-
4 piled, "No, you can't, aud | rccSJn one IL as
much as you have been used-tol7
Just then some Of the zig iron men In the
vicinity dropped in, and when the landlord
learned who his guest was, lie fell into an
agony, and sent all the brickaback in the
house to adorn the towel racK 81 SIR Titus.
Since his visit 10 this town, tho English
manufacturer has invested his money il
Dayton, Tenn, and IS going to put up soma
large blast furnaces there.
MI - Xxx . III