The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-03-26
ARP IN THE WEST.
The r,,p From Now orlsan. to Texas.

From New Orleans westward, we
passed through the cane growing region
of Louisiana, the land of sugar, rich
sweet and desolate. Negroes and mules
and scrub horses and dirty, 'diugy shan.
ties along the lins. The places where
the sugar planters used to live are there,
The ruins of old mansions set back in
untrimmed groves, and the houseso of the
lid slaves near by unoccupied and tumb.
ling to the ground. Hardly white man
is to be seen between the stations, but
when the stations are reached ne see the
smoke stack of a sugar mill xnd some
few signs of civilization sHd comfort.
Was told that their vast sugar plantations
have all changed hands, aud now belong
10 northern men who had mortgages on
them for money loaned before the war.
all they can do with them is to lease or
rent to negroes, for the climate is not in.
viting to the Southern whites, and they
will not 20 there. Texas is not far away,
and has q better name. I crossed the
Sabine. River for the 6rst time and faunt
myself upon the soil of this wonderful
State. l passed through Houston in the
night, and on to Waco, which according
70 Waco people, is the center Of Texas
and the world. An old Georgian said
10 me, if you will draw circle within Il
hundred miles radius arouad Waco, you
will have the finest territory in Texas or
On the globe. A man at Fort Worth
said about the same thing about that
town, and Denison man declared that
Denison was the head center. find
that every nan is for his immediate sec.
'tion, aud all are foi Texas. They fight
and fuss over fres grass and wire cutting
and foreign monopolies, but they are all
for Texas. Well, it is wonderful
country. Whena Georgia farmer OWLS
forty or fifty acres of rich bottom land
IN some creek or river, be feels like q
king, aud his neighbors are enyious of
MIN, but here you are never out of sight
If better land than that. As your train
moves along there is q boundess strip OF
ition either side aud hardly tree or q
fence or house is to be seen. It is all
in cultivation or in pasture. i saw .
house away off, dark little house with
Il shedroom and stove pipe sticking out
OF the roof and was told that was where
the owner or the renter of 1000 acres
lived. There are no inviting country
homes, no painted houses, no fences or
ornaments, 20 good barns, no nothing
much, but laod and scrub horses and
poor cattle. Every man of pretensions
,r ambition seems to live in the town.
There are no groves TO build in the
country and they can't wait for shade
trees to grow, and so they live on as they
begun when they FIRST bought or settled
IN primitive simpliclty-this is the case
within that 100 mile circle around Waco.
But their farmers make world of stuff
to sell. / met a man at Wa,o who came
from Floyd County sixteen years ago
shen he was just married. He was
worth nothing there but one old wagon
aud a yoke of steers-I have bought
many load of wood from him when he
vas poor back. woods boy and | always
felt sorry for him, for he looked pitiful
and overworked. That boy managed to
get here with his young wife, and rented
,and few miles from Waco. He now
.,wus l,400 acres of good land aud has
got TO be rich from farming and stock
raising. He has daughter OF college
and | was Informed paid taxes on $42,.
700. He worked hard, very hard to
make the first thousand dollars, aud after
that he had no trouble; my opinion is
that if he had stayed iu Georgia he
would have been hauling wood now.
The reason is plain. Iu Georgia he and
mis- wife would have wanted to live in
deceut home and wear decent clothes aud
Seep up with tho neighbors in appear
Auce, and when their kiufolks come to
,ee them they must put up the.best they
could get, and 80 they kept on strain
all the time. Out here they lived in a
shauty and could eat With their fingers
and 90 barelooted half the time and
dress in cheap clothing and there were
no kinfolks or near neighbor, and besides
the land was better aud there was more
of it, aud the cattle increased aud cost
iuthing to feed them Winter or Summer.
This Floyd County boy told me he sold
$40 head Of hogs and 200 head OF beef
cattle In Waco last Christmas aud hs had
as many more at home to sell now. /
saw the Montgomery boys at Fort Worth.
One of them stays out on the prarie 300
miles further west aud has $500 head OF
cattle. He is 100 miles from railroad
and lives in dug out, and sees nobody
but Cowboys all the year round. But be
is gettiug rich from the increase of bis
cattle and says just as soon as be gets
rich be is going to marry and settle
down. Maybe he will, but I doubt 1t,
ior he will never know when he il rich
and my observation is that il young
man does not marry when the valentine
of life is upon him he is not apt to marry
ut all. A man can travel around and
wait and see ten Thousand girls aud keep
tooling along until he don't care much
about marrying any one for fear she will
be in his WY aud bother him when be
wants to go anywhere. Thuse travelling
drummers don't marry. Not Que in ever
ten will ever marry unless they can run
away with or capture some rich girl.
After few years Of drumming they look
upon the cars as their hotel, their home
and they are never satisfied unless they
are changing their base. If / Was girl
don't think would marry a drummer
for I know he would be hankering to
leave me before the honeymoon was
over. l like the drummers. I meet
them everywhere and they are civil and
courteous and aggressive in business, but
am sorry for them, they have hard
life-a life that weans them from all the
eudearments of home and female society.
I am sorry for their mothers aud sisters
and can almost hear them saying With
sigh, II wonder where William is to.
night and what the poor be- is doing"
There are dozen of them at my hotel
to night and they arc all busy writing
letters to their employees and footing up
the days work. In the morning they
will BIZ gone axl another dozen will take
their places.
said that saw no pleasant inviting
country humes in middle Texas, no white
house with green blinds and broud
!