The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1885-06-03
Leake County.
Correspondence n. o. Picayune.1
CARTHAGR Miss Nav % 1s8


1t has a population Of about 500, and Is
a busting, busy interior town, and does
thriving business with the adjoining
counties OF Neshoba, Winston and At
tala. IL is at the head Of Pearl River
navigation, and regular weekly pack
! ct, the o. r. Singleton, plies betwi en-
Jackson and that point during the fall
and winter seasons, transporting freight
at greatly reduced rates under those
/ charged by wagons on the dirt road
| from Canton, 10 ioiles west. Carthage
has no railroad facilities, but the line Of
I the Natchez, jackson and Columbus
Road passes within a mile of it, and, a
/ efforts are being made to Immediately
extend the line from Jackson, j.. Is pos
( siOle that before aoother twelve months
the denizens Of that retired little burg
will hear the whistle Of the iron horse
and the rattliDg Of cars AZ his heels.
II has only been within the last year
or tEa that Pearl River has been navi
gable AZ far up as Carthage, though
small boats, at certain stages OF high
water, have run up as far a. Jackson
The Government appropriation has
been hardly .uficient for cleaning out
the snags. drift wood and other articles,
but much morc work in that respect
could have been done had not the ap-
preparation been nismanaged or mis-
directe,l Like all enterprises OF that
kind. it look like the contractors were
more intereste 4 . in cleaning out the
appropriation thai. they we've! IN cleaning
Carthage, beside the usual compile
meut Of store school a-d church
privileges, has a number one ,'e"spa'
per, the Carthagenian, edited and up
lished by l.. NJ. Garrett, Esq, a practi-
cal printer, and one of the best writers
in the State. He employs no printers,
the most Of the type-setting being done
by his two daughters, l3 and II years OF
age. Mr.. Garret is also postmaster,
having recently been appointed to sue
ceed Mr.. Howard, who had held the
Office for more than twenty-five years,
and only resigned on account of age,
Leake county was established in 1888,
and is known as one Of the ''white
counties" owing to the fact that its
white population is largely in excess Of
its black. Surface Of the country Is |
level on bottom lands, the balance un-
dulating and hilly. About one-twen- |
tieth under cultivation; The remainder |
covered with original forests. The |
timber trees are pine, oaks of every va
riety, hickory, beech, poplar, maple, |
chestnut, walnut, sycamore, cypress, |
etc. The soil consists Of red clay hills, |
loan second bottom, alluvial bottoms !
on creeks and rivers and the highly |
productive alluvial called reed brakes"
or creed glades." These brakes" when |
Il l.. I hsf,hl
ductiye. As much as seyentytiYe |
them to the acre.
The products of the county are cot |
ton, corn, oats, sorghum, sugar cane, !
rice, potatoes, and all kinds Of fruits !
and vegetables. The range of pasturage |
is good eight months in the year, OF |
native grasses cane and Japan clover. |
Population Of the county 13,400. OF |
these 5000 are whites, the balance |
blacks, with a few Indians. Cotton !
and corn crops this year are exceeding |
ly good and promising. the recent rains |
having been of incalculable benefit |
A bountiful rain fell on the , st, "a
regular chunk noater' as backwoods |
folks call it. Mad dogs are very preva
lent in this and adjoining counties just
at this time, and general sIaughtering |
of "Trays and Sweethearts" has been /
going on.
find the people of this county, with
but few exceptions, for Lowry for Gov
ernor, and Nash for Attorney General.
For Auditor the matter is about equally |
divided between Sykes and Hines |
Govan and Porter. each, have strong
supporters for Secretary of State.
The thirteen and seventeea-year 10 |
Gusts mentioned in my Lexington letter
of last week as having made their ap- |
pearance, are to be found in great mum
bers in this and adjoining counties; in
fact the visitation is general all over the /
State. They have, thus far. done no |
harm. The ground is full of holes, say |
a quarter of an inch in diameter, made
by them in their exit tfrom-where? We |
know they come out of the ground, but |
how deep down, and how came they
there?
This query is suggested by seeing
some Young men a day or two since, |
trying in vain to fathom one of these !
locust holes. They had a spool of |
thread, to one end of which they |
a buckshot as a sinker, and !
lowering it down the hole exhausted
the 1900 yards warranted" without |
touching bottom. 1t is supposed that |
these locusts make their exit from the |
ground during the night, for nobody has
vet seen them come out during the |
day. Every locust has on shroud or
Jacket, which he soon sheds after his |
entree into this world. This shroud or
Jacket opens in the back, at the shoul- |
ders probably this accounts for the
name given by shirtmakers, to the open
back shirt 'Locust back.
Commencement days will soon be |
here. with their essays, speeches, diplo |
mas. etc. The exercises at the A. and |
NJ. College at Starkville begin on the |
14th of June, and those of the State |
University at Oxford, the latter part |
of June. Miss Sailie Wick Hill carries |
off the first honors of the last named |
institution this year. She is the daughter |
of DIR. s. V. D. Hill, of Macon, and is an
exceedingly bright girl; she could not
be otherwise and have wrested the first |
honor from number of the brightest |
young men that ever graduated at Ok
ford ELRoY.