Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1886-07-24
TAe eouTA OF THE souTAEaNgRs.
Tho obIlglng Conductor = a subtle

Tho ObligIng Conductor - Subtle
Observation-Disclosures LONELINESS.
But there is another south, the south
of the southern people, not so easily
reached, but well worth reaching One
needs to have plenty, of time and plenty
OF patience to travel in this south. And
hewill be happier il he carry with him
certain simple stores besides the articles
have mentioned--such as tea, coffee,
lump sugar, potted meats and preserves.
A portable bath-tub and his own soap
and towels will make vast difference in
his comfort. Certain things he must not
expect to find here either. Southern
trains have little regard for their time
tables, and he had better carry supply
of paper novels for odd hours at stations
in what are most appropriately named
waiting-rooms. But, as compensation,
southern railway officials ON local roads
are the most affable and obligingof men.
They return for you II you are too late;
they wait for you to eat your dinners;
they stop anywhere In the woods to let a
man get off. "Never You mind, ma'am,"
says the obliging conductor, "you take
your time with the dinnerj the train
amt going off without you"
One time remember a train which
waited half-hour for the passengers to
get dinner before they started. Wewere
altogether three hours behind time.
asked the man at the station If this train
did not meet another. sYes, ma'am,
said he; "but, you see, we meet at,
and whichever train gets there first waits
for the other, SO there amt a bit OF
trouble" Somewhere at the end Of tho
line boat waited for the train with the
Same engaging politeness. The south
ern conductors are always kind to women
and children, and Hospitality polite to
strangers, and the station-masters seem
rather to like answering questions. One
| has to expect certain absence OF the
virtue next to godliness south, and he
can not look for honesty among the
blacks; but what are trunks made with
| locks for?
At first the untidy ways will Jar on his
sense of order; he will very likely be an.
noyed by the lcnguid fashion in which
life moves on; it viii irritate and dismay
him to see the absolute lack Of compre
hension of the meaning Of comfort. But
very soon he will feel subtle, reluctant
fascination; he will be soothed by the alb
sence Of hurry and hustle; he will appre
ciate the gentle courtesy which seems tt
be the southerners' birthright; he viii
be touched by their pathetic hospitality
he will learn to admire their bravery
gaycty, and that energy which Otter
turks beneath their Incidence.
And nsture will have her word. Those
weird cypress forests, those solemn pin,
woods among the red clay hills, thos,
tropical splendors Of plant and fiowe
and sky, that softer loneliness of thu
southern homes-stately old mansions
which ruin makes but the NOR
picturesque, set amid their gardens OF
shady streets or overlooking fields O
cotton, or rice, or cane-al these and {
hundred sights as fair come to captur
his heart and haunt his memory. 1
the traveller have friend with planta
ton, in that case he will have all tn
poetry without the discomfort. In an.
case, the real south (Which, by-the-way
is by far the cheaper south) is the on
which is sure to repay the traveller 70
his outlay of time and money. NJ,
friends who are going to the real south
: you who are about TO enjoy-1 congratu
late you.-Cor. Harpers Bazaar.