The Republican journal., 1886-06-10
Our Georges Letter.

AND FLORIDA. SAVANNAH TO ATLANTA.
On entering the depot of the Ga. Central r.
r. at savannah l became aware that something
was the matter. A big crowd was there and
more kept coming. The fair sex predominated,
| though there were enough of the male kind to
say nothing of the colored crowd, to make a
good average. On our ride from the steamer
to the depot we had noticed that the city was
decorated with flags. and red, white and blue,
and that the fronts of the stores were hung
with notices and Chinese lanterns. This was
Monday morning. and we were not long in find
ing out that the previous week the Chatham
Artillery had celebrated their centennial, and
that Mr.. Jefferson Davis, a southern gentleman
somewhat known in the North. had been the
guest of the city. and that visitors had come from
all sections to the celebration and were now get
ting home, and that their friends had come to
see them of. 1t was a perfect pandemonum,
If it isn't too early i'll the season for pandemo-
NUNS. The engine was blowing off steam,
with that let-me-m Observation-Disclosures air that an
engine can assume; everybody was talking at
the top of his voice. Every few minutes the
engine would move and Jerk the ears an inch.
when all hands would kiss and the passengers
who were on the platform would make bolt
for the ears: but finding they were not going,
would return to their friends and await the
next movement of the train. for another kiss
and good bye. They took as many tireweIls of
their friends as our prominent actresses do of
the stage, and appeared before the public again
Just as promptly. At last, however, the train
did start, and the usual number got left. and
the ladies waved one hand, and polished
up their eyes and noses to bright red
with handkerchief in the other hand. till it
seemed 50 much like northern scene that
nearly wcpt. but was brought to myself by the
train ticnd with the biz basket, which he jabs
into the passengers stomachs as he iostes
through the cars. yelling through his nose.
''goobers, nice fresh baked COOLERS. only five
cents Il bag" | had a nickle in my hand before
his words had got cool. When Il man could
get a bag of ''goobers' for five cents he didn't
want to daily y that's the way it looked to me.
had never owned any ''goobers," but it seem
cd to ne that five cents must be the bottom
price. and that no man should be without them.
! determined TO economic on something else
and have the COOLERS any how, and | did,
and found that | had bought pint of poorly
baked, darncd little mean peanuts. | couldn't
have been worse set up if | had been in Russia
where | couldn't have understood a word of the
language Coolers! | thought peanut was
Il peanut the world over. Coolers. what Il
name, Think of taking your best girl to cir
Gus and inviting her to have some '.goobcrs.'
Whcw. it makes me Shudter
The Central Railroad of Georgia, like our
Maine Central. is one of the institutions of the
State, and as it gets a good many "cusses'' l
take it to be Il valuable property. Corpora
tons are like individuals. The more they do
for the State. city or town in which they are
located. the more abused they are. and here let
me offer bit of advice. When you strike
railroad OF steamboat about which YOU hear
nothing. avoid it and 90 on the monopoly
line. 1t may be cheating somebody and max
Ing lots of money, but the traveller will get the
benefit of all this in "safety, speed and COM
fort" The Central road runs west from Saw
annah to Atlanta Via. Macon. thence from At
lanta South to Albany. connecting with the
Brunswick and Western to WaycrosS. and
thence through to Jacksonville. This gives it
a through route across the whole State. with
a coast outlet at Savannah, where it connects
with the Boston and New York steamers, and
also line south to Jacksonville, thus securing
a large amount of southern travel and an inn
men>e cotton and freighting business. There
has been no improvements South within a few
Years more marked than in the railroads. The
road beds and rails are good and smooth run
ming, the rolling stock and locomotives first
class, the passenger coaches clean, and about
| As one finds them North. Southern travel has
assumed such proportions that first class ac-
| commodation and transportation has been de-
| manded, and the managers of the roads have
seen that il was for their advantage to furnish
| it, and nave done so.
| \ traveller by rail through the South, will
be greatly disappointed in the scenery. Natu-
| rally we think of the '.sunny South" as land
of flowers. so it is, but the railroads run
| through Il district where the soil is sandy, and
| the country fiat, and the entire distance is
covered with hard pine timber. The stopping
| places. nearly all of them are Il mere cluster
| of negro cabins, built either of logs OF hard
| pine boards, implanted, and black with smoke,
one story high, with a door in the center of
one side and a chimney at the end, built Oh the
| outside Of the house, looking as if it was too
warm inside and it had stepped out where
| there was more air. If these cabins had been
| run in mold they could not be more alike
| throughout the entire states of Ga. and Fla.
| The ride from Savannah TO Atlanta occupies
about twelve hours, and between savannah
and Macon, about seven hours ride, there is
| 10 town village of any size. The cars will
pull up. perhaps in the woods, quite number
OF passengers will get off and disappear, and
others will get on and off we go. Where they
90 to, and come from, | don't know. All
! along the road are these intermnable pine
woods, a great source of wealth, however, to
the State i'll lumber, turpentine and rosin.
The soil through Ga. does not look exceeding
ly rich, nevertheless it is a great cotton State
Grain, potatoes and fruit do well here Peach
es are good crop, and apples are plenty in
| the western part of the State. In the western
and northern parts of the State the land is bet
ter. There it is clayey, while it is sandy in the
| eastern part. | noticed that corn was planted
in drills, and one stalk in place, and not
nearer together than two feet. 1t seemed
queer not to see it in hills. half a dozen stalks
i'll a hill. | was told that the land was not
strong enough for but one stalk, and that the
yield was only one ear to stalk. The first
time had this told me, | thought the talker
knew was Il stranger and was blowing wind
at me, but after a dozen had told me the same
thing, and saw the fields myself, planted in
that way, began to think that it was so, but
notwithstanding this one-stalk-il-a-hill bust
hess, she claims to be the eleventh State in
| raising corn. When she does raise an ear, it is
big enough for a base ball bat
Georgia picks more cotton than any Southern
State, claiming $4,000 bales in 1885. This
| would give all the inhabitants enough to put in
their ears, and leave the men some to pad out
the shoulders of their dress coats. A bale of
cotton is about as big as an old fashioned bale
of hay, and is worth about Sc. or &c. a pound.
| The average yield for the entire State was
about $50 pounds to the acre. 1t would seem
at that rate, that it would be about as profitable
for man to get drunk and raise the devil as to
| raise cotton. Three things are necessary in
order to raise cotton. A bit of land niger
and a mule. If it didn't grow awfully slow