The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-04-27
A VISIT TO SAVANNAH.
The Attractions and the Growing Com
MERGE of the Georgia Seaport-The
Colored People.
from ne Boston Tfanscrfpt.

| SAVANNAH, GA, April looming here
from the North last month for the first
| time, found it hard to turn my eyes, as
the City of Macon steamed up the river,
| from the green savannahs on the north
| bank Of the stream to the commonplace
| brlck walls, on the south bank, of the city
| 70 which they have given their name, The
! last land that | had sighted had been the
! snow-covered shores OF Long Island. This
| great expanse of gardens and meadows was
| as green as the fun food of the warmth of
| spring could make it. There are trees
enough, dotting the plains here and there, to
| relieve them of the sense of WEAKNESS that
| the bare Western plains give one; dropping
| Weeplng-willows and expresses along the
| shore, water oaks and cedars farther back.
! these savannas are a refreshing picture to
Northern eyes IN the spring time, whether
one sees them from the deck Of the incom-
| ing steamer, or, later ON in his visit, from
| the more elevated windows of the ware
| houses and Offices ON Bay street that look
out on the river. But, having once entered
| the city, the visitor finds that the entire
| place has a wonderful fascination for him
! the bare walls of the buildings fronting
| the river are like the gloomy exterior
| OF n Spanish house, which has within
1t colonnadeS and gardens of wonder
! tul beauty. Savannah is city Of
| green places to an extent that even
our new England towns, tree-embowered
IN summer, might envy. The city was laid
| out as elaborately as Washington was, but
| IN parallelograms with wide and narrow
streets alternating, and the wide ones pro-
! vlded with open squares or parks at inter-
| vais, so that there are no less than twenty
| four OF those parks i'll the city The guide
book will tell you how the magnaIi liz and
palmetto trees and flower gardens are found
| everywhere, and how Forsyth Park, with its
| Partisan fountain, is shaded by venerable
| trees and covers thirty acres; but it will
| give you no idea of the actual impression
made by these things Savannah is an old
| fashioned city, which means that the dwell
lighthouses are detached from one another,
and have each its own protico leading down
TO the sidewalk. 1t IS also a Southern city,
and that means that verandas and balconies
| are everywhere The streets are very
| sandy, and consequently silent; and all
these elements, joined with the sight of an
| occasional one-OX cart, troops of picturesque
negroes, and policemen in top boots and
SLOUGH hats, give BOstonian an impression
of being very, very far away from home.
1t is all very agreeable, however, espe-
cially as a relief from a noisy busting,
muddy, brick-and-Stone city under the chill
of Northern winter. But the people here
were what interested me chiefly. And the
first people one sees in Savannah as the
steamer nears her wharf, are the swarmng
colored men, gathering to help the steamer
unload or give the operation tie benefit of
their sanctioning presence They are the
most motley crowd that any one ever saw:
their garb ranges from the most approved
attire of the modern dude to almost no at
tire at all, or an attire exclusively of
patches. If any one thinks that
clothes made of nothing but patches
are an impoSsibillty, he should see
some of these people and be con-
WINGED to the contrary. They stand and
sit in all attitudes of picturesque repose;
and when they seize the gang plank to run
it on board, standing SO close to each other
on each side of the plank that they are like
! peas III pod, they grunt and groaE as if
| each one were lifting the plank all alone
This scene was the beginning of my interest
in the colored people of Savannah. and |
never ceased to obser6 them while was
in the CITY, They are the merriest, most
| contented, most philosophical people in the
world. They sing or whistle almost cease
lesSly. Listen at any moment and
| you will hear a grand combina-
| ton of whistles rising on the air,
In the evening the colored people sit in the
| parks or on the street corners, or wander I'D
and down, singing, whistling, or playing
| their harmonicas-a sort Of instrument of
which they are very fond. They improvise
to prefer certain notes, to which he returns
| frequently and fondly as he proceeds with
| his tune" which is for that matter q
| genuine melody, generally in a minor KEY.
| II there is a really and Thoroughly happy
| people in the world, | should say, from my
brief observation of them, that the colored
inhabitants of Savannah are that people.
| have heard from prominent citizen of
| Savanpah-a former Shareholder, Demo
crat in politics and the financial head of an
| important corporations very favorable
account of the colored people here as labor
ers and citizens ''They are,n this gentle
man said to me, ''the best laborers in the
world, and when they have saved up 5000
or $500, the best of citizens. Their progress
since the war has been beyond what / could
have believed possible. They have a GREAT
desire for education, and are sending their
children to school faithfully. They do not
take much to politics now, but devote a
| good deal of time to their societies and pri-
vate organizations, and become exceedingly
| expert in parliamentary law. You can hear
them talking about their society affairs
almost any time that you will listen, and
there is no denying that it is having an ex-
cellent educational effect upon them. As
laborers they are not the most industrious
people in the world, perhaps, and do not, as
a rule, like to work much harder than they
| have to; but what meant when said thew
were the best of workmen was that they
are the least turbulent There are next to
no strikes among them. TIE only strike
that we have ever had here III Savannah
was one of white laborers on the docks
against the black laborersn
Savannah has reason to congratulate it.
self upon its material growth. The increase
i'll the city'S trade has been sure and steady:
last years trade showed a marked gain on
the year before and the business of this year
will undoubtedly surpass that by as much
Real estate, without experiencing what
might be called boom, has increased mark
edlv in price, and much new residence prop
erty is being put in tho market and built
upon. Tho development is toward the
south, and especially in the noighb0rhood
beyond Forsyth Park, and the property is
being put in the market largely by an i'm
provemenI company which proceeds system
atically and puts everything to its best
uses. 1t does not appear remarkable that
the city should grow, when its immense ex-
port and coastwiSe trade is taken into ac-
count. There is scarcely day when two
or more large steamers are not lying at
Savannah's wharves. The business of the
Ocean Steamship Company constitutes in
itself commerce of no mean importance.
1t is in connection with this corpora
ton, which is a branch OF the
enterprises Of the great Con-
trail Railroad and Banking Company OF
Georgia, that tho New Enghud and S1-
Vnunah Steamship COnpanV plyjuce IN