The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1888-04-13
oEN. RAkRR.s LErrRR.
on the Gulf of Mexlco---Some
Things the South Is Defi-
client In.
BAY ST.. LOUIS, Mss, April 2.


BAY ST.. Louis, Miss, April 2.
10 ths Editor;
We have been spending week on the
Gulf of Mexico. Between Mobile and
New Orleans, there are a number of
quaint old places, settled long years ago
by the Spaniard and French, and noted
as healthful resorts at all seasons of the
year. Among these are the Bay st.
Louis, Pass Christian, and Biloxi. In
their general characteristics, they are
pretty much alike. They are squarelY
on the coast line of the great gull. Be-
fore you is the vast stretch of salt water,
and behind you, to the North, is an hum |
dred miles OF unbroken pine forest. The |
salt sea breeze fans you, and the oder of |
the pines breathes healthful air. Four
years ago JEFF. Davis told me that this |
coast was the most healthful place in all |
the South. The home of this impenitent
arch rebel, is only few miles distant,
across the bay. l saw him the other
day, looking old and feeble.
II is pleasant to sit on the broad piazza
and watch the tides come and go. In
the distance, You can see Cat Island, and
the white sails of the vessels on their
way to Cuba; while in the Bay, there
are q score of fishing smacks gathering
OIblCIb. 1hCIC OHC blI6cL
Just on the beach, and along this street
is an unbroken line of pretty and sub
stantial villas, airy with broad galleries,
and generally bright and CHEEKY with
flowers. These cottages, all fronting to
the beach, each have their pier, extend
ing far out into the water, with bathing
houses. AS they reach out from one to
two hundred yards, they make nice
walks over the water. These cottages
are fair structures, with wide balls and
great porches. The street is pretty we'll
lined with live oaks, now rich with new
foliage, or magnolias always green. The
New Orleans people flock here during
the summer months, and from January
to April, they are occupied by Northern
ers. A more quiet, restful place 1t is
difficult to imagine. The mildness of
the climate, the wide and graceful We
randas, the clearness of the beach, the
shade of the walks, gives one an easy,
lazy outdoor sort of life, which is truly
enjoyable. There are no industries here,
except it be fishing. The only thing to
do, is to be as indolent as possible. The
place reminds me of town visited in
Florida. There seemed to be nothing
for the people to do. l asked a fellow
what in the world thew did for living?
He replied, "Well, we live pretty much
on fish and strangers, and catch mighty
few fish p So it is here. In fact the
South is reaping rich harvest out of its
Northern visitors. 1t has recently been
estimated that as many as $4,000 North
erners have sojourned this winter IN the
extreme South, and it is estimated that
they have expended an average of not
less than five dollars day. This cannot
be far from correct, and ought to tend
towards good feeling between the sec
tons. In truth, it does.
| The drawback to Northern people is
the mode of cooking prevailing in the
South. They don't know how to cook
for Northern palate. They have plenty
| of fish and oysters, but no vegetables.
Tl,Oir r.aO~to arc rank with cotton seed
oil. Throughout the South, the people
and their papers, are forever telling you
what fine fruits and vegetables they can
raise. But l notice they don't. We get
no fresh vegetables anywhere. At no.
tells, it's all canned fruit and canned veg.
etables. In the interior, everywhere,
you can get black coffee, not bread and
chicken and bacon. A good garden, full
of all manner of succulent vegetables,
and such as abound in Blue Earth coun-
tY, would indeed be a novelty here.
Another thing you observe, is the scar
city of fruit trees. Apples do not sue
coed this far South, and peaches blight
There are no currants, and in general,
small fruits. The only fruits have seen
which do succeed, is a Japanese plum
and Scupernong grape. If you expect a
| planters home to be surrounded with
fruit trees and berries, you will be much
mistaken. There are many things they
could have in this line, but they do not.
The dependence of the South upon the
North is beyond belief. Take the mat
ter of hay. All the hay / found on sale
in New Orleans, is from Illinois, Iowa,
etc. At all the sugar plantations, found
this same Northern timothy hay. The
price is from $40 to $22 per ton. At the
Produce Exchange, on inquiry, found
that all the corn and oats was from the
North. Indeed, corn raised in this lati-
tude will not keep, nor will oats head
and ripen here. All the butter is from
the North. At the "Woman's Ex-
change" where we took most of our
meals, the lady in charge told us that
they could not use Louisiana butter.
from the North. They do have poultry
and eggs of their own production; and
on the gulf, fish and oysters are album
dant and cheap. Everything else is sac
rificed to the great Southern staples.
The Southern journals are constantly ad-
monishing their farmers to raise their
own corn and stock, but they don't do it.
An old cotton planter tod me he
couldn't raise hogs because the buffalo
gnats killed them. There must be some
substantial impediments in the way, or
they would surely raise things essential
for home consumption. They told me
at the Produce Exchange, that there
was so little nutriment in Louisiana hay,
that one bale of Northern timothy was
worth three of it. Who knows after all
but that these things are wisely adjusted,
and that inter-dependence is a provi-
dence, 20 bring us into more intimate re-
lations. ]. Fl. BAKER.