Omaha daily bee., 1889-09-19
The NASHVILLE OF TODAY.
Wonderful Changes In the Southern
City Since the War.
SOME LANDMARKS STILL STAND
The Statue OF Jackson and the Tomb
OF Foik-Fighting n Mob With
Water - Ante-BeIlum
"reminiscences.
Nashville Rrvisited.

through red clay ravines and cuts blasted
through the rocky hills. We are crossing
the Cumberland by the railroad bridge, and
presently the din and shout of the hackmen
and omnibus drivers welcomes us at the
entrance OF the Chattanooga depot.
Again am in the capital OF Tennessee,
with its never-fading "reminiscences. Again
l walk by the terraces, shaded and per-
fumed by magnolas. Here Is tho historic
home and tomb of James X. Polk. On the
crest of the highest hill stands the capitol,
resting upon foundation of eternal rocks
from which every block of this classical and
massive structure was quarried.
The horoc statue of Andrew Jackson, the
noblest of Tennesseeaus stands where IL
stood thirty years ago. Old Hickory still
holds the bride of his iron steed, and the
charger is still held in its rampant attitude
by his heavy tail.
How vividly remember the day IN the
spring of '62 when, standing on an eminence
above Edgefield, on the north side of the
Cumberland, 1 bcheld the descent of the
stars and bars from the flag staff of the
capitol, and the starry banner ascending in
its place. How my heart was thrilled by the
deafening cheers of the blue-coated columns
marching up the capitoline hill, regiment
after regiment, bands playing national airs and
hundreds of starry streamers floating above
the thousands of glistening bayonets Only
an exile coming back from foreign shore
can appreciate the sensation. l had not
seen union flag for nearly nine months
and had been cut off from all communion with
friends and relatives during that period.
And now am in the public square with
its rickety old market house and roolsery of
a city building. What scenes / witnessed
on this same square, during the seven days
riots after the fall of Doneson. The mob
that had broken into stores, and pillaged
the retail merchants, was in full possession
of the warehouses in which the confederates
had stored their quartermaster and commits
sary supplies. Out of the windows in the
third and fourth stories hundreds of excited
men of all colors were pitching down
thousands of hams, sides of bacon,
packages of clothing and boxes of crackers.
Out of the cellars barrels of flour aud whisky
were rolled upon the pavement and fought
for by savage, hungry crowd of blacks and
whites, male and female. Mounted upon
cask in the middle of the square stood Mayor
Cheatam, with cooked derrnger in each
hand, vainly shouting to the mob to disperse
The Texas Rangers were invoked aud made
stroke, trying to disperse the mob. Finally
the fire engines were brought out and
streams of water were thrown into the midst
of the maddened rioters. 1t was a sight |
never shall forget. The crowd broke right
and left, and the backbone of the riot was
broken by the irresistible force of cold water.
am looking up and down the river from
the wagon bridge that spans the Cumber-
land, where once stood the beautiful suspen-
sion bridge built by General Zollikoifer and
destroyed by the vandal Floyd on his fight
southwark through this city, What piece
of fancy fireworks he did make of that
bridge! 1t was dark night. The tarred
wire cables, glowing like so many fiery
snakes, swung back and forth and twisted
between the towers until finally the whole
mass dropped into the river sixty feet be-
meath with laundering crash.
But while l recognize these old landmarks,
] am at loss to find my way over the streets
which were so familiar to me in the years
gone by. The march Of Improvement is
visible on all sides in this city When 1 left
here in the spring of 1862 the population was
barely %, 900. To-day there are fully $4,000
people in Nashville outside of the suburbs on
the other side of the river. AS / strolied
along the narrow streets lesurely / passed
block after block of great brick and stone
buildings that had been built since my time
And while the patient Tennessee mule still
does duty on some of the horse Car lines, the
overhead electric motor, with elegant
coaches, traverses the greater portion of the
city in every direction. Nashville always
was a center Of southern culture and refine
ment She had her universities, colleges
and ladies' seminaries before the war.
by spacious school buildings, and more re-
Gently by the Vanderbilt and Fisk univer-
sites, which take rank with some of the
best schools for higher education in the
country.
The old Southwestern telegraph Office in
the second story of an ancient and dilapi-
dated brick building, with its cobwebs
on the ceilings, ana the dust of the middle
ages on window panes and walls. with its
dark corridors and rckety stairs and prim-
tive apparatus, IN which had labored and
suffered at the outbreak of the war; is a
thing of the past. The Western Union office,
which has taken it's place, is located in
handsome brick building, and the operating
room is a model of neatness and conven-
ience. Instead Of three operators that were
employed in my time, there are now
forty key Founders working day and
night for dear life. My old time compan-
ion, Joseph w. Fisher, who was chief oper-
ator over myself and Tom Johnson, still sur
wives the shock of war and the ravages of
time He is now manager of the Nashville
office, and will probably remain at that pos:
until Gabriel blows his horn in the morn
ing" found Fisher the same whole-souled
plodder That he used to be in days of yore.
Within u stones throw of the Chattanooga
depot stands AN imposing office building oc-
pied as headquarters by the Nashville. Chat
tanooga &c st. Louis railway. 'The esi-
dents Office" SAID the porter as | entered,
''is on the second floor" 10 my question
whether Mr. Thomas, the president of the
road, was in, the clerk in the anteroom re-
Piled that he was in his private office. What
business shall | say you desire to see him
onp" ~ have no business with him, sim
ply come to make a calln Right here let me
explain that my acquaintance with Mr.. John
w. Thomas dates back thirty years and our
intercourse had not always been mutually
agreeable. When / was telegraph operator
in Murfreesboro, in 1859, Thomas was the sta
Il. nj ......