The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1889-01-18
RAMBLING THROUGH DIZZY.
The Trip To Arkansas City-The Tim
Der Along The Route-Pay-day
On the Plantation.

Der Along The Route-Pay-day
On the Plantation.
After delay of few days, and see
ing my letter published in your paper,
promising tn continue the same from
week 10 week until your readers get
enough of Dizzy and its doings.
believe left you or you left me at
Pine Bluff when 1 last wrote you
Well nothing unusual occurred be-
tween that point and Arkansas City
worth relating. We had mixed train
or rather mixed cargo of passengers,
composed of darkeys. penitentiary con-
victs, drunken brutes and people, the
people being largely IN the minority.
NV wife was greatly annoyed by an
"Henglishman" who sat directly be-
hind us and insisted upon my taking a
drink of gin with him and holding the
bottle containing the said fluid, direct
~ under my nose. refused to drink
with him time and again until the
temptation grew too severe for further
endurance when 1 took the bottle from
his trembling hand and threw it out
at the car window. This violent and
ungentlemanly act of mine of course
enraged him to some extent, and from
the way he poured cuss words down
on my Uranium for a while was not
funny to listen to, and began to wish
that 1 might hear our thick-lipped
brakeman cry out Arkansas City, as
knew not but I might need the assist
ance of a policeman TO keep soul and
body together, but Arkansas City was
several miles away yet. and all that I
could do of course was to act on the de-
fensive and take the consequences.
This / did and came out all right as
he soon fell asleep and when he awoke
he seemed to have forgotten all about
the whole circumstance. Here is
where we saw the first palmetto grow
ing. Mrs. X. inquired what the name
of the singular looking plant was, and
our sleepy individual was quick to in.
form her that it was bear grass. l
have neglected to say that this whole
distance between Pine Bluff and Ar
kansas City belongs to the Delta coun-
try and is low wet, rich and heavily
timbered country, the timber being Of
that variety known as the cypress and
sweet gum, the first named being an
excellent lumber timber, the second
named are the prettiest trees I ever
saw, growing very straight and tall,
plenty of them measuring five feet in
diameter and reaching up distance
so to 100 feet without limb or knot
But am told that this lie not very
valuable for lumber as ii resembles
our elm in its habits, twisting up when
exposed to the sun and rotting quickly
in the shade.
Arkansas City. Twill not say much
about this point as I wish to speak
more fully about it in a future letter
as saw more of and learned more
about this town on my return trip
than did as went down. Our train
ran onto boat here and we were fer
ried over the Father-of- Waters as the
Y. R. has no bridge at this point yet.
1t was here at this point that the very
clouds seemed to break loose and pour
the specie out, as every man who came
into our car threw a bag of silver dol
lars down on his seat aud sat down be-
side it. White men these were, for
after we cross into the Mississippi
State no niger is allowed 10 sit in the
white folks car. The writer being oil
an excitable nature and somewhat
anxious to inquire into things
hat he does not already full
tly understood engaged the gentle
man sitting directly acroes the isle
who proved to be a wealthy planter
and an ex-slaveholder, in the following
conversations:
"You will please excuse me, sir, fol
being SO inquisitive, but you must
haye plenty of money in this rich
country as 1 see you all seem to carry
it around in bags"
"Oh, sir, let me assure that this is 8
very hard year on US, and our means
are scarce, very scarce, sir. Our lands
are very rich and productive, but we
have had very wet year. Just look
out there, sir. pointing out in the cot.
ton field you see that we could not
work our crops. Too much wet sir, too
much wet"
And While was no judge of a cot.
ton crop, must say that the cotton
did look quite short, or, rather, the
crabgrass looked quite long.
81 suppose you employ the colored
people to do most of your work down
here yet, do you not?"
"Yes sir, niggers, niggers. What
part of the north are you from, sir?"
1 answered "Kansas, the great re
publican state"
"Yes, yes. great republican state
sir.''
He then went on and explained t.
me- how they employed the negroes
and when and how they paid them
and that the planters came to the
banks every Saturday to get change
specie to pay their hands on Saturday
r;pbt And fh;s mae u,h- oa,l x,1nrx