Omaha daily bee., 1889-09-22
THEY'RE ONLY MEMORIES NOW
Changes in Dixie Since tho Days
Befo' the wah.
KING CORN ON corroNs THRONE
Scenes OF Progress, Thrift and Plenty
Along the Nashville Road-An
Ideal Haiiroad Manager
and His Men.
The Dixie of To-day.

butternut and gray have disappeared from
Dixie Land. Homespun jeans are too ex-
pensive Tor common people. Tho lantern
iawed, lank and hungry-looKing patriot with
long hair, combed back behind hs ears, has
become a natural curiosity. Scotch snuff is
no longer clipped" by fashionable young la
ules, as of yore.
The only reminders OF olden times down
here are the hybrid mule and pro-
life darkey. Mules are almost ev-
erywhere, patiently ploddiug in the field;
racing in front OF the horse car,
or frisking along with load Of market
struck" Even the negro has undergone a
change. Before the war l seldom met n
negro, old or young, on city street or coun-
try road, who did not politely salute with n
GOOD mornin', massa." Now, when white
man meets negro he must get out of his
way If he does not want to be jostled or run
over. Not that the freedman is more rude
or uncouth than was the slave, but because
he is no longer oependent and considers him
self better than good many of the white
race with whom he comes in contact. The
change that has taken place since the
war impressed itself upon me at
every step. Plantations in middle Tennessee
ture are now mostly given up to corn, which
has become the chief staple all the way from
Nashville to the Tennessee river. Only
here and there small fields of cotton still re-
mind us of the times when cotton was king
Farming that was formerly carried on with
implements no better than those in vogue in
Mexico is now conducted with the most i'm
proved machinery. High bred cattle may be
hon or tad
farm cabins with the traditional chimney
on the outside are few and far between Viii
lagos, towns and cities have sprung up within
the last twenty years, and the hun of indus
try may be heard on every hand. The only
drawback to rapid growth and substantial
prosperity is the inferior cheap labor
which keeps away the more skilled work
man. So long as the negro laborer is willing
to work tor dollar day the white laborer
must accept the same wage or starve. The
law of demand and supply is inexorable. AS
YET there is no serious conflict between the
white and black in their struggle for sub
slstance, but there is no telling when the
time may come.
In Nashville and Chattanooga, and all
along the road, white and black laboreEs
were working side by side, and, as far as 1
color is made in any factory or workshop.
The house servants are all colored, but, to
my SURPRISE I find that Chinese laun-
dryman are more numerous in the south
than In the west. The heathen Chinee
somehow manages to outstrip his female
competitor of African descent in
the competition for laundry work.
The Chinaman pays no attention to
= tbo irh bon la, and iS hu urla a6
with family cares.
The most surprising of all the changes
that have come under my eye was that of
the Nashville & Chattanooga railroad. When
first struck that road, in 1859, it was the
most wretched streak of rail had ever be-
held. The rails were of the ancient and OBJ
solete shape laid on strngers, with very
little ballast and as shaky as plank walk
The branch from Wartrace to Shelbyville
was primitive snake-road, fiat bands of
iron nailed down to stringers. Although the
trains on this branch ran only at the rate of
six miles an hour, passengers were often dis
turbed by the iron bands poking up through
| the Car floor. On the main line the highest
speed any engineer dared to attempt was
twenty miles an hour.
When our train mad fairly pulled out of the
| Nashville depot l seated myself near the
open door of the rear car, by the side of
| John Thomas, the superintendent. l had
walked every foot of this road between
| after broker telegraph wires. l had Travelled
| over the road many times on the locomotive.
| passenger coach and freight caboose.
Now, had curiosity to see what the
| road and the country through which it runs
| looked like. Instead of the old rckety road
| bed, with it's ups and downs, found myself
| upon the most perfectly ballasted roadway
in America, without exception. The Penn.
1 al, L., 81.
in point of solidity and smooth
ness. The old U rail mad disappeared
| and IN its place was the very best of steel
rail of modern pattern with fishtal joints.
The ramshackle station houses and sheds
| that formerly served as such had given way
| to model stations that would grace the New
! York Central. Many of these station houses
| are handsome brick and stone buildings, sur
| rouLded by plots of flower beds aud shrub
| berry, The culverts and bridges, which for
merly were of doubtful safety were all Of
| stone and iron and the equipment of the road
was better than that of any road west Of
| Chicago. We were on an accommodation
| train that stopped at all stations, and yet the
| entire 15l miles from Nashville to
| Chattanooga. including as 1t does the heavy
| grades through the Cumberland mountains
| and the steep and tortuous windings of the
| Tennessee river were made in six hours and
quarter. The run between stations, most
| of the way, was made at speed Of forty
miles an hour.
| The marvellous Improvement in this road is
| due wholly to the lndomitable energy OF the
present management. When asked how this
! state of perfection was brought about Mr..
| Thomas who IS q very plain and unassuming
| young man, replied: 81 have been working at
| this thing for years, and take greal pride in
| keeping up the road In hrstclass style.
| know every inch of this road, and almost
| every cross-tie. have run "A locomotive, reg
ular and special, nearly five years, and then
| l have been connected with its active opera
| ton in several departments"
| Every time we passed freight train a
gang of section hands or "a station there was
| always greeting between the men and super
| intendent.
"Hello, Jiml" Thomas would cry out"
| ''Glad TO see you, John" was the ready
answer.
These cordial greetings between superin-
| tendent and the railroad men was very
| pleasing feature, and in striking contrast
| with what had seen on other roads, IL ex-
| and fireman, but to brakemen, section bosses
| and section hands Thomas seemed to know
| every man on the road, and every man not
| only knew him. but seemed TO like him.
~ have never had any trouble with our
| men," said Thomas, "and don't expect ever
! to nave | take personal interest in them.
II anybody has anything 10 COM
| plain Of he comes TO me We keep
| our men as long as they are able TO work. II
| any man. or set of men, should raise hand
| against me, there would be thousand men
ready Ii down him In less than no time.n