The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1892-04-13
SOUTHERN SCENES.
Beautiful Savannah, the Forest
City" Of the South.


The last night in January 1892, again
found the "Leoncito" speeding away
over the level road bed of the s. +. Il
W., and we knew that morning would
find us many miles from Florida with
its long stretches of sandy soil dotted
by salamander holes and covered with
the bright green palmetto foliage, its
funereal, moss-draped cypress swamps,
its innumerable lakes and gators, its
many miles of orange groves, its trop-
ical plants. fruits, and flowers, its pala-
tial hotels and, best of all, its enter
prising, warm-hearted, cosmopolitan
population and great Plant System of
railway and steamship lines.
Monday morning we awoke at Sa-
vannah, the city whose settlement dates
back to the days of Oglethorpe and the
founding of Georgia, the youngest of
the original thirteen colonies. The
little settlement was laid out with open
squares and streets crossing each other
at right angles and, this plan being ad-
hered to, the beauty of the city to-day
becomes an enduring monument to
the fore thought and taste of Ogle-
thorpe. Nowhere else did we find such
sylvan beauty, such magnificent vistas
of interlacing boughs, such an air of
quiet culture throughout the surround
ings OF the many fine residences, so
many indications of that indescribable
Southern ease and luxury character
istic of a locality that, before the war,
was the home of an aristocracy almost
akin to the old feudal system in wealth
and power.
The many public squares designed
by Oglethorpe as places of refuge for
the colonists in time of attack, are now
called "the lungs of the city" and have
become beautiful little parks where
children may play and passers-by OBJ
tain charming view of fountains and
flowers, the rose, and camelia japonica
blooming luxuriantly all winter long
Savannah is city of monuments, and
in many of these squares the exploits of
the heroic dead are written in marble,
the most noticeable monuments being
the following;-Th marble shaft in
johnson square in memory of Gen.
Nathaniel Green, bearing bronze in
scriptiOnal tablet on the north face, and
an alto reljeCO portrait of the Revolu-
tiOnary hero on the south face; the
Pulaski monument in Monterey square,
its glistening pillar of Italian marble
surmounted by IA statue of Liberty hold
ing the starry banner, with the wound
ed soldier, falling from his horse and
still grasping his sword, carved ON one
side Of the pedestal the Jasper monu-
ment in Madison square, one of the
finest in the city, with II granite base
and pedestal on which stands bronze
statue of Jasper fifteen feet high, the
left hand holding a battle-scarred flag
at arms length, the right hand grasping
an upturned sabre, tightly pressed over
a bullet wound in the side, and the
face wearing an expression of agony
such us makes one realize that this is,
indeed, blood bought land of liberty;
the Confederate monument erected in
the parade ground at Forsyth Park by
the Ladies' Memorial Association, stand
ing upon a raised terrace and capped
by the bronze statue of Confederate
soldier at parade rest, on one panel Il
PROSTATE female figure typical of the
South in mourning, with branch of
laurel just falling from her hand.
Bull street, named in honor of Col
VIM. Bull who assisted Oglethorpe in
laying out the city, passes through five
of these squares and is the most pictur-
esque avenue of the city Upon it are
many old stone mansions with tall col
onnades, and numerous imposing public
buildings. Especially noticeable among
the latter are the Chatham County
Court House, costing $3.50, 600; the Wes-
ley Monumental church, conImemora-
tive of the great founder of Methodism;
and historic Christ church in which
John Wesley established the first Sun
day school
All these and many other interesting
things were shown us by the attentive
committee in the course of the lovely
drive that was the first thing on the pro-
gram after breakfast, during which we
considered ourselves specially fortunate
in having in our carriage Col. j. IL.
Estill, an old-time resident thoroughly
conversant with every incident of Sa-
vannah's history. Siuce 1868 Col. Estill
has been sole proprietor of the Morning
Ne,0s, the only survivor of the news
papers of ante-bellum days. One sell
dom sees more substantial or better
equipped business block than his six
story steam printing house, one half of
which is exclusively used for the pur-
pose of publishing and printing the
daily and weekly Morning News, the
other half being entirely devoted to
book and job printing, lithographing,