The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-10-28

and his belongings enter and leave the
carriage, and divert by the novelty of
their ideas and language, while the odd
mixture of American with Indian French
and classical names for the towns enter
tain you in passing from Columbia to
Augusta, Augusta to Macon, Macon to
Vienna and Abbeville, and so, by Val
d'Osta, Traders Hill, Jasper, Live Oak,
Tallahassee and dozens of strangely en-
titled spots, to Bristol But it is all
somewhat tedious in its monotony until,
approaching Florida and the coast of the
Gulf of Mexico, you come into more spe-
cial scenery, where the Spanish moss
swings upon the dark forest trees, and
the palmetto shoots up from the lagoons;
and over the interminable sea-Inarshes be-
tween Apalachee bay and New Orleans
flights of long-tailed, black shrikes and
gray crows fill the air, and the stagnanJ
water swarms with catfish and alligators.
like America, and have good reason to
like her, but look back upon the greater
part of that prodigious journey with the
recollection of fatigue and ennui such
as few railway trips ever left behind. AS
you get westward between New Orleans
and the Pacific coast, passing through
Louisiana and the immense deserts of
southern Texas, things are different.
Vast as is the monotony there also you
cannot pass for the first time across the
wastes of the Apache mountains to Eel
Paso and the Rio Grande without pleas
ure in studying the extraordinary land
scGpes. 1t is another world from that
which you have traversed when you rat
tie along through the curious thickets of
candelabra cactus on the Llano-Estacado
of New Mexico, and thence to Arizona
and the wonderful foothills of lower Cali
fornia.
But in that part of the long journey
when we were passing through Georgia,
and at the moment when the tedium was
worst the train approached long hollow
in the hills where one of those pleasant
surprises occurred which go to prove how
song may consecrate a locality. A river,
not very broad or deep, but with a GER
tain special grace and character OF its
own, lay in front of our train We had
good view OF it as we came near the
wooden trestle bridge by which the line
was carried across structures which,
until you become acclimatized to Ameri-
can travel, always makes you wonder
whether they will carry the train this
time safely over. The river ran down
from the Georgian hills in a
lively current, broken sometimes
Into rapids and little cataracts
where the red and black rocks lay across
its channel, and then widening out into
picturesque reaches bordered by thickcts
of dark green foliage and clunps of cy-
press and willow In the clearings, here
and there between the woods which Dor
dered it, stood isolated negro cottages,
around which you could see little black
children at play, and the invaria BILE pig
which is the house guest of the negro as
well as of the lrishman A punt was
gliding along on the quiet part of the
stream with negro on board dragging a
fishing line, and the black buzzards cir
cled over the maize fields. 1t was not u
very striking scene, but beautiful in its
way, gilded as it was by the rays of a
magnificent sunset. Yet, l should have
forgotten it in few minutes as ! had
forgot the hundreds of other rivers which
the rushing train had traversed had it
not been that l happened to ask the con
ductor what was the name of this par
ticular water. - tf,
Quite carelessly he answered, chats
the Suwanee river, mister!"
Suwanee river In a moment the stream
had for me new and extraordinary in
terest. ! mad not even known that there
was such a river in geographical reality,
or that il flowed through Georgia; and
yet, here it was-real, authentic, alive
leaping down through the southern for
ests, past the maize fields and the cotton
fats, to pour itself into the Gulf of Mex
leo In an instant everything around APP
world knows and sings, "Way Down
Upon de Suwanee Ribber.i The live
oaks seemed to wave it in the evening
air; the stream seemed to sing it as it
bursted over the rocks the birds in the
thickets had it in the soft musical notes
we caught, and the 9crickets and
katydids beginning their sunset chirrup
joined in the half-heard chorus The
Journey was no longer mouotonous To
be way down upon de Suwanee ribber'
was to have come to a,corner of America
dedicated to that deep emotion of our
common humanity-the love of home Is
there anybody who has not felt the charm
of the simple niger melody
When was playin wild my brudder
Happy was l,
o, take me TO my kind old mudder,
Oar let me lib and dle. .
All de world am sad and dreary
Everywhere l roam:
o darktes, how my heart grows weary,
Far from de old folks at homie.
There, indeed, were the old folks T.
home, a white-haired darby sitting on
log by the cottage door stripping mai
cobs and shambling about among tn
pigs and poultry, old Dinah. with yelloy
bandana on her silver locks. crOonin
some song, which might, perhaps. be tn
song of the river. So, after all, it wa
real, ana Lnere was souWdQee river
and the sunny peace and beauty of j
were just what fitted well with the sent:
ment of that touching and tender
which has gone all through the world
cause it holds in its unaffected music th
secret of the pathetic retrospccts of lif,
just the spot, il was, to WHICH a tire
man, be he niger or otherwise. nigh
look back TO with attachment and affec
ton. We travellers coming suddenly upo
it and leaving it at thirty mile
an hour had, Of course, not
ing but the most fitting concer
with "de Suwanes ribber" But on
could imagine how dear 10 might be b.
native born, and how sincere the origin
emotion was of the song-writer, or else 81
some darkey from whom he borrowed H.
20 write and set 10 such soft and sympa-
thetic music Oars where my heart IS
turning ever" Hepceforward for M
that Georgian stream, with the dar.
groves fringing it, and the red crags, an,
the quiet reaches of silver water gilded b
the setting sun. has a place In though
among the famous rivers OF the globe: aul
] never hear the melancholy music Of th
popular niger lament without "a new
feeling " what song can do, Tar beyona
history and important events, ~ oOuse
crate a spot IN nature forever, ana 10 10
calile q universal sentiment. 30 Ego iu
Arcadia, l. too. have been ''way down up0g
the Suwanee ribber"