The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1894-05-10
LIFE ALONG THE BANKS or TIL
WORLD FAMOUS suWANEE.

the Yankee Who Sought In Vain For
Their Pride In tho Stream.
All the world knows of the Suwanee riv.
er through the song that has immortalized
the stream, but not one in ten can tell you
whcreth Suwanee river Is, where It rises
or whittier it flows. As matter OF fact
the map shows that 1t rises in Georgia,
flows south through Florida and empties
into the gulf of Mexico.
Along its banks in Florida the land Is
low and marshy, and there is not much in
the scenery to inspire sentiment, tender or
pathetic In Georgia there arc many pretty
spots along its banks, but the trouble OF
reaching them takes away, in agreat meas
ure, the enjoyment they impart.
was disappointed in the river ard its
scenery, but what the river lacked the ma.
tives along its shores made up to me- The
Cracker has often been delineatcd and
his characteristics commented on at length,
but he never strikes you twice alike and Il
therefore always an object for interest and
study. An unconquerable dislike for labor
and contentment that strangles ambition
at Its birth are the most prominent traits
of his character
Why should be poking along the river
uiih pauuiiilB up uAd dOWH WltuOut any up
parent motive and taking pictures wa.
something that they could not guess with
out doing some thinking, so they let it &c
as mystery, and when man is on mystic
rious business in that part of Georgia they
take it for granted that he is hunting fol
stills.
Ono old fellow who was sitting on log
deluding himself with the idea that he was
nxhinn hscnrpa INT tai In
tions for taking n photograph that could
not resist the temptation to add little by
way OF extempore moves to the process Foi
time was fearful lest he should dl8locate
his mock trying TO watch me, rs / was be
hind HIM Finally he compromised with his
anatomy by straddling the log. l knew
that he was just dying with curiosity tt
know what was doing, but wanted me tc
tell him without his asking. ...
i carefully measured Off triangle Will
leg of the tripod and then set the camera
within the mystic lines. Then 1 stood al
each corner of the triangle, where / had
driven little stake and waved my arms
in the air. Ipald no attention to the audi
ence. Then focused the camera and made
the exposure incidentally. Then laid {
little train of magnesium powder from I'll,
camera to hollow tree near by and fired
the train. There was line Of smoke, but
OF course no fame showed. Then walk co
to the hollow in the tree and apparently
took from the cavity dark. fat bottle--il
was full.
Without word walked up to tho ole
man, who had not let a move escape him
unscrowed the top and handed him The bot
tie. He took it, looked at mo, smclled oil
it-when he handed it back there was moi
q drop in it-all in silence, Without say
ing anything saw who the joke was on
put the bottle in my pocket, gathered VI
the camera and walked away. When goI
behind some bushes, turned and looked
back. The old man was trying to pry tha
dead tree open with his fishing pole.
One man that met was not at all i'm
pressed by the fact that fate had domicilet
him near the ripping waters of the cele
brated stream. opened conversation witt
him.
"A great river, thls'" waving my hant
over the river.
Yep"
'Known all over the world, wherever the
English language is spoken"
Guess So" .......
And The Suwanee River will be suns
while the language exists"
What's that yer drivin att"
why about this riYer-the Suwanec riv
err"
THAT ain't no river"
why, that's the Suwanee river"
mo, faint; that's Their branchn
THAT is no hranch that is the main riv
err"
81 tell you, mister, that's the branch
There amt no S'wanee river bout here"
did you ever hear of the Suwanee riv
ERR"
Nope"
did you ever hear the song, Tho OF,
Folks at Homer"
Nope" ...
"Do you like slnging'"
Don't mind n leotlo Of 1t sometimes"
YAH right. I'll sing The Old Folks u
Home for you."
Strengthened up and began to sing Be
fore the first verse Ind been killed he grew
uneasy and shifted from one foot to TIN
other, so did not attempt the second, bu
asked;
"llow do you like that'"
"IolerabIe."
"Would you like some more"
"No, you ncedenter mind"
VERY well, but you want to remembe
that this is the Suwanee river, one Of tn
most celebrated rivers In the world, unt
yon ought to be glad that you arc so fortu
nate as to live near such celebrated
stream"
"Glad I'm Iivin here! Why mister, In
that dinged pore that can't live nowher
else"
/ left him. He was too prosaic and RAJ
crosssrained to the romance | was lookin
for. That night when ! returned to m
boarding place they said a man had report
sd y crazy Yankee running at large aloni
the branch and cautioned them to look on
Tor him rs he might be dangerous. The
asked il had seen him. | had not.
1t is not TO be wondered at that the poe
expressed tho liyeiest kind of longing 70
tho old folks at home and took it out il
longing if he was wise. He may have gam
boiled along the river with his little hrnthe
in innocent childhood, but when he bega1
to hustle for the luxuries of life along tn
Suwanee river" was not the place for hin
to hang ont.
We know, however, that aflluence is no
necessary for the existence of happines.
and though the farmers along the Suwane
| river do not count their cattle on thou
| sand hills or contemplate garners filled /
bursting, yet they are happy and contcntc,
the happiness of Ignorance, the content
! ment of laziness. But the source of tn
fountain is not questioned as long as It
waters satisfy.-Edwin Ralph Collins il
| Newark u. j. News.
New York as an Exception.
]. f. Baker Is In favor of dropping til
name New Whateom" and employing
| H. - Il
poses the emitting of the New" on all let
Tor Lnnls. lilllnnla- ..irn1,l mr. .,rL nl..a,