Omaha daily bee., 1895-08-18
ANOLD TOWN IN RICH SETTING
Quaint Bits Of Daily Life in the Capital Of
Mississippi.
A PANORAMA IN BLACK AND WHIT
Political ana Industrial Activities
Viewed by n Northcrncr-Innux OF
Capital and scttlers-Rich Soil
and ThriftIess workers.


JACKSON, Miss, Aug. 7.-(Correspond-
ence Of The Bse)-For the first time since
the "wah' find myself south Of the Mason
and Dixon line, in what was once "secesh''
state. but now as loyal as any In the
union. | landed here last Monday noon,
and found about 200 negroes, more or less,
expecting meat least there was about that
number at the depot ready to carry my
grip and shine my shoes.
To an Omaha man who has never set foot
in a southern city in times of peace, the
streets of the capital Of Mississippi present
a unique appearance. AS | write In the
commercial room of the Lawrence house,
the leading hotel Of the city, big dog is
herding a COW with a bell on, near the side
door. All the cows on the street wear old
fashioned cowbells strapped around their
necks Directly in front of the hotel stands
a wagon loaded with wood, piled high, on
| top of which an old, dilapidated darkey lies
| sleeping peacefully in the fierce heat of
| Mississippi sun. The three yoke Of cattle
| hitched to the wagon are lying down. chew
| ing the cud of bovine conteutment.
The sidewalk in front of the hotel is of
| concrete, and the ground floor of the build
| ing is simply a continuation of the side
walk There is not a foot of pavement in
| the city, and no sidewalks worthy Of the
| name. The old bob-tail street cars are drawn
| by mules at pace about half fast as the
average Omaha bill collector would walk
| The population of the city is about 10000,
| equally divided as to blacks and whites,
| with the chances in favor of a black ma
| jority
PRIDE OF THE CITY.
| Speaking of the white and colored popu-
lation reminds me that the colored people
| of Jackson are about as low In the scale
as any in the south, in spite Of good schools
| and considerate treatment by the white citi-
| zens. The educational institutions of Jack
son are equal to those of any state in the
union, and no people are more proud OF
their schools, nor more generous in their
| endowment, than those of Jackson There are
two excellent colleges in the city, and the pub
| lie schools are second to none. OF course the
| color line is drawn in the schools, as well
as in all public places. 1t looks very odd
| to northern man to see "colored room
| and white room" signs over the respective
| waiting rooms at railroad depots but 1t only
| takes few hours stay in city like this to
convince an obssrvant person Of the neces-
| sity OF separate apartments for the races
| The different state institutions, most OF
which are located here, are models of neat
| ness, and are administered with strictest
| business methods, and the most econom.
| ical principles The state house is an old,
| moss-grown building, about half the size Of
| the capital building at Lincoln. 1t stands
! in the center of beautiful grounds, and is
! ment, erected to the memory of confederate
dead. The base of the obelisk encloses
| life size statue of Jefferson Davis.
Though many of the methods and customs
| of the people here are prmitive in the ex
treme and the country fifty years behind the
| times in many respects, yet a volume might
| be written on the beauties of the city and
country. State street running north and
south in front of the capital grounds, is the
| pride of the city. 1t is, by many, considered
tbn CT hoo fnl cir ctr n hp
| south Elegant homes, surrounded by spa
| cious grounds, studded with stately native
| trees of gigantic growth, the walks bordered
| with all the rich verdure and bright colors OF
Towering and foliage plants common to
| semi-tropical climate, combine to make State
| street and ideal southern thoroughfare. So
proud are the wealthy people of the city Of
this beautiful street that they will pay thou
| sands for lot fronting 1t, when equally as
| good and nice lots adjoining
| streets might be had for many hundreds.
| The different styles of architecture, ranging
from the severely plain, old colonial style,
| with its tall Grecian columns, down to the
most modern cottage, resplendent in colors
| and ornamentation lend a picturesqueness
| to the scene on State street.
CONVENTION SCENES.
For the past three days the streets and
1 hotels crowded with sweltering mass Of
| politicians, in attendance the democratic
| state convention, which met today at noon in
| the capitol building. l might remark that
| the word democratic" is superfiuous, used in
the above connection, as they never hold
| any other kind of convention in Mississippi
| A great majority of the 'colonels' are for
free silver, and the term, gold bug is
| used by them as term of contempt though
| some Of the most prominent men in the
| state answer to the name and are proud OF 1t.
| 1t was here that own Billy Bryan got
the hottest roast he has yet experienced in
| his tour Of the country. During one Of his
| most eloquent, silver tongued democratic (D
| speeches. delivered some time ago in the
| state house in this city, gold bug" had
| the audacity to ask the speaker If he would
| support the democrat ticket with sound
money plank in the platform. That was
poser that knocked all the eloquence out OF
our Billy. He hesitated, stammered and
| tried to evade the question by quoting
| Carlisle and others, but that would not CO.
| The cry came up from a hundred throats
| answer the question-what would you do?'
| Amid the most intense excitement he was
forced into declaration, and, summoning all
| the dramatic power Of which he was capable.
he declared that he hoped his right hand
| might forget its cunning and his tongue
| cleave to the roof Of his mouth, II he ever
supported democratic gold bug platform.
BY the way, there are no populists down
here, but there are plenty OF 'poputes.' At
least, that is the term used here.
THE SOUTHWARK TREND.
Apropos of the lack of development there
is scarcely a northern train running into
Jackson that does not carry homeseekers.
The spshod methods of agriculturists have
| failed to develop productive farms increasing
| yearly in value as with us, hence land can be
| bought very cheaply. say s. to $25 per acre.
The south is now to the homeseekers what tn :
| west was some years ago. The tide of emf
| grafton and the current Of capital is turned
| southwark. / saw four Nebraska men buy
| small farms near this city yesterday. Nature
has done a great deal more for this country
than for more northern clmes. Half the
| labor and energy expended by the average
| Nebraska farmer II applied here, would show
| greater results. The summers are long, the
| winters short, the soil rich and easily culti-
| waited, and the southern people are now ready
| to hail northern energy and capital with out
| stretched hand. Speaking of the fertility OF
! the soil reminds me of an incident which
| happened the other day. An agent of the
"Orchard Homes land company, advertised
| in The Bee, was returning to this city with a
| company Of Nebraska men. whom he had
| fitted out with homes. There were six men
! In the company, including the agent all rid
| ing in lumber wagon. One OF the men had
| secured three stalks Of corn from the land
| he had bought, each eighteen feet in length
| and bearing two ears. Suddenly smash
| went a wheel, and / have it from the lips
| OF one Of the party that 1t was the enormous
| weight Of those three stalks OF corn that
caused the accident. negro with an OK