Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1895-03-27

saw factories on every side, but no
smoke coming from thHm. [ hurriedly
donned my coat and vest and walked
out on the street, but what was my sur.
prise to see them paved with granite
and granolithic sidewalks in every di-
rection. Surely | must be in some
other town thought, l met a gentle
men who was dressed entirely different
from any one | had seen, but soon per.
ceived that it was | who was out of
style. He wore knee pants and shoes
with silver or platinum buckles and a
short roundabout with fancy silk shirt,
his cap had a gold band around it with
numbers on it. / noticed another man
with a silver band on his and other
numbers. l spoke to the gentleman
and asked him to please tell me where
was. He looked surprised and said,
why this is Jonesboro, Tenn l said to
him, lit is quite a different town from
the Il | went to sleep in yesterday"
He then told me that it was the year
1860 AID, and asked me when | went
to sleep. | told him and described the
town as | had known it. "Ah," said he
when you went to sleep electricity
had not had its day. Now we do every.
thing by electricity and times have
changed since you were here. See the
m wear the same dress as the
men" showing me as he spoke a group
OF women coming down the street on
bicycles propelled by some invisible
power. asked the meaning of the
gold and silver bands on the different
caps worn and he told me that was the
standard of wealth that the laws re.
quired them to wear in order to collect
the income tax. 1.-THE gold bands" he
said "signified billionaires of whom
there are only four in the town; John
d. Cox, L. w. Keen, Ed Boyd and
Chas. RUSSELL" which last he added
lis my name" l was surprised and
asked him if he did not remember me,
and when told him my name he recog.
nized me at once. l asked him how they
came to accumulate so much money
and he told me Mr.. Cox had been bank
ing al, his life, Mr.. Keen had invented
a process of taking pictures by electric
ity, Ed Boyd in the wholesale grocery
business, and as for himself he secured
a position as POST office inspector and
made some good investments. The sill
yer bands represented ~milliopaires, and
there were quite q number of them,
prominent among whom were j. j..
Hunt, proprietor of THE Lightning
Elixer," S. H. Anderson of the Bicycle
Feed and Sale Stable, Tate L. Earnest,
Secretary of the Treasury, T. B. Hacker,
attorney, and Cramp Smith, Editor of
The Baptist Howler. | was surprised
to learn that all my old friends were
still alive and asked an explanation.
He told me that in the year 1900, The
Old Mill Spring had been found to pos
sess the property of extending life and
that since that time there had been one
funeral in Jonesboro and that was of a
citizen who died while in Washington
seeking office.
He showed me public parks in various
parts of the city with fountains and
s%tatuary, among which l noticed
statues of Walter Brownlow, Sandy
Stuart, Bob DosSer and R. M. May who
had donated the parks to the city.
He took me to some of the principal
factories, where everything almost was
made. Where Col. Dungan's house
used to stand was a large poetry factory
where about 200 employees were rapidly
filling orders for poetry which the SUI
perintendant informed me was to go to
forty seven different States. mo two
I places" said he, want the same kind of
poetry, for instance this package of
negro dialect goes to Massachusetts,
while in johnson City, one of our surb.
urbs, we. can not sell anything but blank
verse" We next visited a sermon fac
tory situated at the junction of the At.
lantic, Pacific and Flag Pond Railroad
and the old Southern. Here l had the
pleasure of meeting the Rev. B. B. Big
Ter who was having his measure taken
for a two hour
We next visited other factories and
public buildings, and as we returned
from Telford on an aerial car we heard
the electric chimes pealing from the
tower of a large cathedral. My guide
informed me that it was to celebrate
the marriage of A. c. Britton, one of
the ex.mayors of the city. l next in
quired about some of my old friends,
and found various changes had taken
place. Since the discovery of the med.
ical properties of Mill Spring, phyei.
clans had nothing to do in their line,
and DR.. Hoss was farming by improved
methods, having his farm lighted by
electricity SO he could now raise two
crops where he ono raised one. DR..
Stuart was nov the Congressman from
the district, and DR.. Pierce was cele.
brated as a hypnotist, having large aud.
fences every night at the auditorium.
Jasper Peoples was now mayor having
defeated Bridge Baxter by only seven
votes in the last election. Silas Cooper
was still clerk of the court, while his
oldest son Joe, was manager of The
Electric Sausage Plant, situated on the
Fall Branch and New York Railroad.
Peter Turney was still Governor. /
was certainly delighted to meet my old
friends and know they were doing so
-.-l CO..