Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1896-01-23
A Trip Through the Sunny South.

A Trip Through the Sunny South.
Ed. Register-I have recently re-
turned from trip to Atlanta, st. Aug
ustine, and other places of interest in
| the South, and thinking that brief
description of my trip would perhaps
be interesting to my friends and read
ers Of the REGISTER, ask you to please
give space in your columns for few
short articles.
After being pent up in school for
four months, l felt that had earned a
few days of rest and recreation; So,
dismissing all cares of school life, l
packed my valise and made ready for
visit to the Sunny South, In COM
pany with friend and fellow student
from Missouri, l left Lexington on the
morning of Dec. Esd, over the Queen
& Crescent Route, which passes
through the noted bluegrass fields of
Kentucky and through the beautiful
mountain scenery of Southern Ken
lucky and Northern Tennessee. The
scenes along the Kentucky river are
grand; the railroad, after running for
several miles nearly on the edge of the
high and steep river bank, crosses it
over the highest bridge in the world,
being two hundred and eighty four
feet above the surface of the water.
In running distance of about a hun
dred and fifty miles we passed through
twenty-seyen tunnels, one Of which is
over a mile long and is through
mountain Of stone coal. A few years
ago the coal above and on the sides of
the tunnel was set on fire from an en-
gine, and burned for over two months
before it could be extinguished.
At Oakdale, Tenn, night came on
and put an end to our gazing on the
beautiful scenery. A few miles south
of Oakdale we were delayed Cor over
an hour by a wreck on the road, caused
by a head-end collision of two freight
trains; fortunately no lives were lost.
We arrived in Atlanta about 8
O'Clock A. NJ. Being tired and sleepy,
we secured a room at the Thompson
hotel and soon were In the blissful
realms of "Dreamland." We slept
about three hours, and arose feeling
greatly refreshed and ready to make
a visional assault on that historic City.
On seeing the depot and the buildings
near by, 1 was disappointed and i'm
pressed with the absurdity of town
like that undertaking an ''Internation-
al Exposition" and inviting the peo-
pie of the civilized world to attend it.
The depot is certainly a disgrace to
the prosperous city of Atlanta; there is
but one small waiting room, and it was
crowded to almost suffocation with
men, women, and children of all colors
and sizes. Leaving this place, we
walked several blocks up Peachtree
and jackson streets, and after seeing
the New Capitol building, the Govern
or's Mansion, and several other beauti-
ful structures, my opinion regarding
Atlanta had changed very materially.
Soon we took an electric car and were
landed at the gates of the Exposition
from the depot. Before going to the
i obtained a map of the
grounds, and had fair general knowl-
edge of them which enabled me to
economize time and yet see the various
After visiting several of the State
buildings, We went to the Fine Arts
building and took a position on the
steps in front of the great portico
where we could view the landscape at |
our ease. Looking toward the south, |
east, and west, we beheld beautiful
country, with shady dells.
and wooded hills rising one above an
other in the distance.
After admiripg the beauty OF the
natural surroundings, our range OF
vision was narrowed down, and We
looked upon nearly two hundred acres
within the Exposition gates. From
this point we could see nearly all the
Exposition buildings and grounds,
spread out before US in one grand pam
Drama In which it seemed that nature
and art had joined hands and combined
heir efforts to please and make glad
the heart of the spectator. In front
and about fifty feet below us was a
beautiful plaza. surrounded by a wide
and divided by walks, made