Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1897-06-10
DOWN IN DIXIE.
Southern Experiences, Sights and scenes as
Caught by Members of the Wolverine
Press Association.

tnat no difference now large the party
travelling over "A certain territory each
one will see something unnoticed by
the others. For this reason we take
some extracts from letters written by
members of the press party who re-
Gently made the trip to Tennessee for
the benefit of the BANNER readers and
with apologies to the writer's. First
from the pen of Mrs. Stowe mot Har-
riet Beecher Stowe however) in the
Michigan Tradesman regarding the
negro:
'Befoah the wahln is an expression
heard dozens of times a day and from
as many lips. Everthing in time or
eternity seems 10 hinge on that period
of their history. A Northerner can
form no idea, without coming on their
own ground, of what the war meant
and still means TO these people; and
when one comes in contract with the
lazy, dirty, shlftless, irresponsible
specimens of humanity that represent
the so-called "down-trodden race, he
can't help thinking that the cruel war
was an utter failure so far as betterlng
the personal condition OF 'the black" "
was concerned "Deed, " said the
KNOWN old darkv woman in the Audi
torium at the Centennial Exposition.
Il nevah knowed what ha d times wuZ
till | wuz free. Aftah de wah, had it
good deal ha 'dah n | evah did befoah.
Wy, then we had everything done for
us-no lookin' out for ouahselves, noah
anything Nv that scat. Now, ! has To
see to everything mys own sell, though
she added with an air of half depreca-
tion, half conscious pride, Il onghtnt
TO complain-Ise pretty well fixed
| gifts my pension NV S36 every tree
munts fun de guy 'ment-lse "a widoe-
an | woaks; gifts my dollah an half
a day takin' caah of "a public buildin'.
My folks, ;" she continued, waxing con-
fidential and rolling around. her white
bordered orbs, I'd like nuthin' bettah
n foah me to cum an lib wild 'em; but
lse too sma't fCah that. ! is. | keeps
my money mys own self. | jist wants
nutf to carry me true an give me de-
cent bu'ial-that's all ] wants. Read
and write? Nom can't do eithah uv
'em. Oncet | hal chance t. leuahn.
NV books, an scd she'd leuahn me;
Dub AolSllluRI SllC lhONth ava hlA
so | nevah had no noah chances to
leuahn to read an rite How old:
''Oh, bout fifty-fve. No, | don I know
exac' 'ly-'bout that
And all the colored people I've talked
with land | embrace every opportunity
are hardly as intelligent as this old
pensioner. Here's from the nurse girl
in the family Of the postmaster at the
line station called Chickamauga, near
the battlefield:
What your name?o
She told me her given name.
How old are youy'
""Bout sixteen oah seventeen"
"'About sixteen or seventeen
Don't you know eXactly?'
Nom.
"Why don't you know
Dunno with CLEAN of dazzling
teeth.
Then dropped her. No use trying
to get informatian out OF a person who
didn't know why she didn't know.
Most of the party went on to Chatta-
nooga from Nashville but | did not 90
with them as | stopped there on my
return from Atlanta year and "A half
ago and preferred to give my time To
other places. | can, however, vouch
that Mr.. Newhouse of the Stanton
Clipper gives very accurate descrip.
tion of Lookout mountain as follows:
Lookout mountain is =, 800 feet above
sea level. and $50 feet above the city
of Chattanooga. 1t is not one single
lone mountain or bluff, as we always
thought IL to be, but is u part of the
Cumberland range and Is 80 miles long,
its northern end terminating in this
abrupt bluff which we have just ascend
ed. From this bluff one of the finest
sights in the world is presented.
Straight below us, many hundred feet,
is level plateau, known as the Craven
place, where the battle of Lookout
Mountain was fought, and on below
that stretches the level valley through
which the Tennessee river winds like a
path of gold, making here its world
famous Moccasin bend. Raising our
eyes from the valley and looking to the
north and west we can see the Raccoon
and Cumberland mountains, and then
turning northeast we can see in the dim
distance cloudlike line which we are
told is the Great Smoky noun tains of
NOTlll NdIOllud. oGNtu obdbCS di NlS-
ible from this point OF observation,
namely: Tennessee, Georgia, Ken
lucky, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Alabama and Virginia Same old bluff;
heard it, Not much question about
four, but very questionable about the
other three, Other points that could
be distinguished were Wills Valley
where Hooker's army camped, Bragg's
headquarters on Missionary Ridge,
Rossville Gap, Williams Island,
Grants headquarters on Orchard
Knob and Fort Wood, spread out like
panorama before us. The view is
simply grand The sky is clear and
blue, the atmosphere is electric and
exhilerating, and we look in one direc
tion and then in another in our efforts
to absorb the beauties of the majestic
scenery. Several hundred feet above
is Point Lookout. where the Confeder
ate and Federal flags were planted dur
ing the war. The walls OF rock are
nearly perpendicular ard several lad
ders have to be climbed In making the
ascent. 1t is here that the union sol
diers scaled the mountain and drove
the confederates from it. Their posi-
tion seemed to be impregnable but the
feat was successfully accomplished.