The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-10-27

son S staple product long ago, when
things were conducted in a leisurely
fashion, before the utilizing. of steam
or of any labor saving and distance
annihilating inventions. In those
days a vessel coming after cotton
knew that she could only make one
trip during the season, or, at the
most, two, and governed her move
ments accordingly. 1t was customary
when the rocks brought as ballast had
served their mission to dump them
overheard, and the spot on which
Sumter stands was such dumping
place. The boatrlan will tell you this,
he who rows you out to the fort, and
he will say, moreover, that his father
| had boats to let before his time, and
knew every stock and stone in
Charleston harbor.
IF you visit the fort in winter, in
the regulation tourist season, you
will 60 on regulation excursion
boat, at stipulated fare, along with
lot of other people, and share with
them whatever Of interest the keeper
of the fort might have, to say or show
to curious or thoughtful visitors.
When you go individually you have
the keepers time all to yourself, and
the voyage se,. yard is made interest
ing by the boatman's communica-
tions. 'sThis is Fort Ripley he
says, as his little craft rounds within
a stones throw of a structure stuck
high up on stills, but looking strong
and martial. ''The people there raise
everything they cut, though there is
scarcely an extra foot Of ground in the
place Then, laughing at his own
joke, he proceeds to point out Castle
Pinckney, the fortress that the Grand
Army is seriously thinking of con-
verting into sanitarium for infrm
and disabled pensioners. Castle Pinck.
ney is we'll within the shelter Of the
harbor. and Fort Ripley also. Sum
ter lies away out, ready to bear the
brunt of wind and storm and fusilade.
The keeper at Fort Sumter tells you
how she stood the cyclone, or, rather,
how he stood it. he will take you
down through the dark, tunnel-like
passageways, and up on the parade
ground, that you are surprised to find
so large in view of the apparent size
of the fort from the outside. He will
point out certain direful spots where
alien bullets hit or grievous rents
were made, and then, after this con-
cession to historic times, he will come
down to latter-day facts, and give
feeling account of his experience dur
ing the war Of the elements four years
ago. When you go over to Fort Moul-
trie you will hear more about the
cyclone, and be told how the resi-
dents Of the Island, Charleston s sum
mer resort, regard Fort Moultrie as an
ever present place of refuge in such
disasters, and go to her the first thing
when the water is rising in their
lower floors and the wind is shaking
the very foundations Of their houses
houses that are always anchored when
built in order to guard against just
. 4ch perils.
Light-minded Charlestonians, those
who decline to take life seriously, de-
clare that their city never lacks a
catastrophe from which to date hap.
penings and events. Long ago it was
the war that overshadowed everything
else; then it was the earthquake, soul
appalling horror; and now it is the cy-
clone. It is four years since the cy-
clone created such havoc on the wa,
ter-front, and the docks and piers
show the ravages still. But that does
not dim the brightness Of those sym
metrical spires, nor alter the serene
appearance Of the town as she looks
out on the sea.
Somebody has somewhere defined
poetry to be "emotion recollected in
tranquility" One is reminded of the
line on viewing Charleston from the
harbor entrance, though hers is rather
the self-poised calm won from con-
tentions and calamities bravely borne
than the serenity of mere stagnatlon
or of unconcern. The impression is
dispelled somewhat when one gets up
into the city, where the newly intro
duced trolley cars are whizzing, and
hears of the new park that is being
laid out, and the new buildings that
are in course of construction, and the
other things now under way; but Lc-
gare street preserves its old world, dis
distinctive air, along with many