The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1898-01-01


months before and they and their wives
and daughters fairly blazed and glitter
ed with diamonds and jewelry. These
people then dressed better than they
ever dressed before. They bought eve
rything that would make show. They
were pointed as NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
who before the war had been mere hire
lings or down In the gutter They gave
functions and We're always entertaining
officers of high rank. 1t was easy for
the rich and INSCRIPTIONS to keep out
of the army. They escaped conscrip-
ton by getting certificates Of physical
disability, or by obtaining a little gov
eminent position in which there was no
work to do. Thus protected, they were
free to speculate and coin money out Of
the mtsfortunes of their neighbors.
The ragged Confederate who passed
through the city hated these sharks,
and would gladly have lynched the en-
tire crowd, and they would have done
a good service If they had strung them
up to the lamp-posts, for more heart
less crowd Of wretches never lived. One
of this gang actually wanted the city
council to pass an ordinance requiring
the soldiers to keep off the sidewalks
and walk in the middle of the streets.
His idea was that the poor fellows We're
too dirty to be allowed to brush against
nicely dressed citizens. The Atlanta of
those days had Its Shylock aristocrats.
just as she has now. I am happy to
say that not one Of them, SO far as I
remember, held on to his ill-gotten
gains. I have seen many Of the mil
lionaires Of their stripe almost begging
for bread in the city where they had
once reveled in the insolence OF their
wealth. or course, these spendthrifts
enjoyed mad and reckless Christmas.
and they had more festive cheer around
their firesides than they have ever had
since.
The other shoppers interested me
most-those self-respecting soldiers and
citizens who had little money which
they felt that they could afford to spend
in legitimate luxuries and comforts.
People of this class crowded the book
stores. They could buy dozen nicely
bound volumes of standard works for
5000 or $500, unless they were very fine.
Some single volumes brought from
Charleston sold for hundreds of dollars
each, though they were somewhat dis
colored by the damp sea atmosphere.
Patriotic shoppers always bought the
Confederate publications The book
store counters had on them at that time
Les Miserables,' in five volumes, with
brown paper back; "The Captain Of the
Vulture,' by Miss Braddon; No
Name,' by Willie Collins; Lady Aud
ley's Secret by Miss Braddon; Great
Expectations by Charles Dickens;
Joseph the Second" by Miss Muhl-
back; "Macaria," by Miss Evans,
"Clairmonde," by Confederate officer;
THE Aide-de-Camp,p by James d. Nc
Cabe; Master William Mitten," by
Judge Longstreet; Mrs. Lirriper's
lodgings" by Charles Dickens; Nor
gan and His Men" by Sally Rochester
Ford, and a few other volumes, many
Of them with wallpaper backs, ranging
In price from 81 to So. Then there was
a Confederate magazine, published in
Richmond, and such literary weeklies
as the Southern Illustrated News, the
Southern Punch and the Southern Field
and Freside. Sometimes these We're
subscribed for as Christmas presents.
Not very long or a very attractive
list, but 1t represented the genius and
enterprise Of Confederate writers and
publishers, chiefly the latter because
nearly all of these books were by for
eign authors. 1t Is strange, but 1T is
true. that In those exciting times the
people read great deal Of light litera-
ture. There was quite a. large literary
circle in Atlanta, and 1t was very in
teresting to hear the talk about the SUI
periority Of our books over the trash
produced by the Yankees. During these
gay shopping days I saw Vice Presi-
dent Alexander I'll. Stephens in Nc
Pherson's bookstore. He purchased a
few novels for which the clerk positive
ly declined to receive pay, and thanked
Mr.. Mcpherson for sending him copy
of lies Miserables," which had run
the blockade, and which, Of course, was
better printed than the Confederate edi-
ton.
1t bothered the men who came to the
city shopping to have to show their
passes and papers so often, but those
who lived here suffered the same incon-
venience. Frequently guards We're sta
toned on the corners with orders to
halt every man and make him show his
pass, his furlough, detail or exemption
papers. Coming out Of the theater at
night, young men were subjected to this
treatment, and when they had left their
papers at home a soldier would walk
behind them and their young lady COM
panions. After leaving the ladies at
their homes the guards would go with
the men to their rooms and stick to
| them until their papers We're produced.
A citizen could not ride on the train
| from Atlanta to Decatur without mil
itary pass
All through that memorable Decem-
Der thousands of new shoppers ram
| sacked the city every day until they
had purchased everything worth hav-
| ing. On Christmas day it showed, and
/ the boys and young men thought that
| their cheapest and most available sport
! was hunting, and hundreds of them
| took their guns and went to the coun-
| try. There was plenty Of jolly fun on
| the streets through the day and night,
| but no great disorder and drunkenness.
Liquor was too high and too hard to
| get to be wasted in ordinary debauches.
| 1t was used sparingly, for there was no
| telling when the next bottle would be
| within reach. Altogether, it was a
|I784.--