The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1900-11-15
The Agricultural Sta
ton.

There is little village located
somewhere in the southern part
of Mississippi. 1t is not on the
map. 1t is simply no place at all
except a small station on the
Northeastern railroad where only
freight and local passenger trains
stop. 1t is few miles north of
Lake Pontchatrain and is a bed
of sand for one foot deep. There
is nothing there under the sun to
locate an agricultural college OF
experiment station except some
sandy soil owned by the railroad
company and put there for the
purpose of holding the earth to-
gether. Nobody lives there
nobody could live there unless he
could exist on sand as food. Not
withstanding this the committee
selected by the last Legislature to
locate an experimental station of
the agricultural college has de-
cided upon Mcneil as the place.
Of course it is a fraud, pure and
simple. Nobody would have Sc
lected such place. Honey Is
land, which is considered mo
mans island" would have an
swered every purpose. In the ex-
IRENE southern part of Mississip-
pi, with no clay foundation, with
nothing under the sun that would
stimulate the growth of even a
blind tiger a branch of the fraud
agricultural college of the state is
located.
The Progress is not kicking
because the station was not To-
Gated near Hattiesburg, but be-
cause the idea is such an Internal
foolish one to locate it at Mcneil
--Hattiesburg Daily Progress.
The author of the above article
displays considerable ignorance
and a fondness for mis-state-
ment of facts in trying to console
himself in his disappointment in
not getting the experimental sta
ton located near Hattiesburg.
The citizens of Mcneil are as
intelligent and thrifty as those
of any community on the North
eastern railroad, and they Sc
cured the station by making the
best offer for it. The land which
they donated is as good a speci-
men of the pine lands of South
Mississippi as could be found
anywhere.
AS for charging fraud to the
committee and the college in CIV
ing Mcneil the station we think
it very impertinent, to say the
least. The gentlemen composing
this committee are. among the
most highly respected and hon.
orable men of the State, and to
make such charges without the
least shadow of foundation is
slanderous and vile.
We like to see a person talk up
for his own town but not by try
ing to discredit every other town
in the country. Every town in
the territory mapped out for this
station was given a chance to bid
for it, and now it is too late for
anybody to kick because they
didn't get it. Mcneil just sim
ply offered more land, better
land and more money than any
other town competing for it, con-
sequently the committee consid-
cred it the best offer and made
their decision accordingly, with
out the consent of the Hatties-
burg Progress or any other
newspaper on earth
Hattiesburg no doubt would
have been a good place to locate
the experimental station had it's
citizens pointed out that fact with
sufficient inducements, but they
didn t and the progressive citi-
zens of McNeill did.
The Progress should learn to
tell the truth, learn more about
Chancellor Deavours' kinfolks
and the piney woods lands of
South Mississippi.
Diar.t an a 4 ua ri m emf In the [