Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1901-03-18
A VISIT TO THE SOUTH.
Mr.. Editor:

Mr.. Editor:
They employ colored people in the
blacksmithing part of the works and
also as common laborers in other
parts. Colored men cannot get
position in the machine shops. The
whites will not let them get chance
to learn the machinist trade, and
would not let them work in the same
shop with q white man even If they
were competent workmen. At least
[ was so informed by some of the
machinists. 1t was the first time L
ever saw colored men at work at any
mechanical work, and some of them
could swing sledge hammers with an
ease and skill that was surprising to
me- There is a bad feeling between
the whites and colored people. l
asked one young (white) man what
was to be the outcome of it in the
South, and his reply was, in his opin-
ion zone side or the other had got to
be wiped off the face of the earth"
They run railroad cars with signs on
them that read "White" and others
"Colored." Those marked colored
the whites call ''Jim Grow" cars. The
whites are not allowed to enter them,
any more than the colored people are
allowed to go into the cars placarded
'swhite.''
When [ arrived in Richmond found
three inches of snow had fallen
making it seem much like Vermont.
Richmond, Va, is a very pleasant city
and for many reasons think would
like to live there, but perhaps in the
summer [ would change my mind.
The state house is a very shabby
affair. I think it is made of brick
and pIastered. The city hall is an
excellent building, one Of the most
beautiful I have ever looked upon.
In the state house park is one of the
finest monuments, and [ think I can
say the very finest, ever saw. 1t is
a state affair of course, and on the top
is an equestrian statue OF Washington
and around the base are statues of the
notable men of Virginia, Marshall,
Patrick Henry, and others. There is
a statue of "StonewalF' Jackson in
the same park. 1t is a good piece of
work, but to use little slang, it
''jarred me some" to notice by the in
scription on it how it happened to be
there. 1t was presented to the state
of Virginia by Englishmen, in token
of their high regard or esteem. On
the bottom is inscribed these words,
tsThere stood Jackson like a stone
wall" 1t carried me back to the days
of the war when the titled and wealthy
people of England as class wished
the downfall of the North and success
to the southern Confederacy, even
the 'Grand Old Man,, Gladstone.
But we are thankful that the masses
of the people, the working people
(who are the backbone of any coun-
try of England, were on the side of
the North.
The few old soldiers of the Southern
Confederacy that I talked with feel
all right towards the North now. But
I was informed by man who worked
as a mechanic at Newport News and
was a northern man that the younger
men, for some reason which he could
not understand, were very bitter
toward northern men. But perhaps
it may be only a sectional matter. A
gentleman I met in Richmond, an old
soldier in the Confederate Army, said
that he thought at the time of the war
the South was right, but now feels the
war was an awful mistake, and if they
had let President Lincoln take his
office without going to war. that he
would have made as good president
for the South as they ever had. The
party is connected with ship build
ing firm in Richmond and is now
building several torpedo boats and
other vessels for the Z. S. navy. He
took the trouble to show me many
points of interest in the city and pre-
sented me with a napkin ring made
of wood taken from the timbers of the
old Libbey prison, also piece of the
main shaft of the Merrimac, called
down here the Virginia, and he
assured me that when l went home I