The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1901-04-24
RAMBLE IN THE COUNTRY
Farms, Mules. Houses, R0ads-"re"'
Seas Of Water that FIJI the Pubic
Road and Injure the business OF
AbbeviIIe - AbOminable Crossing
which il u Shame 10 officers and
bannla

People.
Editor Press and Banner:
The other morning, just at daybreak we
left the city to take Il stroll down the Long
Cane road. ,,.
bridge are many Improvements. AS you come
TO the cross street, ou find to your left l.. i.
a. T. NJ. Millers store. On the right ~ ihe
beautiful street leading TO the Cotton Mllis.
On this street is superintendent Ihompsons
nice residence and the four nice houses occu-
pied by the overseers. Then you see aooat
one hundred cottages, occupied by Inc people
who work in the mill.
to the left is the Douglass hotel ana STORE
to the right is the mill cottages' reaching 10
the branch; on the left, facing them, are Two
new nice houses, built by MIR. James blanchet
and Edgar. As you cross the Orancb, on lne
hill you find Mr.. Joe Ham mond. comfortably
located, in nice new house. ,
We next came to the old Mcmillan Place.
IT. was bought some three years ago py tne
| Messrs. Wham. from near Greenville. Ihey
nave worktd wonders since they came among
us; they certainly know good thlng When
they zee IL. The family consists OF the latner,
mother Two sons and four daughters, anu one
daugh,er-in-law, whose interests seem 10 be
mutual. Besides improving and Deanlllylng
their farm, they have bought Two other plan-
tations. They are good people; tne men are
upright and hon est in all thelr dealings, ana
are good neighbors; the women are accom-
| plIshed beautiful aud refined their example
| il worthy Of imitation.
AS we come 10 the top OF the hlll, Inc sun !,
peepipg over, throws its shining llght upon
the old Sondey homestead which was SOM e
five years ago, torn up, the houses dllapidat-
ed, the larm run down and grown up-lts oc
pants having moved elsewhere. AS IL
stands to. day-a beautiful residence, all made
oyer-you would not know II, except for the
large stately oaks, which no deuot nave sloou
the sun and wind tor more tnan nunureu
years. The beautiful surroundings snow vim,
pluck aud energy. The occupant Is M r.
Rains, the popular railroad man. and his
good family. Mr.. Rains Is an honorable
gentleman and good business man; ana Is
prosperIng in his new business-larmin
AS you turn, you face To the left Where MT.
Lewis Blount lives-another good man that
the Seaboard brought US: HIS son, Lewis Jr..
with the railroad. They are good people and
are lik ed by everybody. -.
Just ahead of you, when you have just
reached The two. mile rock, you are al Rich
ard sondeys. He Is well nxen, On mas IA, nice ice
every hand; large fields, sown to grain or
planted In corn. Mr.. Sondley Is good bust
ness man and shows good table In all his
work. He keeps the best mules and horses
OF any one we know. He Ia popular man,
and seems TO enjoy life to It's fullest extent.
A little further on you come TO the new
road leading to the right: II ls a splendid
road. AS we passed by, our mind wandered
with the DAD about two miles, and we could
not think Of any lands 1t passed through eX-
cent Dr. HarrsOn's. The Doctor has grown
rich-proven himself great hnancier as well
ns one OF the best doctors in the country.
AS we came TO the banks or Norris's creek
wellr we forgot, there are n banks-only tne
ills on each side, which are about TWO nun
dred yards apart. Az we $1,000 and fooKeu az
this great sea, or lake, we could hardly tell
which way the water was running, except
10 was coming toward us. The main sluice
seems to border down ne eastern side M until unit
going due west. Imagine our predicament--
afoot, facing q hundred yards OF the road
knee.deep In water! To our good luck, MIR.
Mr.. Sondey's driver. with two as fine mules
AZ you ever looked at. came up behind US and
we were invited to ride over,
On one side, on the hill you will see new
settlement, belonging to the editor OF the
Press and Banner. A nice dwelling ana q
large barn, and neat wire fencing on every
| sde-intended, no doubt, for STOCK farm.
Opposite this Ia the plantation Of Mr.. Gus
Smith. There we met our friend, Mr.. Hamil-
good a man as you will find anywhere. He
directed US down 10 McMillan's brickyard-
our destination.
j. l.. Mcmillan is the best brickmaker In
the country, and seems better fixed to supply
bis customers than ever before. When you
want good article, call on him.
| In about an hour. we started on our journey
homeward, following the railroad, until we
cast our eyes to the LETT and saw cattleLgreat
fiocks roaming over the hills. We just
| era W led through the wire fence, leaving the
railroad TO the right, and over the hills we
went, with an occasional lookout for the
church steepie or standplpe at Abbeville'
When we recognized some OF the surround.
! lugs, we found II was that the Editor had
bandoned his com modious barn and changed
base with his cattle, his experience being
that they wintered better out doors than when
housed. 1t seems 10 be tirst.rate expert
mental farm; If such is needed, 1t would
seem that the Editor Is footing the bill.
All and all, we found 1t model neighbor
| hood, except that aoominable crossing at the
creek, which Is a shame to any civilized com
| munty.
We landed in Abbevile about ten o'clock
none the worse for our trip. -Four years has
wrought wonders In that neighborhood.
| Y.