Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-06-21

much in the past ana ltS FORMER gram
deur, having passed her 320th birthday,
and for tine last 40 years at least has
dreamed Of past achievements, and
even the terrible earthquake Of 16 years
ago failed to awaken her out Of her
trance. The Charleston citizens take
great pride in pointing out their old
graveyards, scattered throughout the
whole city. They worship their ancient
cobwebs, their tumble-down buildings,
rotten wharves, filthy markets and
streets.
Volumes could be written about curl
GUS old Charleston, 80 different from
any other city on the continent, with
its dirty old Market, which is simply
a covered, narrow street, with stalls
on each side occupied by old black
aunties selling vegetables, though most
vegetables, as we'll as fresh fish, are
hawked about on the street by Negroes
who carry their loads on their heads
in shallow baskets and cry out their
goods in a language that no one can
understand. Fresh meat, such as it
is," is sold in small shops about town
by what are called green grocers,
though each one Is compelled to rent a
stall in the Market whether he occu-
pies it or not.
One of the odd sights to a stranger
Is the flocks of turkey buzzards at the
Market which are protected by the au-
thorities and act as scavengers by
picking up the offal about the place,
keeping it free from decaying matter.
The buzzard does not conflne himself
to offal alone, and when a Negro kills
pig or mutton goat" he brings it to
the Market in his oxcart, and while he
is negotiating for a stall, Mr.. Buzzard
Is inspecting and sampling his goods.
He also manages to keep the sidewalks
and roofs of neighboring buildings we'll
fertilized with refuse, which Is after
wards washed down by the rains into
the cisterns, giving the drinking water
that rich flavor the natives boast Of.
For If there is one thing the native
Charlestonian takes pride In. it Is thst
he never adopts anything new.
Charleston's ancient buildings are
nearly all after the same pattern. The
dwellings are usually built with their
ends on the street, with verandas Of
several stories on one side. usually that
facing south, and overlooking the gar
den, which Is generally enclosed with
high brick wall and iron gates If the
style Of the eighteenth century. Many
of the residences have very elaborate
white marble front steps and walks
paved with marble. II you should visit
the back yard you will find an Oil
privy that has not been cleaned since
the "wah," located within a few feet
Of the cistern that supplies all the wa
ter used by the family. This. added to
the stencil from the filthy streets, de-
caying wharfs and manufactured fer
tiizer, makes one wonder how the city
ever escapes epidemics. for the old
burg has been decaying ever since her
citizens sawed off the limb they sat
on, by firing the shot that vibrated
around the globe. some Al years ago.
and which marked the most important
epoch in the worlds history.
But let US be charitable with our
erring brothers, who are still clinging
to their old narrow-minded and con-
ltracted ideas, for their ways are not
our ways. Yet it Is amusing to hear
them tell you all about the northerners
and the mean, dishonest Yankees, and
the conditions in the Moth, and In the
same breath boast that they were born
and raised in Charleston. and have nev-
er been outside Of the city limits. 1t Is
useless to try to convince some of the
natives that there are other parts of
the world outside Of Charleston as large
and of as much Importance.
Fort Sumter now resembles pile of
debris, topped off with large frame
house, light house and a few other
out-buildings, and two long guns on
the parapets, while old Fort Moultrie
(now Fort Getty located near by on
the point of Sullivan's Island, shows
little more life with her large new
guns, new officers quarters and United
States soldiers. Old Castle Pinckney is
now a buoy depot and light house sup
ply station.
The exposition has proven a deplor-
able failure financially rs well as every
other way, the cause being too numer-
Gus to mention in a newspaper article.
One is a great lack Of good manage
ment on business principles. The COM
pany opened its gates on the date set,
taking the admission fee from visitors
when their exposition was yet incom-
plete. The visitor got nothing for his
money, returned home disgusted and
told his neighbors that the exposition
was no good, which kept many away
from the show. Another serious mis-
take was the lack of consideration for
the comfort Of both exhibitors and VS.
litors. No provisions were made for
drinking water, though there were
quite a number of dispensaries on the
ground where liquors were sold by the
pint quart or gallon. and every res
taurant and sandwich stand had
blind tiger" connected, where drinks
of all kinds could be had. Gambling
and skin games were run all over the
grounds openly, and flourished, as a
lsoutherner's idea of a fair or exposition
consists of horse racing and games.
The board of managers framed them
lselves into a mutual admiration socie-
Ity. and nearly every day was some
lynoo;aI day when they would range