Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1902-02-15

MISSISSIPPI MATTERS
NOTES OF PAST AND CURRENT EVENTS.
BY KATE MARKHAM POWER.
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what We Exhibited rwenty Years Ago

|
What We Exhibited Twenty Years Ago.
1t will doubtless surprise many of
our readers, as it did the writer to
learn that as far back as 18S4-nearly
twenty years ago-Mississippi's dis
play at the Industrial Exposition at
New Orleans was so varied and so eX-
tensive, and embraced so wide a
range of agricultural, horticultural
and manufactured products. Taking
into consideration the fact that an ex-
| position had not then become an
everyday affair, and that the manage
ment thereof and the part played by
each State had all to be laid out
along unfamiliar paths; that Missis-
sippi was then regarded as a cotton
State and nothing but a cotton State
first, last and all the time, and that
we were just beginning to hear the
| first faint, sweet sounds made by the
onward march Of Progress as it came
in our direction, the States achieve
ment at this Industrial Exposition was
something to be proud Of And Maj.
Jonas and his assistants Cone Of
whom Hon. Ramsey Wharton, is now
State Senator from Hinds), and par
ticularly the ladies who gave their
| services as commissioners in the wOm-
ans department without money and
without price" deserve the greatest
credit for this really remarkable show
ing. Much is now being said about
the introduction" of the culture Of
wheat, rice and pecans (among other
things) into the State. The report
of our exhibits at New Orleans show
that eleven counties Monroe, Kinds,
DeSoto, Alcorn, Clay, Lowndes, Tate,
Tippah, Attala, Grenada and Jasper
exhibited splendid grades of wheat
there in 1884. Four counties (Han-
cock, Jackson, Warren and Pike sent
fine specimens Of upland rice, and
among the pecan exhibits those of
Warren and Carroll counties and from
the Gulf coast were far and away the
finest exhibited from any part Of the
world. Why, even our oranges
(raised near BiloxD were acknowl-
edged to be the best exhibit of oranges
even among those from Louisiana
and Florida. There were innumer-
able products of field, garden, orchard
and vineyard for which we have not
room here, but we then had sugar
from three counties, tobacco from six
teen, forty varieties of grasses, etc.
Our wool exhibit was of such proper
tions as to interest and amaze visit
ors, and it came, splendid in grade,
from thirty counties and from every
section. Our timber exhibit then gave
but a suggestion of the revolution that
our forests were TO cause in tho
worlds timber supply. One of the
chestnut trees exhibited by a Warren
county lady was six feet in diameter.
A yellow poplar from Pamela was
twelve feet three inches in diameter,
and the list shows that we possess
in abundance some of the finest and
most expensive woods known to the
trade. The manufactures show that
we had then in the State nine cotton
and wooden mills, and that We were
then manufacturing fine blankets, cas-
simere shawls, as well as yarns jeans,
domestics, plaids, rope sheeting, etc.
We had then in the State excellent
potteries, and at Moss Point glass
works, while the pressed brick exhibit
by Taylor OF Jackson were adiudged
equal to Phiadelphias celebrated
Peerless" and were not approached
by any exhibited from the South. Our
list Of inventions is too long for
these columns-as is, likewise, the
lists of fossils, curios and varieties of
womans work. Just here, however
we must refer to a township map of
Wilkinson-her native county-paint-
ed by Miss Blanche McManus. 1t was
from the praise accorded her work in
this department that Miss McManus
was encouraged to pursue her art
studies. Today, after a hard fight with
unkind conditions, this brave Missis-
sippi girl stands at the very head of
her beloved profession, and her studio
in New York City is a center for the
talent and culture Of the metropolis
artists. Two years ago she illustrated
an edition de lHre Of Lewis Carrolls
"Alice in Wonderland" receiving
therefor a handsome sum. Mrs.
Poole's taxidermic exhibit included
the tragic story of Cock Robin" IL
lustrated with wonderful accuracy by
Mississippi birds. So interesting was
this Mississippi exhibit and so alb
sorbing is a recital of its contents,
that we are tempted to take up too
much space with it. However, we can
not close without stating that Missis-
sippi received the grand sweepstakes
premium, 800 in gold, and a medal
for best collection of varieties Of
fruit, from any State or country! We
also had the largest China Sand pear
(thirty-two and half ounces) shown
by any State, and the largest peach
at the exposition. Both were raised
in Rankin county, and the peach
weighed sixteen and a half ounces.
The largest and finest tomatoes Given
ty-four ounces each) from Madison
county; the best new seeding apple,
from Kinds county; best Japanese per
simmons, from Kinds, and best Chi
nese ounces, from Wilkinson county.
II the old State made such show
ing of her assets and possibilities
score of years ago, while still within
the shadow of the -four years hor-
ror," and when her timber interest
was in its infancy, her great orchards
and truck gardens were all unplant-
ed, her present educational work not
even thought about, and her manu-
features only dreamed Of by a few
enthusiasts, what may we not do to-
day, when all these hopes and dreams
have become living realities, and
when Mississippi deserves to rank
with the host of bar eictnr Ctotncp