Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1902-04-03
and himself a good turn,

no NC" SCUM IS being built up by
Cne negro laborer under better and
wiser leadership than, he ever had
oe1ore and the idea that is civilizinp
MN is the idea of his Independence
anu responsibility which he never had
IN the ola chattel slavery DAYS which
paralyzed the progress and demora !.
lzed the public and private morals Of
the south. : '''' -
ohe OF the new features of railroad
travel in the south is the snecial a.
tention paid to the separation of the
" whlte and black population in all pub.
nc places. On the trains there are
coaches or parts of coaches for naoros
IA the depots there are 'scolored wait
ins rooms" and s'white waiting
ioolns. Some of the other things
hotlced on a southern railway train
aie Splttoons which help keep the
iioois VI the coaches clean, also the
rentlng OF pillows for head rests to
passengers who do not take sleeners
ollalf cars are on all trains for use Of
all passengers.
ille negro OF the south is cheerful.
easily amused and happy. They are
very Iohd OF travel and excursions. A
clrcus IN one of the larger towns is
pure 10 depopulate the colored popu-
iatloh OF the vicinity for miles around
ana a part of the circus seats are AL
ways exclusively set apart for the
udrkey patrons. A circus at LITTLE
hock last summer started excursion
oidino oh all The railroads two DAYS
aleao OF the show and it took two
Gays TO get the colored folks back
nome after the circus had left town.
Ihe interior Of big circus tent
where fully half of the seats are
| crowded with dense array of dusky
| races is a sight for northern ewes
ana When the old clown gets off his
Ilme honored jokes, the laugh that
| follows and spreads over the sea of
olack faces showing patches of ivory,
IS IKE Silver lining to a black
cloud.
Here in Texarkana abound the evil
oences OF the south's chief industry
The growing shipment of cotton and
the manufacture of the seed products.
Inc town is one Of the largest cotton
| shipping centers of the south. TT.
smith, Ark. is On the northern limit
OF the cotton raising belt, and from
that point as the train goes SOUTH
ward, the impress of the cotton coun-
Try grows stronger at. every station.
The southern limit of wheat rroduc
tlon is about 20 miles from here at
Shreveport, La. which is alsp one Of
the great cotton shipping points Of
the United States. Cotton is raised
as far south as Leesport, La. where
rice culture begins and corn and
sorghum are raised clear to the
Gulf.
Iexarkana is a municipal curiosity
IN several ways. 1t is, to all the in
tehts and purposes of a town and a
commercial CENTER one city. but the
state line between Arkansas and Tev-
as passes along the mai1 street Of the
town dividing it into two towns of
about equal parts, one side of the line
IS Iexas and the other side Arkansas
or Arkansaw as the residents contend
1t should be called. There are two
municipal corporations, two MAYORS.
TWO sets of aldermen and a great
deal OF commercial rivalry, although
stranger would never suspect there
was more than one city organization,
unless told. The o. S. government
has cut the Gordian knot of conten-
tlon by erecting federal building in
the middle of the state line street and
mail for the two towns is delivered
from the same postoffice. There is
usually some confusion in addresses
and mail intended for Arkansas resi-
dents is often addressed to Texas.
Both are county seats and the town
or Iexarkana, Ark. has it's court,
house pear the center of the city.
While the county seat of Bowie Co..
Texas is over a mile distant, and when
a case is on the whole legal and Judi
clal fraternity form a procession to
the seat of justice way out of town.
TeNarkana has been at recent
date the noted resort of desperados
and frontier toughs. Murders and
robberies We're of frequent occurrence
and something like reign of terror
once existed here. A man could he
shot dead on the streets or in the sa-
looms OF one town and the murderer
calmly walk across the street into
another state and have time to escape
while reQuisition was Forthcoming
to arrest him. The connivance of the
local officials did much to .exasperate
this state of affairs and some of the
bloodiest deeds in southern HISTORY
have been committed here and at Ft.
Smith, Ark. which is similarly situ-
ated as regards proximityEto the In