Woodville Republican., 1902-05-10


are in consequence beginning to look
up. A number of discoveries have been
reported lately Of valuable building
stone, several beds Of phosphates,
strata of fine clay, minerals and other
valuable materials. One Of the most
interesting of these discoveries is at
West Station, on the Illinois Central
road. If one-half the reports from Wis
iting experts are to be accepted as
true the little Holmes county town will
soon spread out into city, and city
Of stone at that. The hills surround
ing the town are solid chunks Of what
is now said to be some Of the finest
building stone in the country. There
is a constant and heavy demand for
building stone and the news of this
discovery has brought a number Of
prospectors to the scene.
Those who have examined the stone
pronounce it superior to any in this
section for building foundations, max
ing concrete and ballasting. 1t is al
most as hard as granite, and is imper-
vious to the weather. For such stone
there is now an almost unlimited de-
mand, and could the owners Of these
beds but come to some kind Of an un-
derstanding and form a company for
the purpose of putting the stone on the
market, they would almost equal the
oil barons of Beaumont, Tex. The sup
ply Of stone in the neighborhood Of
West seems almost inexhaustible. It
extends for a number Of miles on the
east and west sides of the railroad,
the lands being Of but little value ex-
cept for this stone deposit.
And now comes the regrettable part
Of the story, which might well be
headed with the old saying, slightly
altered, about "the prophet" and his
"own land" This time it might be
said that "land is not without honor
save among its own prophets" At
any rate, whatever profit was to be
found in this new discovery will go
into the pockets of Michigan capital
lists, who came down and got options
on vast acres at very low figures, while
our own folks were thinking about it.
Fortunately, some Of Holmes county's
far-sighted citizens refused to enter
into the Michiganders' hard deal, and
If the people will work together as
they should do, they may yet make
a grand success of the hidden quar-.
ries on the hillsides of old Holmes,
Success to them, and all other enter.
prlsing Mississippians!
We would be glad If we had space
to reproduce every word of the lead
ing editorial from Hon. Lem Sea,
wright's able pen in last weeks Plain.
dealer. 1t is on that most important
question, the Rural School," and
contains some excellent advice Among
other things, Mr.. Seawright says: "Of
the 100000 children of school age in
the Southern States, more than 6,000,.
600 live in sparsely settled districts
or in towns of less than 1000 inhab
itants. Hence the rural schools are
Of first Importance and should receive
first consideration. We can never be
an educated people until we have good
schools and the country children at.
tend them" Continuing, the writer
gives facts which prove that the aver.
age school life of our children in rural
districts is lamentably short, the ac
commodations poor and the equip
ment meager. These children, from
whose ranks so many Of the futures
great ones must come, are confined
to the poverty of few ill-assorted
textbooks from which to get their
start along the road of knowledge.
Were 1t not that theirs is the bound.
less wealth Of the great teacher Nature
their way would be hard, their work
of scant avail and their knowledge Of
little worth to them or others.
We find in Mr.. Seawrights plea for
better opportunities an earnest appeal
to our men to build worthy houses for
their children's school days, making
them attractive as we'll as comfortable.
"The South is no longer poor as it was
in the decades Immediately succeeding
the ravages of war. Building material
is abundant in every State, and our
men have strong arms to fell trees.
prepare lumber and make brick. We
should begin at once to build decent
and comfortable school houses in ev.
cry school district, and to equip them
with the needful furniture and appa-
ratus. These school houses are the
homes of our children all the days they
attend school, and we should see to It
that they are made worthy"
1t is a great pleasure to run across
such good news as the published state
ment that Mississippi pine will figure
largely in the building of the Louisi-
ana Purchase Exposition. A number
Of firms on the Gulf & Ship Island
Railroad have secured large contracts
for lumber Of various grades, espe-
cially our splendid long leaf yellow
pine, and already number of large
rush orders have been shipped from
Mississippi and delivered on the ex-
position grounds. This will in itself
give us and our great lumber indus
try splendid advertisement.
The Yazoo Herald rejoices in the re
port (which it hopes will prove cor
rect) that Northern firm will begin
the work of building the railroad from
Yazoo City to Belzoni at once. This
little road will be a great time and