The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1902-02-20
A LETTER FROM GEORGIA
CORRESPONDENCE of The Journal.

l
of brownsville. Ga. The city Of
| Thomasville is about the size OF Bel
fast, but aside from its hotels has few
public buildings, and those are neither
large nor beautiful. On landing at the
station after hot and dusty ride from
Savannah, if it is at night, one gets
rather poor idea of the town, but this
is gone with the coming day. There is
a great variety of buildings here, and
conspicuous among them are the many
beautiful winter homes. The negroes,
who largely outnumber the whites, live
in what may be termed huts. There
are some very smart negroes IN the
SOUTH but as rule they are content
with "a place to eat and place to
Sleep while the children go ragged and
bare-footed. On the street corners one
finds negro beggars, whose Gimme a
penny, please-please gimme penny
is rather annoying. The streets here,
as a rule, afford fine bicycling, but in
the city they are made of loose soil
and easily cut up, and the wheelmen
make free use of the side walks. There
are good stables where fine Kentucky
! driving horses can be found, and probab-
| ly the best is that conducted by Capt.
f. d. Whitaker, an old kentuckian,
who has some fine bred horses and one
of the largest stables in the south. The
| tDr /, l,Dl p1i 10Th f,,1 1,,i1
with one of these Kentucky bred
horses, which was kindly placed at his
disposal by the owner. The negroes
use mules and oxen, and it is common
sight to see negro woman, attired i'll a
bright calico gown, with pink, or blue
sun bonnet. riding to town on an old
cart drawn by an OK with a harness
made of chain. The trucking teams
throughout the State are mules, as
they are hardy and live to good old
age
The plantation negro of te-bellum
days Is fast disappe caring. and in their
place IS new geue-Ation, unframed
and unskilled
Spring is just coming on here and the
country is taking on new life. Vic
lets are blooming in the gardens, and
the scent of the narcissus. which grows
abundantly in nearly all the gardens, is
very sweet The fields are green. and
the shrubbery is fine but the sweet mag
nolias and jasmine will not bloom
/ until March,
The negro dialect is used to a great
/ degree among the whites, and people
! from the north find it necessary to give
/ close attention to understand the con
versation until they have got accustom-
ed to the talk. The term of boy is
one used here in a general sense and
everybody who is not called by name is
addressed as boy
The writer is pleasantly located at
the Piny Woods Hotel 1t has some
400 rooms, and is conducted by Harvey
Il Wood of the Hotel Bellevue in Bos-
ton. AS an inland winter resort Thorn
asville has no equal and every winter
hundreds find health and recreation
here. Among the attractions are the
golf grounds, horseback riding and the
piny woods. To appreciate the Georgia
pines" of poetry one must visit Georgia,
and i'll Paradise Park, directly in front
of the hotel, are to be found acres of
lofty pines whose scrawny arms seem
almost tn hr,,S t1,a
Among the well known people who
have winter cottages here are Senator
Mark \. Hanna; ex-governor William
r. Merriam of Minnesota: and many
other men of prominence
The climate is very dry, with cool
nights, as in our Maine fall months, and
hot during the day. In February the
average mean temperature is $50
degrees, the highest 66:52 and the low
est 1905. The month of January just
past was an average Of 5215, and
March is expected to go some above
sixty We are but II miles from the
Florida line and 50 miles from the Gulf
of Mexico. Nearly all the produce for
the table is received from Florida and
with good train service one gets good
fresh vegetables. Strawberries, fresh
and ripe, sell IN the market for 25 cents
per box, and oranges, pine-apples and
bananas are very cheap. While there
are chilly days in Thomasville, flowers
bloom in the gardens every day in the
year, and the southern pine and live
oak trees furnish beautiful shade to
the streets. There is small lake
eighteen miles distant, and a small
stream runs through the eastern part
of the village. Clothing and furnish
ing goods can be bought here much
cheaper than in Belfast
At the hotel we have an orchestra of
nine pieces, and at the concerts on the
piazza each day one may see in the
park hundreds of negroes of all ages
and occupations, dancing, singing, sit
ting and reclining, enjoying the music,
which is to the southern negro part
L.. 1,,.,,