Hattiesburg daily progress. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 18??-1909, 1903-07-23
SEA WEED AND "REMINISCENCES

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dian Pres-.
1 have just returned from tn,
coast. Had pretty good time.
very seldom get off on few DAYS
outing and it naturally makes me fee
that I want to tell all about it.
l decided as I stood at the waters
edge and looked out upon the broad
bosom as far as the natural eye would
let me that ! had at last reached the
end of the world. / sometimes think
II we all reasoned alike / would have
to put the right construction by say.
ing that had.
l saw twenty thousand acre
growth of seaweed in one body, and
| imagined how little I'd look right
In the middle of it, and my thoughts
became revolutionized. My mind
got switched round on warfare and
many new thoughts originated. l
began thinking about the old fort at
Fort Gaines, Georgia. and remem-
bering the old magazine building
which stood just on the Georgia side
of the Chattahoochee, and remember
ing the old entertainments and the
old cannon and the thousands of
bullets and gunlocks and ramrods and
brick bats and things that naturally
indicate war-remembering to have
seen these things when l was boy,
L began to think in my most intelli-
gent manner, "What in the thunder
had become of the Alabamians at the
time all the rukus was going on?'
had been told by the old grey headed
folks that the reason why General
Gaines had established this fort at
Fort Gaines was solely for the pur-
pose of whipping the enemy across the
river when they advanced and to keep
the enemy from coming up the Chat
tahoochee, and in the event there
were any up the river to keep them
up it; but after these preliminaries
were arranged to think that there
were thousands and thousands of
volleys turned loose on the Ala
bamians makes me a little nervous.
was never whipped by but one
fellow in my life, and he was an
Albanian, and have been quite
convinced since that time that the
Alabamians are not afraid of war.
| merely mention this because it
came to my mind while was over
III Alabama visiting some time ago.
Getting back on the subject of 30, 600
acres of seaweed which 1 saw while
going between Pascagoula and Scran-
ton and Moss Point, would it not be
good investment for some man to buy
the right to harvest that crop annual
ly and start up a straw hat manufac-
turing enterprise or something in
which the magnificent crop could be
utilized? l understand that the
day is here when the people are MAX
ing spirits of turpentine, tar, axle
grease. creosote, coal and other stuffs
out of lightwood knots, and some of
these times you are bound to hear of
some fellow becoming immensely rich
on seaweed. / believe that now is
the time to strike before the iron is
hot; our people are sure to wake up
some time and put this common
growth into something, if nothing but
bedticks.
I have had several similar things
to come under my observation on our
own farm in Clay county, we had
most magnificent growth of wild Ivy,
and it grew in such a vine- like
manner that we were almost at loss
to know what to do with it; we could
not penetrate the area on which it
grew, and, indeed, the task was too
great to think of cutting it down; but
one day rather clever looking gen.
tleman went to my father and asked
him what he would take for the ivy
which grew over in the field just
back of the May-pop field, and my
father, as we'll as 1 remember, offered
WIG SOAoAOAhah PACtby tdAA WdR0S W kC
over and cut the ivy down. The
gentleman said that he would cut it
down and move it away if my father
had no objection, and the permission
being granted, the gentleman cut it
down and chartered q car and sent it
to New York, where he received, so
I have been told, about $3.50 for the
ivy, which was used there in making
rustic chairs, settees. etc.
This brings me to rather delicate
part of the subject, but / shall men,
tion it and go ON. Several years ago
went to the postoffice white over
in my dear old native state (south-
west corner of Geroeia) expecting to
get letter with check IN it. | re-
ceived one from Massachusetts, con-
Germ which read as follows: Dear
Sir: We are glad to say that the
market has advanced wonderfully DUR
srv tho no or four dave ap1 80 80 ,>,x~