The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1903-03-27
TOWN TOPICS
THE SOUTHLAND.
Savannah, Ca, March 3. 1908.

To the Editor THE BEE: AS it is
about two months since l left Connec-
ticut l begin to feel that there is no
place like home. Our first stop as we
came South was Atlanta, and was
surprised to find it one of the most
stirring places that 1 eyer was in.
Many Northern men are located there,
and there is large wholesale business
down there in connection with nearly
all the Southern states. They tell me
that it is on one of the highest eleva-
tions between the Mississippi river and
enough so that they get plenty of fresh
air. One day when [ was there th e
wind blew over 70 miles an hour.
Northern Georgia is rolling land and
as they keep the best of it continually
under cultivation and being of clay
formation it gets badly washed in the
rainy season. Very often you will see
large gullies from five to ten feet deep
washed through the cotton fields, and
to prevent this washing away of the
soil many of the plantations have
ridges of dirt two or three feet high
thrown up one in four or five rods
which are allowed to grass over to keep
the soil from washing away. 1t is a
novel sight to see miles of these ridges
which look like winrows of hay cross
ing many of the cotton fields. One of
the most interesting days l have so far
spent was in taking tifty-mile trolley
ride over the sand hills of South Caro-
lima. Isaw thousands of acres SO poor
that it never has been cultivated, and
1 think it was the widest country I
ever was in. BY winding and turning
the cars would climb hills where one
would suppose they never could 60 and
where if they lost control of the Car, it
looked as though we should go to Sam
Jones in short order. At Augusta we
took the boat for three hundred
mile trip down the Savannah river.
We were about two days making the
tripon the boat tfromIAugusta to Savan-
nah. 1t was one of the most delight
full trips 1 ever took, with the contin-
ually changing scenes along the river.
Some of the way is heavily wooded and
trains draw loads of logs to the side of
the river where they are rolled from
the cars into the river and made into
RATS to be f1oated down to Savannah
to be sawed into lumber and then sent
to oil 10
river remain as they were before the
war. There are no docks, but once in
about five miles there is store house
where boats stop, run up against the
bank, and leave and receive freight
and some places where there was no
one to receive it, freight was taken off
and put in pile with the expectation
that it's owner would find it. In the
darkness Of the night many of these
landings would be made and "a fire
made Of pine knots would give the
light to load and deliver. freight. 1t
was wonder to me how they could
steer these boats in the darkness, for
many times in the night it was i'm
possible for me to see hundred feet
in front of the boat, and it is the
most crooked river I ever saw. Many
times we would be going to all points
of the compass within space of five
miles. 1t is but 100 miles by rail from
Augusta to Savannah while it. is 3OC
miles by boat. About April l we hope
to be in old Connecticut again. Re.
spectfully yours,-{S. P. Averill