The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1904-04-28
The Land Of Flowers.

i WI NoWc- Leaving DThuuOn DO ~ 10
a. M, on Thursday, the 14th inst. !,
coming via Meridian, Birmingham,
Atlanta, and Jacksonville, we arrived
at Archer, Fla, at I o'clock p. m. /,
Saturday. Only week at home with
loved ones made us loath to leave, but
duty before pleasure is an old
adage worthy of recognition. Four
miles east of Meridian we had oc.
casion to behold sad illustration of
the consequences Of carelessness.
Some employee of the Alabama Great
Southern railroad had left a switch
open and the fast mail had crashed
into the open switch and there lay
the locomotive magnificent piece
of mechanism upside down, a CON-
plete wreck, coaches mail and bag
gage cars torn into splinters, lay all
about, furnishing illustration of the
power of the shock while the poor en-
gineer's body is being conveyed to his
heartbroken family in Birmingham,
having been crushed beneath his en-
CINE. Carelessness is responsible for
a large per centage of the disasters Of
this life.
At $50 p. m. of the same day
Thursday) I arrived in Birmingham,
the city of furnaces. Here we had to
wait until II 80 for a train to At.
lanta
While waiting we took occasion to
stroll about the city to ''see what we
could see." Birmingham is typical
modern city. Here we saw hundreds
ION pleasure bent," while others tax.
ing philosophic view of life were
seeking to do good. AS the car stop
ped i'll front of brilliantly lighted
house we saw great crowds pouring
in--only glance was necessary to
reveal the nature of the place-it
was show and the deluded throng
led on by a mistaken idea of life,
were seeking there what could never
be secured from such source-hap-
piness or satisfaction. But did not
set out to moralize. At II 80 we
boarded magnificent vestibule train
on the Southern railroad for Atlanta
where we arrived at 6 O'Clock the next
morning. Owing to the fact that one
of the fast trains of the Southern had
been pulled off" we had to lay over
in Atlanta until midnight Eof Friday,
affording time and opportunity to see
and study that beautiful city. There
were many things of interest to be
seen. One of the most striking and
significant things to me was the num-
ber and character of churches. AL
most every denomination is repre-
sented by one or more substantial
and magnificent buildings.
Another fact which impressed me
was the large number of high build
ings-" "skyscrapers. fell in with
some one in Birmingham who when
he learned was going through At
lanta said, you will see the high
buildings, and so I did. There are
several fourteen stories high. took
occasion to explore one of the highest.
1t was veritable town within itself.
It has, l understand, it's own tele-
phone, waterworks, electric light and
mail systems, and several hundred
people are constantly occupied there
in. On the fourteenth floor I found
restaurant with people feasting and
said to myself this is living high
with avenegance to be sure.
At 9.45 a. m. Saturday I arrived
! in Jacksonville, the metropolis of the
state, and the Gateway to Florida. !"
Jacksonville is an interesting city of
81, 900 inhabitants, a great pleasure
resort for our northern friends who
wish to escape the cold OF winter in
4 their northern homes by taking refuge
in the ''Land of Flowers. = There is
wonderful amount of travelling to
! and out of Jacksonville. While lin
gering about the depot waiting for
my train I fell into conversation with
the gate keeper WHO informed me
that there were until recently eighty
passenger trains daily arriving at the
union station. Only a few had been
discontinued. At $50 p. m. I pulled
/ out over the Seaboard Air Line rail
road for Archer, where have since
last Sunday been conducting one Of
the most powerful meetings of my
life. The whole town is stirred and
very many have been converted and
brought into the churches. All chris
tians are working harmoniously,
affording very happy illustration of
the saying How beautiful and how
pleasant it is for brethren to dwell to-
gether in unity
We have had better opportunity
since coming here to study the natural
conditions as they exist in Florida.
There exists here some very peculiar
nhpn0mpua For inctannn tharn ia