McNairy County independent. (Selmer, McNairy County, Tenn.) 1902-1969, 1914-05-29
Washington, D. c.,
May 20, 1914.

May 20, 1914.
Editor Independent:
Some time has elapsed since you
last heard from me. | was then in
the great Empire State of New York,
and now am back in Washington.
intended to try to tell you something
of the wonders of that great state,
but it is world within itself, and the
end can never be told. 1t would take
big books to describe what | saw last
summer, in four months there. | saw
them weaving carpets at Amsterdam.
and learned just how the patterns
were put in; (mighty simple when you
see it); saw them making paper at
Lyons Falls, where the spruce pine
logs were ground on big grindstones
at one end Of the mill into pulp, and
the snow-white paper, after passing
under and over thirty-six hot steel
rollers, went whirling out in fin
ished sheet twelve feet wide, at a speed
like that of a race horse; saw them
making cheeses by the ton; saw three
thousand looms turning out domestic
cloth at Cohoes. near Albany; saw
that stupendous monument of graft,
the capitol building at Albany, costing
twenty-nine millions of dollars, not
yet finished, and never will be, with
great cracks in the stone ceilings that
cannot be repaired without taking
down the whole thing; the onyx and
gold leaf in the senate room alone
cost half a million; saw the great
Education Building at Albany, where
soft light was shed. from the great
lights overhead through thin slabs Of
Tennessee marble; went through the
great Adirondack Wilderness and the
mountains, rocks and spruce gum
trees there; was in Canada and came
back unhurt, although the customs in
spectors wanted TO 60 through all my
baggage till l told them they con-
tanned Uncle Sans papers, which they
respected. !.
have always been fond of Liy.
burger cheese, and at last got to see
how it is made. | wanted to learn
how the stink was put in it, and it is
still mystery to me, but there is q
two-pound hunk of the stuff less al
that factory since | was there. The
cheese is put up without sailing the
curd, but the salt is rubbed in after
ward with the hands, and it has to be
rubbed and turned every day for
weeks, or until it is ripe. A half
ounce Of rennet, looking like spoiled
beer, was enough to curdle 1000
mounds of milk in ten minutes. and tc
see them cutting that curd was a
sight. The singing sound of the
cream separators, running at speed
of many thousands Of revolutions pei
minute, is beard everywhere; silos
loom up on all sides, and the COWS
are MIXED by machinery, six at q
time, run by gasoline power. The
children are smart like our grown
ups. and the signs Of great wealth
are everywhere. But | never heard
so much profanity, or saw so many
saloons, IN my life. Swearing In
half dozen languages fills the air
and the scent of beer and whisky is
at every little village and crossroads
while the automobiles and motorcycles
are so thick that you have to duck
and dodge to save your life at every
turn. Thank God that Tennessee is
not so rich, so corrupt, so foul and Sc
rum-ridden. as New York. The cit,
itself is a terror; | would not live
there; you can't do it and be natural
Think of streets as long as from Sci
mer to Corinth and then some; build
ings from five to seven times as higl
as the tallest forest trees; crowded
trains passing every minute on th'
street and over the street on th'