The Colville examiner. [volume] (Colville, Wash.) 1907-1948, 1917-02-24

There are often spots along the road
where the iron stains the clay dark
purple, and unless you knew what it is
you might think it blood dried there.
When it rains hard the water running
down the road is red as blood.
made trip to Woodville, the county
seat of our county (Wilkinson), and it
is a beautiful drive. With the palms,
hedges of roses which are not in bloom
yet, several kinds of pines, cedars,
magnolias, great oaks or gums it was, a
most beautiful car ride.
1t is Is miles from Centerville to
Woodville and one passes famous old
plantations that are cut up now into
lesser farms. Many of the old man
sions have been burned down, although
one near the road is left in solitary
grandeur. OF course it has ghosts and
no one will live in it. Part of the blinds
are torn away and much glass is gone
from the great windows. 1t is the
most ornate. pretentious farm house
have ever seen. Nothing coonial-like
about it. have not learned the name
of its former owner.
What interested me more was an old
plantation where Jefferson Davis lived
or at least visited much when boy.
One person will gravely assure you he
lived there but an old lady of the oldest
family in this country says he never
lived there but spent much time there
in his youth. They claim the railroad
from Woodvile to Baton Rouge was
the second road built in the L. S. It is
branch of the Illinois Central. | don't
see why they don't claim it was the
first one.
There are old houses in the town and
some are $50 years old assure you
they are interesting. The courthouse
is imposing but not SO large as at Col
vile. 1t is nearly square, with square
tower and large clock in the center of
a square built up or 10 feet higher
than the street, and terraced on all the
four sides with four gates, two large
live oaks and shrubbery. saw a large
rose bush there full of buds. Woodville
has fine agricultural school of large
brick buildings. I think it is a county
institution.
The farmers here are stock raisers
More hogs are raised here than any
place ever lived. They certainly do
well but cattle do just as well only it
costs more to obtain them and longer to
raise herd of cattle than drove of
hogs.
Every colored family has one or more
hogs, and sometimes quite drove, and
most are good stock. They ship all the
hogs alive from here. Many durocs are
also raised. The majority of farmers
do not have such good stock in cattle
and horses as hogs. You scarcely ever
see any sheep here. | have tried to
get mutton several times but couldn't.
There are many turkeys raised here,
and they grow very large.
l never saw so many evergreens;
trees, shrubs, vines and ferns are
evergreen, and now the yellow jasmine
is full of it, fragrant trumpet shaped
yellow blooms. In the spring the lovely
passion flower will be all over the woods
and pastures. The black locust, dog
wood and l know not how many more
Towering trees grow every wherehere
l saw large tree full of bloom one
day last week. AS it was not near the
road it was difficult to see whether it
was buds or blossoms.
This has been the severest winter for
decades the old settlers assure us, and
more cold, more rain and longer storms.
Two nights it was Is above zero.
Even in the northwest we read of
the wOrn-out fields of southland. 1t is
not any woEder, for you see fires or
smoke every clear day where the field
hands are burning off grass, or cotton
stalks, or the cornstalks preparing the
land for the pIow. The only wonder is
that it will produce anything, 1t is too
much bother to cut up stalks to plow
under or turn under the tall grass.
They purchase cottonseed meal or com
mercial fertilizer for cotton crops, to-
matoes and beans. Many tomatoes
and snapbeans are grown for New
Orleans markets, it being the nearest
large city. Baton Rouge doesn't affect
the market much, it isn't SO large or so
live.
The Standard Oil CO. has done more
for New Orleans than all the years
since the war of 1872. More oil cars
pass up and down on the Illinois Central
railroad than any other one kind and
the plant is a beautiful clean white city
having it's own line of steamers.
The buzzards are the most striking
sight in the air, always in sight but no
one shoots at them, natural scavengers.
Am afraid the readers will be tired
of this long letter, if not | may write
again. Very truly, Mrs. Geo. H. Knapp.