The Columbus dispatch. (Columbus, Miss.) 19??-1922, 1921-10-05


a we find proposals for Route No. 8
' from Columbus by Choctaw Agenc
J and Doaks to Jackson, Miss, -
miles, three round trips week. Ais
from 1880 to 1894, that Of mail rout
, No. 2l2 from Columbus via Hami
ton, Athens, Quincy and Goods Ia
Yard to Cotton Gin Post, 81 miles
orc round trip a week; Contractor
William Ramsey, Bolivar, Tenn.
Route No. III was advertised Jun
%, 1929, for service three times
week, in two horse stages, for tn
term of four years supplying the fol
lowing offices: Starting from Tus
cumbia, Ala, by Russleville, Pike
view, Columbus, Miss, Choctav
Agency and Harpersville to Doak''
Stand, distance Of 215 miles, award
ed to f. and A. Waites, Of Columbus
Miss, at $3.50 per annum.
Route No. 178 from Columbus
Miss, by Mount Zion, Pigeon Roost
Pickens, Carrollton and Northport to
Tuscaloosa, Ala, distance of "
miles and back once a week, and
awarded to H. and ]. w. Gibson, Sell
ma, Ala, at the rate Of $4,760 per
annum.
Route No. 17s, A., from Columbus,
Miss, by Carrollton, Pickens Court
House, Clinton, Springfield New
Prospect and Erie to Greensboro, Ala.
Also a side route from Carrollton to
Tuscaloosa, a total distance Of 81
miles and back, twice a week in four
horse post coaches; awarded to Ben
iamin Williamson, Montgomery, Ala.
at the rate Of $4,000 per annum.
Two offices in Western Lowndes
county were established; Daily's Cross
Roads, in 1910, and Prairie Hill, in
1912. Tradition is authority for the
statement that a mail carrier froze tc
death on the roadside near the first
office named, during the winter of
1866.
AS means of preserving in a con-
yenient form some facts Of more OF
less interest, we quote from the Laws
of Mississippi 1824-38, inclusive,
which are at hand.
The turbulent times preceding the
organization of Mississippi Terri.
tory was doubtless the cause of thu
exacting Militia Laws passed at the
first session Of its legislature in 1900
Only such provisions as were repeal
ed in 1926 are considered. The law
requiring each militiaman of the state
to furnish himself with knap-sack,
canteen, cartouch, boxes or pouches
to contain not less than twenty balls
suited to the bore of his piece, and
quarter of a pound Of powder in
cartridges, or secured in a powder
flask with two spare fints, or one
hundred PERCUSSION caps, printing
wire, or brush, except when called
into active service, be and the same
is hereby repealed. And it was fur
Their enacted, that as the uniform Is
too expensive for many persons well
qualified to fill office of the militia and
who are thereby deferred from serv-
ing. that all below the rank of Major
be allowed to dispense with the
Chapeau-bras, provided a good round
hat be substituted, and the sash and
broadcloth coat provided coat, all
being of the same shade of color be
substituted. The sash it seems was
discarded entirely.
Comparing this action of 1925 with
the legislation of 1920, it is seen how
the solution of problems Of state can
be reached by proceeding upon diff
ferent lines, to-wit: In the former
case the quality of the hat and coat
was lowered to meet the financial
ability Of the militiamen and in the
latter the salary of civil officers was
increased to meet the high cost of hat
and coat.
Street rumor is perhaps the only
foundation for the story that far
mer. after selling his cotton at a good
price. patronized quite literally a
gents furnishing establishment, and
later was threatened wit harrest on
the charge of impersonating an Of
fce-holder.
This little traditional anecdote is
given as the last word on Mississippi
militia. At a General Muster the
general in full dress APP
peared with a full staff equipped to
the limit, reaching the center of the
line he halted and standing tip toe in
his stiuups, with Chapeau-bras rails
ed at arms length. be shouted yoci-
ferously. Behold Your General
Lowndes county, in the olden times
and even up to- the recent past was
noted for Its military spirit and
musical talent
Il is an historical fact that the
part Of the present Lowndes county
east Of The Tombigbce river and