Year: 1872

euJ Oi bHe Oluctuuabl OOulMefCilt,
has been to Decatur, and his "obser-
vatiOns" about town have given Of
fence to the Decatur Democrat,
which speaks of him as follows:


"A man, Northern though he be,
will traverse the South and write
filthy editorials TO his paper, abusing
our hospitality, deserves q coating
Of tar and feathers as black and


filthy as his eall0Gs heart. And
hereafter when he stops at Southern
hotels, in his rambles for items, we
would advise him to register his
name.


The next time be visits this place,
so far from seating him in the best
room in the hotel, with ice water
and servants at command, for which
he, IN his RagR0Rj1s0Vs generosity,
didn't say even, Il thank you," he
will be fOI ced to take his chances
on the streets, where Our floating
population can teach him that self
respect which his base ingratitude
should so fifty remember"


Our contemporary is mistaken as to
II. V. RS nativity and proelivities.
He Is a native Tennessean, a practi-
cal printer, a splendid correspond
ent, a gentleman Of unimpeachable
character and undoubted Southern
procliyities. There must be some
mistake about this matter. Below
we copy the letter referred. to:


DECATUR.


This is a struggling town of about
a thousand inhabitants, their dwell
ings scattered about over a rather
hot and barren surface. The hotel
where 1 stopped is on a little eleva-
tion above the railroad, bare street
that blisters your feet while the sun
blisters your head. The feed is in
keeping with the climate. 1t is about
such as an engineer would raise
steam with in his engine if coal and
cord-wood were scarce, and il would
raise steIm even quicker than these.
The supper bill of fare is beef-steak
fried in pepper and lard, hot tough
biscuit, hot strong coffee and fried
pork. No fruit, no vegetables, no
cooling drinks, nothing that a civil
lied person would care to eat for
supper at s o'clock on tho night of
a hot day. If fiend in human
shape should murder my grand
mother, I should not feel avenged
for the crime by seeing him dangle
at the end of a rope. Nothing less
than that he be sentenced to board
az a hotel in q Southern town OF
less than two thousand inhabitants
would satisfy me. To know that
he was burning out day by day,
drying by slow degrees, and put to
the torture three hours out of TWEEN
ty-four, would be a greater revenge
than that ne merely be hung, which
is soon over, and but little more
torture to a delicate person than
eating the average Southern supper.


The location of Decatur is favora-
bic to growth; situated on the
bank of Tennessee river, at the
crossing of the two great railroads
running the four points of the com
pass, it would seem that it ought to
grow. The river is navigable from
here TO Knoxville and beyond, but
the Muscle Shoals setting in below
obstruct navigation toward the
mouth. The shoals ought to be
cleaned out. 1t is a shame that one
of the largest rivers in America
should be well nigh useless for want
of the expenditure of half Q million
dollars.


The road passing through here
north and south is the Louisville
and Great Southern, or will be with
the completion of a gap of fOrty-five
miles between here and Birming
ham.


The importance of this road to
Cincinnati and Louisville l ha re en-
deavored to point out in previous
letters. The completion of q trunk
road between the Ohio and the city
of Montgomery, in the cotton belt
a road under one management and
owned by one cOmpany-isa an event
The mineral interest along its line
below there will be developed, and
the sister cities on the Ohio be
sharers in the benefit. The provis-
ioR trade of Lower anti Central
America, of which Montgomery is
the distributing point, viii be re-
tanned bY Cincinnati and Louisville,
as the new road or short cut from
here to Montgomery will shorten
the time, curtail freight bills, and
reduce transfers. II. V. Il.