Class JHaxSL Book JlaZ— GopyrigkK^, COPYRIGHT DEPOSm THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE ALSO BY MR. JOHNSTON ALONG THE PACIFIC BY LAND AND SEA 12 mo, 272 pages. Net, $1.25 Comment from a Distinguished Reader Hon. John S. Runnells, President, The Pullman Building, Chicago, Illinois. Dear Mr. Runnells : I am returning to you by book post the Johnston book, "Along the Pacific by Land and Sea," which I have read with amuse- ment and much instruction. You will find it well worth reading. Sincerely yours, Robert T. Lincoln \'\ THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE BY C. W. JOHNSTON Author of "ALONG THE PACIFIC BY LAND AND SEA' CHICAGO PRESS OF RAND McNALLY & CO. 1918 COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY C. W. JOHNSTON PRESS OF RAND McNALLY & CO. SLP 23 1318 ©CIA5U1887 INTRODUCTION THE observations noted in this volume were col- lected and are now published as a companion volume to the one entitled, "Along the Pacific by Land and Sea," issued last year. I trust it will receive as cordial recognition by the public as the former book did and at the same time be a messenger for good, in giving pleasure and re- freshing the mind of the reader ^\dth facts that ought to be remembered. C. W. Johnston Des Moines, Iowa, Novemher, 1917. CONTENTS PAGE On the Seas 13 New Orleans 26 gulfport 42 BiLoxi 48 Mobile 54 Montgomery 60 Birmingham 66 Nashville 78 Mammouth Cave 89 Louisville 95 St. Louis Ill Cincinnati 115 Lexington 122 Frankfort 129 Richmond 134 Through Tennessee 139 Chattanooga 144 asheville 150 Charlotte 160 Raleigh 165 Atlanta 177 Knoxville 184 Columbia 190 Charleston 195 Summerville 207 Savannah 212 Savannah 224 Augusta 230 ix C N T E N T S — C n t i n u e d PAGE Durham 235 Jacksonville 241 St. Augustine 254 Daytona 261 Palm Beach 267 West Palm Beach 275 Miami 283 Key West 289 Sarasota 295 Fort Myers 302 Tampa 308 Leesburg 314 Norfolk 321 Fortress Monroe 327 Fredericksburg 332 Kichmoxd 338 Washington 354 Mt. Vernon 377 Annapolis 384 Winchester 392 Frederick 399 Gettysburg 407 Baltimore 415 Lynchburg 422 "Monticello" — Charlottesville 425 Lexington 432 Harpers Ferry 439 White Sulphur Springs 446 Wheeling 453 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE On the Seas AFTER twenty-eight days on the Pacific ocean and a week in the Canal zone, I again stepped aboard ^ for a ten days' trip on the '' Tnrrialba," with Captain Wilford Lockhart in charge. The ship, which is known as one of the " Great AVhite Fleet," is bound '' from Cristobal to New Orleans via Havana." It is about four hundred feet long and carries five thousand tons. It is modern in every way; the staterooms being equipped with electric lights, fans, and cool, clean, fresh air day and night, and with berths upon which one can study, think, rest, and sleep. Thus situated, I began to recall some of my expe- riences at Ancon and Balboa. "When I arrived there I could see that our government had carefully looked after the handling of freight, but had ignored com- pletel}^ the fact of passengers. We, with our baggage, were tossed off with the freight to get out the best we could. I found a cab two blocks away and by motions, that is, a liberal use of the sign language, I induced the driver to follow me; and, seeing my bag- gage, he knew what I wanted. He talked Spanish and I talked English. His cab was of the Queen Victoria style and era; he was as black as the ace of spades and the horse as poor as Job's turkey. My baggage weighed 225 pounds ; and, as I have prospered some, I tilt the scales at 240. We went up hill and then down again, and in time arrived at the Hotel Tivoli. I exposed my purse, and he understood my language and I under- stood his. He said, ' ' Three dollars and fifty cents gold. ' ' 13 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE I refused and stood pat, which was easy for me to do. When the other fellow stood likewise I was compelled to make the next move, so I organized a kangaroo court. Still using the sign language, I ushered him before the porter of the hotel. I requested the porter to be seated, and, then and there, I appointed him a judge advocate to hear, not mine, but our case. I insisted on the judge advocate's taking a seat, because most men are more deliberate when resting and one gets their undivided attention. It is so in everj^day life. The judge rose to his new responsibilities, and I stated m}^ case clearly in my own language. The cabman did likewise in his language, so far as I could tell. The judge, there- upon, decided that a charge of three and fifty-hun- dredths dollars, all gold, was excessive, oppressive and contrary to the laws and regulations of the Canal zone; but that I was truly indebted for the services rendered in the sum of one and seventy-five hundredths dollars, which I promptly paid. I then found that the missionaries in the Latin Americas were holding a conference at Hotel Tivoli, 250 missionaries and about 125 visitors being in attend- ance. I also learned that on the following Saturday they would adjourn and depart for home. I con- cluded to beat them, so started Friday for Cristobal to engage passage on the boat leaving th^ following Sunday. To my surprise, I found that the mission- aries had, two weeks previously, purchased all the rooms, including those of the vessel to leave on the day following; so I was doomed to remain in Colon for nearly ten days with no chance of getting away. I have never regarded preachers as having much busi- ness capacity, but then and there I lifted my hat to 14: ON THE SEAS them. However, the agent told me to be on hand Sunday at 9:15 a. m., when the list was being made up and possibly some one might surrender his place. I was there, but everyone stuck. However, a New York and a Chicago man had purchased a stateroom together at New Orleans for the round trip. The Chicago man was unable to use his return passage, which cost him $75, and he wanted the United Fruit Company to redeem it, which the local agents refused to do, informing him that he would have to take it up with the main office in New York. The New York man was a perfect gentleman. He was religious and never failed to say his evening pray- ers. The Chicago man was very profane, and took a bottle of whisky for his companion, to occupy the third berth in the stateroom. So the New York gen- tleman occupied his berth but one night, Captain Lockhart kindly taking care of him. He was delighted when he found his roommate was likely not to return, both being entire strangers to each other before this meeting. When the Chicago man appeared at the ticket office and explained his desire, I was most happy. But when he found the company refused to refund, and that another man was waiting to take the ticket, he refused to surrender. He went to the boat and informed his roommate that he was about to sell his return passage '' to a dirty old Spaniard." The New York man was almost crazy, as he was very fastidious in dress, chang- ing daily and alwaj^s washing and bathing. He appealed to the captain, who again promised to care for him. Thus this Chicago man went back and forth four times to force the New York gentleman to reim- 15 THK SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE burse him or force me to j^ay a bonus. We both were iouoraut of each otiiei' and of tlie situation, but both stood pat; and when lie returned the fourth time he surrendered his ticket and the a^ent turned it over to me. And this is tlie type of men some of our American houses send down to get South American trade. Their object is to swindle the other fellow. They are neither o-entlemen nor honorable business men. They force themselves on others at times when they give offense, and thus leave a bad impression. The commercial man rushes into a business man's place and is noisy and boastful. He does not hesitate to express an opinioii on local affairs — even to criticise. He lacks diplomacy and finesse, and gi-aciousness ; and his manner does not compare favorably with that of the polite Span- iard. The Spaniard wants to take his time and look over his stock and send his order by mail. This is about the only way he will do business. The American" is brusque, and wants a written order on the spot; and this is why the commercial interests of the United States are making poor headway with the South Amer- ican republics. I have traveled with some Spaniards who were out soliciting- trade from their own people; and they simply called, had a friendly visit, and left a business card with a request to be remembered when anything in their line Avas needed. When an order is sent in, it is given an honest count, and filled promptly and exactly as ordered. The Americans have much to learn. Too many have been short-changing each other in the past, and their attitude must be altered to one of kindness and consideration and respect for the ways and habits of the foreign customer. 16 ON THE SEAS I almost forg'ot the missionaries. There were a lot of good fellows among' them. They gave me a dele- gate's card. Possibly I looked as if I needed reform- ing. But I had nothing over them. Some of them changed suits two or' three times a day and paid a dollar for a meal and four dollars for a bed, without ' ' batting an eye. ' ' I thought if I could get rid of a lot of my bad ways I would like to become a missionary. Of course such luxury appeals to me; but if the mis- sionary's life were deprived of the same, the desire might also disappear. When we all went to our different staterooms the thought occurred to me what a farce some government regulations are. We were not required to take an examination to get on the boat; so I said to the New York gentleman, * ' I snore some, do you ? ' ' He said, ^' Yes." I said, " I have never been seasick, have you?" He said, "No." This was very important to me because I had the lower berth and it was optional with him to take the upper one or the couch. If he were subject to seasickness and decided to occupy the upper one, he might cause me to wish for the genius of a Noah to build an ark to get away from the flood. But to make him feel happy, not then knowing what had transpired between him and the Chicago man, I remarked that I was not examined before being permitted to enter the ship, but, to be frank with him, I had been exposed to the seven-year itch. It was not my fault we were placed in the same stateroom, but it might be that my condition would force us both into quarantine, and possibly all the passengers on the ship. I thought I could see his toes working in his shoes. Be this as it may, we confessed to each other and became friends; 17 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE and he occupied his stateroom every uight, and on our arrival left us with regrets, to take a line direct to New York. He did this going down, and deposited $50 to hold his passage and to escape his Chicago partner. He came back to our boat three times to bid us good-by. His name is Mr. Dobbs. He is a hatter, a charming fellow and a companionable traveler. The Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico were quiet and without interest. A few flying fish were all that disturbed us at first; but one morning bright and early a signal of distress came from a little sailing schooner. It had eight women and four men and some freight. Our ship went to its relief and found that it had started from Colon bound for St. Andrews Island. Because of bad weather, it ran almost out of water, although miles of water were all around. They had been out seventeen days and were lost. Their destination was 500 miles away at the start and it was still forty miles away. Our captain told the men to come and get water; and they lowered a small boat and placed a barrel on board. One man handled the oars, one tended the rudder and a third dipped out the water thrown in the boat by the rough sea. When the men came alongside, the barrel was taken on board, filled, and lowered in a few minutes. Our captain called down and asked if they were short of food. The Jamaican captain — for all were black — looked up and with a grateful smile, said, " Yes, cap- tain, we are almost out, ' ' and Captain Lockhart ordered a bunch of bananas and provisions lowered at once. They started back to their frail little craft with cheer- ful hearts and renewed courage. We all waved our hands and wished them well. Strangers we were, 18 ON THE SEAS yet all members of one human family. Captain Lock- hart must have been happier for his kindness and assistance to those in distress; and those who witnessed this act of charity by a powerful corporation, through one of its officers, could not but pause and meditate on the impulses back of the act, — an act which taught us all to love and be kind one to another. Men and women should be known by their deeds, their actions, rather than words. We all are weak, and a smile, a kind word, costs nothing and may do a world of good to some one somewhere, strangers though they are, alone and unknown. After leaving Cristobal, P. R., our first stop was at the port of Almiranti, P. R. Here was our first contact with the United Fruit Company and its great enterprises. Our stay was long so we took the train and visited banana plantations, both in the Panama and Costa Rica republics, and saw bananas by the mile ; and, strange to say, they were surrounded by jungles which were inhabited by monkeys, baboons, lions, tigers, and snakes. Swamps and marshes were everywhere-. This corporation has about 110 ships, largely owned but some chartered. It has two and one-half millions of acres of land, largely owned but some leased, located in Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Cuba, and Jamaica. Although it is not twenty years old, it has a capital of $70,000,000 and assets of nearly $100,000,000. Two boys in their teens left home with impulses to do something worth while. They are now the moving spirits in this great enterprise. Golf, cricket, baseball, dancing, etc., had no charms for either one. Minor C. Keith, vice-president, went to Texas, and at twenty- 19 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE one OAvned 4,000 head of cattle and a good bank account. The other, Andrew W. Preston, went to Boston and entered the fruit business. Both were poor at first, but now they are many times millionaires. One is 69 and the other 71, and the}^ are still at the game, one being in New York and the other in Boston. At the age of 23 Mr. Keith had sold his Texas investment and was trying to build a railroad 100 miles long from the Atlantic to San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. At one end it was over swamps at the sea, and at the other end it was over mountains and reached an elevation of 5,000 feet. These swamps got three of his brothers and 4,000 of his men died in the effort. He succeeded, but he had no freight. He ex- perimented with the banana, made a success and then hunted for a market. At the same time, Mr. Preston was doing the same thing in Jamaica and afterwards in Cuba; and he was successful. Keith grew fast and his ideas enlarged rapidly. He conceived the idea of building all the railroads for Central American repub- lics and eventually connecting North America with South America by rail, and at the same time marketing his tropical fruits. These plans were heroic for a young man to contemplate, to say nothing of the dif- ficulty of their execution. To make a long story short, he met with financial reverses and introduced himself to his competitor, Mr. Preston, now president; and they joined forces, saving Keith, and out of Keith's plans, both became kings in finance. Such characters are Napoleons in civil life. They created wealth out of something that did not exist^ before, and in a locality that was not only considered worthless but dangerous, and which ivas dangerous. Such men deserve all honor. 20 ON THE SEAS They created a cheap, wholesome food for the rich and the poor. The raising, sale and distribution of their products have been reduced to a science. They sell bananas all over the world cheaper than you can buy apples of your neighbor, and they are much more valu- able as a food product. We need more such men who do not hamper geniuses because they are successful. Washington, Clay, Webster, and Franklin never tasted a banana. The Keiths have made it possible for all man- kind to enjo}^ this delicious food. There has come into existence a ground parasite that kills banana plants in twelve to fifteen years; and the ground is worthless for bananas thereafter. They have experts employed and have expended fortunes to kill it, but so far have failed. About four hundred plants grow on an acre, and each plant produces one stem or bunch every nine months. A new plant grows from the old root, and so on, until the earth parasite destroys it. A stem weighs from fifty to seventy pounds. On the average, an acre will produce about two hun- dred stems in one year. Attached to the plant, a stem is worth from 35 to 50 cents. It is very perishable and must be handled promptly or it is a total loss. The plant requires much moisture, hence Central America is the garden spot for bananas, for in some places it rains from 100 to 200 inches a year. The bridges and railroads are washed out; and much labor, delay and expense are occasioned. Again there are some seasons when the rain is deficient and the crop is short. The natives are worthless as laborers because they are uncertain and lazy, hence Jamaica Negroes are here by the thousands. They are sensitive, so the 21 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE whites are called ''gold" and the colored people ''sil- ver." The3^ are fine workers and are happy and stick to the job. They get 10 cents an hour. The company rents a hut to the employes for a small charge; em- ploys both preachers and doctors; erects church build- ings, hospitals, and stores that supply food and medi- cines ; and looks after the health and sanitary conditions of its property. It employs about seventy thousand men by contract. That is, a foreman has so many men and agrees to look after and cut the fruit from a cer- tain space and deliver it at the railroad track. Other- wise it would be impossible to work so man}' men without loss. Railroad tracks run all through the plantations. The stems are cut green, placed on cars, covered and brought to the dock in the evening of the same day. They are brought by the train load and loaded on the ships at night so the sun will not injure them. If one ripe banana is found on a stem, the whole stem is discarded because it might contaminate a whole cargo. They are inspected in the field, then again at the dock, and again and again when being placed in position in the hold of the ship. A cooling plant on the ship keeps them at 53 degrees. They are loaded on the cars at the destination at night. Two banana mes- sengers accompany the train to watch the temperature, and as the train passes certain points a resident messenger checks the temperature of the cars to see that the banana messengers going with the train are doing their duty. Think of a small grower meeting such conditions! The bananas are cheap because the same concern ships and distributes them at your door without middlemen, and here is the secret of cheap 22 ON THE SEAS living. The middlemen make foodstuffs high. This company also raises coffee, cocoanuts, pineapples, cocoa, oranges, molasses, and sugar. Central America is the place for tropical fruits and the cheapest place in the world to produce sugar. Sugar cane here will stand from twelve to fifteen years without replanting. In Louisiana it must be replanted every three years and it is foolish to try to compete Avhen conditions are so unfavorable. Sugar and bananas are the cheapest foods on earth. This company is now producing 150,000 tons a year in Cuba, one-half of the total production in Louisiana. It also raises horses, mules, and hogs; and has 65,000 head of cattle to produce milk, cheese, and beef for its employes. A banana is not fit to eat until its jacket turns brown, because it is excessive in starch when yellow. In a short time this starch chemically increases in sugar; and in order to be choice, a banana must be separated from the plant green, which is contrary to most all other fruits. The United Fruit Company handles about 30 per cent of the bananas sold on the market. We took 41,143 stems, brought in by thirty-two trains of eight cars each; the stems were loaded in the hull of our ship in twelve hours by machinery operated by electricity. We stopped at Bocas del Toro, another banana port. The truth is, this company makes all the business on the east coast of Central America. It owns and oper- ates about 1,500 miles of railroad located in the differ- ent republics. The Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico were as quiet as Sunday, except for the noise made by a 23 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE monkey which one of the boys had bought and was bringing- to the States. The rest of them considered it a nuisance, but dared not molest it for fear of trouble. It was cavorting and climbing around everywhere, so one of the hoys greased its tail. It was unaware of its condition, and when it attempted to hang by its tail it was like some politicians hanging on one issue. The tail slipped and into the ocean went the monkey. It is needless to say it was drowned. We arrived at Havana and remained tliere a day. It has a population of nearly 300,000; some building was going on and business was fairly good. The city is clean, with narrow streets; and the buildings, except some up-to-date structures, are old and rusty with age. Cuba is growing, beyond a doubt ; but largely from an injection of foreign energy and capital. The Cubans do not take the American push and energy very kindly. They prefer their old quiet way without any rush to it. Yet millionaires are growing even there. I attended the funeral of a wealthy lawyer who had been prominent in politics. I saw the cream of Cuba there. There were some bright, capable, hand- some fellows, well dressed and in turnouts as fine as you would see anywhere. Not a woman joined the procession. They must not show their grief on such occasions. The body was taken from the late home, a Jiandsome residence, direct to the cemetery. Then, there is Moro Castle with its dungeons and dark passage-ways, some leading to the sea, in which men were starved, murdered and pushed out in the water for the sharks. What a horrible method for any government to adopt! 24 ON THE SEAS During her life, Queen Isabella instituted many cruel things that grew and brought much misery to her subjects. It is well that she is dead and that our government ordered all these dark places sealed up, closed forever, to be forgotten and abhorred by all future generations. To die is natural; and a quick death is preferable to a slow lingering one. To starve or try to starve a human being must be shocking to the God who created us that we all might enjoy the beauties and pleasures of life which are ours without the asking, and that we might build up, enlarge and develop to its greatest capacity the individual good and the good and welfare of all. 25 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE New Orleans FOR a hundred miles we notice the fresh water from the IMississippi River pushing itself out into the dark green water of the sea as we approach this city. Many miles before we reach the bar, a pilot meets us, takes charge of the ship and safely guides us to one of its mouths. The river has fourteen openings into the sea, two only, the southwest and the south, being improved for navigation. The former is used mostly for deep draft vessels. We came through the south entrance. Our sea pilot left us when we reached the mouth or bar and a river pilot took his place. From the bar to the city is 110 miles. The river was muddy and high, and had a swift current because of excessive rains along its course. It was up. to its highest record. It had broken over levies at several places, and miles of lowland were being inundated. Thus, in generations gone by this river has made some of the richest land in the world. For miles and miles, not a sign of life was seen. Finally some cattle were seen grazing on the right, and event- ually houses appeared, and as we neared the city they increased. On the left we saw orange orchards, and on the right rice fields. The river was from ten to fifteen feet above the land and was kept in place by the levies. It takes all kinds of people to make a world, but I am not one of those who wish to live here. We made the journey on slow speed to avoid wash- ing away the levies, and in the evening arrived in a harbor filled with ships from all directions, loading and unloading everything. The harbor is forty-one miles around, and, when improved and used, is big 26 NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA enough to compete with any city in the world and to accommodate the whole Mississippi valley with the cheapest transportation facilities known to man. The past year it became second in the volume of business handled, which amounted to over $300,000,000 of ex- ports and imports; New York City alone surpassing it. The harbor is owned by the State of Louisiana and managed by a dock commission independent of all political influences. It has just completed a cotton warehouse costing over $3,000,000, with a capacity of 2,000,000 bales. They are going to issue warehouse receipts on merchandise stored, backed by the State as security for loans, and thus bid for cheap surplus money in the Middle States, and in a measure free themselves from a depressed cotton market and New York City money. They have been asleep since 1860 and are just beginning to go after business in a busi- ness-like way. They are going to build warehouses for wheat, oats and other products on a large scale. The Mississippi River may again be what it once was, filled with freighters. They look on the Panama Canal as an injury to the interior, through the new rulings on continental freights ; and its salvation is to do busi- ness through the New Orleans port. Time will tell. Possibly New England is the section to be greatly bene- fitted by the Panama Canal in a commercial way, and the nation in a military way. The city owns and operates a belt railway passing all the docks. It is building canals through the city upon which small boats can operate with factories along the side, thus putting factories originating freight into close contact with the shipping facilities. It charges two dollars for switching cars, and '' empties" are handled free. 37 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE The city has a population of about 375,000 and is a typical Southern city. It is governed by the com- mission form of government, consisting of five members. Its weakness is politics, small men getting in and play- ing the game for self rather than for business and the good of the city. Yet it has accomplished much, and the new life in the city is due largely to the new form of government. The harbor improvements started with the new life injected into the city. It draws from the Mississippi the muddy water for domestic use, and filters and treats it, making it the best water in the world. It has put in a new sewer system, and looks after the garbage and the sanitation of the city, so that mosquitoes have substantially disappeared. It is filling in the marshes and low grounds, and New Orleans to-day is a new and a healthy city. It has cleaned house and is keeping it clean, for it is now under the influence of the federal health service, which has abso- lute control of the port. The street car service is fine. This city is rich in history and romance. Here was the first settlement on the lower part of the river, the town having been laid out by Bienville in 1718; and some of the buildings erected shortly thereafter are still standing. Everything dates from the spot of the parish church upon which the present cathe- dral stands. In front of this cathedral is Jackson Park where stands the Jackson monument, an eques- trian figure of the famous general, with " his guns," mounted thereon. Along the side on the left is the Presbyterian church now used by the State Agricul- tural Society to display the products of the State, including its minerals and resources ; and on the right IS the Cabildo in which is located the State museum 28 NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA with war relics of all kinds, especially of the civil war, and including the famous painting by Lami of the battle of New Orleans in the war of 1812. They claim to have the original death plaster cast of Napo- leon, taken at the time by his physician. In fact, everything one sees is musty with age; and it is old. We stood in the room where in 1803 representatives of Napoleon, on behalf of France, and of Thomas Jeffer- son on behalf of the United States, transferred to the latter what is known as the Louisiana Purchase, out of which fourteen States have been made. Spain sold it to France and within three days it was sold by France to us, and why? Napoleon feared it would fall into the hands of England, and to frustrate Eng- land and befriend us he made the deal — a wise piece of diplomacy all around. The State Historical Society meets here. They will tell you that ''the Spanish wrought-iron door and the old marble stairway" have welcomed many distin- guished visitors. Louis Philippe, Aaron Burr, John J. Audubon, Marquis de Lafayette, the Duke of Saxe- Weimar, Zachary Taylor and many other presidents, foreign potentates and distinguished visitors have all helped to wear away the much indented stairsteps. No doubt the steps are well worn. And I went up those same steps and through the same ''wrought-iron door" but did not leave my footprints on the sands of time. I wanted to be, and was, considerate of the colored janitor. When I came out to go away, an old colored woman spied me as she turned the corner and backed up. When I arrived she said, "I am cold — the wind just blows through me. Yesterday I wanted to take 29 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE off all my clothes, and to-day I want to put more on." I admitted it was somewhat colder and asked her if she had resided long in the city. She said, ''Yes, sar, long befo' the war. My mndder brought me here when I was only seven years old and I have been here ever since." "Well, you must know this city pretty well." "Yes sar, I dun know it well." "What do you think of it?" "It is no good any more. No good for the black man. No work for him. All for the white people. When the republicans had it after the war it just seemed you could pick money off the street. That time's dun gone. Some people claim they are white people." "What do you mean by some peo- ple, the Creoles or Octoroons?" "Yes, they are all the same. Just these people whose mudder was a black woman and their father a white man, just a Nigger like myself all the same. They get all the work." I. thanked her and started to go. She looked up with her toes poking their noses out of her old shoes for fresh air and said, "Say, boss, have you five cents about you, you can give me?" "Sure, that will buy six bananas and for two days you can live like a queen. ' ' "The poor you shall always have with you," here and everywhere. Poor people have poor ways or they would not be poor. Of course, once in a while there will be exceptions to all rules. A Creole is the fruit of a combination of the native French and Spanish-Americans, and the West Indians descended from European ancestors. Many Creoles are here, but few pure French are left. Formerly many lived here, but Frenchmen are lost and lonely away from France — and Paris. They long for and nearly all soon migrate back to their native land. They 30 NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA are not pioneers in any sense, except in the arts, lit- terature, and science work in their native land. This city is much like San Francisco — quite cos- mopolitan. Many nationalities are found here, espe- cially Italians. Canal Street runs from the harbor north and is 176 feet wide, a magnificent thoroughfare, dividing the city into two parts, the one on the right being the old or French and Spanish section and the one on the left the new or American section. All side streets run into Canal Street. They have different names, but are laid out in such a way that they are a con- tinuation east and west across Canal Street. The street railway has four tracks on Canal Street, which are used as a base for going to all parts of the city, both east and west; and both belt lines use the Canal Street tracks in making the circuit. The system is well managed, has good cars, and renders quick and con- venient service. On entering the first car which I used, I sat down at the back end because there was plenty of room. The conductor came in and told me I could not sit there for it was the "Jim Crow" end. I apologized, arose and went forward. The next time I climbed on a car, it was so full I could not get in ; so I stood on the back platform. The number of blacks and whites was about equal. Neither side was ordered off; so we all rode in peace, and contentment, at least I did, realizing that the law permitted us to stand together but not sit together. When we all pay the same, act in a gentlemanly and ladylike way, and are promis- cuously thrown together in our efforts to make a liv- ing and maintain our self respect, it is hard to frame 31 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE a law to sa}' one is not as good as another so long as lie or she behaves himself, and is np to the average in all things. I took a trip in the old section where the poor are everywhere, in one room, downstairs and upstairs, in nooks and corners and crevices, some big and some small, some at work and some idle, some laughing and some playing, but all apparently happy and contented with their lot, their conditions and surroundings. Though small, the shops covered all lines of trade, some odd and others interesting. I came to a place which I could see was a jewelry store. That is, the front room was; and needing a silk cord for my glasses, I walked in, approached the proprietor and told him what I wanted. He was a mild, gentle, elderly gentleman. However, I glanced around the room on entering, and noticed a living room at the back. An old lady put out her head and sized me up from head to foot. He told me he had such things somewhere and started to locate them. The old lady kept her eye on me. He finally found them, just a few, and told me the price was five cents each. The day before I left Des Moines a friend in the jewelry business sold me one for 35 cents. I always regarded him as a ''friend" for he never sued me for libel and I never had reason to doubt him until I stood in this shop. -Well, sir," I said, 'Til buy your stock." The old lady immediately slipped out into the front room and locked the safe, indicating by such actions, of course, that they had valuables in the safe, and she did not know about me. I was likely a possible " crook," and I had to laugh, for the old lady had me dead to i-ights. And then the old man laughed— but not until 32 NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA the safe was locked. Now liad I stolen the contents of the safe I might have qualified myself as a candi- date for commissioner of some municipality somewhere in some place, for the dear people never seem to dif- ferentiate. They like and admire a hero, and I lost an opportunity of becoming a hero to a good purpose. The people had their washing hanging out in every direction, and it was not wash day either, not the day I was reared to consider as such. Now at Balboa they wash every da3\ The whole town is flying in the air every day in the week. There Goethals makes them bathe, whistle to keep up their spirits and wear clean clothes. Of course you can afford to do this in Balboa, for a friend of mine got his duck suit washed and ironed for 20 cents. Laundry bills must have been this low in days of old, when it was said ^'Cleanliness is next to godliness." When I can keep clean at so low a cost I am going to get in on the ground floor. But this was a poor colored wash woman and they are as thick here as mosquitoes. God bless them, may they inherit the kingdom of heaven, for they have not gotten a square deal at all times on this mundane sphere. One day while I was standing on a corner in Panama City, a little ice cart went by, stopped and whistled. A wash woman came out on the piazza from a third floor and let down a basicet attached to a rope. The m.an went to the basket, dropped in a pound of ice, took out the money and up went the basket and the ice. I thought it would melt before it arrived at its destination. Now this gives you a picture of the conditions and surroundings of the old town of New Orleans. The people are more intelligent and more industrious, 33 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE but just as poor ; aud if the climate were as warm here as in Panama City they would be no better clothed, for Spanish predominates in both sections or towns. Most of the houses are old and rusty. Some are one story, some two and some three; but they are divided and redivided and occupied by the masses who live and have their behiji: here and come up to Canal Street for their eating. The streets are narrow and dusty. Canal Street does the commercial business of the city. The five drygoods stores are located on this street, and it has some good ones. Also the fine jewelry, millinery, clothing and shoe stores are here. Rents are very high. A building three stories high will com- mand from $10,000 to $15,000 a year at the busy cornei-s. Fine candy and drug stores, doing a little of everything, are able to stay on this street. All hotels, financial institutions and smaller busi- ness concerns hug on each side of the street or only a block away. This is the hub of the retail center, and it is not over seven or eight blocks long. The high rents are sending business west up St. Charles Street, which touc'hes Canal Street in the business center. Business has been at a very low ebb here, but about last November it began to revive. It is a moral crime for anyone to say business is bad in this city. All are educated to look on the bright side of things and say It is good. Now, a merchant never, or seldom ever, discharges his help. He lays them off temporarilv, which period is like a rubber band. It may be for weeks, months or years. This is done when customers are slow in supplying their wants and this is often the excuse. It is only a convenience all around, the clerk gettmg a vacation without pay. 34 NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA Clerks are plentiful. A big wage is $12 a week. Many are selling on commission, and get what they make, much or little. Some men clerks at dry goods counters are getting $7 a week. Some people would consider this beneficial, as no margin is given for dis- sipation or extravagance. The recipient of wages from $3 to $7 per week, the amount the majority get, can walk in the narrow and straight way, and not yield to temptation of any kind. Goods are sold cheap here, and living is cheap. Reduce 'the capacity of the consumers to buy and you always bring about a reduction of the cost of living, except as to rents, which are up or down in accordance with high or low taxes. You cannot have high taxes and low rents at the same time, for conditions will adjust themselves, and high taxes and high rents have produced more than one revolution in the past. Taxes are high here the same as in most of our American cities, a condition caused largely by political corruption. The bonded indebtedness is about thirty- five millions and the floating indebtedness is very large. Like most cities, the salary list would bankrupt any private concern, being made necessarily large to pay political debts. This of course is nothing more than le- galized stealing, of which all public officials should be ashamed. But it is the same almost everywhere. The people do not act wisely in selecting their public offi- cials because they are incapable of acting as a unit. More appointive and fewer elective public officials is the salvation of the day. This city has four National banks and eleven bank and trust companies, fifteen in all. On March 1, 1916, they held $100,000,000 on deposit. The clearances last year 35 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE were almost $1,000,000,000. They are strong, conserva- tive, and making money. It is a good banking point, and the few engaged in the business find it very profitable. Most cities have too many banks, which condition is an element of weakness rather than of strength. In its termination before emptying into the sea, the Mississippi River winds around very much; and this city is situated in one of these bends forming a cres- cent. Hence it is called the *' Crescent City." The streets do not always run with the compass, so, as I have before stated. Canal Street is more east and west than it is north and south. Many years ago Canal Street contained a canal and the street ran along the side, hence the name. Canal Street. In subsequent years the canal was dis- continued and filled in, hence the street's width. In some places, water in great abundance prevails four feet under ground and in other places it is nearer the surface. Hence cellars or basements are impossible. To properly take care of the sewage was no small problem. In former years it ran in gutters in the streets. This was bad and caused much sick- ness. The problem was solved by building conduits under the ground running several miles west, both sur- face and sanitary sewers in one, to a reservoir near a large lake. The reservoir was made deep enough to give sufficient incline to the underground conduits for the water to run into the large reservoirs where a pumping station was erected to pump the contents of the reservoir into the lake,, thus giving to the city a perfect sewer system and making of it a healthful place. The next nuisance dispensed with was the rats. By making cement floors, building cement docks, and 36 NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA cleaning up generally the rats and conditions harbor- ing them, the people have created out of an old, filthy city a new, clean city, a fit place in which to live, and an ideal spot for a winter's sojourn for people desiring to get away from the snow and ice. It is only thirty hours' ride from the middle west. The cemeteries are an interesting study. Masons, Odd Fellows, Catholics, Jews, and so on, have ceme- teries everywhere in the western part of town. They are in all stages of preservation, some old and some new, hundreds of acres used for this purpose alone. What a waste of good land ! This condition exists every- where, more or less. To me, cremation seems to be the only sensible and sane disposition of the body, espe- cially here. The water being so near the surface, the people would not think of putting their friends over two or three feet in the ground. Some do this and then mound the ground up two or three feet, thus preventing the decaying body from becoming offensive to the living. A headstone is erected and flowers, plants, etc., beautify as well as locate the lot and rest- ing place of the deceased. Only a few are done this way, however. The majority of them have erected mausoleums in all styles of architecture, resembling churches, dwellings, cottages, etc., some very handsome, really beautiful in design and expensive. Many of these mausoleums have cost from $10,000 to $15,000; especially those erected in Metairie Cemetery. This formerly was a racetrack, and now contains 200 acres. It was established in 1873. The grounds are beauti- fully laid out. The streets are narrow and paved, and are fringed with palms, tropical plants and orna- mental trees so arranged as to make a pleasing effect. The 37 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE little dwellings are arranged in order, above ground, with porches and steps to many of them. The sur- roundings are impressive and serious as the visitor wanders from one ''sleeping home" to another. It may be a child, a wife, a father, a sister, or a brother; and it may be a whole family of long ago, all gone to return no more. Judging by the large number of chairs, settees, and the like on the porch, on the walk, just outside and near the door, there is no doubt that there are many who feel the spirit of the departed friends. They are above ground, ''just inside the house" and near and with you in feeling as well as spirit. You know they are within, so you sit and visit and commune with the departed day after day, happy and contented with the pleasure of a supposed per- sonal contact and going away knowing you will soon be there also, maybe to-morrow. Many societies have been organized and have erected large vaults, holding twenty or more bodies, placed in crypts. Statuary of angels, Christ, children, etc., abounds everywhere; and some are fine subjects of art. At the main entrance on a high mound is a fine equestrian figure, in bronze, of Albert Sidney Johnston, one of the greatest generals, either North or South, in the Civil War. The battle of Corinth and the death of Johnston there, by a stray bullet, on April 6, 1862, were the beginning of the end of the Confederacy. When he made the charge on Sherman at 5 o'clock in the morning on that day, he found Sherman's army surprised. Some were in bed, and some at breakfast, all were unprepared. An army of 50,000 was shot down, routed, ruined, and reduced to 20,000 because Its general failed and neglected to be on his guard. 38 NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA The arrival of Biiell and Wallace with reinforcements next morning turned the tide because Johnston's suc- cessor, Beauregard, who was in poor health, failed to clinch the victory the night before, but retreated and lost all. They are proud of Johnston all through the South and have so honored him. They are great to honor their heroes. Gen. Eobert E. Lee's monument, with- out name or mark of any kind, stands in a circle on St. Charles Street, seventy-five feet high. Jefferson Davis' monument is in the Davis park. Beauregard's stands at the entrance to the city park. The people here are great for monuments to perpetuate the mem- ory of the dead, not a bad trait to be found in human character regardless of the cause. The city has erected many new school buildings, and they are modern and up-to-date. Teachers are paid the same as in the average American city. Col- ored people are provided with separate schools taught by both white and colored teachers. The colored man's lot is fixed and determined in the South for all time, regardless of legislation. He will never be assimilated by the white people. His future position is that of servant, and so he will always remain. Colored people are numerous here, and their lot is to do the hard work. The brick masons and hod carriers are colored. So are most of the carpenters, the teamsters, the dock hands, the toilers of the soil, and carriers of burdens, servants in houses, etc. The mule, the two-wheel cart and the colored man with a load of wood, coal, dirt, manure, and so on, are a common sight. Colored servants are plentiful and cheap, every dwelling having one or more. They bring you a toothpick, hold your horse while you get on, 39 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE brush your clothes, clean the lawn, in fact do all the work, except what little is done by the ' 'white trash." The hig'her classes of whites do the clerical work, all the bossing and most of the loafing'. Colored servants are cheap and plentiful, and woe unto the ''white trash." Their lot is a hard one, more deplorable than the colored man's, so they have taken to strong drink, loafing and downright worthlessness. The Carnival is an organization dating from 1872. It is given just before Lent. It begins about January 6 of each yesir, is purely social, and marks the passing of winter into spring. The carnival ends with a pageant of floats, each one portraying some historical, literary or poetical subject. They are designed with great care, and are beautiful and expensive, some costing $1,000 each. The Carnival lasts one week. The city is divided into clubs and leagues, some with large mem- bership. The members pay annual dues, and in this way the different organizations create a rivalry, each trying to make its night and the ball with which it ends, the best. The last day and night are given to the business men's club, this organization being financially the strongest. Comus, as it is called, gives a dress ball after the parade, and the king, or Rex, gives another ball for the masses. The stores close on this day and the young people mask the last day and appear on the streets; and the town is theirs, especially Canal Street. This year it was filled with people, all vehicles being barred. Some of the maskers had very pretty cos- tumes. Some of the girls wear pants and the boys dresses, not knowing "who is who." Everyone seems to enter into the frolic wholeheartedly. Then at night 40 NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA there are the parade and the balls. Prizes are given for excellence in different lines. There is no advertis- ing of any kind. All expenses are paid out of a com- mon fund of $75,000 to $100,000, and it is estimated that from 50,000 to 60,000 people attend and leave about $1,500,000 behind them each year. The city can do this because of the mild climate at this season of the year. But in June mosquitoes come in by the millions. They are hatching just out- side of the city now. Sometimes they move in earlier. This city has from five to six months of hot weather in a year; and then is the time the mosquitoes come in and have their carnival, biting pretty girls and lazy men. What fine sport they do have ! 41 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE Gulfport, Mississippi WHEN we got oil the train leaving New Orleans for this place, a married couple from New York sat opposite to ns. Both were well dressed and refined; and, without doubt, they were people of posi- tion and ability at home. When everything was adjusted and the woman sat down and relaxed, she glanced out of the window and remarked: ''I am glad that at last we are on the train leaving this dirty, filthy city. It is unclean in more waj^s than one. The buildings and dwellings are permitted to rust and decay. The streets and cess- pools or cisterns are the breeders of diseases, and the people are haughty, proud, lazy and high tempered — their fingers on the triggers all the time." She was not happy; and, from their conversation, we inferred that they had made a visit to the Mardi Gras and inci- dentally visited some friends, the latter not wholly pleasant, for she further remarked that "she was really impudent and every one was looking for a tourist to pluck— get something for nothing." Later, I was in conversation with a gentleman and he said he was glad he was getting out of the city. I asked him why. He said: ''They have a certain way to do business and they do not deviate from their custom or habit. They work schemes to get tourists from the North and East to come by the thousands, to get their money, and when they get them in the city they try to fleece them in every way. They do not give the visitors a square deal. Not only do they hold them up, but they treat them the same as if they all 42 GULFPORT, MISSISSIPPI were rascals." I asked him what he meant. ''Well," he said, ''I had Chicago exchange and went to the railroad office to buy my ticket and offered to pay for the same with a Chicago draft, both banks being the largest financial institutions in their respective States; and the agent informed me that he was prohibited from accepting anything but cash. I then called on three National banks to cash my exchange, and each one informed me that I would have to get a personal indorser, a responsible man, to identify me. I told them I was a tourist and knew no one personally, but had papers and documents on my person which would fully identify me as the paj^ee of the draft. Each said that would not do. There I was, 'a stranger in a strange cit}^ ' driven to desperation. I was a half-day trying to raise the cash. And one made me mad by saying, 'There are a good many tourists in the city and we must insist on our rule.' They are crooks, begging tourists to visit their city and spend their money and thus ease up local business depression." "Well," I remarked, "a few years ago hundreds of thousands of dollars of cotton warehouse receipts were executed in the city, and New Orleans banks loaned money on them and these banks, in turn, redis- counted the paper, with said receipts as collateral at- tached, to New York City bankers, who rediscounted them in London. Later, when they fell due, London found many of them were forgeries. Suits were brought on them in New York by the London parties, but I was unable to recall how the litigation ended." "There," he said, "I told you the crooks lived in the city of New Orleans. Not one tourist in a thou- sand gets in bad, and then only for a small amount, 43 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE and it is usually his personal check." And so it goes. To kick is natural and sometimes justifiable. The peo- ple are ver}^ suspicious, and I do not understand why. One thing I was sorry to see as I was leaving the city. A few got together and decided that races during the Mardi Gras would increase the attendance, although the laws of the State prohibit racing. The papers and business men were appealed to, a corporation was formed, and the race meet was a great success. At the close the boosters got together and voted themselves $30,000; and the few crumbs, or the little that was left, was turned over to the stockholders, together with a lawsuit pending in court. There is too much of that spirit here. Before a party of influence helps in a cause, he asks how much there is in it for him. They will have to get away from this spirit. If they expect to expand and grow, they must practice self-sacrifice. A booster spirit is the willingness to sacrifice your individual interests for the good of all or the good of the community in which you live. Well, we arrived at Bay St. Louis, the first winter resort. It is located in Mississippi and has about 2,500 people. It is quite democratic in every way, a place for the common people; and it is patronized largely by Louisiana and Mississippi people. It gives them an outing at little expense. However, it is sim- ply a change, for there is nothing much here. Our next stop was Pass Christian, pronounced with the accent on the last syllable when you want to be Frenchy, otherwise just plain English. This place was not known much until the winter of 1914, when Miss Herndon rented her cottage to President Wilson, who came with two automobiles, his servants and an army 44 GULFPORT, MISSISSIPPI of secret service men, who guarded the president and the premises day and night. It was just like a game of chess. When he moved, they moved; and after four weeks of this they all moved, together, back to Washington. But one thing he did. He put this place on the map, and ever since its citizens elevate their chins, throw back their heads and step high. They painted up, too, and they all try to look learned and smart. The other towns say ''Pass Christian people think themselves more aristocratic than the other towns round about, since the President's visit." The residence he occupied is plain, but simple and restful, with southern exposure and large porches. It is a frame building, having one story and a high base- ment. It is located at one edge of the town. There are several other cottages much larger and more pre- tentious — but. It is a very pretty and quiet place. It has good hotel facilities and at reasonable prices. Last Summer, 157 automobiles were registered here. It possibly has a population of 2,500 people. All these places are considered both Summer and Winter resorts. In the Winter people from the North and New England come to these places, and in the Summer the Southern people occupy the cottages to escape the excessive heat in the interior. The rent in the Winter is double the amount charged in the Summer time. The storm last September destroyed all the piers, not one remaining; and it also did much other damage. From here we moved to Gulfport, more of a business town than a resort. It is a one-man town, and that man is dying from a stroke of paralysis in his own large, magnificent hotel, the Great Southern. 45 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE He married Mrs. John D. Rockefeller's sister, and made his fortune in oil in northern Pennsylvania. It is estimated that he is worth $20,000,000; and he controls this town of about 6,500. Long Beach lies between Pass Christian and Gulfport. In fact, scat- tered cottages are along the beaches from Bay St. Louis to Ocean Springs. His name is Capt. J. T. Jones of Buffalo, New York. His family consists of himself, his wife and an unmar- ried daughter; and for years they have spent their winters here. He owns the traction company, which spreads out into an interurban connecting all the re- sorts. He owns the First National Bank, the electric light, the harbor facilities, and the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad running to Jackson, Mississippi, a dis- tance of 165 miles. Nearly all the important business blocks in the town belong to him. In fact, he owns the town. Now, if a man or any single interest owns all these things, if he does not own the town, why not ? He also owns the traction company from Buffalo to Niagara Falls. Yet they say he is not a bad fellow. Why should money make anyone bad? It does not. Actions make men bad, with or without money, so forget the money in your criticism of men and jump onto their conduct, with both feet, especially city councilmen, for most of them are bad because of the company they keep. When you go after them, make yourself heard. It works up their liver, if not yours. A sick man is next to being dead, but he lives, if a councilman. The mosfjuitoes! Millions of them all along here. The advance agents have arrived, making arrangements for the enormous army due to invade this territory the latter part of May and to remain about six months. 46 GULFPORT, MISSISSIPPI I am told that some, if well fed, get as large as canary birds. A street car conductor told me last season was the worst ever. The boys wore capes at- tached to their caps back of their necks and had their faces covered and their hands gloved. A man said they got so thick on his hand he could not see his own hand. They cannot be all females that bite, for they try to devour men, women, children, and beasts. This is the largest crop produced here and every season is a success. I keep on the move towards the aurora borealis. No swamps for me or water without a tide in Summer. 47 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE Biloxi, Mississippi WE ARRIVED at this place and were kindly taken in by Col. J. W. Apperson of the Riviera Hotel, a typical Southern gentleman from Mem- phis, Tennessee, 100 years old in experience, and in action 16 years old. It is nice to grow old, young, and he does it by trying to make every one feel just as he does; and he succeeds. This day is perfect — calm, still, quiet below, like a May day in the Middle West, with a clear sky and the birds singing their cheerful songs all around. It is Sabbath day, and why not? Even men and women under such circumstances or conditions drift into a thoughtful mood; and impulses arise in the breast creating a desire to do something good, to perform some act of kindness before the day dies; so they go to church. Every one went to church. There were no games, no amusements. All these were suspended just for a few hours, in contemplation of the many bless- ings all receive and few fail to appreciate. It is well to feel grateful once in awhile, for we thus grow gentler and kinder towards those who are worse off than ourselves. This is the nicest resort of them all. It is a clean, attractive place, purely residential, like all the others. There are about 6,500 people residing here, besides the Winter and Summer tourists. All these places were started as Summer resorts for the Southern people that they might escape the heat in the interior and get a cool breeze once in a while. The Northern and New England people have found them a congenial 48 BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI Winter section, and they come b}' the thousands. These places get warm in the Summer season, going up to 104 or 105 degrees, and many days 90 to 100, but this is not as bad as the interior. Last Winter it dropped to 22 degrees above zero, the coldest it has been for a long period of time; but the temperature usually is as high as 70 degrees, thus making this place a delightful Winter resort for those desiring to escape snow and ice. The mosquitoes are a Summer product here also, and usually in large numbers. The residences are nicely kept, and have attractive lawns. This condition, together with clean business streets and good side-walks, makes it a delightful place to spend a few weeks. Oysters are caught by the ton; shrimps and fish are in abundance. Oj-sters are canned by good sized factories and are also shipped in bulk. Oyster beds are planted near here, and their cultivation is exten- sive. Oysters, like some people you and I know, are strange creatures. They flourish in salt water near fresh water and live on the bottom of the stream or body of water which they inhabit. While in water, the shell enclosing the oyster opens and closes like a hinged case. Thus it takes in its food. It never moves^ that is, it stands pat where it is put, like some men I have known. So the food must come to it sus- pended in the water, and thus it lives as nature in- tended. W^hen it spawns, the little miniature oyster, complete in all its parts, is thrown out to shift for itself, and floats away, and whatever it touches, it ad- heres to and gradually grows and expands into a large adult oyster. This takes about three years. At the start 49 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE it may attach itself to a bottle, an old boot, a rock or the shell of another oyster. Thus you may find two or more oysters grown together. As high as six have thus been found grown together. They are very prolific. Men catch them by scraping the bottom of the stream with a net. They load them in boats and shovel them out like coal. They then break the shell with a hammer, for they are very strong, and the two halves of the shell are firmly clasped. Then a steel knife pries them apart and the oyster is removed and placed in a bucket of water. The men get $1 a bucket, which contains about 1,000 oysters; and, at this rate, they make from $3 to $4 a day for doing the work. While in the water, on the approach of danger or when taken out of the water, the shell is closed quickly by the oyster; and it is so strong that if you caught an oyster with its shell open, and your finger were caught in closing, it might be cut off. Thus the expression, ''closed up like a clam." They are very sensitive and alert at self-preservation. The State is crushing oyster shells for building roads into the country districts. This State already has many miles of such roadway, and they are fine. The public highways are first well drained and these crushed shells are used for surfacing over sand as a foundation. The State is getting quite active with its public highways, even to the extent of issuing bonds to extend them to all parts of the State, by degrees. This town claims distinction in nothing except as one of the oldest towns in the State and as having at one time been the Summer residence of Mr. Howard, the president of the extinct Louisiana Lottery Com- pany. The citizens are also proud of the fact that 50 BILOXI, MlSSISSiPt^I President Wilson, when he was residing at Pass Chris- tian, slipped away from the crowd and drove here one Sunday and attended the little Presbyterian church "just around the corner." It is, however, located between two towns that claim some relics. On the west is the town of Mississippi City, which adjoins this town with Gulf port beyond. Jefferson Davis had his Summer home in this little town, and the little one-story dwelling with columns in front still stands. The State has built around it extensive im- provements for a home for the Confederate soldiers, and here numbers of the men who saw many battles as well as many hardships reside. It is an ideal spot for such an institution, and many were out enjoying the sunshine and the fine air that abounds here both from the pine woods and the water. They can even cross the road with line and rod and catch a fresh fish any time. Also, it was here that John L. Sullivan and John Kilrain went to the mat many years ago, to Kilrain's misfortune. Mr. Sullivan stopped at the hotel near by, and his standing in this locality is still first class, so if he could make a return visit, he would be well received. I mistrust his past record would be good for a night's lodging, at least, at this place. On the other side of Biloxi is Ocean Springs, a small village of about 1,500 people. It is very much like a country to^\ai, without side-walks and without excitement. One could not help being a Christian in this place. It is just the place to send your husband or wife, especially the former. He would not even be provoked to use profanity. He could walk up hill and then down and then half way up again, so he would 5X THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE be neither up nor down; and then, he could go to the pine woods and see them extract turpentine from the trees, an innocent amusement and fine for restor- ing the nerves. I believe this town to be law abiding and God-fearing to an extraordinary degree. I do not believe the dogs will bark at night. But I saw some roosters, and ever since St. Peter's time they have been crowing at four o'clock a. m. by St. Thomas' timepiece, and never make a mistake. No doubt they will continue to do so. And here is where Tweed came when he made his escape from New York City. What more appropriate thing could a man charged with crime do ? Some crimi- nals not yet discovered are residing in quiet, respect- able places, retreats, so to speak, seeking health and seclusion from the curious and the populace in the public highways and byways on the outside. Tweed had two daughters living west of town. He built a home for the first one, who married a Mr. Maginnis. In this house they lived, and here he came to hide. The other daughter married a brother of the husband of her sister, who built a very large house. Both lived here for years, and you all know what became of Tweed. The girls afterwards died leaving no children. Their husbands subsequently married. They are now dead, also, but they left children by the second marriages. These children reside in New Orleans, and some' of the boys are in business there, and are prominent and wealthy. The houses are like hotels. They have many rooms filled with furniture, some of which, including a piano, must be a hundred years old. Serv^ants' quarters were built at the back. Thus the Tweed family passed out 52 BILOXI, Mississippi of existence, the avarice, love of power and ambition of the father causing a wreck of himself and all those near and dear to him. This is the decree or judgment that sooner or later overtakes all who violate the laws of God and man. The penalty must be paid and is paid in the end; and so it will be to the end of time. All is now for sale. Nearby is the spot where a little house stood, now owned by Mrs. Purington of Chicago, in which the first Confederate money was printed. An engraver from Philadelphia was brought in through the block- ade. He was fully equipped with tools and machinery to issue paper money by the bale. It was afterwards removed to Montgomery, Alabama. So you see how the wrongdoer seeks to hide under the cover or cloak of simplicity. Light and publicity not only drive away microbes, but evildoers; and the salvation of all American cities is more light. And what is good for cities is good for humanity. ''Let there be light, and there was light." Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama are very much the same. There are two kinds of lands in these States, upland and lowland. In the low places much of the land overflows, destroying the crops half of the time; yet the soil is very rich. The upland must be fer- tilized to raise any kind of crop, including cotton and cane. They claim the salt air from the sea destroys the life of the soils. Grass seems to have but little sustenance. The horses, mules, cows, sheep, and hogs are a sad lot, they are so poor. And the people in the country are the same in appearance. 53 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE Mohile, Alabama IMAGINE yourself in a city with 2,200 saloons or drinking places each paying $750 a year, and never closing — a city where the children are unpro- vided with school facilities and where the leading paper publicly confesses that compulsory education must not be enacted into law by the legislature, because it would require an expenditure on behalf of the State of the stupendous sum of over $5,000,000 to comply with such a law. Then imagine yourself suddenly transported into a city and a State that has compulsory education both for the whites and the blacks. Such was the con- trast I noticed in coming from New Orleans to Mobile. And this is not all. In Mobile a child is compelled to wear a button showing the number of days it has attended school for that year. No child under 16 years of age may work during the school period but must devote its time acquiring an education. This, in time, will make a great contrast in these two States in many ways, especially as to the material progress made by the masses, for one cannot but forge ahead of the other ; and such differences now exist and are noticeable. I found Mobile one of the cleanest and most attrac- tive places I have visited so far. The streets are fairly wide, clean, and well-paved with creosote, asphalt and brick. Some asphalt in the business section has been down nearly fifteen years and is in good condition to-day. Streets that are not paved are graded up and well drained, so that they are pleasing to the eye and comfortable to the traveller, except in ex- tremely bad weather. However, the city is extensively 54 MOBILE, ALABAMA paved in every direction, and each night the paved streets are flushed and thus kept in fine condition. Government Street has some beautiful homes, man- sions of the olden times, which have passed to the next generation; and to their credit let it be said, they are carefully repaired and looked after as if they were still in the hands of the parties who originally built them. They have not been permitted to go to ruin. The lawns are carefully attended to, also; and ornamental trees, shrubbery, vines and flowers abound everywhere. There are not merely a half-dozen or so such residences but scores of them. The families who originally built these homes were wealthy cotton and lumber people. They saw the Con- federate cause waning and with large quantities of Confederate monej^ on their hands converted it into this real estate and built these magnificent homes now owned and controlled by their children and grandchild dren, — a happy thought and a happy turn from mis- fortune to fortune. Mobile is a city of about 60,000, situated on Mobile Bay, which has a depth of thirty-one feet, giving it a fine harbor, connecting with the Gulf of Mexico. Its shipping interests are large, consisting, for the most part, of cotton and lumber. It was founded in the year 1702 by the French as a trading point. The people have permitted the trading- industry to lag, but a new interest is taking hold and the booster spirit is growing. This is so, however, all along the Southern coast. There is rivalry springing up now for New England and Northern tourists. Cities, counties, and states are expending large sums of money for good roads, running in every direction; and each 5'5 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE city is beginning- to beautify itself so as to become at- tractive. Mobile has gone to the commission form of govern- ment, having three commissioners who are elected for two years and draw $5,000 each. They were elected five years ago, and the same ones are still rendering fine service. The people like the new form of govern- ment and they are pleased beyond measure with the commissioners because they devote all their time and ability to the city's interest and are making good. My good friend Myerly and Brother Hanna ought to visit this cit}^ and do better — be good. They have placed galvanized boxes at the street corners for waste paper and the like. The city owns its own water supply, the finest water in the world. It comes from springs and there is an abundance. This is the only thing it owns. The street railway, electric light and gas are controlled by private parties. Harmony exists everywhere, and all render fine service, especially the street car com- pany. Taxes are 1.55 cents for every $100. Rents are very reasonable. Business fronts rent for $100 to $150 a month. Five and six-room residences, modern, from $15 to $25. Living is cheap. The whole South, however, is now suffering on ac- count of the war, as to cotton and lumber. Business has not been good for a year or two, but this will change in time. This State and Mississippi are just finding out that both can profitably raise all the citrus fruits. The satsuma orange, imported from Japan, grows here and will stand more cold than the California orange. The temperature last Winter went down to twenty-two with- out affecting it. This alone gives them the advantage 56 MOBILE, ALABAMA over California, for the expense of smudge pots is eliminated. They are two days nearer the New Eng- land- market. They are precisely in the same condition as California, for nothing grows in either place with- out fertilizing. On the other hand, California has to irrigate, and they do not here. The annual rainfall for both States is between fifty and sixty inches. They have just begun to plant large orchards all along the southern section, and when matured they will be strong competitors with California and Florida. The pecan industry is spreading very rapidly. So is the grapefruit industry. They grow peaches, plums, in fact everything that is produced in California; and, in addition, cotton and sugar cane, which gives them sugar and molasses. California, however, has beet sugar instead. They also compete with the Pacific Coast States for tourists who have money to invest. The}- are just getting a good start, and travel during the Winter months is going to increase to the South. The city has fine banks, two National and three State, with a combined deposit of about $15,000,000. The legal rate is 8 per cent and the banks pay 4 per cent for deposits on time. These two States are vevy similar as to soil and climate. About 30 per cent of the land was covered by yellow pine, spruce and other woods; and large lum- ber interests, as well as wealthy speculators, control enormous tracts of timber land, which condition handi- caps the development of both States materially. In- stead of farmers and horticulturists, they had logging men and common laborers. Now they are after prac- tical men to develop their land. They have also suffered much from the boll weevil 57 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE and the tick. The boll weevil is a small insect that has wings when grown. It migrated from Mexico to Texas and is graduallj^ invading all the Cotton States. So far, no remedy has been found to destroy it, yet by intelligent planting and constant care and atten- tion during its growth the damage done to cotton has been materially reduced. The tick, also, came from Mexico. It is a small bug that attaches itself to cattle, burrows in the skin and stays there and sucks the blood from the animal, and in doing so gets as large as a gooseberry. Cattle so afflicted become poor and are fit for the graveyard. A remedy has been found to kill this. The States are trying to enforce a State law, leaving it optional with each county by vote to enforce it. Many counties have acted favorably. This law compels the owner to dip his cattle in a public vat filled with a chemical preparation once every two weeks. When this pest is eliminated the farmers will go exten- sively into the cattle business, thus freeing themselves from the cotton proposition. They can raise good corn here, and both go together. Hogs are successfully raised and also sheep, but the latter are permitted to run at large, and the owner catches and shears them when he needs a little money. They raise the Chinese peanut instead of corn to feed the hogs. The oats, they cut in the stalk for hay. They can raise all kinds of vegetables if they are so inclined, but they are forced to fertilize before anything will grow. This is because the ground is devoid of all humus, that is, decayed vegetable matter. This was destroyed in years gone by through fires started to burn the dead grasses, the leaves in the tim- ber and weeds, instead of plowing the same under to 58 MOBILE, ALABAMA enrich the soil and diversify their farming. All mis- takes are paid for sooner or later, and mistakes always cost some one money in the end. Fairhope is only seventeen miles from this city, and boats cross to and fro frequently. They haul both freight and passengers, and do a very good business. This colony is trying to put in actual practice Henry George's theory that land should stand the taxes. All those who have no land agree to this theory without argument, and some are at a loss to know why it has not been universally adopted. The world is full of theories, and new ones are being born every day, and that is how some people keep busy and, of course, out of mischief; otherwise they might break into the peni- tentiary. The association owns 5,000 acres of land. This land is leased to the members for any length of time at an agreed price, subject to county and state taxes. Whatever the member is compelled to pay the State, the association credits him that amount on his rent. Memberships cost $100, and are transferable. The individual gets all he produces; that is, he works for himself, but the association owns all public utilities and furnishes the service at the price agreed upon. At a town meeting, officials are chosen to manage the busi- ness for a certain period of time. About 800 people are gathered in this haven of rest, trying to convince the world that it is wrong and this association is right; yet the old wagon continues to run in the middle of the road, as it did at the beginning of time. 59 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE Montgomery, Alabama IT WAS with pleasant memories that we took our departure from Mobile to this city. It is a good old town with many points of interest; and not the least of these were the numerous handsome women all around. They were winsome, quite attractive both in figure and expression, and modestly, simply, and taste- fully gowned. I left because I thought it was best that I should go. The men looked well, too, and appeared keen and alert. They were well fed and well groomed and ap- parently satisfied with the way things were going. In fact, the town had every appearance of being fairly prosperous, for even the colored people had a self-satisfied air in their conduct and spirit. For forty miles after leaving, we did not stop, and not a station did we pass, for there was but little life manifested for miles on either side of the track. When we did stop at the trading village, we found it was poverty itself. Huts began to appear and as they become more numerous, they improved in looks; but the best of them gave little evidence of prosperity. Outside of lumber and through traffic, the railroad has no business of any consequence for over 150 miles. As we progressed further north, the appearance of the country began to improve and agriculture was in evidence to a greater or less extent; but from Mobile to Montgomery we did not see more than two white men in the fields — all were colored men following a horse hitched to a plow. We did see one white woman, with her hands to the plow, making the dirt fly. An 60 MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA Alabama young lady was in the seat with me and when I called her attention to the fact, she smiled and said, "She no doubt is a suffragette." Women who are crazy about the ballot can now see what their finish will be! Personally I did regret to see such a thing occurring in America. After the European war, no doubt such scenes will be quite common in many for- eign countries, but we are far from those conditions here, and may they always be far from us. Cattle, hogs, horses, sheep, and chickens were more frequent and their condition improved as we caaie north. They seemed to be getting regular meals for they had some fat noticeable and did not have that disconsolate look in their faces. The soil is all colors, but principally red. They also have sandy, red and clay, and other colors. In fact, you can notice, in places, ten or a dozen kinds of soil in a ten acre tract ; so 3^ou get a little of everything when you buy a piece of land here. We saw them preparing the ground for cotton and certain grains. Oats were up and in some fields the stock was grazing on them. Later the stock will be taken off and the oats will be permitted to mature into milk when it will be cut for hay. The farmers are building silos and giving some attention to stock raising in this section. Some corn is planted for feed for stock. They also raise the velvet bean, which is very rich in food qualities, for the same purpose. They are planting many fruit orchards. All are young trees, mainly oranges, pecans, pears, peaches, etc. This is some of the diversified farming agitated here, includ- ing truck gardening. But the great trouble is their lack of facilities for an economical distribution of their 61 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE product. There are only a few nearby markets, and they are unfamiliar with distant markets. In fact, this is much of the trouble of many agricultural sections of the United States. A genius like John D. Rocke- feller may spring up some day and solve the intricate problem, the quick distribution and the elimination of the middle man in the handling of farm products. Here both the farmers and their farming are crude, and commission men at home and abroad have been simply robbing the producer in times gone by; so he finally drifted into the habit of raising only the things to live on, and no more of those than are necessary for his own use. His cotton, until the last two years, was available to raise the ready cash as his wants arose; and all he had to do was to haul a bale of cotton to the local merchant and either sell or borrow money on it. This was both convenient and satisfactory, and the farmer went home happy. The war and England have upset his old accustomed plans, and, being simple in habits and life, and often ignorant and uneducated in the ways of the world, he is lost and praying for deliverance, and he is demanding relief. This is why the Southern representatives in Congress are busy and making themselves heard. All these things, in turn, are readjusting the economic conditions of the South, and, if the distribution is intelligently handled, the future will improve their condition, through diversi- fied farming. The boll weevil does not damage to exceed 10 per cent of the cotton raised. This great cry of the boll weevil is largely started by the large planters to keep the Negroes from demanding too. much for their serv- ices, and also to lessen their demands for advancements 62 MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA from year to year. The planters are at the mercy of the colored laborer. By his labor alone cotton is planted, raised and harvested; and so long as he can be kept in certain channels of poverty by small wages and small advancements, his desire for food keeps him at home, just making his keep one year with another, always on the job, to the planter's delight and profit. Do not worry much over the boll weevil. It is much like wheat rust at the Chicago grain pit. They have their pur- pose and both do the work, or have done it up to date. There are games or tricks in all trades, and, strange as it may seem, some never grow old. The boll weevil is only about five years old. The Negro, ignorant and uneducated and without means, will never know the difference ; and if he is happy and contented, why make his life miserable by putting him into channels he will not understand and is incapable of living out? When we arrived in Montgomery, a beautiful little city of about 40,000 people, well situated in many re- spects, we found it possessed of good hotels, some good retail stores, and several wholesale houses. The town is a good business center. Many fine homes are noticeable; the lawns are well kept up, and the streets are clean and well paved with brick and asphalt. They are wide, too. The side-walks are concrete and in fine condition. Galvanized receptacles are on the cor- ners to receive refuse, such as waste paper and the like. This is one of the sure ways to keep the streets clean. And this city owns its own water plant, the water coming from springs, insuring good, clean water. The street railway and the gas and electric lighting plants are owned by private interests, and all three give good service. 63 THE SUNN^ SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE Montgomery is the capital of Alabama, and was, in days gone by, the capital of the Confederacy, when much excitement of life, both social and political, abounded here. On February 17, 1861, Jefferson Davis was standing on the balcony of the old Exchange Hotel. The streets were filled with excited people, and from this position Mr. Wm. L. Yancy introduced him to the excited throng as the ''president of the provisional government of the Southern Confederacy," and said, "This is the occasion where the man and the hour have met." The hotel where they stood was erected in 1846 and was the social and political headquarters at the capital for all Alabama. At the close of his address, Jefferson Davis retired and held his first cabi- net meeting in one of its rooms; and at that meeting the first order prepared by his cabinet in the Civil War was agreed upon and issued, to wit, "that Fort Sumter be captured at once." This was the beginning of that internal strife, lasting almost five years, destroying millions of dollars' worth of property and killing thou- sands of men and boys, of our blood and our people. The loss has not yet been regained. The South is just beginning to waken up in a business sense and to take advantage of opportunities and push out on pro- gressive lines. A few old men still cling to the reminis- cences of the Confederacy and at times become quite excited in discussing the happenings during that period. The young men, however, want to forget it, and are forgetting it. They want to go after Mexico. Call on them, and they will be there with gun in hand and ready to fight to the finish. The women, dear creatures, keep the past alive through their societies, and will not forget it until they die. The colored servant was 64 MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA everj^thing- to them, and the white gentlemen could be with them always, to entertain and amuse, without work and without cares. The war changed all from idleness to industry. The Jefferson Davis residence still stands, a two- story, large frame building, two blocks from the hotel. The old hotel was torn down and a new structure bearing the same name has been erected in its place. A bronze tablet done by the women and giving the history of the place is affixed to the building. Two blocks away is a three-story brick building where the executive offices were housed. Thus, this city was the center of activities that sounded round the world and meant much. Being frustrated, these activities left things, geographically, the same as the}^ were before, but politically, socially and economically, they revolutionized a great country, which being united, has gone forward by leaps and bounds, the wonder of all other countries. 65 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE Birmingham, Alahmna IN TRAVELING over Alabama and Mississippi the visitor cannot help noticing much of similarity, except around Vicksburg, Mississippi, where it is hilly. Alabama, on the other hand, is much more mountainous and more a mineral than an agricultural State, although the ''black belt" just south of the center and the extreme south is capable of great devel- opment in an agricultural way. However, this will never be done by the natives because the lands suitable for farming and truck gar- dening are also suitable for cotton raising. On an acre of land, they can raise all the way from a half to two bales of cotton, the amount depending on the quality and location of the land. A bale of cotton contains 500 pounds. Lately it has been selling for 12 cents a pound. You can readily see that if they succeed in raising a good crop, it is more profitable than any other crop they can plant, except truck gar- dening. Now, truck gardening is all right if there is a nearby market ; otherwise the expense and risk of ship- ping a long distance would more likely be a loss than a profit. Therefore, in my judgment, they will continue to raise cotton and it will be their principal crop. There is another reason for the preference given to the raising of cotton. Merchants and bankers will either buy or loan money on bales of cotton when they will not do it on any other crop they can raise. This gives them the means to raise easily, and when wanted, the cash they desire; so cotton will be their main pro- duction in the future as it has been in the past. 66 BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA Negroes, not white men, produce the cotton. In Mississippi some colored men own and operate their own farms consisting of 1,500 to 2,000 acres. This is not the case in Alabama where they who own their own farms seldom have more than 200 acres. The white man is the big planter yet and he rents his land to a colored man for from $5 to $12 an acre. He fur- nishes him with machinery, mules, seed, fertilizer and so on. The tenant does all the work, hires all the help and stands all the expenses. He plants, raises, picks, brings to market or to the planter; and the planter keeps the books, lives in the city as a gentleman, edu- cates his children, attends church and prays devoutly to God. The Negro tenant does not understand book- keeping, which is largely in the mind of the planter, and is unable to read, much less figure or write ; hence, there are planters who have not settled with their ten- ants for years. The tenant is informed that he has failed and is in debt to the planter; and if he protests, he is threatened . with chastisement, goes back to the place and repeats the same thing year after year, never out of debt, and so poor that he lives and dies right where he is. However, the planter calls just before Christmas and tells him to buy anything he wants or needs for himself and family. This is prevalent all over the State. Now, one can understand what the policies and teachings of Booker T. Washington will accomplish by and by. Education will end this in time. Its success now is based on the poverty and ignor- ance of the colored man. The colored man is not paid in cash. He is paid in cotton. About two years ago a man from the North came down here and began to pay his colored men in 67 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE cash. He was notified to stop, and he refused. So one niglit a committee called on him and took him out and whipped him severely, almost killing him. This was the penalty for changing the custom and creating unrest among the colored workers. The colored man paid in merchandise and not cash is like the oyster. Plant it in a certain place in the water and you can go back in one or two years afterwards and find the oyster in the same spot. It does not move from the ''oyster bed." A progressive might call it a stand-patter. There is a difference in the number of trading cen- ters. Mississippi has many small towns, and Alabama only a few large ones. Both have an abundance of fine pine lumber. When the Vermonter extracts his maple syrup, he saves the tree for next year and the year after. Not so here. When they attack a pine tree for the tur- pentine and rosin, they cut the bark off on two sides almost around, about two feet from the ground, so that they can put in the cups to collect and hold the fluid. Later the tree either blows over or dies, for frequently they cut deep into the wood. Lately, they do this even to 3^oung trees because the past year has seen quite an advance in the market price of turpentine; and they want the money now. Thus they ruin the growth of the young tree. Both Mississippi and Alabama work the State prison convicts on the public highways; and they have built miles of good roads and are building more. Alabama makes the men wear their stripes, and they seem odd in public with the black and white bars. Mississippi does not do this. In both cases they segregate the blacks from the whites. 68 BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA A few years ago, Alabama turned over, to some New York parties, all the waterpower in the State; and these New York men then organized the Alabama Power Company and have been for some time furnish- ing electricity for lighting and manufacturing pur- poses to different parts of the State. A short time ago the legislature, in addition, exempted this concern from taxation for ten years. The people are complain- ing some over the cost; but it is a strong organization and of course will naturally be forced to be in politics in order to protect itself; and charges of corruption will follow. Even now they charge that this company forced prohibition on the State to have something to attract the people while it got the law passed exempt- ing it from taxation. Wliether true or false, these sus- picions are natural and will be more frequent in the future. Even now^ Hobson is here campaigning for his own succession to Congress; one of his supporters is a candidate for national committeeman as a prohi- bitionist to force the issue in the next Democratic national convention; and Senator Underwood is taking a hand to prevent it. The State is full of candidates for city, county and state officers. Politicians are every- where, and 90 per cent of them should be shot. They simply advocate, and, sometimes get adopted, worthless laws that accomplish nothing further than an increase in taxation by creating commissions and a new list of public officials. I concluded one Saturday afternoon, between 3 and 5 p. M., to visit the leading stores; and was surprised to find in many places no customers at all and the clerks standing at the front entrances looking for cus- tomers. I then knew business was still depressed and THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE would continue to be so until after the next Presi- dential campaign; and yet it was amusing to see the Chamber of Commerce demanding that the town's peo- ple supply all their wants by buying from the local merchants. Enlarge this to cover the United States, and you have protection in all its glory, yet they go and vote the opposite principle when they support the Democratic party. If that colored man did not loom up, they all would be for the Payne-Aldrich bill. It only illustrates that action and conduct are controlled more by prejudice than by logic or reason, even to one's serious loss. This becomes extensive even in municipal elections, hence bad city government some- times is due to the fact that the voter's animal nature overpowers the intellectual and moral natures. They are not strong enough and big enough to ignore trifles and cast the attention on the game — the object to be accomplished. Thus the wicked man prospers; and so it will always be. Here they will sacrifice everything to be in control of the colored man — even to war and extermination. The colored man is submissive and docile. He obeys orders. He does his work without complaint and has a place to live and enough to eat. That is about all most of us get in life; and why not be of good cheer and spirit? This is the attitude of the colored man here wherever you see him — wearing a smile and possibly singing a song. The climate is hot in the Summer, the thermometer registering from 90 to 100 degrees ; and in the Winter the temperature drops to the freezing point and some- times as low as 14 above. They are prepared here for such extremes, and suffer but little. All the newspapers are Democratic; in fact, I have 70 BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA not seen a Republican paper for months. You can practice different religions but not politics. Even Christian Science is here. They look on religious be- liefs as harmless and in no way affecting their ''honor or political rights," both of which they are always ready to defend. If you keep off these two subjects the people are charming. A glad hand and a smile greet you at every turn. "Come and see me again." "If I can be of any service, don't fail to let me know. ' ' This is a charming attitude. It makes one feel like living for to-morrow and then another day, and on to the end. This cordiality and graciousness make both better for having met. Time is not lost but turned into real capital, life and kindness one toward another. We left Montgomery by daylight, as it has not been our custom to travel at night. I never did like to pay out money and get its value in sound sleep when I want to know and see the country. The local people who get on and off trains often have a world of infor- mation for you as to the people and the country through which you are passing, if you have the courage and know how to go after it. The banks, business organ- izations and booster committees, nine chances out of ten, give you a lot of hot air. I want to talk with the carpenter, the farmer, the hodcarrier, the day laborer and the merchants who watch the front entrance for a customer. If you approach these men right, you get the truth, even in Portland, Oregon. After leaving Montgomery, we observed that land cultivation increased, some substantial farms being op- erated. The cattle, horses, sheep, hogs and poultry increased in numbers and all looked well, some of the 71 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE cattle and hogs being fat. The farmer was more up to date; and the buildings and outhouses were larger, more numerous and in better condition. There was more truck gardening. The topography was about the same after leaving Mobile, — hilly with numerous points. However, much of the land was under culti- vation. Farming under such circumstances means work, and if not done intelligently, returns may be nothing. Such land is not like fine prairie land where things planted simply grow with a little scratching. As we neared Birmingham the soil seemed to get more red, the two predominating colors being red and yellow. The air was filled with smoke. We were just passing the iron industries, twenty miles from the city. It reminded me somewhat of Pittsburgh. Iron means wealth wherever it is located. You have heard of the stone age and the iron age, which latter has been such a godsend to mankind, and soon made man the ruling spirit of all created things on the face of the earth. Here are found not only iron ore in great abundance, but large quantities of coal, clay and limestone, located close together, under one roof, so to speak. These are making Birmingham. With the proper development of the agricultural or horticultural lines, this State will be strong among the sisterhood of States. On alighting, we found a very substantial city of about 150,000 people. The streets are wide, and well paved, but somewhat dirty and uncared for. Waste papers and the like were tossed in the streets, there being no receptacles on the street corners to receive the same. People will be clean sometimes if you help them or give them a chance. They have good hotels in plenty, and good office buildings, one being twenty-seven 72 BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA stories high. The stores are just average in appear- ance and size. The city is quite compact. It is located in a basin with hills surrounding it entirely. It contains nearly sixty square miles. Many fine homes have been erected, some being located a considerable distance out. Not so with business. There is one block regarded as the hub, where rents are high, a jeweler paying for a cor- ner room, sixty-five by fifty feet, $12,000 a year. Other business concerns hover around this block, at much less rental; but the great majority complain at the high rentals. There is no place for them to go, for the retail business section is very small. The street cars circle this block, and that is another cause for high rents. Business has been poor the past two years and some rents have been reduced fully 25 per cent. There are many vacant store rooms in different parts of the city. Some landlords are falling, and taking what they can get. All are hoping for better times. If any of them are asked what caused this business depression, the answer is the same from each, '^I do not know. The iron industries shut down for nearly a year." This is a fact. The iron industries shut down soon after the present administration assumed control; and in a few months, after unfilled orders were disposed of, the de- pression reached them here. The iron industries operate commissaries for their employes. They opened up late last fall, but the men were out of work for months and the industries sold them on credit. Therefore when they started up, the men were heavily in debt, and this debt had to be paid first; so there has been no surplus money for the 73 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE Birmingham merchant, and there will be none until the men get out of debt. There are no other sources to bring money to the city. It has no other factories, just repair shops. The farmers, mostly colored people, are an uncertain quantity. The war injured the cotton industry. The Wilson tariff did the same for the lum- ])er industry, and this is an important resource in this State and Mississippi. Hence, there is dreadful de- pression in all business lines. People have been leaving the city in caravans, both last j^ear and this. Where they went, no one knows; possibly each to his wife's people. The war has brought them no benefits what- ever, for the State does not raise enough farm products to feed its own people. The iron industries are con- trolled in the East; the money transactions occur there and end there. The weekly bank clearances have dropped from three and a quarter millions to about two millions, the deposits from thirty millions to a little over twenty-three millions. The city is all right and in time will ''come back." The business men are united and are working on right lines. They take a liopeful view and have confidence in the future. They are after practical farmers from the East and Middle West to come here and locate. They want the land occupied and developed. If the business men accom- plish this, and the iron industries are revived, the problem will be solved and Alabama will be strong. There are five banks in the city, two National and three State, with a combined capital and surplus of $3,500,000. There were six, but one failed, the Penny Savings Bank, a colored bank. It had a capital of $86,000, and deposits of $255,000, and failed for $452,- 000. It was in operation twenty-five years. The direc- 74 BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA tors got excited about real estate and put the assets of the bank in red dirt; and the assets are still there. They are trying to organize a realty company to take over the real estate, issuing preferred and com- mon stocks to take up the two classes of claims against the bank. It bought and built a five-story bank build- ing valued at $137,000, together with other holdings. This was the last of the colored banks in Alabama. This is unfortunate because there are over 100,000 colored people in this county alone, about one-half the population. They have their own hotels, boarding houses, meat shops, laundries, and stores of all kinds, including repair shops. Some white lines advertise that no commercial business is done with colored peo- ple; hence, colored people are driven to their own re- sources, and this indicates the feeling. The colored people are purely servants here, nothing more. The white people will not permit them to be anything more. In all these States a colored man is not permitted to hold an office of any kind. He is segregated from the whites in everj^thing. A row of seats in the street cars is set aside for him. He leaves and enters at the front of the car. The whites do the same but use the back end of the car. It is just opposite to this in Mobile. It is the same in all depots and railroad trains. When the Negro calls on a white man at his residence he must go to the back door. He would be knocked down if he should call at the front door. He is the white man's servant. He mines his coal, works in the iron mills, works the land, does all the common labor anywhere and everywhere, the carpenter work, brick masonry, and so on; and the white man does the bossing and managing. When he 75 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE goes to vote, there is one box for the white man and one for the colored man; and white men are in charge of both. They need him for the iron industries, for they put out in steel yearly 800,000 tons, of iron 2,000,000 tons, of coal 18,000,000 tons, of coke 3,500,000 tons. This is real labor on a large scale, and only a poor white man in disgrace does this kind of work or any kind of work here. The colored farm hand is not the best. He wants to start on Tuesday morning and quit Friday night. He usuall}^ gets $1.50 a day, and can live on $2 a week. Why, then, should he work any more? I think he is justified in taking a rest. Yet he seems to be happy, having no cares either domestic or state. He lives and enjoys to-day, and takes no thought of to-morrow. Why should he, under the circumstances? The city is managed by a commission form of government, consisting of five commissioners. It started with three commissioners, afterwards increas- ing the number to five. One acts as mayor and draws a salary of $5,000 a year. By virtue of his office, he is chairman of the board of education, which is con- trolled by the city. The other commissioners draw $4,000 a year each. They are elected for three years. This plan has been only fairly successful; but it is regarded by the people as superior to the ward system. The bonded indebtedness of the city is $7,000,000; floating debt, none. The tax levy for the city is $1 per $100 on 60 per cent valuation. But a business man is touched in many other ways for the privilege of doing business. Each year, he must procure from the city, county, and state, a license to do business. After he is rounded up on everything, he pays well. The fee system is worked to a finish by public 76 BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA officials also. The colored man is caught by this net. When he draws his wages, before wasting his wealth, he is arrested for some trivial thing, j&ned and turned loose to earn more wages. This treatment has had a tendency to make a criminal out of him. What else could you expect? Especially since to live and get work at all he is compelled to work for a less wage than a white man. The ''poor white trash" are in- creasing and the colored man is being forced to the country where he leases lands and farms them; and by economy and hard work many are making progress, even to the extent of buying and owning their land. In time, with education and toil and economy, he is going to come into his own; and must be considered in the affairs of State. Ownership of property cultivates dignity and character; and these, in turn, create the desire to protect and defend these rights. I have noticed only two business blocks being erected in the city, and not a dwelling. This is hard on the mechanics. However, the town is built five years ahead, and must catch up. About 600 real estate men stopped over on their waj^ to New Orleans for the national meeting. The whole South is trying to get in touch with the North and East to induce capital to invest in their lands; in other words, to repeat the work of Washington, Oregon, and California, almost in the same lines and under similar conditions. The result probably will be the same to the Eastern investor. 77 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE Nashville, Tennessee THE State penitentiaiy is located here in a sightly place at the edge of the city, a fine location for light and air. About 1,300 prisoners are confined there; approximately 40 per cent of them coming from the western or low grounds of the State and in and about Memphis. Belonging to the prison and situated close to it is a farm of about 3,400 acres. This farm is operated in connection with the prison. It also has the contract system; and hosier}'-, stoves, some small articles of hardware, waists, skirts, and the like are made within the walls. This is a small number of prisoners in a population of over 2,000,000 of people, nearly one-half being colored. The population, how- ever, is almost wholly native born. Nashville is just like a wash pan. Hills surround the city, and in the center is a high elevation of ground, all alone, upon which stands the State capitol, a two-story building, old and worn. Here you find, carefully en- cased, Confederate flags, some with twelve and some with fifteen stars on blue cross bars, together with other relics of the war. There are also pictures and paint- ings of the Confederate generals and statesmen who have filled prominent positions in the State, the Confed- eracy and Nation in times gone by. The building is poorly cared for, there being dust and dirt everywhere. At one corner of the grounds is built a mausoleum of granite, with a canopy overhead and a sarcophagus monument beneath, with inscriptions giving the life and history of James K. Polk, once President of the United States, as well as speaker of the House of 78 NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE Representatives. There are also inscriptions to his wife. Here lies the body of James K. Polk, and thus is he honored by the people of this State where he grew to manhood and lived. This was the home of President Jackson and twelve miles from this city was his residence, called the ' ' Hermitage. ' ' The State bought the farm and the con- tents of the house; and the women organized the Her- mitage Society to which the State conveyed the old home and the lawn or ground immediately surround- ing it. These women, with care and devotion, are keep- ing everything as it once was, together with the trees; and the two rows of cedars planted b}^ Jackson him- self, on each side of the walk approaching the house, are still there. Of course, Jackson was quite a character, both in war and in peace ; and he cut some figure in matrimony. However, it is well to preserve and retain all things connected with a historical character, whether man or woman; for future generations are interested in such characters and such things and they have, no doubt in many instances, far-reaching influences on the human mind. The famous equestrian figure at New Orleans is here also. We all know Jackson there in the 1812 war, we know him in Florida ; we know him in Washington ; and we know him here with his duels. He was a fighter for the things he thought were right, whether it af- fected friend or foe; and such a fighter is usually honest, even if he is wrong. Such a character is slow to confess his wrong, when once discovered; and so it was with Jackson. Yet such men are respected and often admired by the masses. 79 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE Here old soldiers, wearing the gray, meet to cele- brate this battle and that battle. The civil population joins and business men subscribe thousands of dollars to defray the expenses. Shiloh is thus celebrated every year. Now Uncle Richard Clarkson, if alive, would have that famous editorial of his on the other side equally sincere and equally happy, but from the op- posite viewpoint. With the passing of time, this dif- ference will continue to fade away slowly, until some new war of large import crowds it off, as 1861 crowded off 1776, with the assistance of the death of those inter- ested. The women have many different organizations, and they seem to keep all historical subjects alive. They may be opposed here to war, but they are patriotic. In the courthouse grounds they have erected a fine monument to the soldiers of 1776, with a life-sized statue of George Washington thereon. The spirit is fine, and, in a sense, to be admired. After all, there would be no fighting if it were not for women; and as men will fight for them, why should they not show their appreciation for the brave lads who have fallen in the line of battle? The colored race is an interesting and intricate problem. Within a few miles of this city one-half of the colored race resided before the war and so reside now. Had they arisen against their masters, the war would have been ended in six weeks. Why did they not do it? They were as humble and helpless as babes then, and are only a little better now. Something is lacking in their nature, I mean the pure Negro, not the half breed. They are kind, affectionate, obedient and docile. They are happy and cheerful, at times 80 NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE under the most adverse circumstances. Give them a place to sleep, and something to eat and wear, and they want to sing and go to heaven, taking no thought of to-morrow. It is true that some have bought homes and are saving, but such are few among the pure blood. They are loyal to their masters and their employers. They do not strike. They are slow, but near the job, even if the pay is small. They resent having a colored man for a boss, but they will work under a white boss and be contented. With this disposition and these characteristics, the Negro has disposed of the white man's strikes in the South. They do not occur. The colored man is entering all kinds of industries and enterprises, both as to skilled and common labor. He is on engines, is making shoes, is working in repair' shops, is engaged in manufacturing plants. In fact, you see him slipping in all along the line, and the white man is being supplanted because he will not work except for big wages, will not do the dirty and hard work at all, and strikes on the trigger. Again, it will be the survival of the fittest in the end. And so with the colored women. They are making fine seamstresses, and most excellent nurses; and one railroad man remarked to me, ''we simply love their cooking." The Southern people are so inconsistent. What "my nigger" does is all right, and any objection would cause trouble on the spot. Colored people are segregated on the cars and everywhere, yet in the home the children love to get in bed with the colored ''manmiy," and girls in their teens do the same out of affection for her who nursed them from babyhood. She has absolute charge of the children of her master in his home. If they want to do something and she 81 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE says no, that ends it. She goes to the woods and gathers herbs, and puts them in alcohol and the like to pilot the children from Winter unto Spring; and no doctor can undermine "mammy's" influence with the household. If the doctor is not handy, she acts as midwife. When she enters a car with the lady of the house, she sits down by her in the white section, other- wise she is relegated to the ' ' Jim Crow ' ' section. Hotels take her with her mistress and no questions are asked. If she enters a white section with a white child in her arms, she is welcomed, for the white child must not be taken to the "Jim Crow" department. There are many other things like these, amusing and some- what ridiculous. What is it? Aristocracy. Custom. Conceal the black and show the white, and you pass. The beauty of human character, like the rose, is exposed in actions, conduct and thoughts. You see and feel and touch and yield to its beneficent influences, or are repelled, whether old or young, black or white; and so it will be to the end of time. This State is divided into three parts, — the eastern, the middle and the western. In the eastern part, iron, coal, marble, clay and other minerals abound, and there is timber in variety and abundance. But little farming land exists there. In the middle part, called the Cum- berland table, farming lands are extensive and produc- tive. The western section is low in many parts, and somewhat unhealthy— considerable malaria existing at times. Memphis is the largest city in the western sec- tion and Chattanooga in the eastern. Knoxville and this city control the business of the middle part. Last year's cotton crop did not exceed 300,000 bales, the farmers having gone into stock raising and exten- 82 NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE sive raising of the cereals, corn, tobacco, fruits and vegetables. The fertility of the lands surrounding Nashville makes it one of the coming cities of the South. I noticed new buildings of every kind being started every day in every direction of the city. It is an open town, that is, every man or woman who applies for work can get a job if there is work to do. One-fourth of the population of every community gets its bread and butter by daily toil. Not to exceed 4 or 5 per cent of all toilers belong to some union. The balance, 20 per cent, either from choice or because they are refused admission to unions, are denied the oppor- tunity to earn a living. This pressure, which denies men the right to live, to do honest toil to support themselves and little ones, creates two conditions, socialism and strikes. Unions are the generators, the creators of them both. Both undermine or retard the advancement to the highest social conditions. Both tend to destroy, to reduce the masses to a lower state of civ- ilization, and to a condition of dependence rather than independence. Wherever there is independence among the working people the greatest progress and highest state of civilization are found. Unions have increased poverty and want and distress wherever and whenever they are firmly established. It is better to have the masses at work, even on a small wage, than to have a few at work on a high wage, and the masses idle beg- ging for alms. The greater the idleness the greater the crime in any community. Light, industry, economy, and employment make a happy people and happy homes; and these are the armor of a nation. The con- dition which favors millionaires and pays high wages to a few of the fortunates, thus enabling them to live 83 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE in style and possible extravagance, while the masses are denied the right to earn a living, is not prosperity or Christian civilization. It is selfish barbarism, lead- ing to strikes, lockouts, crime and chaos, and injuring good government. Nashville in its open door shows that work and in- dustrial and business enterprises go hand in hand, unre- stricted by unnatural and cruel combinations against the laws of God and man and the natural laws of sup- ply and demand. It is growing and enlarging, — becom- ing, in a natural, conservative w^ay a greater and more important city, thus being the better able to provide, and care for its citizens. It has no tourists or unnat- ural influx of population. It is growing simply as a business center in wholesaling, jobbing, retailing and manufacturing, and is a credit to the energy, foresight and wisdom of its citizens. It has the commission form of government, consist- ing of a mayor and four commissioners. They are chosen by popular vote for four years. The mayor receives $6,000 and the commissioners $5,000 a year. This form of government has not been a success, the salaries being too big for the men who win. It has been rotten with politics, the curse hanging over most of our American cities. One mayor has been recalled and another elected. One commissioner is under indict- ment for embezzlement, the amount stated being $40,000. They charge that he deliberately took the cash and spent it in campaigns. The books have been lost. However, the citizens are alert; they have organ- ized a committee and raised a fund and are on the job. This is what counts. This activity of the public is worth all it costs and in the end things will be made 84 NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE right, not only here, but in substantially all American cities. The commission form of government does just this thing and finally will evolve a superior municipal government for our American cities. At Birmingham and Mobile and here in Nashville, and wherever the commission form has been adopted, the "redlight district" and the open gambling house have been eliminated. The banking interest is strong, there being five National and nine State banks carrying a deposit of $33,000,000. Many of the people have no use for the present Federal Reserve banks, and think they ought to be reduced to three, thus lowering expenses. They pay 3 to 4 per cent for deposits and cannot loan beyond 6 per cent. For the first time for nearly a year, they have been compelled to go out and hunt up investments. They charge this up to the administration, and some say they will not vote for Mr. Wilson again. Traveling men covering Texas, Georgia and the Southern States say they hear Democrats so express themselves fre- quently. The}^ want "McKinley prosperity" returned. Yet there is only one Republican daily paper published in the State. There are eight National cemeteries in this State, the largest being here. I went out to see it. It con- tains sixty-five acres and 16,770 soldiers lie buried there. They are placed about five feet apart, in rows from the main entrance, each grave being numbered, and having a small marble slab at the head, with the name and State if known, and, if not, marked "un- known." The grounds are beautiful and well kept. There are cedars, Tennessee maples, white pine, Japon- ica, rose bushes and shrubbery, all nicely arranged; the 85 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE only thing to mar it at all being the Louisville & Nash- ville Railroad, which runs diagonally through the grounds. It has elevated its track eight and one-half feet the past year, which obscures the view very much, and has a station at its entrance to the ground. Two kindly gentlemen are in charge, Supt. L. S. Doolittle of Pennsylvania, and his assistant, J. W. Hartley of Kansas. They are approaching 80, but they are two lively boys, — as 3^oung as Col. David J. Palmer of Washington, Iowa. They took me over the grounds and finally we came to a grave marked ''2619, James F. Johnston, Iowa." This is the grave of my brother Frank, who joined the Union army at Keokuk, at the age of 18. One of the objects of my trip to this city was to visit the grave of my deceased brother, who in his youthful, patriotic enthusiasm contributed his life towards m.aintaining the Union and the Stars and Stripes. He was a good boy and a dutiful son; and his death was a distinct loss to my father and his family. At this late day it was my duty to show my love and respect for his memory. The cause, the his- tory, the conflict, the result, made the surroundings impressive and, in a sense, sad ; for it might have been otherwise. This State was the scene of many battles, and many soldiers from this State are buried here: for the State was divided. The South had 5,000,000 citizens to draw from to make up its armies. The North had 20,000,000, yet the contest was long and trying and at times uncertain. A large number of the soldiers in both armies were just in their teens, beard- less youths. It was thus in 1776, in 1812 and in 1861. How much we have inherited from the sacrifices in blood and treasure of our ancestry! Shall we continue 86 NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE to guard and protect for our descendants our inheri- tances of the past? This is the question which is ever before us, and if we desire to continue as a Nation, prosperous, happy and free, there is only one answer. We must be ever ready to act and to do. This is a center of education, but of all the insti- tutions here, none impressed me so much as Fisk Uni- versity. It was organized in 1868, by a few enthusiasts with more religion than cash. Its plan was to give a higher education to colored men and women that they might become leaders and instructors of their own people. At first it was promoted by the Congregationalists, but now it is covering a broader field to uplift the col- ored race, and is not attached to any particular denom- ination. The religious people agitated and aroused the people to free the Negro; and he was freed, turned loose, so to speak, with no money, no education, and no occupation or avocation whereby he could make his living. He was turned over to the tender mercies of the South, ignored and forgotten in the North, except by a few philanthropists and a few kind people who had the courage to go to the colored people and work for their intellectual and moral uplift. The early struggles of this university are pathetic. When it was on the eve of collapse, Mr. White, a musi- cal teacher in the institution, organized the jubilee singers to sing Negro melodies in the North. He started out boldly, and the first $50 earned in Ohio they gave to fire sufferers in Chicago in 1871. After many hard- ships, they arrived in New York and appealed to that great divine, Henry Ward Beecher. He aroused public interest in them; and the response was not only here 87 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE but in continental Europe, where they appeared be- fore kings and queens, and ate with them, even Glad- stone having them dine with him three times. In striking contrast to this were the hardships experienced in this country, where they were compelled to sit in depots, hotels refusing them because the "black" was on the outside instead of the inside. Send for the story of the trials of the jubilee singers. They made $150,000, and gave it to the university for the benefit of their race. The university wants more money. It has about 700 students and is "casting bread upon the waters," which is bound to return in good. The Vanderbilt University is another institution here, but for white students only. It was started by Commodore Vanderbilt, who gave it $1,000,000. Other members of the family have contributed. Carnegie gave $1,000,000. It wants another $1,000,000 from somewhere. It has a campus of seventy-six acres. The campus of Pisk University is thirty-five acres. This institution was started in 1873, by Northern people, to show good will towards the South and restore a friendly feeling. Both have done and are doing much good. Both are small, and small gifts are appreciated, especially by Fisk. The struggles in this world are many and varied and will never end. This is life. 88 MAMMOTH CAVE, KENTUCKY Mammoth Cave, Kentucky WE ARRIVED at Glasgow Junction, where we alighted to take the train for Mammoth Cave, nine miles away. The train consists of an old engine and one coach, the latter almost as old as the object of our visit. They insist on the purchase of a round trip ticket for $2. The management does not want to lose the visitor, either — in the cave, or to the Ford. The latter will bring you back for 75 cents. Of course, being a stranger the tourist obeys the rules. I should judge that the construction and maintenance of the road is the lowest of any road in the United States, and the returns, in proportion, the greatest. There is no railroad commission here for political effect, exploiting it purely for political preferment. It is too small — not big enough game, and is touching up the other fellow. We arrived at the Cave Hotel, a structure built over 100 years ago, and it does not belie its looks. However, I had a good bed and good meals, and the air was simply fine, filled with the odor of pine and the woods in general. The topography of the ground is not rough, just right for fine golf links. It consists of a tract of ground of about 2,700 acres, thinly covered with trees. Its real value is beneath the surface, a fortune in a hole, leading to one of the greatest wonders in the world. When I was a little lad, our mother being dead, our father assumed the dual capacity of father and mother, and the responsibility of guiding to maturity six little tots, the oldest being in its teens. We had to THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE be amused and entertained with games, frolics and stories ; and this he did at night when his day 's work was over. He became one of us, and was fully alive to what interested us. He did this until we grew to manhood and womanhood. Then each took wings and flew out into the world like a bird, to work out his own salvation, as God intended all children to do. My father remained with a married sister until old age, and then quietly and peacefully passed away. And so it has been in many homes. Among his many stories was that of the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, which I was determined from early childhood to visit sometime. So I am here. The sky is clear ; the trees are majestic ; the air is calm and serene ; the surface of the earth is green with life in all the varied forms of vegetation. We are in the woods, ''God's first temples." We donned blue trousers and blouse, with cap, cane and lantern. The women put on ''knee pants" and they looked quite jaunty and nice. From the stand- point of simplicity, convenience and cheapness, this would not be an inappropriate uniform to wear always. Wars may make us all so poor that such garments will have to be adopted. We started for the cave, a large hole in the ground, about two blocks from the hotel, with stone steps lead- ing in a gradual descent below. The entrance is about twenty by thirty feet, with water dripping down at the edge from above. We proceeded a short distance and then stopped to light our lamps, for we were just approaching eternal darkness while it was midday with- out. The ceiling was still high, but the opening grad- ually became smaller as we continued our journey, and 90 MAMMOTH CAVE, KENTUCKY finally we came to the entrance proper closed by an iron gate. Our guide, Mr. Bishop, a kindly old gen- tleman, who has been performing this work for twenty- eight years and in whom we all had confidence, un- locked it and we entered the underground world, which was the dream of mj^ childhood. It is interest- ing, impressive and awe inspiring, with no rival in magnitude and grandeur on the face of the earth. It is a subterranean world of caverns, seas, rivers, huge rocks, grand passage ways, and auditoriums with ceilings a hundred feet high. Here one can very properly stop again and again, and very seri- ously exclaim, ''Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud!" This cave was discovered by white men in the year 1802, but evidence found indicated that it was visited by Indians and other races prior thereto. From the surface down, for hundreds of feet and for miles around, the earth is composed of soft limestone and gypsum. In four or five counties surrounding this locality there are hundreds of caves, some extending for miles under- ground; but none is so large in extent as the Mammoth Cave. This cave has been explored for 152 miles, and all its passages have not yet been located. The visitors, as a rule, are not shown to exceed twenty or thirty miles, because they become tired and exhausted. About 15,000 people come here during the year. The tem- perature is 54 degrees, and as it is always night you can visit it any time, night or day. The management now makes the trip in four divi- sions, none of wTiich exhausts the strength of the visi- tor. They are as follows: ]. Echo River, pits and domes, time six hours. 91 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE 2. Star Chamber, Gothic Avenue, etc., time four hours. 3. Main cave and new discoveries, time six hours. 4. Echo River, Cleveland Cabinet, Cathedral Dome, time eight to ten hours. The passage ways have been named, together with particular points of interest, thus, in some instances, adding to the journey's illusions, increasing the visitor's curiosity and making him forget that he has traveled five or six miles, boat riding on rivers, climbing over stones, over bridges, up ladders, down steps, and through narrow passages, "the fat man's misery," and the like. Walter, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Mercer of Chicago, did enjoy seeing me trying to get through this place. It was about twelve to fifteen inches wide. Of course, there is a good deal of elasticity in some people, but I have known men and some women who could not have gone through. At another place, for about 300 feet, the roof was not quite four feet high. My legs were one foot too long, and before I got through I thought it was a mile. Another place is called the ''Corkscrew." It is well named, and is a climb up around a rocky, winding ladder, narrow and trying. In the chambers, you see beautiful formations of stalactitic and stalagmitic columns, with domes and pits and cross- caverns that excite your wonder at every turn. Now, what of its history ? For more than twenty miles around, there is not a creek or ravine. The Green River that empties into the Ohio River is all. It is narrow and very deep, and used for navigation. There are two rivers in the Mammoth Cave, the Echo and the Styx. In the rainy season, they rise thirty to forty feet and flood some of the caverns. The water 92 MAMMOTH CAVE, KENTUCKY finds its way out from both to the Green River. One can ride in a boat on Echo River for half a mile, and the vibrations of musical sounds are beautiful. This cave was formed by water, in large quantities, falling on the surface above and percolating through the soft limestone, dissolving it and washing the small particles thus removed along its journey. Hundreds of thousands of 3^ears ago this water found its way out at the present entrance of the cave. The volume of water was small at first, but grew into a torrent, wash- ing tons upon tons of the dissolved limestone to the Green River below. In time this channel became blocked and new channels were formed, one below the other, so that now it is known that five caverns exist in the Mammoth Cave, one below the other. We were in the third one, now 360 feet below the surface. The water, working itself to a lower level through soft spots, formed the domes passing from one cavern to another below. Channels or caverns crossed each other, and, through the domes formed, dropped to a lower channel. The water dripping and percolating through the limestone and gypsum, formed stalactites; and these, in turn, formed the stalagmites below. Wlien these became united the result was the beautiful columns, the crystal effect. Water, working for ages in great volumes cut- ting its way through stone, possibly for millions of years, made the Mammoth Cave and all the other caves here- abouts. The United States Government should take this over and preserve it for all time for the benefit of mankind. In 1849, Dr. George Croughan tied it up in trust by his will, for the benefit of eleven nephews and nieces, all of whom have died except three nieces, the youngest THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE being now 79 years old. At their death, it is to be sold at public auction, the proceeds to be divided among the descendants, of whom there are eleven to-day. The will was filed in Louisville, Kentucky, and the courts there have charge of the estate, which is being managed by trustees. The income runs from $20,000 to $30,000 a year, a fortune from a cave. 94 LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY Louisville, Kentucky AFTER satisfying- our curiosity inspecting Mam- moth Cave, we started for this city, a distance of ninety miles, through a country very similar to that which we had already traversed. We found it very attractive, both as a residential and a commercial city. The streets and side-walks were narrow, but clean and in good condition. Here there are many homes, mostly of brick and three stories high, some of them very old, but in good condition ; and they spoke comfort and ease for their owners of days gone by. You must bear in mind that this city was founded in 1780, just 136 years ago. George Washington be- came president in February, 1789 ; and in September, 1779, John Paul Jones and "his navy" fired on the British navy on the shores of Great Britain, defeated Admiral Pearson, and took the British navy as a prize to Holland. England protested and he then asked France to keep his prizes, while he sailed away for more game. The British people stood on the shores and saw the fight. After that John Bull commenced to build a navy in fact and not in words. So you see this town has seen some history. It has a population of about 250,000 people. Th.ey are happy, comfortable, and in a measure contented, hence conservative. It has some fine stores, but not much man- ufacturing. Its wholesaling, jobbing, and commission business is large. The two greatest products handled here are whisky and tobacco. It is the largest tobacco State in the Union, this business alone amounting to about $40,000,000 a year. The whisky trade is not slow— 95 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE 35,000,000 gallons per year. One county has twenty- eight distilleries. The jobbing houses in whisky are many and of all sizes. One large house got up a cartoon on its special brand. It consisted of a large, happy, healthy man standing by a quart bottle made a man's size. The man good naturedly looked at the bottle, patted it kindly on the side and said, ''John, we have been bosom friends for these eighty-odd years." And no doubt this is true. Of course they had to raise corn, wheat and other grains to maintain the reputation of the State. The surplus they feed to horses, cattle, hogs, and sheep; and they have a lot of them in the State. The Kentucky race track was once famous as its quart bottle ''John." It has but little use for cotton, so raises but little. It diversifies its crops, and its land is in fairly good condition. The Kentucky blue grass needs no introduction. The eastern part is hilly and rough, and abounds in iron, coal, and many other minerals, the same as Ten- nessee. In fact, these two States are very similar in every way, including their social and political life. They are half "South" and half "North," the same to-day as they were during the Civil War. The Repub- licans largely predominate in the eastern part of both States, but the Democrats balance them up in the mid- dle and western sections. Some years, both are close fighting ground, notwithstanding the fact that Demo- crats control nearly all the newspapers. These States split in the Civil War. The governor of Kentucky took the position that his State must not be invaded either by the North or the South, that his people were going to be neutral, and that the sovereign rights of his State must be respected. Davis consented to this. Lincoln 96 LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY was not committed, for he said nothing. Both Ken- tuck}^ and Tennessee entertained similar ideas. The man who is entitled to most of the credit for this com- plication, which seriousl}' weakened the Confederacy, was none other than Editor Prentice of Louisville, Kentucky. He was the Horace Greeley of the South. He was intel- lectually strong and a diplomat; and his heart was set against breaking up tlie Union. The value of his serv- ices can never be properly estimated. The citizens have erected a monument to his honor in front of the city library, with this word only: "Prentice." This is sufficient. Each day and each week his inner life was placed in cold type before the readers of his paper, so when we think of this city we think of two newspaper- men, Prentice and Watterson. The latter is now near- ing 80 years of age. A cit}^ has two circles, a business circle and an intel- lectual circle. The influence of the former is often small, while there may be no limit to the other. This is best illustrated by Athens, Greece. The business men of its early history are unknown. A half dozen men, known only by their intellects, sent the town of Athens, with less than 50,000 inhabitants, down through all future ages. It will never be forgotten or omitted so long as history is written. Hence, such indi- viduals are an asset, differing only in degree, to every city; and should be appreciated and honored while they live, and not after they are dead. Louisville owns its water works and it has good, pure water in abundance from the Ohio River. The other public franchise corporations are privately owned and well managed, and there is no friction. The school buildings are ample and in good condition. The city 97 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE tax rate is one dollar and fifty cents per hundred. It is so limited by the constitution. The school levy is now thirty-six mills above this. It has no floating indebted- ness, living within its income. The bonded debt is $12,500,000, about equal to the water plant. The general council can not appropriate more than 95 per cent of the estimated revenue until more than that amount is collected. It has natural gas at 35 cents and steam coal at $1.25. The city uses the budget system to distribute its revenues, and the people have confidence in the city administration. Its financial institutions are strong, and managed on conservative lines. There are seven National banks and eleven State banks and trust companies. These eighteen banking institutions now have on deposit $57,000,000. The demand for money is poor and has been for over a year. The improvement is slight and profits will be smaller than usual. This is an open city like the other Southern cities. The past year has been hard on labor, for work in all lines has been scarce. It has been estimated that from 15,000 to 20,000 men have been idle. Stores, business houses and factories have retained all their emplo^'-es, in most cases, by working them half time. This enables all to live, and does not pay higli wages to a few while the balance have to beg or starve. This is the sensible. Christian spirit for all business concerns to cultivate and for all cities to establisli and maintain during hard times. No one prospers during hard times, be he rich or poor. Prosperity comes when the masses are employed and have money to spend. If we keep the masses em- ployed we will have no hard times. We have two schools in this country preaching directly opposite prin- 98 LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY ciples as a remedy to avoid hard times. To which one do you belong? I know where I stand. I want the American laborer to come first. I patronize home in- dustries for all m}^ wants, and those nearest home first. Now, you can call it what 3^ou please. The business men here are organizing a million-dollar concern to get factories to locate in this city. This is a foolish performance. They are trying to induce a factory in another town to locate here and then they will roll up a big majority in favor of goods coming in free from foreign countries to compete with them. This city has about 1,000 factories, mostly small, making a large variety of goods sold in the markets. Would it not be more sensible to make a thorough, efficient inves- tigation of all these local concerns and classify them, and then put more capital into those which are worthy, thus enlarging them, making the management more efficient, and increasing their territory and the volume of their business ? Build up your own city by enlarging and making more efficient the good things you already l^ossess, rather than to injure or tear down what a neighboring cit}^ needs and has built up. Prosperity comes to all when all are prosperous. You cannot be prosperous by attacking another city or another inter- est, and the larger the interest or the industry, the greater your damage will be. Labor and capital are friends, each depending on the other, but labor has to be fed, housed and clothed, while capital does not. It can retire and rock itself to sleep. Every man who at- tacks capital or denies it just and reasonable returns for the risk and hazard involved in the investment, is an enemy, a menace to labor and to those depending on labor for food, clothing and life. A politician who 99 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE makes the attack to create prejudice and thus enable him to land a public office is worse than a bandit or highwayman. To point out wrongs and injustices with candor and honesty is one thing, and to destroy that which enables the masses to labor and live is another. Cities must have factories; they must protect capital; the masses must be employed to protect the very life and existence of city government. Walking along the wholesale section one day, I stopped in front of a whisky jobbing establishment. There was a sign in the window which attracted my attention. It was a good picture of Uncle Sam with his right hand extended with the index finger pointing to a scroll ; and within the scroll were these words, ' ' The Label Tells the Truth." So many States, especially around Kentucky, have adopted prohibition laws that it is no doubt difficult to get liquors into those States. The "holes in the walls" are called "tigers" in this section, and public officials are after them hard, especially in Tennessee. So this firm had adopted a bread basket the size, shape and style used by bakeries in shipping bread, at least pre- cisely like that used by one concern here that makes "Mother's bread, the kind your mother used to make." In this receptacle they were shipping the fiery water that makes you laugh, cry, weep and sometimes step high. Bread is the staff of life; every one wants it in hard times; and no questions are asked. I attended an auction sale of tobacco, and it was quite interesting to me. Whisky has a standard value in all markets, but not so with tobacco. It has no standard value, and is worth only what it will bring at public auction. 100 LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY This being one of the most important tobacco points in this State, or any other State, they have many and large warehouses, where hogsheads of leaf tobacco weigh- ing about 1,400 pounds gross, are stored from time to time. The receptacles are removed, and inspectors go along and extract samples from top to bottom, at four or five points. The samples are then tied together, labeled, marked, sealed and placed on top the hogshead. This may be done to several hundred in one warehouse. Then other warehouses are visited by these inspectors and the same routine work is repeated. In the Fall these sales occur daily; but this being the end of the season, and a sort of cleaning up time, the sales occur two or three times a week. Promptly at 9 o'clock two auctioneers appear, one relieving the other at times. There is a crowd of bid- ders representing the tobacco interests from the four corners of the earth. The French government had a representative present buying for the soldiers. The trusts had several sharp fellows watching, pla^dng the game, and drawing big salaries; yet we hear no more of the ''night riders." The growers are represented by a bright, sharp, nervous Scotchman, who fixes the price on all tobacco sold here. He is about forty years old and his name is Henry Gorin. He is a broker who plays the independent concerns and assists the farmers, or growers, in disposing of their tobacco with the best results possible. The excitement begins, for the auctioneers are no spring chickens, and Mr. Gorin starts the ball rolling with a bid. All the bidders have inspected the samples by seeing, feeling, and smelling, and some have kept records from which they bid. But Mr. Gorin keeps no 101 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE records. It is second nature to him, as his father spent his life in the same business ; and the son is alert and on the job. So the music keeps up to the end until all the tobacco on the market for that day has been sold. Now, at the close, the grower is at liberty to accept or refuse the bid for his tobacco; but the broker is bound. And in this way millions of dollars change hands for this one product, — a product that has no fixed value, in the sense that other agricultural products have a market value. I met several brokers ; and they are a bright, happy, generous lot of fellows who are experts and know the game. There are all kinds of tobacco, but much the same after all. Drying and curing will affect the flavor at first until it passes through the exigencies of proper curing, and after this it is a safe investment to store and keep. Burley is the most productive, going as high as 1,500 to 1,600 pounds to the acre, while others will go 700 to 800 pounds to the acre. The best joke is on the smoker. You have noticed smokers almost get angry because they wanted a dark or a light colored cigar and failed to get it. The truth is, there may be four or five kinds of tobacco on the same stock. The leaves next to the ground are smallest and lightest in color. The top leaf is strong- er and darker. The middle leaf is largest. The top portion of a leaf of tobacco is darker than the under por- tion of the same leaf. Now, then, to make a light cigar the under part of the leaf is rolled outward, and to make a dark cigar the upper part of the leaf is rolled outward. And here you have a dark or a light cigar made from the same leaf. The next time you see your friends demanding a light colored cigar with some show 102 i LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY of feeling*, just stand hy and smile. Smokers are often more trying about cigars than old maids are about the pranks of healthy, wide-awake children. In this life we are prone to let trifling, little things disturb us and make us unhappy, when much that we think we feel and see is onh'- imagination — illusion. Notice the essen- tials, and ignore the non-essentials, and live long and be happ3^ This city is governed by twenty-four councilmen and twelve aldermen who serve without pay. The peo- ple are disgusted with the city government, accusing some of the public officials of grafting. Why not? They receive no pay. There are consequently frequent conflicts with uncertain results. The bad ones wear the good ones out. They never get tired, and so they keep in the majority until there is an upheaval. They ought to condense the city government and put the political intrigues to sleep if they can. The school sj^stem is in fine shape now. Formerly it was managed by fourteen trustees, who served with- out pay; and graft was charged constantly. The people became so stirred that the system was destroyed and a commission established. This commission consists of five members, and it has revolutionized the schools of this city and placed them on a high plane. The people are delighted. They segregate the boys and girls in the high schools, and I believe this is right. In most cases, girls and boys in their teens have their minds on other things than books; and their training here teaches them to fill dif- ferent functions in life. The girls are trained here in all the branches of domestic science. This is as it should be. The lioys have manual training and the business 103 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE affairs of life are presented to them in the proper way. The people here are trying to get the worth of their money. Now this is not so in many cities. The cities, in most cases, are wasting millions of dollars through the public schools. The boys and girls turned loose — for that is the proper expression — from our public schools are not worth to society the clothes they wear. They are simply human beings incapable of doing anything worth while. In life they finally drift into the army of failures, a burden on society and a curse to mankind. A boy or girl should be trained to be a unit of real wealth, self-sustaining and resourceful, with the initi- ative to do and accomplish things worth while. Do our schools turn out such goods as we can proudly label, ''Made in America"? Ask any bank, any com- mercial or industrial enterprise, and get its answer. The prosperity, growth and power of a nation, and its per- petuity and influence in the world of nations, depend on the discipline, initiative, intelligence, and moral char- acter of the rising generation. Upon the generation which is fast fading away, rest these questions and these obligations. It is not performing its duty in this country. This city has about seven hundred saloons, which pay a special tax of $750 a year. This looks small, yet many saloon men say they are making no money; and some have failed. This is easily accounted for. The laboring man sustains the saloons, always and every- where. When he is out of work he has no money to spend in the saloons; he is not wanted and does not visit the saloon; and the saloon is up against it. The saloon is the heart of the local conditions in the indus- trial world. 104 LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY This is conclusive evidence that the saloon is bad for the laboring man. Fire water does not take the place of bread, meat, milk and beans, and never will. The one destroys life while the others maintain and sustain life. Again, the saloon interests will not obey the law. They are notorious law violators, and, on these viola- tions, argue that temperance is impossible and wrong while intemperance is right. No matter how reason- able the Government makes the regulations, they never submit and obey. On the contrary, they always an- tagonize and try to undermine government, the quiet, peaceful dignity of law and order. This is largely the reason they are looked upon as a menace to good gov- ernment in the eyes of a fast increasing majority. And it is best this should be so. Although the manufactur- ing of liquor is so extensive here, I have seen compara- tively few men under its influence. This city has one of the best library systems I have seen. There is the main library with eight fine sub- stations, two of which are operated by and are for colored people. Carnegie gave almost $500,000 to build the main building and sub-stations. The location and distribution is fine. Over 1,000,000 books are handled each year. I think much of this is due to the popularity of the gentleman in charge. He is active and has a fine personalit3\ Even the colored people are in dead earnest to improve themselves mentally. The parents are not satisfied to have their children grow up in ignorance. All you have to do to get the colored peo- ple to take advantage of opportunity is to give them the opportunity^ This city was the first to establish a separate library building for the colored people. In 105 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE fact, the people here are somewhat more tolerant of the colored people. On the street cars there is no dis- tinction. Yet they tell me when they get into court they are doomed. The testimony of one white man is as good as that of a dozen colored men. However, they are treated better here than in any other southern State I have visited. I think the men in Congress who vote millions for some of these rivers I have seen, should hang their heads in shame. The waste and the useless and extrava- gant distribution of public funds to improve some sup- posed streams for navigation, is a disgrace to American statesmanship. If men in high places are so devoid of honesty and patriotism, how can you establish and maintain honesty in municipal governments? The Ohio Rapids are at this place. They are not large, but form an obstruction a few months out of each year, if the water is high enough to send a small boat up. So a canal was built around them. It is about one mile long. Dams were built; and if there is enough water in the river, they make about nine feet of water in the canal. This vas done about forty years ago. The canal is about one hundred feet wide, and the Congressmen from this State are asking for more money to make it two hundred feet wide. Up to date, the appropriations to make the Ohio River navigable for small boats are approaching $40,000,000 ; and all this in the face of the fact that the transportation on the Ohio River is not one-tenth what it was forty years ago. I talked with men wading in the water and hand- ling the boats who had been right there on the job all that period. The original cost was about $15,000,000 for a canal about a mile long. 106 LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY These men told me that the railroads had made canals almost useless, for they had paralleled the rivers, made rates on the same scale as the boats and beat them on the service. Now is not this a fact everywhere? The rates of railroads are regulated by the Govern- ment, which makes them just and equitable for the railroads and the public. Wh^^, then, is there any neces- sity for canals ? There is no necessity. It is a diversion of public funds to the pockets of a few contractors and voters located along the line. The voting of public funds on a large scale to pre- vent floods is a beneficent act and a worthy cause. It is in line of development, of the preservation of life and property, and of the enlarging of the domain of our possessions. The Mississippi River is one in point. So many States are affected that it is a national ques- tion; and, with equitable charges for corresponding benefits, this public improvement should not be delayed any longer, but should be handled as one proposition in a scientific manner. The River and Harbor Bill now pend- ing in Congress should be defeated, and every official approving it should be classed with the ohl ward alder- men and refused further honors in the public service. The Southern people are not lacking for a place to go and worship. Some of the churches are magnificent structures, beautiful and costly. They have their col- leges, universities, and publishing houses ; and on the side they make tents, chairs, seats, and church furni- ture. Religion is operated much like a business. Preach- ers are manufactured as a tailor makes a suit of clothes. If cut out according to pattern, it fits. Why not, for he owes his education and position to some kindly dis})ose(l brolliern. Tlie Baptists, Methodists, and Cliristians are 107 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE strong; and they dominate the South. Catholics are good with the Indians, but the colored man is not at home where he can not have his shouting, his praying and his singing. The Methodists simply transport him right into the "Gates Ajar"; so the Catholics let well enough alone and work quietly in other fields. We need them all, and even then may lose out; so give every one a free hand. One thing seemed odd to me. Some of the Southern States have enacted laws against tipping and are en- forcing them. Restaurants have put up signs reading, *'Do not tip. It is against the law." Now, I have al- ways tried to obey the law, or substantially so, usually because of the fear of punishment. I smiled and obeyed this law. It seemed so easy for me to do. I think tipping is one of the meanest customs we have in America, and we borrowed it from the French. Some of us can afford to tip and some of us cannot. We do not want to be mean, so we put up at European hotels and eat at cafeterias, to such an extent that nearly all restaurants in the first class hotels are play- ing a losing game. The traveling men are doing their work, for they are enemies of this custom, which in some cases has gone to the extent of being a species of blackmailing. It has spread out into the business life, on a larger scale, and is there properly designated as Graft. It is dishonest, and lowers the dignity of com- mon labor. It makes of the one who is compelled to depend on tips for a portion of his salary, a low, menial servant, — a beggar and an object of charity. We cannot make anything else out of it. A hotel will advertise its many advantages, and, among other things, "the service." What is the result? 108 LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY A boy takes your hand baggage and shows you to your room. A tip. You are a Yankee and ask for ice water. You are informed that you must call the kit- chen. Another boy brings the ice water. A tip. You lie down to sleep, and you find three maids looking after your room, each one expecting a tip. You take the elevator for the lobby. A telephone call comes. A page hunts you up. Another tip. If not, you are not found next time. You discover the house has twelve pages. You patronize the elevator often. Good serv- ice means tips, for you find there are ten elevator boys. You go into the restaurant. A white waiter approaches you, and a white one is the meanest of them all. You pay four prices for what you get. A tip, if you want to go in again. The next time you have a new table and a new waiter. You want your trunk. The porter is slow and uncertain without a tip. Your baggage may be damaged if you don't shell out. And your room is up towards a hundred dollars a month. Now, tell me, is that not a travesty on ' ' service ' ' you are getting ? Why do American travelers submit to such bondage? I am for the law and its enforcement. San Francisco, in this respect, was the meanest city I was ever in and Los Angeles the most consider- ate. Now, barbers in San Francisco have unions and have established a living wage. Their prices are at the top of the scale. Yet you must tip all around, including the barber, if you want to go back there again. When you remain in a city a few weeks you learn more than you would on a two-days' stop. You check your hat and tip a modest girl out of sympathy and you learn that she has no pockets and that your tip is turned over to a corporation. 109 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE , You pa3^ top price for service to the management, and it should be compelled to pay a living wage to its em- ployes. If you get special services, that is another thing. On the boat on the Pacific a case occurred that I shall alwaj^s remember. A man of forty had married a young Avoman of nineteen; and they were leaving Oregon for Honduras, to get a start, as he had been unfortunate in Oregon. We had six waiters on the boat. Their daily subject of conversation regarding each passenger on tlie boat was as to how much he would dig up at the end of the journe.y. They had doubts about this couple. Sure enough, in a strange land and unable to speak the language, they were started for the shore in a small boat, forgetting their waiter. The waiters were prepared, and threw lemons after them and called them vile names when they returned to the boat. And this after paj^ing for first class tickets and sitting on stools on the deck. A woman on board lost her pocket book containing seventy dollars. When it was returned to her it was short thirty-five. And this is the service that awaits the traveling public in many places. We all tip, or nearly all of us. But we should stand for the law and obey it strictly to the letter; for it is justice to the servant and employer, and saves embarrassments and humiliations to many travelers who are forced to travel, and can afford only the legitimate expenses, which are as high as the traffic will stand. The only unusual thing I ever got on my tips was an extra dish of ice cream in New Orleans, and I believe the poor girl stole it. I tipped her well because I wanted to encourage her in bringing the proprietor to time, so that he would pay her a wage sufficient to enable her to clothe herself fittingly and be decent. 110 ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI St. Louis, Missouri SPEAKING of the custom of tipping; did it ever occur to you that you tip largely the servants who are not required to exercise much brain power in their line of work and confine your tips to your stomach and face and nails? You can often judge rightly about the justice or injustice of doing a thing by drawing a contrast. This enables you to see things from a new viewpoint. There is nothing more unpleasant than an ill-fitting pair of shoes, — nothing that so completelj^ puts one's body and mind out of commission. You go into a shoe store; and a clerk, with much care and some skill, prop- erly, comfortably, and neatly fits a last to your feet that makes you smile. He has taken pains and pride in doing something for you. Why do you not tip him ten per cent of the cost of the shoes? It is not the custom. Then make it the custom, for there is more sense in tipping this clerk than in tipping your waiter who does nothing but carry the food from the kitchen to your table, for which service tlie employer has hired and paid him. The chef and other employes, whom you do not see, weigh, measure out and cook the food ordered. So it is with tlie tailor or dressmaker and their help. They work into tlie small hours of night, by piece work, making your fine garments, doing nice work and assisting in getting perfect fits. Why do you not show your appreciation by giving them a tip of ten per cent of the cost? Start this custom if you are going to defend the other, because it is more just. Think of the poor newsboy who gets up at three o'clock 111 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE in the morning to walk a mile, facing a cold wind and wading through snow and ice that you may have your morning paper on time. That is not all. A poor widow may have gotten up at the same time to make a hot cup of coffee • to warm her son up before he starts on his journey. If you miss your paper or the boy is late, do not swear at him or report him to the business man- ager of the paper. Be a true sport and tip the boy, for in nine cases out of ten he is a manly fellow, assist- ing his mother to keep from asking charity. This tip would be nobler than any you now give. Start the cus- tom. Remember the milk man, the grocer, the coal man, and the long list I know you are going to add for the future; and do not forget the preacher at the end. The preacher gets his pay at the foot of the class, because you cannot see what he has done for you. But do not violate the law. You will be happier and always feel better if you obey the law — I might say laws, both human and divine. In leaving Louisville for this city the traveler passes through four States, if he takes the route I did, — Ken- tucky, Indiana, Ohio and Missouri. These are our four grand good States, rich in every way. One thing that has impressed me strongly since I left New Orleans and wandered around in various States, is the difference in the progress made by individual States, with conditions of nature about the same in each. I noticed that in the States which spread education and learning among the masses, as a farmer sows his wheat, the people were up and alert and doing things in all lines. They made the ground blossom with roses and flowers. There was an abundance of grain of all kinds, and of fat horses, mules, cattle and hogs. Everything and every- 112 ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI body was full size with the attitude of aristocracy toward everything and everybody else. Indiana had this expression over Kentucky. Illinois surpassed Indi- ana; and it did look beautiful, with its farm houses and outhouses painted, and its farm implements and equipment up to date in every way. Illinois did look, and is, just as rich as the garden of Eden; and why a farmer should want to leave such rich soil to dig among rocks and sand pits to make a living is hard to answer. "With proper handling, its productivity can be doubled, and so can that of Iowa soil. We arrived here and found St. Louis a great, big city with about 800,000 people, doing business on the basis of 100 cents on the dollar. Look in every direc- tion, and things appear substantial. By 1920 it will have 1,000,000. Business has been bad for two years, but new blocks are going up ; and residences, some of them costly, are being built in large numbers. Its trade pressure is towards the south and southwest and is large in all lines. It could not be otherwise than progressive, because foreigners make up half the city. There are over 100,000 colored residents, and they are increasing in number. The cit}^ was established in 1764 by Laclede, so it is quite old. It is governed by twenty-eight alder- men who are paid $1,800 a year. Lately a new charter was adopted so that hereafter the people will elect only three officers, mayor, treasurer and assessor. The mayor will then draw $10,000 a year. He appoints an efficiency committee consisting of three members, and all city employes must pass and be approved by this committee. The plan is to escape politics. One must be a Republican, one a Democrat, and one non- 113 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE partisan. Time will tell how well they have succeeded. The council with so large a number will prove a nui- sance, and already some are accused of grafting*. City government in America is a hard problem and not yet solved. The curse is graft and political influence. To bring it down to a business basis when the people select the business man, seems impossible because of the in- competency of the masses to concentrate and choose tlie right one. The taxes are 70 per cent of cash value, and the levy is two and thirty-five hundredths cents. This is high. It costs nearly $11,000,000 to operate the citA^ This is twice as much as the State requires. When you think of the specials worked in on the people, this is quite a burden for them to meet. Plowever, the city owns its own water and garbage plants, and regulates all others. The water is good, but nearly all cities have good water these days. I called on Hon. F. W. Lehmann, and he was very happy. While I was there he opeiied a letter inform- ing him that he had won a $900,000 judgment and that the defendant wanted to pay. Mr. Lehmann is an lowan of whom w^e all are proud. He is on the square with all, and President Wilson could do noth- ing more appropriate than place him in the Supreme Court of the United States. He would grace that honorable tribunal in the eves of all. 114 CINCINNATI, OHIO Cincinnati, Ohio THE clay following' the presidential election I remained in Chicago, to visit friends; and to get retnrns and venture a guess, like most men, on the likely winner. Hundreds of thousands of people were on the streets blowing horns; and automobiles were legion. There is no place on earth like Chicago. In a few generations it will be the largest city in the world. I became tired, and, returning to my hotel lobby, seated myself comfortably for a rest. There were many people in the lobby. Suddenly a shrill whistle. round and musical, sounded from the balcony. In- stantly thirty or more men turned their faces heaven- ward to locate the call from above. A short, red-faced man caught the beautiful lady's eye and smiled; the recognition was prompt, and- he proceeded to obey the call. Possibly they were father and daughter. But the other men! They turned and frowned and were soon lost in the crowd. Then I thought how unfortunate were the founders of our religious creeds in not making the Lord a woman. Our men might have been, at least, more de- voted in their church work and possibly more liberal in their contributions for church extension. You know angels are men ; young unmarried women would, I am quite sure, vote almost unanimously that men are angels. But married women! Oh, dear! I would hate to see the returns. It would be the Solid South, over again, and I would not like to see the men discouraged even in trying to be angels. In this 115 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE connection, I might say that I have been giving the late election returns serious thought. I once was inclined towards women suffrage, but I am drifting away be- cause of her conclusions recorded on November 7, 1917. Twelve States gave her the right to vote on presidential elections. Mr. Hughes promptly and very inadvisedly abandoned his party platform and early promised to work for an amendment to the National Constitution, granting this right to all women absolutely; and he continued to be aggressive on the subject. This was done at the urgent request of Senator Southerland of Utah: and both went down to defeat. Mr. Wilson was foxy and flirted with it occasionally; but all knew he was opposite to Mr. Hughes on the subject, designating it as a question for the States alone to decide. Now what were the results? The women of ten of the States gave their electoral vote to Wilson, Oregon and Illinois alone going to Hughes. In these two States the Hughes women were attacked and roughly handled by the Wilson following. They were also threatened in Kansas City, Missouri; but women in this State had no right to vote. Hughes lost 24 votes in Ohio, this being the first time it has gone Democratic since the Civil War. Ohio is a strong anti-prohibition State, the liquor interest being extraordinarily strong. Hughes failed to emphasize our unpreparedness for war. Mr. Wilson relied on his plea, ''I have kept the country out of war." Hughes spent much time on our foreign relations, and the women and laboring men had but little interest in this subject. One week before the elec- tion, the liquor interest in Ohio sent a secret circu- lar to all its friends in the State urging them to vote for Wilson, thus giving him 82,000 over Hughes and 116 CINCINNATI, OHIO defeating nearly the whole of the Republican State ticket. Woman's highest ambition is true motherhood and the possession of a husband. This is laudable and one of God's laws. When she wins her husband, she tries to keep him, and to inculcate in him a fondness for her and her home. She is always ready to resent the forcible taking away of her husband and her sons ; and thus she is, by nature, self-interest and sentimentality, against war. Mr. Wilson knew women's true charac- ter, and he played politics and won. Yet most that we enjoy and esteem so highly in this country came to us by inheritance from our ancestry, and was won in wars by the loss of many lives and the shedding of much blood. This, it appears to me, is why Hughes lost. He appealed to virile men, to American citizen- ship; and overlooked the weakness, the sentiment and self-interest of the woman voter. I believe Hughes received the votes of a majority of the women in Oregon and Illinois because of the attacks on his women advo- cates. Because of sentiment and resentment they wanted to, and did, record their condemnation of such acts. And again, not to exceed forty per cent of the women registered that they might cast their ballots on this most important office. Hughes did not receive a majority of these, except in Illinois and possibly Oregon. Thus, taking into consideration the large num- ber that refused to register and the large number voting for Wilson, who at heart is against them on this sub- ject, I am convinced that the majority of the women are against suffrage. This election shows plainly that the influence of women in American politics may have 117 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE a tendency to lower the standard of courage and whole- some citizenship of our American manhood. Instead of Greeks and Romans, we might have pink-tea boys — mamma 's boys ; and this will be the beginning of lower- ing the character, the efficiency and the manhood of the male citizen of the American Republic. What we need is a race of men who are physically, intellectually and courageously strong men, with confidence in their power and justice on their side, men willing to fight and defend their rights. Such a race of men strength- ens and broadens women and perpetuates the nation. Most nations which have disappeared from the face of the earth became so from weakness from within, not strength from without. My first visit to Cincinnati has impressed me favor- ably. My father and his brother James purchased and drove hogs by the thousands from Greensburg, Indiana, to this city. That was many years ago, before rail- roads were built; and yet that is not so long after all. The city is very old. It is like a crazy quilt. As it grew, additions were laid out regardless of streets ; hence you have many short streets, narrow streets and long streets. They are just fairl,y clean, although there are waste refuse boxes on many of the corners. The city owns the water works and gives the people water at the rate of eight cents for 750 gallons. All other franchises are private. The pavements consist of granite blocks and of asphalt, most of which are in fairly good condition. The side-walks are fair. A few small parks have been lo- cated in the business sections. A canal runs through the city and connects with Lake Erie. It is no longer in use, and the city is now contemplating using the 118 CINCINNATI, OHIO space for rapid transit lines. It has about 400,000 population, made up of everybody from everywhere. About 30 per cent of the people are Germans, and Jews are also here without number. It has good hotels and strong financial institutions of all kinds, as well as extensive manufacturing, wholesaling and jobbing- plants. About ever^'thing is made here. This gives employment to a multitude of laborers, and the}'' are receiving good wages. Just now, because of employ- ment, they are for Wilson and against war; and they are opposed to Wall Street, although Wall Street is the hand that is feeding them. Let Wall Street cease to loan another dollar to the Allies, and most of them would be on the sidewalks looking for a job. A poor man w^ould starve to death. A man with mone}' who keeps it busy is the best friend a poor man can have. The poor man should shake hands with him, become better acquainted, and get him to invest his money so that work will be plentiful. It is unfortunate for both when the poor man does not try to get better acquainted with the rich man. The old city is located on low ground surrounded by hills. It has gone behind the hills for miles around. The fine residential sections are in the suburbs, and some of these sections are built exclusively for the well-to-do. The business sections are made up of odds and ends. The place needs a fire. One often sees an old frame dwelling that has been turned into a busi- ness front, while next door is a modern five-story brick. This is seen on every street. The city is not attractive. It is democratic. No one is in a hurry, not even an automobile driver. A teamster will stop his truck and go in and bring out a bucket of ])eer. When the bucket 119 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE is emptied, he moves on. Drinking is common, espe- cially with the working classes. About 800 saloons are in bnsiness, each paying $1,000 license a year; yet they tell me they are not making money. On Third Street, in the old section, many small business fronts are vacant. This is caused by some of the rich estates erecting power buildings. They put up a large building, and then rent floor space to small manufacturing concerns of all kinds, furnishing power to run the machinery. This is popular and profitable to both parties. Several such buildings are now in operation. The great obstacle to rapid expansion in this city is the large estates being kept intact. The Emery Estate is worth about $80,000,000. The founder, two generations ago, made tallow candles, putting his profits in real estate. A relative still runs the candle fac- tory, even in opposition to John D. Rockefeller. The Sinton Estate is worth about the same. Mr. Charles P. Taft, brother of ex-President Taft, was admitted, in this city, to practice law. He met Miss Sinton, an only daughter, married her and let his brother do the practicing. Mr. Sinton was a poor Irishman who dug iron ore, saved his money and invested it in real estate; and this is the result. The older he got, the more he hated to spend money. Then there is the Anderson Estate, which is the umbrella that covers Nicholas Longworth, who is well known as the husband of Alice and the son-in-law of Colonel Roosevelt. His aunt, Mrs. Bellamy Storer, comes under the same tree; you will remember that she had some trouble with ex-President Roosevelt, extending back to Rome. She is responsi- ble for the Rockwood Pottery which is manufactured here, and which is admired by many women. All live 120 CINCINNATI, OHIO here and amuse themselves in travel. Cincinnati is a wealthy city. Ohio, once Republican, is now lined up with Alabama and Mississippi. What would Har- rison, Garfield and McKinle}^ say? The city is gov- erned by a council of thirty-two aldermen, six of whom are elected at large. The Mayor with one coun- cilman, an Irishman, bosses the whole city; and he has held this job for thirty years. Beat this for con- tinuous power if you can. He has given them good city markets and 2,000 acres of parks ; and the people are contented, or seem so. 121 Lexington, Kentucky THE population of this town does not exceed 40,000, and yet it is as widely known as Chicago. It is well paved, and the streets are clean. It has the commission form of government, and is, in every way, a characteristic Kentucky town, — slow, easy going and taking but little thought of to-morrow. There is no manufacturing, and the retail stores are small. A few of the inhabitants are rich, but the masses are poor. They are busy with two things, horse raising and racing and leaf tobacco. The minute you get into town it is all ''horse," and tobacco is incidentally mentioned. Yet the tobacco crop is the backbone of the State, amount- ing to nearly $40,000,000 per annum. Whisky is next, with 32,000,000 of gallons per year. Louisville looks faithfully after that branch of the State's wealth. Kentucky has three famous race tracks, located as follows : One at Covington-Latonia, one at Lexington, and the other at Ijouisville. The one at Lexington is the best known. This city is situated in what is known as the "Blue Grass Section" of Kentucky. This is about the middle of the State. The size of the ''Blue Grass Section" is about forty miles square, and here, agriculturally, is the heart and wealth of Kentucky. The blue grass is luxuriant, and abounds everywhere. All horses, cat- tle and sheep living on it are fat. The land is rolling and is divided into large and small plantations. There are many magnificent mansions, — country homes, — built in the colonial style. The former owners, in many instances, were very rich. They were right royal 122 LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY entertainers, with all kinds of "brands" in the house; and they had horses as beautiful in action as photo- graphs, to take the host and his friends for an airing on fine country roads, surrounded by beautiful scenes. How could a person well filled within refuse to lift his hat and his voice for his host? So, far and wide, Lexington became known for its fine horses and beau- tiful women. The latter I found to be a myth, but it makes fine poetry and it is best not to spoil a good poem with facts, so here's to the ladies of Lexington. They want to be known as reformers and workers for the good of all, through their clubs. This race track has been in operation for about one hundred years. The early supporters have passed away; their sons are now old, and some of them have passed on. The last prominent character, Mr. Haggin, died some time ago at the age of nearly 90 years. He was many times a millionaire, and he left a young wife in the twenties. He was a true sport and loved the game. His stables have been abandoned, at his request ; and a fine ui)-to-date dairy has taken their place. He was a wise man to direct his sons into more conservative lines, away from drinking, betting and gambling; for fast horses, innocentl}^ and shame- fully, have these three brides trailing them, and they are at the wire when they come in to toss them flowers and smiles. As the old ones disappear, new ones are coming in to take their places. Some men who have made millions out of tobacco, oil, beer, whisk}^ and the like, and others who are rich through inheritance, take on stables for amuse- ment, and to learn the busincjs. Many of them are too old to do anything else, but they like tlie excitement,. 123 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE and in time leam the business all right. There is no longer any money in the business. It is governed by odd conditions. You have a fast trotter, with many others in the same class. Some horse lowers the record materially'', and after that it is the only horse. All the others have fallen in value from fifty to seventy-five per cent. They are just car- riage horses, and the automobile is pressing hard for second place. The result is that many of the owners of stables are devoting their time and attention to running, saddle and general utility horses. They give three races a year, Wo running and one trotting, and hang up purses amounting to about $100,000 each. Bookmakers and the usual accessories are found here in attendance. Many of the owners of stables spend but little time here, so country enter- taining is a thing of the past. Many of the fine farms and fine homes have been converted into tobacco plan- tations. The mountaineers have come down and rented many of these places and are devoting themselves to rais- ing tobacco, and I was told that they are hard workers and are making good. So you see the moonshiners are all right when they get started on the right track. Thus tobacco is crowding out the horse stables on the one side and the dairy on the other, and it will continue so. They have the finest grade of sheep and cattle, as well as horses. In the fields you see Southdown, Hol- stein, Herefords, Jerseys and so on. But poultry is not considered. One sees few fowls of any kind. In the sections near the mountains, outside of the blue grass regions, is great poverty. They have one or two pigs for meat, a small patch of corn, a little hay, a doe: or two and some guns. The owners work little 124 LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY and hunt much, catching mostly rabbits. They live in the usual log cabin with one room. The horses are so poor they lean with the winds, and it seems that if they should fall they would have to be helped up. This is a fair description of country life as it exists outside of the famous "Blue Grass Section." A few saw mills are in operation, on a small scale, in the mountains. Most of the taxes for the State are levied on foreign corporations. Taxes are high, hence corporations are few and the masses remain poor and idle most of the time. There is nothing for them to do but hunt and drink, and they are not fond of work anyway. They just live from daj^ to day. I started on a stroll to the edge of the town, and shortly an undertaker dashed up with his wagon right by me. I did not need him, for I felt much alive. He jumped off and called to a col- ored stranger to cross over as he wanted to see him. The colored man did as he was requested. The under- taker then opened the wagon to show that there were no ghosts within. He then told the colored man that he wanted him to help him carry a corpse down stairs. The women began to congregate, and I moved on. To me it seemed so rude. ' I feel that in the last lap of the journey to the city which has its streets paved with gold, a human being should be more gently handled. I hope to have at least one gentle touch, one kind look, one sweet remembrance, if it be only a single rose placed on my coffin by a poor, neglected bootblack who has always performed his work with a humble spirit and done it well. It is sweet to be re- membered even in death. I then meandered over several blocks and turned toward the city. On my way back, I observed a horse 125 THE SUNNY SOUTH AND ITS PEOPLE trade negotiated by a little nervous man on a small pony and a large man with a large horse hitched to a buggy containing himself and his wife. I paused to witness the deal, and this almost caused my ruin. When the exchange was made, the tall man and his wife got into the buggj^ The little fellow was grin- ning all the time. The big man took hold of the lines and the pony would not move a foot. It stood "with- out hitchin'.'' The big man got out and deposited his wife on the sidewalk. She refused to smile. The pony was so poor you could look through its body and see the ribs on the opposite side. The little fellow took hold of the bridle and the large man pushed on the lines. They moved forward a})out one hundred feet. Then both got into the buggy, the little fellow driv- ing. All at once, the pony started and they drove around two blocks, returning to the place from which they started. Then they alighted and exchanged back. The big horse was equally as poor as the pony. The Kentuckians are great traders, especiallj' with horses. This is why these two men traded, so far as I then knew. I continued my journey towards the city until I came to ''Cheapside" in front of the County Court House. Here I saw that a large crowd had gathered. There Avere horses, mules, cows, pigs, chickens, fight- ing roosters, buggies, wagons, chains, ropes, shovels; in fact, everything you could possibly find in a junk shop was there. The crowd consisted of about 200 men. Some were long and some were short. All were unshaved and had long hair. All were chewing tobacco, and the ends of their mustaches had turned yellow. They wore soft hats and boots. They filled a block. 136 i LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY I was assured that there was not a sound animal in the lot. All were poor, and I noticed that some stood on three leg's and rested the fourth leg. The Humane Society was on hand in the person of Mrs. Snyder; and she claimed that these animals had been brought from outside counties and that some had glanders, some pink eye and so on. That morning, I had made the ac(iuaintance of a relative of tlie sheriff, and lie afterwards proved to be my friend. Mrs. Snyder, the representative of the Huinane Society, had arrested tiie men engaged in the horse trade 1 had witnessed. She accused the little fellow of trading a g'landered horse, and the big fellow was arrested for swearing at her. She learned that I had witnessed the trade, and ap- proached me with her body guards, a deputy sheriff and a policeman. 1 refused to be interviewed. She gave me her })ledgc of honor not to involve me in any way, as a witness or otherwise; and my friend, the sheriff's relative, heard her pledge to me. I told her what T had seen of the trade, and then she slipped around and ordered the sheriff to summon me as a witness at the trial the next day. The sheriff came out and asked me my name. I told him it was John Smith. He returiied to