The Golden age. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1906-1915, July 12, 1906, Image 1

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— u - ' / B' 11 Hgf VOLUME ONE. NO. TWENTY-ONE. PLEASURE GROUNDS OF THE SOUTH OME years ago the entire country be came interested and agitated by a re mark of one of the most prominent of American financiers that “vacations were an unnecessary waste of time, en ergy and money. ’ ’ In refutation of this sentiment interviews were had with men in all classes of life and the con census of opinion was against the ver- 0 diet of the financier, who although himself an oc togenarian of unusual vigor, has never won from the great American public anything more gratify ing than his hoard of dollars. The vacation habit has grown steadily from year to year and it has proven an econ omic measure in the business world and in the domestic one as well. Hard worked clerks need a rest and change and the same is true of housekeepers, heads of fam ilies and business men and women the world over. The custom, too, is one of wider significence than would appear on the surface and the establishment of summer hotels in the comparatively unpopulat ed parts of the country has served as a civilizing agent of no mean power. This is most especially true of the South and no one part of the country is better adapted for the entertainment of large masses of the people than is this favored section. Climatic condi tions in the South have always made a change desirable in the summer months and even before the days of easy transportation wealthy families made a regular hegira each year from coast towns to mountain tops or from the hills to sea level. These annual pil grimages were conducted with much state and ceremony, the jour- ney often being made in private conveyance and the party including all the domestic servants and the numerous attendants on a large family. Then, too, the goal was almost invariably a hospitable summer home, where guests were entertained with the lavish liberality that has made the Old South famous. The advent of railroads and of the huge summer cara vansaries have changed all this, however, and now the people of the United States have won for them selves the distinction of spending more time in sum mer hotels than any other people of the world. The South offers so great a variety of climate, scen ery and creature comforts that it is impossible to describe individual localities, but at this season, when so many persons are considering, ‘ 1 Where to go for the summer,” it may be well to make men- * ' ’ * PHOTO BY V. G. SCHRECK. ATLANTA, GA., JULY 12, 1906. By S. T. DALSHEIMER. tion of some of the chief points of attraction in the South. Each individual state has some special fea ture that should appeal to those seeking diversion, but there is no state which combines in itself the di versified features that may be found in Georgia alone. Here we have the broad Atlantic on the south with its glorious width of beach, its fresh salt breezes and its life-giving ozone. The chain of is lands which encircle South Georgia have become famous as seaside resorts, and as evidence of this we have the fact that from all the land the multi-mil lionaires of the North chose Jekyl Island (near Brunswick) as a fitting site for their marble palaces A TYPICAL SCENE IN THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS. which are used merely as resorts of pleasure and relaxation. Then, too, Cumberland Island, not fa’’ from Jekyl, and Tybee Island, off the port 01 tai .Jr nah, are other resorts which offer every possible at traction. Tybee is more than a mere pleasure ground; it has historic records dating as far back as the occupancy of the old Spanish explorers. We know that as early as “1520, Lucas Vasquez Ayllon of Santo Domingo, dispatched a caravan m;der Francisco Gordillo” on a voyage of discovery which resulted in the landing of the expedition at what is new known as Tybee Island, at the mouth of the Savannah River. Tybee has figured as a desirable port of entry in each conflict that America hits known, and Fort Pulaski on Tybee Island suffered severe bombardment by the Federal Batteries in 1862. Today Tybee is marked by the restored walls of this same fort as well as by a handsome new fort (Ft. Screven), both of which contrast oddly enough with the old Martello Tower, a relic of the old Span ish occupancy. But the people of Georgia ignore the past of Tybee and are content with the joys it offers in the present. But the seaside resorts of Georgia mark but one feature of the state’s pleas ure grounds, for here we have the mountains as well as the sea, and all will remember that “The Hills of Habersham” have been made famous in song and story, and their beauty will live forever in the memory of man, for it has been crystalized of Habersham and its adjoining county of Rabun that the people have remained almost as primitive as the original r dwellers. But the summer hotels and the omnipresent railriad are the vanguard of civil zation and gradually the people of Habersham and Rabun are beginning to feel the stir of the national life and are benefiting proportionately thereby. So gradually, as almost to defy description, this change is taking place, and it is most evident to the visitor who spends a part of each summer at Tallulah, for he will note the rough ignorant moun tain girl of yesterday, who stood and stared wifi ‘open-mouthed wonder at the great hotel and its guests has evolved into the neat-handed serving maid of today; still curious, still interested, but learning, oh, how rapidly all the “tricks and man- TWO DOLL AES A YEAR. FIVE CENTS A COPY. into immortal form by the poet’s magic. Close locked within the fastnesses of these hills, as though nature were guarding some rare jewel, lie the beautiful Tallulah Falls, in all their charm of varied loveliness. Naturally, the people of the state have sought this spot from year to year and its fame has grown with the passing of time until today it is one of the favored resorts of the country. Situated within the confines of Habersham County, Tallulah is reached by a small railroad wind ing its way in picturesque fashion among the hills, and leading the traveler along one of the richest parts of the state. The summer visitor to Tallulah, if he be gifted with a love of nature as well as with a warm feeling for humanity, will find endless matter for reflec tion and for enjoyment 'at the Falls. In addition to the beauties and wonders of the panorama of nature everywhere displayed, there is the human drama which is be ing constantly enacted in these hills. For so many years has ac cess been difficult to the interior