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AM1LT0N 11 ifTT mmT JOURNAL. nTTTUT IIT
SUBSCRIPTION $1.00 A YEAR.
J. L. Dennis, Proprietor.
HAMILTON, GEORGIA,
August ii, 1885
EDITORIAL NOTES.
The legislature is still in session
and apt to remain so. Atlanta is ;
a healthful summer resort and the
average Georgia solon knows a good
thing when he sees it, although his
constituents may not think so.
The New York Ledger |is re-pub¬
lishing a series of articles on the
boyhood of Gen. Grant, written by
his father for that journal and pub¬
lished in its columns in 1868. Like
many a fond father old man Jesse
had a most remarkable son.
I)r. Felton’s juvenile reformatory
prison bill has been defeated. The
idea got out that the object of the
measure was to strengthen the Doc¬
tor’s gubernatorial prospects, rather
than to reform juvenile convicts, so
that an otherwise worthy measure
met an untimely late.
A writer in Science describes a
natural bridge, almost as interesting
as the Virginia curiosity, spanning a
canon, about twenty miles north of j
the point where tbe Atlantic and Pa
cific Railroad crosses the boundary
between New Mexico and Arizona.
This bridge is 65 feet long and 15
feet wide at the narrowest point. It i
consists of tough grit rock,underneath j
which the softer sandstones have been
worn away to a depth of 25 to 40 feet
beneath the arch. Near by is petri.
fied forest. The stone tree trunks
lie just beneath the soil, or half ex
posed, fallen in all directions. Tins j
point had never belore been visited
by a white man. ;
The funeral of Gen. Grant was
the most gorgeous in American his- |
tory, but it will not fix him in history
as the greatest of Americans. He
had ample opportunities of showing
himself possessed of the essential!
elements of greatness, but the nation
that wou?d hold him 10 as a type 0
,rLZ
moral tone. To us this is a matter
of sorrow only, and we say it, not to
detract from his worthy fame, but as
a protest against the nauseating adu
lation*now seemingly so popular. If
Grant had lived up to his opportuni¬
ties, he might have gone into history
as the greatest patriot of his time,
but his life since the war has been
such as to confirm with many the be¬
lief that he was a creature of cir¬
cumstances, whose greatness was
thrust upon him.
WAYSIDE MUSINGS.
Thoughts on the Georgia Mid¬
land, Sunday School Pic¬
nics, Public Barbe¬
cues, and the
Like.
I*, as a Hamiltonian, in full sym¬
pathy with her every interest, am
glad there is a prospect of the Geor¬
gia Midland being built. It will not
hurt Hamilton but will give us one
of the most prosperous towns in
Georgia.
If it is built the Columbus & Rome
road foill be extended, I think, from
Chipley to LaGrange or from Green¬
ville to Newnan. This will give us
direct communication with Atlanta,
the heart of Georgia. With all the
advantages we now have and those
VV e will have by a nearer connection
with our capital city, our town will
grow amazingly,
_
But even if the Columbus & Rome
ro xd is not extended, the Georgia
Midland will run within four or five
miles of us and a regular hack line
w ; n \ le established, if we do not budd
a tramway or street railroad. It will
be an easy matter to go to Atlanta
j n Hie morning and return in the
the same day. The town will have
advantage of shipping her sup
plies by either of two ways. Freights
now eat largely into profits or pre
veQt our competing in prices with
ot ^ er markets. 1 he Georgia Mid¬
* an( ^ remedy this.
The good Hamiltonian • «
expects to
go r> to Columbus when he dies or gets
rich. Connection with the outside
world in another direction will enlarge
views and give us a better knowledge
of what is and what we are. This
knowledge will spur us on to make
the most of our opportunities and
the blood that now sluggishly courses
through our veins will flow more
freely and we will move at a speed
that becomes citizens of this pro
gressive age.
The Georgia Midland will cut off
our Valley Plains trade, but with all
of thislhat Hamilton gets now, we
are still short of a trade bulky enough
to make us conspicuous as a trade
centre. The gross sales of all our
merchants do not aggregate one hun¬
dred thousand dollars annually. This
amount may be shortened materially
by the new road, but it will not take
long to get it back through the devel¬
opment of our resources consequent
upon the completion of the road.
There ought to be fifty thousand dol¬
lars woith of driel and green fruit
shipped from Hamilton, whereas, we
ship none now. Vegetables can be
grown here successfully and profita¬
bly for northern markets when we
have a northern outlet, Then an
other railroad will add to our school
interests and draw families here to
them and every family added to our
population means something like a
thousand dollars to our trade for its
support. The Georgia Midland can
not hurt us and I am glad it is to be
built.
As Bill Arp would say, “I guess
' ts a11 right” t0 have lhese S ran(1
Sunday School picnics, barbecues
and celebrations, but as they are
generally conducted it is a question
if the good they do balances the evil,
or the profits are sufficient on the
labor and money invested, The
speaking is always good, although no
small part of it is done by men who
are not connected with the Sunday
Schools and who we know do not
speak from a happy personal experi¬
ence when they say "Train up a
child in the way it should go, and
when it is old it will not depart from
n •. The tables always groan with
*
the best the country affords and