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m aOWERS COLLECTION
OLD RUINS AND TANGLED WILDS WHERE
SOUTHERN CHIVALRY PREVAILED.
Desolation Along the Altamaha Near Darien, Ga., of the
Largest Rice Fields and Buildings in the World.
Old Negroes the Sole Occupants.
BY MONTGOMERY M. FOLSOM.
Representing the most idyllic period of the
history of the old South, no words can con
vey any adequate idea of the delicate flavor
of mystery and romance that surrounds Al-
tama. It was on a gusty day in March when
a party of us drove out there from Bruns
wick. Ga., over a shell paved road as level
and smooth as the floor of a ball room. It
was constructed as the bed of a railroad pro
jected half a century ago and never com
pleted. For eighteen miles it pierces the
pine barrens as straight as an arrow's flight
and ends at the rotting piers of iite bluff
overlooking the Altamaha river which was
intended as its eastern terminus.
Springtime comes early and summer lingers
long in that land of dreams. There were al
ready banks «df odorous wood violets all
abloom in sunny nooks and the gleam of the
golden jasmine blossoms lit up the long, dim
moss draped forest aisles where birds o>f
gaudy plumage were holding htgn revel and
enlivening the solitudes with their riotous
songs. The true.story of the fall of Altama
ha will never be told. All those in possession
of the secret have passed beyond the sphere
of mortal hopes and fears, desires and dis
appointments. It was laid out 'by James
Hamilton Couper, the princely proprietor of
St. Simon's, one of the largest and most im
portant islands on the Georgia coast. It con-
sisteu of over 7.000 acres of available lands
with a vast expanse of salt water marshes,
lying along the Altamaha river. It was fur
nished with over 700 slaves and was the most
GOVERNOR SADLER, OF NEVADA.
By Whose Ccrstnt the State of Nevada Becomes the Pugilistic Center.
ly a mile in length, the drooping boughs
forming a continuous archway, festooned
with sombre moss that swayed a.nd tossed
in the warm winds from the sea. Great tan
gles of the starry jasmine littered the dusky
depths of the woods and the delicate fra
grance of the golden bli»ims was mingled
with the odors of the budding pines as we
passed between the crumbling pillars of the
broken arch at the entrance of the lawn and
on every hand observed evidences of its for
mer splendor in the dwarfed and stunted
trees and shrubs from foreign climes that
had been brought there to grace the ample
grounds.
MAGNIFICENT IN ITS RtTIN.
Gray with age and gloom from long deser
tion, the old mansion -stands half hidden by
the wild ivy that trails and clambers over
porticos and sweeping piazzas, while the
lichen-covered roof is ashen-hued witth age
and the ravages of the elements. Near the
gateway we stopped at the old porter's
lodge where still abide two of the most faith
ful servitors on record, “Hard Times” and
the dusky crone who has been his compan
ion for many a long and eventful year.
“Hard Times” was possibly known by some
other name in days gone by, but the old
negro has become so accustomed to the ap
pellation that be answers to it with a grin
and doffs his weather-beaten liat in saluta
tion to all whose curiosity takes them to
that half-forgotten spot of former magniti-
cence. His wife is bent and wrinkled with
years and neither of them have any correct
idea oif how old they are, more than that
they were born there and became the prop
erty of Mr. Couper when he purchased the
plantation which became, a part of the vast
estate of Altama.
In the weird and almost unintelligible dia
lect of the rieelield negro they grew voluble
when asked about their early life on the
plantation. With a rusty key old “Hard
Times” unlocked the backdoor of the man
sion and admitted us. The dust of years has
accumulated on the walls and ceiling that
were beautifully carved and painted in
chaste designs by skillful artists. The ceil
ings of the parlors are of red cedar and de
spite the effects of the salt air that pene
trates the most closely drawn shutters, the
wood still shows the polish of' the painstak
ing workmen who had charge of the inte
rior furnishing.
In the bedrooms are canopied bedsteads
and tall sideboards and marble mantels at
test the elegant taste of. the proprietor.
Faded portraits in oval 'frames, bevelled mir
rors and delicately carved statuary remain
amid the dust and grime of half a century
of abandonment and desolation. On the
floors are fragments of costly carpets worn
by the restless feet of curious visitors, and
in the main hall is a French clock that ceas
ed to note the flight of time long before the
thunders of the Federal and Confederate
cannon awoke the drowsy echoes in the de
serted domain. After gazing in wonder
ment on those remains of former grandeur
we followed our aged conductor on a tour of
the premises. He pointed out to us the
old "tabby” building which was used as
the overseer's office. In the crumbling bel
fry perched precariously on the rotting roof,
still hangs a rusty hell whose tongue has
been silent these many decades. It was sound
ed to call the slaves together at the earliest
light of dawn, in the olden days, so-that they
might be counted and told off 'to their va
rious tasks.
NO GABOR SAVING DEVICES.
Everything was done by manual labor in
those days. There were no horses or mules
employed on the rice plantations as the
fields were located in the marshes which
were subjected to alternate drainings and
submersions during the cultivation of the
crop, and animals could not have been
brought into service profitably. The slaves
did all the labor. The broad fields were di*
viued and subdivided until each slave was
apportioned as much ground as he or she
couid possibly get over between the first
peep of day and the <fcrkness of night with
out any allowance fbr rest at noon. The
children who were too young to work in the
while thfy delved at their tasks.
Still farther away beyond the belfry are
the decaying buildings formerly used as a
lying in hospital for the women. There they
were allowed to remain for a certain period )
until the little brown babies were able to |
partake of more substantial nourishment
than that afforded by tlie breasts of the half-
starved mothers, and those i short respites
from hard and unremitting toil must have
seemed glimpses of Paradise to those unfor
tunate women doomed to lives of degradation
and. despair.
A few of the nursing mothers best suited
by nature for that purpose, were left to
nourish the infants after their own mothers
were sent back to the ricefields to resume
their tasks, and “Mammy Hard Times” told
us that she had seen more than a hundred
nursing babies in the quarters at one time.
A number of very old negresses were set to
watch after their health, as the babies were
valuable in a eommercial sense, and those
old women kept them dosed with their con
coctions of roots and herbs until they either
succumbed to the ailments of Infancy or
were able to toddle about and bask in the
sunshine like young animals.
From the hospital we followed our sable
conductor to the ruins of the stables where
blooded hunters were kept for the benefit of
the proprietor and his guests, among the
latter being distinguished people from the
north and from abroad, for Mr. Couper kept
open house during the winter season, and
some of the bluest of the aristocracy of Eng
land a,nd France frequently accepted his hos
pitality. In his quaint vernacular our an
cient guide told us all that he knew of the
celebrated English actress Fannie Kemble,
and of her patrician lover. Pierce Butler, of
South Carolina, both of whom were frequent
guests at Altama. and there the wooing be
gan that resulted in their marriage.
FANNIE KEMPLE AT ALTAMA.
Miss Kemble was a superb 'horsewoman,
and old “Hard Times” deseribed with graph
ic gusto how she used to mount and ride
away over the long winding roads that were
laid out through the estate, penetrating the
forest depths where the towering magnolias
shut out the sunlight and again merging on
the open beaches with exquisite views and
river vistas. His admiration for the great
English beauty was unbounded, and he re
called very vividly how she and her impetu
ous lover used to engage in racing contests,
and how she would sweep grandly down the
long avenue with the sunshine gleaming in
her wind-blown hair half a length in ad
vance of her competitor.
The marriage that followed was an unhap
py one, and after frequent quarrels the pair
separated. But no doubt, in after years,
each recalled with sadness and regret the
halcyon days at Altama, where there was
each recalled with sadness and regret the
everything to make life attractive and fas
cinating.
Near the rotting stables we were shown
the old cockpits where some of the biggest
mains that were ever fought in this country
came off. It was often the case that the im
ported birds were pitted against the choicest
American strains, and golden guineas were
wagered against double eagles and Uioas-
ands of dollars changed hands on the re
sults.
From there we wandered down the river
side and looked at the remains of the racing
boats i.n the marsh mud. Mr. Couper called
his plantation “Altama.” which was a short
ening of the name of the broad black river,
the Altamaha, which flowe.. 'through it,
emptying into St. Simon’s sound, now ob
scured by wild tangles oif undergrowth and
thickets of jasmine vines interlaced with
moss, commanded a sweeping view of tha
river and the rice fields beyond. There is a
straight yeach in the river of more than a
mile in length at this point, and it furnished
an ideal racetrack for boating contests.
Many a meeting of the picked crews of tha
wealthy planters occurred there. As wa
gazed on the blackened hulks we could al
most conjure up the spirited scene when half
a dozen boats manned by their brawny
crews, started from the point above and
A SAD BUT TRUE STORY OF THE ULTIMA
THULE OF HUMAN VILLAINY.
Heart=Rending Account of the Wooing of Two Southern
Belles During the War, and Their Desertion ==Truth
Is Sometimes Stranger Than Fiction.
BY A SOUTHERN LADY
Editor Sunny South:
incidents of the late w
most heartless escapade
One of the saddest
ar, and one of the
s perpetrated on in
nocent heads, by the so-called scouts of Mis
sissippi, was the base deception of Josephine
and Louise Randolph, the lovely and accom
plished daughters of Judge Warren Ran
dolph. and dear friends and classmates of
mine.
I can recall to memory oven now their fair
faces and exquisite forms. Josephine was a
brunette and almost regal in her command
ing beauty, her luxuriant hair, raven black,
and lustrous dark eyes, were the admiration
of the whole school, in 'Which she reigned an
acknowledged queen.
Her mental and moral qualifications wore
equal, if not superior, to her external love
liness.
Louise was a blonde of the purest order,
her violet eyes were love’s own treasuri s;
her form was without a blemish: her dispo
sition so guileless in its innocence and purity
that one unconsciously regarded her as
something sacred. Such were Josephine and
Louise Randolph, my intimate friends and
companions.
There had been for some months in this
part of the state a company of scouts com
manded 'by Captain George Dorsett and
Lieutenant James Bradford.
When not engaged in active scouting these
officers made their headquarters at the hos
pitable mansion of Judge Randolph. As a
natural consequence they became deeply m-
(Continued on Page Ten.)
(Continued on Page Ten.)
JUDGE J. A. GARY, OF MARYLAND.
The Southern Member of President-Elect McKinley’s Official Family.
