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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.