The sunny South. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1875-1907, March 15, 1902, Image 5

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THE SUNNY SOUTH FIFTH •PAGE Georgia Soil Produces Many Familiar Life- Giving Medicines By DR R J MASSEY Written for B/>» Sunny South I'MONG the unwritten re sources of Georgia, her medicinal indigenous herbs take a foremost rank. It is wonderful how rich her hills and valleys are with these valuable treasures. Even her “red old hills” and worn-out field's pay vast tribute in this line. It is really interesting to note that from small beginnings some of these medicines have assumed such inter- ui: >nal importance that now they a rc not only proscribed by all I physicians in the United States, but t foremost physicians of the nation's of jv:rope. The administration of them is 1 a precedence over many old and wel'l- II i <1 remedies. Take, for instance, the Jamestown weed, t.ii.'h grows all over Georgia in great I : fusion in her rich lots and fertile fields. T discovery of the use of this as a medicine dates back to the seventeenth futury, when soldi oils at Jamestown, Va., were defending the town against Indians. On one occasion thev became short of v retables, and, having plenty of this vegetable with its large leaves growing around the fort, they experimented with it, giving it the place of cabbage. At 1!uir meal they v partook of it very freHiy. la consequence of which they soon be- , mie drowsy, slept for many hours and woke up perfectly refreshed as though me harm had been done. This so im pressed the surgeon in charge that, he at once adopted th^ use of this weed in his practice where he wished to use an ano dyne, especially in the place of mor phine. During his experiments he soon found that this weed, to a great extent, ■not only took the place of morphine, hut. In a modified manner, was more or 'less an antidote for morphine when taken in too largo quantities. Up to this time, so f ir as we know, this weed had no com mon name, hut thi's occurrence, happening at Jameslown, the doctor, among otherts, gave it the name of “Jamestown weed,” known in common parlance among us Georgia crackers as “jimpson” weed. No where in the world does it grow in more profusion than it does in Georgia. A\ e also note the yellow jessamine, known among the practitioners of medicine as the gclsininum sempeir-virents. This vine grows mo'it abundantly in Georgia, and has become a most valuable medicine. It is also a favorite with the housekee]^ r, on account of its beautiful yellow flow ers, imparting rich perfume to the sur rounding atmosphere and luxuriant foli age. affording pleasant shades. The coast Georgia darky hafs used it for the last hundred years to drive off rats, and can be seen every spring gathering many beautiful wreaths of it for this purpose. The discovery of its medicinal virtues was purely accidental. A Mississippi planter, laboring under an obstinate bilious fever, had tried many remedies, all to no purpose. Wishing to produce a profuse perspi- Discovery ‘ation from a well-known of garden herb, he sent his Jessamine servant out to got some of Medicinal the roots. The roots were Qualities brought in, a strong tea was made according to di rections and the invalid drank freely of it. Soon after this he was attacked with great prostration without stupor. He also had a profuse perspiration, attended with such muscular debility that he could not raise a limb. This condition of affairs remained a short time, when he rallied, fever entirely gone. The patient was so Impressed with the prohipt and efficient manner in which ho was cured from the upon examining the place where the no fever that he began an invefctlgaition, and, gro dug the roots, he found that, instead of his getting his favorite herb, a mis take had been made and the yellow jessa mine root substituted. After 'this he employed this root very often with great success, not only upon his own plantation, but upon those of his neighbor 1 .'. From this it passed into the hands of the regular profession, and has become very popular and very successful. It is a most valuable remedy in fevers of all kinds and grades, neuralgia, fits, etc. It has superseded, to a very great extent, the use, of older and harsher remedies. About the year 1854 Dr. T. W. Norwood, of Cokesbury, S. C., brought prominent ly before the profession the medicinal vir tues of veratrum viride. He claimed for 1t such an arterial depressant as to be a perfect substitute for blood-letting. The experience of the profession for the last forty-five years has so fully sustained all that Dr. Norwood claimed for this remedy that blood-letting has almost entirely been dispensed with and the thumb lancet laid upon the shelf. The hills and dales and fields of Georgia teem with veratrum viride, which has done more to revolution ize the practice of medicine than almost any other discovery. During the spring of 1S50 there settled in Greene county, in the fork of the two rivers. Oconee and Appalachee, a young doctor. Dike every other young M. D., iho felt that, with an old-fashioned pair of saddle bags full of medicine, a bottle of brandy and a lancet, that sickness and sorrow, pain and death should bo no more, especially in his bailiwick. Being thrown nt once into a heavy practice, he found, to his great surprise, that he hadn’t even learned the first step toward Wisdom; that is, that he knew nothing. About the time he was learning this first step he was called to see two negro women, and Was very much puzzled how to treat them. As he was coming from- his patients one day he met the old negro woman nurse •which was kept on- every well-regulated [plantation. She hailed him, saying: “lift's Boh, flow’s dem ar gals?” The young doctor fcald to her: “They are no better, Aunt Rhody.” She said to him: “You ain’t no doctor, nohow, you can’t cure ’em, but I kin." “What do you give them, Aunt Rhody?’ Aunt Rhody says: “I won't tell you, but tomorrow you bring me itwo bottles so long” (meaning about 4 ounces). He did so. She filled them up with a dark, thick fluid, very much of the consistence of Cuba molasses. Her directions were to “give them a teaspoonful four or five times a day.” The directions were faith fully carried out. Within a week the negroes were fully restored. He asked Aunt Rhody what it wais, and she told him it was a strong tea of black haw root hark. This young doctor was so Impressed with the quick manner in which WIFE’S INGENUITY Saves Her Husband. The author of the “Degeneration of Dorothy,” Mr. Franklin Kinse.lla, 22G W. I5th st., New York City, was the victim of a little by-play—but he can best tell it.hf story himself. “I must confess that I have been the victim of an innocent de ception which turned out all Yor the best, however. “I had been resting under the belief, for Borne years, that coffee served as a lubri cant to my Oerebral convolutions, in other words, ‘made the wheels, go round,’ and I had an idea that I could not work with out tt as a stimulant. “1 soon paid the penality in nervousness, loss of flesh, insomnia and restlessness, none of which troubles would yield to any or all medicines. I finally got in rather a bad way and my wife took a hsnd in the affair all unknown to me. She purchased a package of Postum Cof fee and first gave me one-half Postum and one-half coffee. In a little time she had me down to clear Poslurn, and I was none the wiser. “I noticed that I was getting better, my nerves were steadier, and I began to gain flesh and sleep nights. My work was performed far better than in my old condition. “Commenting upon my gTeatily im proved health one morning I was told thie truth. ‘ ’TIs to laugh,’ so I submit ted gracefully and joined the Positum ranks. “Experience teaches that boiling is one- Jialf the game. When the directions are carried out the result will be as fine a cup of rich, fragrant coffee as ever de lighted the senses without ruining tBe nerves.” Dr Lindsay Durham the patients recovered, he ever afterwards used this remedy in such cast*. He im parted the secret to scores of his medical friends, many of whom adopted it; among others, his old classmate, the late eminent surgeon. Dr. Willis F. Westmoreland, of Atlanta, who begged him to give the pub lic, through the medical journals, the ben efit of his experience, which, however, was never done. This valuable remedy was afterwards introduced as an officinal preparation through the writing of Dr. Pharis, of Mf.-sissippi, during the year 1871, twenty-one years after “Aunt Rhody” gave it 'to this young doctor. “Aunt Rhody” says that when a girl, all of fifty years before that, when associat ing with the Indians, she learned the value of this medicine. Today black haw is regarded as being the most valuable anodyne and tonic by certain specialists in the known world, fifty-two years after Aunit Rhody imparted her knowledge to the young Georgia doctor. In the same manner and at the same time Aunt Rhody acquainted this young doctor with the valuable properties of the bark of the cotton root. This was at least twenty years before this article found Its way in the books of the regular practitioner. At this writing, fifty yeans after this incident, thousands of pounds of cotton root bark are being shipped an nually from Georgia to northern and western establi'shmenits to he converted into pharmaceutical products. Tt Is said that “poets are born, not made.” Sometimes, in other departments of life, we feel that probably the force of this remark might refer Doctors to others. For instance. Are why not say sometimes Born, “Some doctors are horn. Not not made.” In this con- Made noetion it might he well to state that during my early professional career, I had the honor of often meeting a moist distinguished medical gerut'ieman, one of the most lea ru ed men Georgia over produced. He was truly scientific, a grand lecturer, and one of the most beautiful word painters that ever graced any profession. He could sit and talk learnedly by the 'hour of %11 of the principles of the arts and sciences, and yet, as a practitioner of medicine, lie was a complete failure. It seemed as though he never really fully appreciated the routine and details of the practice of medicine. lie was wonderfully unfor tunate; his patient's often suffered from this irregularity; so much so that fatality followed in his wake more than that of any other known doctor in the state. He was forced to relinquish active practice, but to the day of his death Geoirgla never had an abler divine or a more interesting lecturer than ha was on scientific sub jects. He ably filled the chair of a pro fessorship in many medical college^.of the south, hut he never could make a prac tical doctor of medicine. While within 20 mile's of‘this able, learn ed divine, .there started In life in Clarke county, a poor Georgia school teachor. a Mr. Dindsay Durham, who, when he mar ried, .possessed nothing in the world hut a Georgia mule. After marriage he brought his wife a distance of 4 miles on the back of this mule to a rented farm. With out ever attending a lecture, and with very little training this man became one of the best known and most successful doctors that ever lived In Georgia. He was a natural-born doctor. Ho met a Dr. William's, who had gained a great deal of information concerning the indigenous herbs of Georgia from the Indians. About this time this young married man was taken sick. Dr. Williams was his physi cian. From this a lifetime intimacy sprang tip between them. This young man’s attention drawn to the practice of medicine, and especially ti> the efficacy of the medicinal herbs of Georgia, wais in duced by Dr. William's to stay with him and learn to practice. He did so. He always gathered his own herbs and pre pared them himself. His wife was to him a true helpmeet. She assisted him In his new enterprise in every way. Her special province was to make his pills. Then there were no pill machines, and all pills had to he made by hand. Hence pill making In the coun try doctor’s office, and especially his, was an important department. This young doctor developed Into a very successful practitioner. His fame soon extended far beyond his Immediate neighborhood and patients flocked to him for hundreds of miles. He began to prosper in finances, so much so that he soon bought the place that he rented when he was first married. He added to it many hundreds of acre's. He gave undivided attention to the In digenous herbs and brought prominently before the profession at least twenty dif ferent herl>s, all of them very valuable, thait now find place In Ihe physician’s office. It Is wonderful to relate, without chemicals or a chemical apparatus, this country doctor developed in knowledge and proficiency concerning the secretions of the body that scarcely the present sci entist, with all hits improved parapherna lia. has acquired. I remember distinctly, when a boy, I visited this old gentleman with my father when there were patients there that day from South Carolina. Ala bama and Mississippi. The old gentle man never measured or weighed a medi cine. His experienced eye and educated fingers served to dish out the remedies successfully. Before his death he pos sessed many slaves and many broad acres. Once during a nanic among the banks of Georgia he helped the Athens bank from utter failure by a loan of a large amount of money which had accu mulated from the dally recicpts of his practice. ▲bout the time Dr. Durham commenced the practice of medicine bilious fever and otherinflammatory diseases raged very ex tensively in middle Geor- The New gia. and it was the cus- System tom of the regular prac- Oppesed tltioner to meet those to diseases with the most The Old heroic remedies, such as bleeding, vomiting, purg ing, blistering, etc., to suclf an extent that if the patient was alive at the end of a week he was vtry much reduced in strength. Dr. Durham, with his vege table tonics and alteratives and general builders-up of the system, would he ca'led in and soon restore the patient to strength and activity. This circumstance contributed largely to the popularity of the doctor. He was known to build up so many patients whose systems seemed to be wrecked from the treatment so heroic by the ordinary physician. It has been erroneously stated that he adopted to a large extent the theories of the botanic school, when the facts in the case are that he really was the in- ciplency of the botanic school. Dr. Bind- say Durham hal been in the practice twenty years and was known for many states around when the botanic school was void and without form. The begin ning of the botanic practice originated with a certain Dr. Thomson, who gave much attention to this line of drugs and issued a small book, to which lie had a patent right. lie would sell his book and the right to practice medicine accord ing to the Principles laid down in this book for $20. I remember myself, when a hoy, that an old neighbor bought this book and start ?d to practice medicine. He was a farmer. In the morning he would go out to plow with an old-fashioned pair of traveling saddlebags full of roots and “> arbs.” and there the old man would plow till somebody would come after the doctor. He would jump on his plow horse bareback and go to see the patient and administer according to Dr. Thom son. Within two or three years after this “ready-made doctor” lost so many patients ho quit in disgust and went back to the plow handles. With the ex ception of anoth-r old man. this was the end of this form of Thomsonianism In middle Georgia. This second old man read Dr. Thomson's book and digested i's thoroughly. One of I)ir. Thomson’s pet theories was that heat was life and cold was diath; that the more heat you infused into a man we pects for t-is living, kept a “piggin” of hi himself to drink all had cayenne pepper in ' had his corn bread Once upon a time one ol got sick and he consul] Thomsen said give he’i of cayenne Topper, and . the better pros- much so that he pepper tea for time. He also 1 his foods, even ed up with it. •his negro women sd Dr. Thomson. tablespoonful his old man did so, and for many hours there was “music 1 he negro Indians in middle In that part of the t! woman got well. and* this old man re nounced this practlce f of medicine, but as long as he liveiT lie clung to his hot pepper tea. < Dr. Durham subscribed to no such foolishness as the above, while without regular medical training he was thor oughly practical in eve’ty way, and now, forty years after his 'Aef.th. the regular profession through-out tjie whole United States has adopted scoring of his remedies. These remedies he got fjgbm Dr. Williams, who got them from the ' Georgia. , After the vagaries of the Thomsonlan system fell to pieces fbv virtue of its own inconsistencies, some good and strong men, impressed $y the legacy left them by Dr. Lh.dsay Durham, adopted >the botanic system of rnedicine, and from this has eventually anil gradually evolut- ed the present rapidbl growing eclectic school of medicine. I state one other fket in connection vlth the Georgia roots and herbs: While I give Dr. J. Marlon Sims, formerly of Alabama, full credit for bringing into active use the valuable remedy known as succus alterans. I am going to state a fact not generally known, that there is being manufactured in Georgia a pro prietary medicine almost identical in composition and proportions to the suc- eus alterans. This fact has probably never been made public before, and I give this history of it: that in 1870 the proprietor proposed to myself while in the drug business to manufacture it for him. He disclosed to me its composition. Certain circumstances prevented my man ufacturing it. and I was very much in terested in finding with a slight excep tion it almost the same as Dr. Sims’ preparation which he found in Alabama. This middle Georgian obtained the recipe from an old negto doctor, who got it from the Creek Indians seventy-five years ago. Vll of the herbs composing it grow in profusion in Georgia and are gathered by the hundreds of tints from the hills and valleys of Georgia. The proprietors have established Important depots In Eng land. France and Canada, where hundreds of thousands of dollars of this remedy are sold made from the roots and herbs gathered in Georgia. Time'Yellowed Record Explains Origin of "Hard-tShell” Baptist Church When Morgan Captured Troops Sent to Hang His Command By JOHN F BEATTY Written for Sunny youth N 18fi2 Morgan’s command operated in Tennessee. Whenever a ’ small force of federals became sepa rated from the main body Morgan, with his regiment (he was only a colonel then) would charge the pickets and capture the outfit. This occurred so frequently that a Colonel Johnson was sent with a crack regiment expressly to capture Morgan and his command. We learned this fact from a few of Johnson’s men we had captured while they were out foraging. Colonel Morgan and Captain Boh Alston, now of Atlanta (later lieutenant colonel), and the other officers of the regiment made an appeal to the men to do all they could to surprise and capture Colonel Johnson and his regiment. There was not a private in the ranks but became enthused with the idea, and officers and men had the one object in view, viz: the capture of Johnson's regiment. The opportunity to test the valor of each regiment soon offered itself. Colo nel Johnson with his crack regiment rode into Gallatin, Tenn., with pennants fly ing, cartridge boxes full, carbines glis tening in the sun and boasted that he had "come to capture and hang that guer rilla, Morgan.” Johnson reached Gallatin about 5 o'clock in the afternoon of a sweet May day. Hardly had his troopers unsaddled their horses when Morgan, who was en camped a few miles away, heard the news. The people were our friends and Johnson's enemies. Early the next morn ing our command was on the mpve for Gallatin. We charged and captured the enemy’s picket and ail thought we would get the whole force easily. But not so. Colonel .I thnson was a bra ve man. We had been so quick and silent in our movements that we had partially sur prised him. and he came from his head quarters buckling on his sword, and gave orders at once for battle. As a general thing Morgan attacked a smaller force than his own, and with a larger force and surprising the enemy, we nearly always whipped the fight. In our light with Colonel Johnson, how ever, the forces were about equal. But we had a decided advantage in being the attacking party, and as I said, par tially surprised them. But, although they fought like demons, we finally de feated them. Do you ask if we felt elated? Yes, we did feel proud of our dearly bought vic tory, but our hearts went out in sym pathy, too, foi; those whom we had whip ped. and parolled. After the boast they had made of capturing and hanging Mor gan and his men, they seemed deeply mortified to surrender to us. They seem ed doubly hurt when we took posses sion of their fresh horses and new outfit of side arms, blankets, and in fact every thing they had except the clothes they wore. After parolling them wc rode away to Dresden, Tenn., singing: “Have you heard of the gallant affray Where Morgan whipped Johnson, the peo ple all say? It commenced at 8 and lasted till 2, When the yanks ran away with the red, white and blue. CHORUS. “HurralX Hurrah! We’re the nation they dread; Three cheers for Jack Morgan and the southern confed.” Secretary Hay O, tHe Federal At tempt to Pacify Florida By V P SISSON By HENRY F BEAUMONT Written for Gibe Sunny South ERE accident recently brought to light a most in teresting find, and one which at the same time does not lack an historical Importance. It Is a time- yellowed, but well pre served copy of the min utes of the meeting of the Baptist association which was held in Greene coun ty, Tennessee, In Septem ber, 1839, and it relates, in words entirely too brief, the story of the dissension which arose then, causing the formation of the branch of the original Baptist church known as “Hardshell Baptists.” Throughout east Tennessee Colonel Boh Sammons is known by reason of ♦ he interest which he takes in any thing of antiquarian or historical In terest, and for him to obtain a rare lot of autographs, valuable papers or old hooks Is not an Infrequent thing, because he is recognized as an authority on such. A few days ago a countryman, whose name is unknown, approached him and asked what he would pay for “this,” ex tending the article toward Colonel "Bob.” It was but a few minutes before a dollar had changed hands, for “this” was the same valuable pamphlet which this arti cle Is written about. It is but a two-leaved. four-paged pamphlet, 3 by G in size, printed in the phraseology of that day, nearly sixty- three years ago. and with type some what different from that used by Be Mergenthaler, but at the same time is in an excellent state of preservation a nd every word of it can be deciphered. The heading and introductory are as fol lows; “MINUTES OF THE OBD SCHOOB NOBACTIUCKY BAPTIST ASSO CIATION. “Proceedings of the twelfth anniver sary of the Old School Nolachucky Bap tist Association, held at Concord meet ing house, in the woods, Greene county, east Tennessee, on the fourth Friday in September, 1839, and following days. In troductory, by Elder Jeremiah Hale, from Nahum, 1, 7. “1. '.\ie association proceeded in the usual order and read the letters. The institutionist side nominated a moderator and clerk and violently rushed into the stand, over the head of the old moderator, and commenced reading their letters again, and we retired to the woods and proceeded to our business there. "2. Read letters from thirteen churches. Two not having letters were represented by delegates, and the following accounts taken, etc.” In those few words are traced the hard feelings, the wrath, the diverging opin ions, the obstinacy of thought, which caused a certain faction of the original Baptist church to cleave apart from the parent body and organize as the “Hard shell Baptist” church. This was the dis sension which culminated in the with drawal of the Hardshell Baptists, of whom there are only a few now in Ten nessee, only a half dozen or so churches, from the Baptist church, strictly speak ing, and more properly speaking, from tlie larger part of the chureh. the “mis sionaries,” and the subsequent downfall of the “Hardshells.” The point at Issue between the two factions was “missions and theological seminaries.” The “Hardshells” did not believe in ei^ier; the missionaries, as the name Implies, did—hence the rupture which was never healed. The delegates who were present at the meeting are all recorded. The full list is as follows: County Bine—Nathan Gray and Wilson Oliver. Bent Creek—William Anderson, P. A. Witt, J. Witt and T. Horner. Antioch—A. Hill and William Denton. Union—Better and no delegate. Sulphur Spring—George Johnson and William Brown. New Prospect—John B. Oliver and Hill- yard Bird. Robertson’s Creek—Francis Walker am Thomas Roberts. Slate Creek—T. Smith, J. Buckner, D. Hurly and S. Smith. Concord—C. Haun, N. Dunagan, Join McMillan and Elisha Bong. Bong Creek—James Allison and Martin Allison. Friendship—Henry Randolph, Daniel Witt, George Crosby, Thomas Hicky and William Vinyard. Big Pigeon—Thomas II111, Jeremiah Mc Coy and T. Sisk. The fourth paragraph says: “Received a corresponding letter from the Old School Tennessee Baptist Asso ciation by the hands of its delegates, Humphrey Mount, Sr., and Humphrey Mount, Jr., and Obediah Gibbs, who took their seats with us, and our association coming on again before theirs, we ap pointed no delegates to it." And so on for nine more paragraphs the minutes are devoted to the regular routine of convention business, such as appointing messengers, writing letters, hearing reports, selecting “David Boude- back to preach the next introductory ser mon and in case of fqilure, William White,” and ordering 500 copies of the minutes to be printed. The last para graph reads: “13. Adjourned with prayer by Brother David B. Shackleford to the time and place above named. “(Signed) HENRY RANDOBPH, “Moderator. “PLEASANT A. WITT, Clerk.” The time and place selected for the next meeting was "Friendship meeting house, Jefferson county, to commence Friday before the first Sunday in Octo ber, 1810. But the most interesting part of the ancient old “minutes” is the last, but longest; it is self-explanatory and is given in part: “Reasons for declaring a non-fellow ship with tlie institutions of the day, falsely called benevolent, viz: Baptist state conventions, tract Reasons and missionary societies. Given Sunday school unions, For theological seminaries, tHe home, missionary and ab- Break olition societies and trib utary branches to the present plan of missionary operation now in use in the United States.” 1. One article of the constitution of all Baptist churches reads thus: “We believe the Scripture of the Old and New Testament is the word of God, anil the only rule of faith and practice. We find neither precept nor example in the word of God by which the institu tions are supported. “2. We are directed in II Corinthians G and 7 not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers, and by reference to their own documents we think all will see that the society system, introduced and carried forward, is a practice diametri cally opposed and in violation of that passage of sacred writ. » * • “3. We believe that theological semi naries are calculated to aid and. abet in the corruption of the church by offer ing an inducement to designing charac ters to seek after and obtain the ad vantages to be derived from same. And through their Influence as false teachers corrupt the church, of whom the Bord made us bewart?. * * • "4. Our Bord, in His Infinite wisdom, placed the light on the candlestick (or church) and we are bound to believe that it is a more advantageous station, and conspicuous, than the temperance society, which is an amalgamation of professor and world and Christian and drunkard. Anil to say it is not is degrad ing to the divine character and a direct reflection on His infinite wisdom. “5. And thus is fulfilled that prophetic passage which says: ‘And through cov etousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you.’ “6. The introducing and advocating of the society has been the source of much trouble and distress to the people of God.” Seventh and last, but not least: “The fact does exist that in the north ern section of the United States there is a direct connection existing between the society system Baptists and the abo litionists. Now, if there are four out of five of the northern Baptists abolitionists, is it not obvious that they control gome of the most important societies with which the southern Baptists are united, and for which they are going such lengths to support? And is it not also obvious that the money drawn from the pockets of the southern people through the me dium of the triennial convention and otherwise under color of sending the gospel, etc., goes directly Into the pock ets and for the support of those whose aim seems to be to undermine the very pillars of the constitution?” Then there follows a volley of Scrip tural quotations, concluded by the words: "If you will not believe from these pas sages that we are justifiable in what we have done, we say would you believe though one arose from the dead?” So the story of a schism in a great church is told. For the first few years after the formation of the “Haedshell Baptist” church it prospered and grew, hut it was founded upon a charter possi ble only for a retrogressive people, not a progressive one, and it has been growing weaker fast and faster. It is only a matter of a few short years before the mother church will reclaim its own. Just within the last week an old and well established church of the “Hardshell' type in this city was absorbed by its parent. The discovery of this little pamphlet has excited a good deal of interest among two classes, those interested from an historical standpoint and those from a religious standpoint, and many efforts have been made to obtain possession of It by means of purchase, but Colonel Sam mons had sold it to a gentleman who valued it too highly to part with it for ordinary compensation and the plan to have a second or souvenir edition of it printed by the church will doubtless fail. Some Historical Facts as to Real Invention of tHe Cotton Gin Written for Ghe Sunny South T HE recent address of Secretary Hay in the halls of congress on the occa sion of the McKiniey memorial re calls an incident in confederate history. The address was beautiful almost to classic, candid and fair in its allusions to the south, where it has met generous appreciation. I spent .on afternoon here with Colonel George W. Scott at his winter residence. He had just finished a perusal of Mr. Hay’s address and It seemed to have aroused in him a reminiscent mood. Bike a flash of lightning through his brain ran the stirring events of a distant past. I 'hope to violate none of the proprieties if I recount some facts given to me In his modest, careless wav. with never a thought of their appearing in public print. Colonel Scott’s legions of friends In Atlanta, accustomed to seeing him pass to and fro amor.g men In such a quiet and unobtrusive way as to attract little attention, are not aware that in tho sixties he was the gallant commander of a confederate regiment on the coast of Florida. That was forty years ago. At the memories of these days the colonel’s eyes sparkled and flashed as If IB Ing over again a period in his life when young blood ran rampant through his veins, and he was aulek In response to the demands of duty as he saw it. Of that duty to his section I give but one Incident, brought to the front by Secre tary Hay’s address. In the command of his regiment on the Florida coast Colonel Scott was co- temporaneous with Generals Colquitt, Howell Cobb, Finnegan and Montgomery Gardner. In the shifting of commanders and troops, it so happened at one time Colonel Scott was in command of a large part of the Florida coast. And if he did not exactly capture Secretary Hay, he got possession of some interesting of ficial documents that gentleman aban doned In his precipitate flight to escape personal capture as a prisoner of war. In nis humorous wav. and modest in every sentence. Colonel Scott recites that a federal force had been sent to drive the c >nfederates out of Florida, and to restore that state to Its place in the union. It had been thought at Wash ington that the scheme was plausible and easy of accomplishment. It appears that President Bipcoln sent along with the military expedition our present secre tary of state, then plain John Hay, a trusty young man of ability and private secretary to the president. He was made the custodian of carefully prepared of ficial documents designed for use In the restoration of Florida to her 'status in the union. The papers embraced an address to the proffering such aid and comfort from Iho military and the government at Washington as the situation would war rant. This, of course, to become effective after the federal force had obliterated all confederate authority and obstructions. But the expedition was not successful. The confederates had contrary views. The advance movement was iriven back anil defeated. Secretary Hay was along to discharge the duties assigned to him, anil no doubt would have done so faith fully, but the oppertunitv did not ma terialize. It was a beautiful sentiment on paper, that hearing olive branches of peace in the' wake of artillery and the tread of battalions, but men are not always accord in sentiment, and there v ere rude confederates then and there. Seeretary Hay’s official paper fell into their hands and afforded Colonel Scott much amusement when he found time for their perusal. He kept his spurs hot in driving hack the invader, hut they were fleet of foot in their exit, and the secretary escaped with them, but his papers did not. General Guy Henry, latterly conspicuous in the Spanish war, was in the federal force and made a gal lant efTort to accomplish President Blti- coln’s design, but the confederates could not at that time consent for Florida to take such a step. The two men personal to this incident are now full of years and honors. One, being on the winning side, has occupied a larger space in the public eye and has rendered his country distinguished serv ice at home and abroad. The other grace fully yielded to the pitiless logic of the heaviest artillery, and if not conspicuous in public life, bears a record rich in all that constitutes true greatness—success ful in all things—a true gentleman—sans puer et sans reprcche! Should Secretary Hav find It conve nient to visit Florida again, here at Clear Water he would find a warm wel come at the palatial winter home of Colo nel Scott and royal entertainment. The evolution of time brings us peculiar con ditions. The confederate has no apolo gies to make, but Is content under the one flag and will vie with any in his assertions of loyalty to ,it. A distin guished member of the mresident’s cabi net, whose service was rm the opposite and victorious side, in al public address concedes to the confederate a conscien tious performance of dutand the cour age he displayed to beccjrne a rich herit age of American valor! Clear Water. Fla. POSITIONS! <t e P«*Iy[money m bank till fvwiiiwnoi position is secried or give notes. Car tarepaid. Cheap board. Sen diorlSO-p Catalogue. 'd ritce) .« rr '^ la . bama an<J W'hUehJUl Atlanta; Nash- Montgomery)’ uttle Rock, Fort VVorth. Galveston and Shrleveport. Indorsed by business men from Maine 'to Cal. The most p r actlcal and pro ( 'iicssive schools of ,n the world. We eakpend more money . . colleM^v-fV 0118 than moat,| any one business people requiring a return to loyalty and hawk taaght‘by'matU'^ okke * pn *' short ‘ ' t! By HENRY P MOORE Written for CAc Sunny South HE invention which pro duced the greatest revolu tion known to history in agriculture, in manufac tures and in commerce was that of the cotton gin. The greatest stimulus to the world’s progress was cre ated by the cotton gin. England and the continent of Europe flourished under Us influence as they had never flourished before; the wilds of America were transformed by it and a pathless wilder ness became, as if by magic, fields of fruitfulness, blooming gardens and popu lous cities that rivalled the proudest cap itals of the old world in wealth, power and magnificence. The direct result of |his simple machine was to render a com modity hitherto but little utilized readily merchantable and almost in a twinkling it became king of the world's commerce and finance. Hence it becomes a very who resided at Augusta, called to pay their respects to Mrs. Greene, and during the course of conversation the fact was mentioned that agriculture would be very profitable if some one would invest a, machine for cleaning cotton. Thus the matter was brought to Whitney’s atten tion. Subsequently Mrs. Greene married I’hineas Miller, and they, accompanied by Whitney, moved to Augusta, where Miller anif Whitney associated with them Cap tain James. Toole, the firm becoming Mil ler, Whitney & Toole. They purchased two tracts of land on Rocky creek, in Richmond county, from Thomas and Mary Glascock, September 23, 1S07, now known as the Phinizy place, and estab- lished their gin factory. A patent had been issued to Eli Whitney March 14, 1794, signed by George Washington, president; Edmund Randolph, secretary of state, and \\ illi.im Bradford, attorney general. Sub sequently Whitney returned to Connecti cut, leaving his partner, Miller, to look after his interests in the south, while he established the Whitney Arms Company at Whitneyville, Conn. Toole seemed to have dropped out of the concern for we hear no more of him. Whitney died at important question, who Invented the cot- j Now Haven January 8, 1825, leaving ton gin, and one that has not received the consideration from historians that it deserves. The great Macaulay appreciated the marvelous results of the invention and expatiates at length upon its beneficial effects upon the civilization of his time. But he seems to have treated with un wonted neglect its authorship, and ac cepted, contrary to his usual custom, the common version without investigation. In all the histories of the United States that it has been my privilege to read, in all tho 'histories of Georgia, while noticing the fact that Whitney's claim was con tested for a period extending more than a generation, neither the grounds for the litigation nor the ’circumstances attending nor the name of the unsuccessful claim ant appear in their pages, and although Georgia did not escape the charge of in gratitude in the doubtful Issue of the causes tried in this state, there is no defense set up. Eli Whitney, according to the best ac counts obtainable, produced the first de vice for separating lint cotton from the seed. His machine proved, after testing it. to be impractical. It consisted of a cylinder into which annular rows of spikes were driven, revolving so as to pan the spikes through intervals between wires which formed the breast of the gin. Eli Whitney was born at Westborough, •lass.. December S, 1765. He was a nail- smith by trade and during the revolution ary war, when nails were in demand and wages remunerative, he managed to save enough money to take him through Yale college. General Nathaniel Greene, prior to the war, had been an anchorsmith at Providence, and it is quite likely, in the light of subsequent events, that the two had been thrown together. At any rate, so It is related, as the widow of General Greene was returning from a visit to Providence, her old home, to Savannah, she chanced to meet on shipboard young Whitney, who, ostensibly, was coming to Georgia to enjer a private family as tu tor. He also proposed, it is said, to em ploy his spare time In studying law. Be ing disappointed in his expected engage ment. he accepted the Invitation of Mrs. Greene to accompany her to her planta tion—Mulberry grove, a few miles up the Savannah river. The production of cotton was then in Its infancy. There was no way of sepa rating the lint from the seed except by hand, which was a very tedious process. A good day’s task for a negro was 4 pounds of lint cot ton. Under these circum stances it is obvious that growing cotton could not be very lucrative. Hence it was not en gaged in extensively. About this time Colonel Robert For sythe, the father of John Forsythe, the noted statesman, and Majors Pendleton and Brewer, comrades of General Greene, Cotton Industry Was in Its Infancy. large estate. A handsome monument was erected to his memory, which was un veiled with elaborate exercises, the dis tinguished United States senator. Charles Sumner, delivering the eulogy. Hodgen Holmes, the inventor of the saw gin, the same that is in use at the present day. nnd for which no substitute has ever been found, was Hodgen a Scotchman by birth, but Holmes when quite young he went Inventor with his father to live at of Gfte Cork, Ireland, where the Saw Gin. elder Holmes acquired a bleach-green and engaged in the manufacture of linen. Robert Holmes wished Hodgen to marry contrary to his inclinations. consequ«ntly he left home and set out for the New World. He finally settled in Augusta, where he purchased from Thomas and Ann Cum mins 1 acre of land in the city, fronting on Reynolds, Houston and Bay streets, March 20, 1804, as shown by the records of Richmond county. His will, duly at tested and recorded, shows that he also pwned several pieces of country property and some negroes. He married Elizabeth Hill, of Columbia county, Georgia. He died in 1S01, leaving a widow nnd one daughter, Margaret McCleary Holmes, who married Dr. William Cloud, of Ches ter, S. C. From this marriage there sprang the following: Mrs. J. R. Aiken, Mrs. Samuel Dubose, Mrs Elias Earle. Mrs. R. B. Boyleston, Mrs. William Cal houn, Miss E. R. Cloud—names that will be recognized as among the most promi nent in that aristocratic state. Mr. John Hill, of Macon, brother of Mrs. Hodgen Holmes, was the grandfather of Mrs. Senator A. O. Bacon. On May 12, 1796, letters patent were Is sued to Hodgen Holmes, signed by George Washington, president; Timothy Picker ing. secretary of state, and Charles Bee, attorney general, “for a new and useful improvement, to-wit: new machinery called the cotton gin.” The improvement consisted of “the cylinder, from 8 to 14 inches in diameter, and 6 feet long, with one row of teeth to I inch, which runs on two iron gudgeons,” etc. It was attested by W. Urquhart and Seaborn Jones, both well known citizens of Richmond county, prominent In the revolutionary period, and men whose numerous descendants stand high in the affairs of the state to this day. This patent is still In existence and Is in the possession of Mrs. S. A. Boyleston. Hodgen Holmes, having received his early training in his father’s linen fac tory, it is but natural that he should have acquired a taste for textile manu facturing, and that the knowledge ac quired from the manipulation of the fiber of flax Should have suggested the Idea of the saw gin, the machine which fulfilled the south’s greatest requirement. It Is equally natural that Whitney, schooled in the calling of making nails for a liveli hood, should have bit upon the device of spikes driven into the cylinder instead of teeth or revolving saws. The patent office at Wushington was destroyed by fire in 1S36 and all the models and drawings lost, including Whitney’s. But for a certified copy of the original specification on file at the United States court house in Savannah, there would be no data concerning them in existence. The patent office authorities appropriated $100,- 000 toward the recovery of the originals, but failed to obtain Whitney’s. But in 1841 there was filed, instead, an entirely different set of specifications, dif fering materially from the original and showing the complete Duplicate working of a saw gin. The Drawings draughtsman that execut- Etxtiwely ed the substituted copy Different was evidently ignorant of from Old. the modus operand! of the gin for he put the crank °n the brush shaft instead of the cylin der shaft. There were twenty-seven suits brought by Miller and Whitney in the United States court at Savannah for infringe ment of patent, in most of which they were unsuccessful. Among the defendants are found the familiar names in the early history of Georgia, Ignatius Few and AVil- Iiam Few, Arthur Fort and John Powell. Holmes was not a party to any of the litigation, although a certified copy of his patent was introduced as evidence, and v ha t the defense mainly relied upon was the fact that Holmes, not Whitney, in vented the saw gin. Whitney wrote from New Haven to Josiah Stebbins, asking his depositions to the effect that fourteen years before “he (Whitney) repeatedly tofd him that he originally contemplated making a whole row of teeth from one plate or piece of sheet iron." Whitnev writes in the same letter: “I have a set of the most depraved villains to combat and I might almost as well go to hell in search of happiness as apply to a Georgia court for justice.” AY. B. Seabrook. president of the South Carolina Agricultural Society, in a work on cotton, published in 1S44. speaks of a Holmes saw gin used by Captain James Kincaid on Mill creek, near AVinston, Fairfield county. South Carolina, in 1795. and says “it is reported to have been the first saw gin used in that state.” Tt is related that Holmes and Kincaid were fast friends, both being Scotchmen by birth. On one occasion Kincaid chanced to visit Hamburg, opposite Augusta, where he traded, and where he met Holmes. Holmes induced him to take his gin home with 'him and test its merits nnd at the same time cautioning him to be careful lest the secret of the mechan ism be discovered and utilized by others. When the gin was set up in Kincaid’s mill and tested it was found to work satisfactorily. Shortly afterwards Kincaid had business in Charleston and left the mill key with his -wife with the injunc tion to let no one enter it. On his re turn, to his great consternation, he learned that a young man on horseback had asked for and obtained permission to Inspect the mill and had spent some time In examining the new machine. He realized instantly that the young man was no other than EH Whitney and that the damage wrought upon hlmsglf and his friend tvas irreparable. The old mill, and with it the gin, was destroyed in 1865 by Sherman's army. The shaft of the gin was sent to Macon to be exhibited at the first state fair held after the war, and was in some way lost. There is a story told of Whitney’s gin that emanates from Wilkes county* Geor gia, and which bears a striking resem blance to the foregoing. In 1793 Phineas Miller purchased a plantation on Upton creek. 9 miles southeast from Wasrtiinsyon. on which there is a fine water power, and set up one of the Whitney gins. Many visitors were attracted thither to witness the performance of the wonderful ma chine, but only women were admitted, as a patent 'had not been granted. Nathan Byons donned a suit of tils wife’s clothes, gained admittance, and being a tolerably Continued on etghtn pmgo