Newspaper Page Text
:
m-
Gazette.
il.OO PER ANNUM.
TIPTON, BERRIEN CO., GEORGIA, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1895.
VOL. 5-NO. 21
THROUGH GEORGIA.
Editor W. M. Brenton, of the .Mil
ford, (Indiana), Mail, will be pleas
antly remembered by his many ac
quaintances made in (Georgia during
his trip through the state'. After his
!' return he writes very entertainingly
and enthusiastically of his tour. He
is a close observer, speaks straight
forwardly and candidly,neither exag
gerates or depreciates, but gives
things just as foe finds them. Al
together, his account is one of the
fairest, plainest and most impartial
of any recently read.
After visiting Chattanooga, Mis
sion Ridge, Lookout Mountain and
other places sacred to a soldiers’
l memory, he has this to say of South
Georgia:
the fruit land. It is now covered
with numberless pine trees, growing
grown and makes a fair crop—up to; farmed. It will cost on an average
55 bit. to the acre. A bale of Sea close to *10 per acre to clear and!
THE FITZGERALD COLONY.
They are Arriving in Wilcox ami
Irwin Counties.
out of the wire grass: there is no un- ’Island cotton to the acre is grown, [stump the 1 laud. Budded Elberta
derbnsh Alone the creeks crow and much of it is produced.; peach trees cost at the local nurseries
v o ® ‘ I* I Correspondent 8av. News.
narrow belts of cypress, gum and ! Peanuts are a prolific crop, and ftir- - about $50 per 1,000. Building lnm Aiiukvijae, Aug. 31--Only a few
popular, with an occasional magnolia, j nish an excellent fattening food for 1 her, such as dressed siding &c (hard j o{ thu c0 } 011 j fits w j l0 ’ are t0 be located
and a fringe of small bushes. The
only waste land is the wet ground
along these running creeks—and
these wet strips are usually not more
than 20 to 50 feet wide, and can eas
ily be drained. The big alligator-in
hogs. Upland rice does well, and; yellow pine—there is no other) cost
nearly every farm shows some: also $8 to $11 per 1,000. The colonist
oats. Field peas aie extensively pro- need not count the timber on his
duced, as an excellent forage for] land as worth one copper cent, unless
stock. The district can beat most j lie uses it to build a log shack to live cou ] t |
sections m tobacco production,though j in: for the operators, of the immense
fested swamps of which piore or less j but little attention is given to it: and ■ local lumber mills already own tlious-; oagt ]|( - )rtion o{ Wilcox amfth'e north-
lias been published hereabouts, are j Michigan must here accept a hotjands of acres of timber-laud, andi ern portion of Irwin. Some twenty
simply not there—in all our riding competitor in potato-growing, as must they’re not buying logs or custom- m il es south of Abbeville.
New Jersey in the growing, of Jer- sawing. Furthermore, there is com- i In this section cverv comer can b
in Wilcox and Irwin counties are
here. Sonic of them are at present
in Abbeville and others are else
where in the country wherever they
j couiu secure houses. The colony
will be located in the extreme south-
across-country we saw no swamp
half as large as the little slough at sev sweet potatoes; both being of fine
the south end of Milford’s Main quality and very prolific. By reason
street. | of its equable and,mikl climate it is a
The soil is a sort of loam-nml-saud 1 fine stock country—though candor
mixture, thickly sown, like a plum j compels the statement that the native
bred out mid
Leaving Macon at 10:40 a. m. via j pudding, with small red pebbles stock is poor stuff-
the Georgia Southern & Florida Rv., ’ about the size of buckshot. This sur- j small, both cattle and hogs.
•we started for Tifton—105 miles due j f ace s0l i ; s about a foot deep and is 1 This section of Georgia is a beauti-
south. All along the country is a underlaid by a red clay subsoil. It]ful contry, a fine and fertile country
can no
parative little mill timber to thej plcMeil> If he prefers to settle upon
acre. In 100 trees, probably not| ;l hiU) the hi]1 is liert . t0 grcot him.
more than a dozen or tilteen are null , f ho prc{o ,. s gent , Cj rolling laud8 , ho
If lie wants high,
timber: (he rest are too small
they may be 100 feet tall
animals and tools cost about the same
as here.
though w ;jj be j,i oa8Ct i.
baim, Jove! land, lie will find hundreds of
acres. If he wishes low lands along
lever-flowing creeks, lie will find it
The colonist who expects to sue- j awaiting him , The | all( , o( this
succession of low ridges, on which
grew cotton, corn, field-peas, peanuts
and vegetables, with an occasional
peach, pear or plum orchard, and
now and then a field of watermelons:
but between these cultivated and en
closed lands are long strethes of open,
unfenced pine forest, with big lum
ber mills and turpentine stills. At
1:05 we passed Cordele, in Dooly
county, where Milford contingent of
colonists will probably disembark to
go via the 8. A. M Ry., to Abbeville
(30 miles east) to reach the colony
lauds. Going on south we passed
Cycloneta, where the G. 8. & F.
ly, maintains a model farm of
wt 1000 acres; and, a little below,
“Little Pennsylvania,” a settlement
is by, reason of its porosity very eas
ily cultivated: a settler from Pcnsyl-
vania-informs us that he could culti
vate three acres of it as easily as one
acre in the North. The lands are
well watered, and the rainfall is
abundant. Drinking water is pure
freestone, and always soft.
The climate is healthy—yellow fe
ver never exhists there on account of
the altitude, and the air is peculiarly
beneficial to victims of lung diseases.
The weather is a happy disappoint
ment to Northernmen, who have
generally believed that a Georgia
summer is “rotten hot.” At no time
did the writer feel the August heat
more in Georgia than here in Indiana.
Nearly all the day there is a gentle
cessfully take a fruit farm there,
of immigrants from the Keystone cooling breeze, and the nights are in
.State, who within less than two years variably cool and pleasant for sleep
ing. About the only difference be
tween the Northern and Southern
summer is that in the South there’s
more of it— it lasts longer at both
ends. The weather is always lit for
out-door farm work.
As to products: South Georgia is
a Fruit and Vegetable Country, first,
last and all the tune. Foi this there
have worked wonders in the pine-
woods land: arriving at Tifton at
'2:30 p. m.—the center of the South
Georgia pcacli growing section. Mak
ing Tifton our headquarters, for sev
eral days we put in the time from
morning till night driving over the
country—right through the woods:
and we saw many things remarkable
to "the northern eye. j is not its equal on earth. I t is not a
The soldier’s Colony lands are loca- j wheat country, nor is clover or timo-
ted in-southeast Wilcox and north thv grown. Fruits—peaches, pears,
I Irwin counties. They lie about 80
milesmortheast of Tifton—22 miles of
t ick is traversed by Capt. Tift’s
ibe-r railroad, whence the colony
(lands are easily accessible. For the
(benefit of Milforoians who are pvos-
(pecti-ve Georgia emigrants, a descrip
tion of the Georgia fruit-growing re
gion -is hero attempted. It will nooes-
plums and grapes—grow with won
derful rapidity, and their productive
ness, is almost beyond belief. Its
fruits are not equalled anywhere.
Judge them by results: bearing in
mind that -the fruit growing industry
off that section is only four years old:
this season, near Tifton, <•). M. Tift
had 500 peach trees, two yea# old,
|sarily he brief, but it will convey that yielded 047 crates of peaches
which sold for an average of -82 per
orate. From 30 threadsar old trees
over 100 orates of peaches were pick
ed; from a 3-year-old 25-acre vine
yard 80,000 pounds of grapes were
at the south Georgia fruit belt is| shipped, netting 3c. per pound, and
neb larger than is generally under-1 20,000 pounds were made into wine.
hereabouts. Reginning below One'6-year-old peach tree in the
'homasville, it stretches northeast, j Converse Orchards yielded .right.
ndidly the results of the writer’s
observation: and it may be rightly
born in mind that the writer is m<d a
ktockrhcldor in the colony company.
In the first place it is proper to say
—in the raw. It, is generally speak
ing, undeveloped—on nine acres out
of ten the virgin pine timber still
stands. Were it cleared, as Kosciusko
county is, it would bo every whit as
pretty a country—and there’s no
higher praise than that.
Many Northmen, visiting Georgia
for the first time, expect in a vague
kind of way to find the native Geor
gian bitterly prejudiced against Nor
therners, and filled with a rooted op
position to their immigration to the
Southland. This is a mistake. We
talked, with dozens of Georgians—
native “Crackers”—and without a
single exception they impressed an
eager desire for exmigration from
the north.
The native planter of this Georgia
fruit belt is a somewhat singular
bird—and an all-round good fellow!
Without being really lazy, yet the
circumstances of the environment
and “raisin” have rendered him capa
ble of enduring a very considerable
amount of rest—which possibly ex
plains why he doesn’t cultivate more
of the good lands that ho owns. He
is hospitable and generous to a fault;
a friend through thick and thin if ho
“cottons” to you, and a rather un
pleasant neighbor if you “step on the
tail of his coat.” lie may be, and
frequently is, illiterate: but if you
size him up for a “chump” you’ll
make the mistake of your life—for
in native shrewdness ho can give the
New England Yankee cards and
spades and a beating. lie frequent
ly lives in a “pole shack,” i. «., a
house built of small pine logs with a
stick-and-clay chimney; his table is
supplied with corn bread and bacon
—“hog and hominy,” his small cattle
and razor-hack hogs range through
the unfenced wirograss pine woods
and “find themselves 1 ’ lie makes
living in two months off 20 acres of
land—though he may own 200 acres;
and lie’s content—and contentment
is as good as rolling wealth to him
company is not yet ready for the col
onist. The company will be a joint
should have at the outset means suf
ficient (1) to buy and clear his land, , stoc j i company. The shares are sold
(2) to build a house to live in, (8) to f 0| . oac l,. They have asked for
procure an outfit of farm animals and I „ c i iartor Judge, C. C. Smith, of this
implements, (4) to buy and plant his j c j r#u [^ w ;u j ier0 noxt Tuesday to
fruit trees, (5) to live upon at least j lear j] a . petitioners and grant charter
until his first vegetable crop matures. [ nnd jts bu8mcss settled up. Every
After that lie can make a living easi- j 8C ^| ei . w ill be a stock owner,
ly off the land: (cotton, potatoes ami: M) . r „ ).' lti!ge „il(], the president
vegetables may properly bo grow be
tween the rows of fruit trees until the
trees come into hearing). If he has
the capital, and is industrious and
careful, he can make it win. But he
musn’t expect to find big peaches
growing on pine trees in Georgia.
They grow there—the finest peaches
on earth: hut , they grow on peach
trees—and it takes brains and nuts-
of the company', is at. present in the
northwest, but will lie hero Tuesday
next. Mr. J. O. Curry is looking af
ter the business of the company, lie
has an office here, and it. is the busi
est place in town. Ex-Gov. W. J.
Northcn makes Mr. Currie’s office
his headquarters, lie is busy every
day buying lands, lie buys all the
land for the company. The company
cle and some cash and time to make j agrees to pay Gov. Northcn $350,-
a peach orchard, oven with the un
usually favorable Georgia conditions,
climate and soil. If youo’r capital
ized with these essentials, you can go
ahead and win: if not von had better
not go there. This “a straight tip”
on the Georgia lands, as wo found
them. It is given with no desire oi
intention to discourage any prospect
ive colonist, but only with a view of
pointing out to him the state of
things lie will face when he arrives
in Georgia.
000 for 100,000 acres, or, in other
words, they are to pay him $3.50 per
aero for the land regardless of cost
price. He has purchased little over
50,000 acres and has an option on
that much more, which he is paying
for as fast as he can see the parties
who own it.
The governor is the right man in
the right place, lie is enthused with
South Georgia, and he says it is the
coming section ol the state, and will
soon be the garden spot of the south.
Ilejis a hard worker, and tireless in
his efforts. If he wishes to see any
until
up an
Leaving the Tifton country, the [one ho does not let, distance nor had
writer and his companions returned i 1- oads deter him. Some times ho
to Macon, and thence enjoyed a jaunt j a ” d
to Brunswick, on the southeast Geor-j morning.
gia sea-cost; traversing for the most! bevillo, is Gov. Northen’s able assist-
part a swampy region. Brunswick | ant. lie has put in some hard work,
port of considerable im-
\fter viewing the
is
late at. night in a buggy,
! on the road early next
Mr. ,1. R. Monroe, of Ab-
is a lumber
portance.
lie secured the option oh all the
lands for Gov, Nortlmn, ami he lias
c, *d | taken a large amount of stock in the
company.
and t!ic shipping in the, harbor, w
took the steamer for St. Simons Island The largest purchase of lands from
a resort leu miles off the coast, where . 0||tJ party was from Drew Bros., 18,-
i ,.r i „ 00(1 acres, followed by a purchase of
wc vast vonjoyol the surf bathing. ’ , •
, n 10,000 acres from Judge R. \ . Bow-
and sea air for a few daysjand thence , C)) y( a ny of the colonists are union
returned direct to Chattanooga, 8 „idiers ami they will draw pensions
Leaving the latter place last Wed- amounting to $1)00,000 annually. As
nesday evening, the writer and fain- soon as the charter is granted th
„„ lauds will he surveyed into 1 ,
ily arrived home in Milford on i To mm D
I'ia Tifton and the colony-location, ,rates of fruit. All these of the (in- j In that country the negro—in south-
award Augusta; and its width va- j eat quality—a quality that has cap-■ ern parlance the nigger—is every-
i troni 50 to 30 miles. This land Cured the best markets of New York, where, and as numerous us the while
man. Ho does all rough work, and
all much llt-e same in grade and Philadelphia, Rot ton and Chicago:
charter i
lands will he surveyed into
, , , , suit purchasers, and 12,000
Thursday tired, dusty, hut content. ))(? off t0Wll j ot8 sWW wilt
with (ho 2000 mile trip ami its les- w j|| bc wide, and .. The street-*
he one of the 1> f (tWiLtlcss, il
the south. ' laid off towns u
lias not ’ ff'hfc site for the township
nan- " ,)C or
sons.
How’s Tills!
We offer One Hundred Dollars reward
llHy and fruit growing capacity, j peaches that ran thirty to the peek; does it all very well if his employer j for m,! °, f C ‘ llarr J* ~ lmt caun0 ‘
bept.as the fruit crops ripen earlier peaches that measured eleven inches (or boss knows how to admonish binr Cl,rc,t ’’F 1 * i; «ve.
»the southern districts than in nor- in circumference, and of a beautiful, with a neck-yoke, lie works for! Wc it -uIEF.NFA & CO..
necn
no J that w
nan*'
Toledo, O. i I
e o
es that
Elected, nor
^ itiMh'Wgh*
mst kfetopnaw
■foV-giveM, is Nor-
l ’the
'Cdtihl
iiern
by reason of climate conditions, [color and delicious flavon(the writer jflSo per .lay and boards himself, j Cheney for the last 15 yean, ami he',"'! m
lOugh belonging to one of the plucked one from the tree that mens-. He wants hut little and generally j him perfectly liouorale In all v nl8 |, a . 8 C I i„ fjm
or states, the country, from an ag- ured 8} inches around.) Watcrmel- [gets it: and he’s a happy-go-lucky, •"‘owcUon# anil financially ah,'j e t(J carry! claimt
■pi point of view, is new and ons are immensly prolific, and grow i ewe-free darkey,whose counterpart is 2£ l .*" y v 0, I I !*“ t,OM * »>«de »*7 their firm. are ■
itivc—brand, splinter new. By to enormous size. One was shown ] not found in the north at all. TotedM) lBWAX ’ | Tho
10 most of the laud is covered in Tifton this summer that t weighed I To those hereabouts who are con- WAr.ms«, Ki.v.van & Jlvuvia w J| 0< ’
pine forest—hard yellow pine. 78 pounds; and the writer saw a 56 j templating locating in tlie above de- i "• l « Drugghta, Toledo* O.
cleared ami cultivated lnts(which pounder. A properly attended two- j scribed section of Georgia, the
ie are under fence) are compara- year-old peach tree, in that country, i presumes to say this: A man
^IbUists will begin to arrive
. ><*«
that , t0 1^50,U00.
^rO. 'trom ^ % ; )00 ,.
()U
ii'M'vi tit* ■ ' 1 u *vU(/, v;, j|
the writer l;uUrrh GAtrc h taken Internally 1 i
inn of in- j act ")» HHoctly upon the blood mu .|
ely few ami far between: hat this
Ifor no fault of the land, as the soil
ctically all alike,
land is an endless succession
stands about ten feet high: and a 3-
vear-old will bo four or five inches
in diameter in the trunk. Plums
and pears show proportionate
loSv ridges, with numerous small growths, both as to tree andjfruit.
s between. The ridge-land i- Besides fruits, corn is extensively
i c o«s surfaces of the system.
dustry, “hay Horse -Sense ’ and some j absent free.. Price
cash can make a
there out of iam
living and money j hy all Druggist..
. But he mustn’t
Tesifmoni.
per bottle. Sol.'
« ■'“!?“4 «n’d ..I""
ajritoveuwnt ' , Ajwhed Schools.
../lustric- wilH'*' us- t.jyjAvod.
Hfifl chuvches ' v 1 roe t With.
those who Wo ^ ^ g00 a
ia warm iuep.' _ d a oenuine
I people of this rectum, ,^ a , e l0
for a moment lose -sight of the fact
that it is a new and timbered coun
try, which must he cleared before
There's meat and drink fur the r
down system in every drop of Dr. W
moreland's Collsoya Tonic. For so
Main Sti cot Pharmacy.
people
old Georgia
welcome awaits
i Mr 11 C. Smith, one
an-1 eoine. “ haVt . come Vo uvakc
of the>
>o at
their home m ,
i wood citizens tor t-emguv.