Americus times-recorder. (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, May 17, 1891, Image 1
n AMERICUS TIMES-RECORDER VOLUME 1 AMERICUS. GEORGIA, SUNDAY: MAY 17, 1891. NUMBER 37 NO Advertisement, which promises more than it will perform, will be of value to the advertiser. We recognized thi« truth long ago, and our succetw is largely due to the fact that we have never yet violated the Confidence of Our Customers THE BLACK REPUBLIC. INTERESTING LETTER FROM ENSIGN GEORGE F. COOPER, U S- N. Descriptive at tba -Qumh at Ik. AatUla.' and the People Who Inhabit the Island Customs of the Conatry-Slothfalneei Dirt and Pli You will find evenrthing EXACTLY AS REP RESENTED every time, at GEO. D. WHEATLEY’S But bear in mind, to get the benefit of the Rare Bargains we Offer! To avail yourself of sueli EXTREMELY LOW PRICES! You must call ip person, or order of us without fail, THIS WEEK. One case Figured Victors Lawn at 8fc worth 7c per yard. One case Sherwood Dress Ginghams at 7$c. worth 10c. per yard. 5 Bales “Cant Tear” Chock Home Spun at 4Jc., worth 8c. per yard. FOR SALE TO-MORROW! I 5o. worth 7c. per yard. ^ ^ ^ 1200 yards Figured Manchester Chaliis at 7c., worth 10c. per yard. WE ARE OFFERING EVERY DAY Something New in Dress Goods! WHITE GOODS, BLACK GOODS GRENADINES, DRAPERY NETS, FRENCH ORGANDIES . BATISTES, CHALLIES, Etc. And our LOW PRICES MOVE the goods right out, enabling us to replenish every week, besides saving our customers a snug little sum from the prices demanded by others. KING SOLOMON thought thero was “nothing new under the sun,” but with all his wisdom he new nothing about our FINE APPLE.TISSUES! Very pretty and appropriate for the lovely-fabric which bears the name. ' We will show you a solid case of them in light, Medium, Black and Navy Grounds with white and tinted spots and figures, at 15 CENTS PER YD. THIS WEEK! This is what we call a “ease of love at first sight” and you should call early and get your choice. As a Special, We offer Tomorrow 12 beautiful styles Plaid and Striped imported ZEPHYR CLOTHS at 2fic. per yd.—the acme of perfection for a wash dress. Entirely new line figured China Mulls at 11 Jc; really worth 20c. else where. HAVE YOU SEEN OUR TANK OE Nainsook, Swiss and Cambric Embroideries ? More than 1000 styles, from the daintiest little edge at 2}c to the most superb 48-inch Flounce at 12.50 per yd. We often hear that “ours is the only stock of TORCHON LACES in the city” and are also gratified to hear the expressions of astonishment when onr modest prices are mentioned. Here is a batch of Bargains weU worth yonr consideration: FOR THIS WEEK ONLY I 40 do*. Ladies’ Ribbed- Undervests, Fast Black Stainless Hose, Black Silk Mitts, ■ • linen Hack nr Crepe Towels, 10c. 25c. 25e. 26c. 10c. Regular price, 20c. “ “ 40c. »• « 35c. « « 40c. “ “ 15c. GLOVES AND PARASOLS! FANS AND CORSETS! If you need either don’t fail to oall. We’ve got ’em to eeU and our prioee are right A word to those in need of CLOTHING Knee Pants. Respectfully, GEO. D. WHEATLEY, Cor. Lamar St. and Cotton Ave. Uhited Statu Steamer Kb arsabob, Pout ah Prince, Hayti, May 1 —Tnn Times-Rkcohiiek: What bu grown to be very monotonous and disagreeable to ns on board ship may be of Interest to those chat hare cot bad the same ex perience. That Is my apology for asking tho attention of the readers of Tan Tihks-Recobder for a little while, ton short account of some things that I have seen and beard during the past month. About 11 a. m. on tb« 27th of January we sailed from Norfolk, and after a beautiful trip of eight days anchored In the harbor of Port au Prince at 10 a. m., on the 4th of February. The ship Is an “old timer,” and rather slow. Wo came down at the rate of seven and seven and a half knots an hour. The sky was almost cloudless the whole time and thero was but little wind. In tho golden days of the French oc cupation of the Island of Hayti, it was called the Queen of the Antilles. It Is the largest of the West India islands, with the exception of Cuba, and la prob ably equally aa fertile as that liland. Had the French retained possession of it, one might well believe that a prettier ■pot could not be found. 1 shall speak especially of Port au Prince, and thi surrounding country. Unfortunately for the Island, its in habitants and the civilized world in general, wealth, eaae and luxury and quarrels with the mother country In the latter part of tho eighteenth century, rendured the French eolonlsta careless and weak, and their slaves of pure Afri can.blood were enabled to' wrench the magnificent Island from the masters. Very soon the splendid ootfee and sugar estates began to retrograde. Tho planters, their wives and children bad been ilidn or driven to France. Of course some few remained. Theee nude au attempt to regain their poeeeesloa* and were partially successful, helped by the mother country. Bnt this success was only temporary. The former slaves were soon masters ■gain and made their victims truly suffer for their partial aaecess. Napoleon, with all hla suoceaa in Europe,'was un able to subdue again the “Antilles' Queen.” Bnt he did not have the ordinary ene my—man—to deal with. Tellow fever attacked bla army of thirty thousand men, and bnt a fair hundred oscaped. He dared not make a seoond attempt with prospect of such loss, and so since 1804 the island has been In the possession of the descendants of Its former slave*. If any one will take the trouble to read its history he will find there la bnt little to admire. Revolution hat been fre quent; violence, tyranny and bloodshed almost constant. The greatest lieroesof the people are those who, during their terms of office, were the moat blood thirsty. There Is one exception to this; Tooaaaint DOuverturo, the liberator of tho slaves. The preiident of Heyti Is cooitantly In fear of revolution, and while he la called the president of a Re public, he la probably the most despotic ruler on the globe—oertelnly in any country of the Occident it would be hard to find a more natur ally beautiful situation for a city than Port au Prince possesses, and It la probable that those who originally set tled tho city looked well before ohoelng their site. It Is situated at the heed of a wide and deep bay. The shores of the bay rise suddenly and beautifully into hills of tho height of two or throe hun dred feet—even more In some cases. The bay is open to the north, and Is large and deep enough to accommodate a much larger fleet of vessels than can ever visit It The bills on the western side are covered almost to their very tope with palm trees end tropical vegetation. Those on the eastern elds are not so lux uriant as those on the western, probably became the soil la volcanic and not so P. S.—Order* by mail lor goods or samples wilt receive personal and prompt attention. <J ■ t Among the western hills and in the valleys on the western approach to the city nestle pretty cottages, Inhabited by some of the better elaee of Haytiens and I by foreigners. The city Itself Is situated I upon the side of a hill which slopes to I the water, not too suddenly, but enough so to make It very picturesque. In ap proaching the city from the tea the slope of Its hill la such that the course of many of the streets may be plainly traced. At the very top of the hill and overlooking the city Is the principal fort for Its defense. From Its situation Ita guns can be brought Into action ngalnst enemies from the sea or from the valleys and bills beyond thecity. In tho distance, back of the city, are the mountains, which stand out very plainly on a clear day. Our vessels never anchor nearer than a mile or mile and a half from the city because of the health of tbs craws. Tba beautiful natural altnaliou has been turned to naught by the tadlflto-. £ enee and alothfutneaa of the inhabitants. One would think that aeity situated npon a hill eloping to the eea could not be very dirty. Neither could it, if Its people were possessed of only a little care and cleanliness themselves. Bnt there are, I Imagine, few cities In the world with 25,000 Inhabitant* that am more filthy than Port an Prinee. At the landing place is approached one has sometimes to almost hold hla nostrils, and in the streets, or many of them, things are Just as bud. There is bnt little tide in the harbor, and the sewers, If such they may be celled, empty Juatinto the edge of the water The letter it therefore, close to the land, very fool, end If disturbed a UUle le as black at ink. The streets ere very filthy and In many at them ere great piles of garbage. Such sewers ee there are, are all above ground, end In most of them the scum le thick. In.the rainy season tbs city Is of necessity kept somewhat dean, as the water must esrry the dirt before it. Nothing In the place looks clean. The houses are mostly one story frame or mud buildings of a dirty, yellow color. There are no hnudaome building,! not even a pretentious one. The palace (so called) of'the president Is an ordinary frame building of large dimensions. The street* are, lu most parts of the city,fair ly regular, because by being neglected they could not change their direction. What pavements they have are most ly remains of the old French pavements, and are now conaoquently very irregular and troublesome to walk npon. Thero Mono street in particular which shows what some parts of the city must once have been. It baa beautiful shade trees along moat of Its length, la wide and If a little clearerand the houses a little better might be called pretty. At almost every street corner one comes across the barracks of the soldiers, who are numerous In some form or oth er. It lea standing joke with us that the Heytion army is made up principally of generals and colonels, with afew pri vates thrown In for form’a sake. It not aeem to me that I, ever heard of a HaytMa lieutenant Once or twice I have passed theee bar racks While the guards was being mas tered or paraded, end they presented au Intensely amusing spectacle. All aorta of uniforms and all sorts of about aa UUle military as anything ooujd wall be. lam told, however, that the-body guard of tho president are well uniforamd and are a fine lot of man. I have paver BlftetK* to ate them. The government of Hayti la entirely a centralized government Everything Is done by the national government Thera It no such autonomy or attempt at such, as with na. Nominally It la Republican •^-really, aa I said, despotic. The presi dent generally speaking, obtains bla seat by revolution and keeps It until he le serrqd as be served hie predecessor— forced out. He and bis cabinet general Iy odrae In With nothing and leavo with everything; and In leaving offioej they generally have to leave the country. There are occasional exoeptiona. The hatred ofn Heytlen to n white seems to be Intense, and Is almost as bed for a mulatto, though some of their best men, and I think one or two presidents, have been such. It was, and I think still Is, one of the articles of tho constitution of the oountry that no white man could beooms a citizen of the oountry nor own real estate lu It He may lease It but cannot own It Many fortunes have been made and many more will probably be made In the Island. Coffee Is the principal export I have been told that In some districts It grows wild end.the berries fall to the ground, He there and rot simply because tho people are too lazy to plok them up and carry them to market I cannot.vouch for that statement Bnt not I ahonld be at all surprised If It ha true, for the people In the oountry need not work to Uve. They can get fralt ■imply by pieklng it Some of the fortunes I mentioned an In thehaadeof Haytiens, bnt I think the larger part are In the bands of foreign er!, principally Germane. German mer chants seen to bo most •nd most of those claiming to be Ameri- citizens seem to be-of German da- it I am told that at the time ef th6 lata revolution la Brazil, ooe of these merchants made two hundred thousand dollars on a lot of coffee that he had In That Is another statement for whieh I will not vouch, salt sounds a little crazy. In riding along the road hero I have Men cotton growing wild. The bush, or plant rather, la taller and not to busby In Georgia, bnt the product seemed to me to be the same. During the civil war at home the cotton Industry lu Hayti received a great Impulse, and Urge quantities were exported, but after the war It fell again Into IU accustomed place. Many of tho wealthy Haytiens educate their ebildreu In Parts. We ere told that It la tha greatest ambition of a young Haytlen lady to many a French man or Uermaa sad leave tee Island. I knew one la Cepe HayUea who made each u with her She was probably ao ootoroon; certainly most of her blood came from the Cau casian race. She was one of the most beautiful women 1 ever saw and spoke English end French perfectly. I have seen some few women of beauty In Port nu Prince. They have Just enough African blood to make them pretty. They almost Invariably dress either In eoltd white or black, and look well. But the great majority of the wo men and men too are careless In dress and habitually dirty. It that they can not be clean. Nominally the religion of the people la the Homan Catholic, hot thero Is good reason to believe that the groat majority an Voodoolst or Voodoos— •nake worshipper*—the religion brought from Africa by their forefathers. We know positively that the Voodoo dance still exists. I have an acquain tance In Gonalves, n young German, wno tells mo that lie has seen It. The or thodox dance, I think, requires human sacrifice to be eaten, but cattle are gen erally substituted here. I think, In fact, there are two dances; one requiring human and the other anlmal.flesh. But a Haytlen lady once told A United States naval officer that she was sure cannibal ism was still practised In some parts of the ialand. It la painful to walk through Port au Princo or out a little Into the surrouod< lng country and aee tho wreck and ruin on overy aide. Splendid aqueduct* and pavements ruined simply by neglect; filth, where beauty waa and still should be; beautiful situations, and what were beautiful gardens utterly ruined. What there la of beauty here Is simply what monuments remain of the French. The language of the people le a patois of French called “Creole.” In the hande of a truly civilised peo ple the Island would again become what It once waa—the “Queen of the Antll lee,” but lathe hands of Its present mas ters what Is its future? It aeama that Ha past history tolls us—ruin. One hundred years haa done nothing for the people,and that with all their Intercourse with the great nations of the globe. Take this Influence from them and what will be the result? A relapse Into the sav age state. The not cannot can for themselves. The*white man most ear~ for them. Gao. F. Cooper. PROSPEROUS CORDBLB. Hsajr New Batldlax* Oetog ■» to the Meets Cltyot the Pine*. Cobpkle, May 16.—(Special.]—The following oompriie a partial lilt of the bnlldlnge which me actually being con structed In Cordell: A two etory brick store bouse between the bakery end Pony building, by Smith A Middleton; a two story frame store near the racket store, by G B. Mlllen; a one story store between the poetoffloe ■nd book store, a aloe dwelling near the academy, byj. 8. Pate; a two story dwelling near the barrel faotory, by H. M. Hixon; two dwellings on College hlU, by Mr. Elderand adwelling near Smith’s English mansion, by V. O. Meredith. Among the bnlldlnge not contracted for is the new Baptist college, whloh la to be built at ones. Subscriber* to It have been notified that they will be call ed on soon for their eabscriptions. Rev. J. A. Scar boro, of Kastman, who Is one of the building committee, has been se lected to travel In the Interest of this college nntll it Is completed. The revival at the Baptistchurch is progressing satisfactorily. New mem bers am being received dally. Nest week Pastor Davie will be ably assisted by that eminent divine, Dr. B. R. Care- well. Rev. T. C. Boykin, the celebrated Sun day school evangelist, was in Cordelo yesterday. Mr. M. 8. Harrison, of Savannah, has been prospecting here this week with the view of opening np a mercantile ineee. If he locates hero Cordelo will have another enterprising and use ful dtlxen. He invested In real estate here last year and is well pleased with the town. A good many went from hen yester day to. picnics at Yleana and Arab!, and each one reports that he had a big ger time than anybody else. The Cordo- THE NATION’S CAPITAL. WHAT THE PEOPLE IN WASHINGTON ARE DOING AND SAYING. The Time at Little Boa’s Arrival Home Kept e seem sad the Lodm DIsap. pole ted—Where the Meat Democratic Washington, May 16.—Mr. Harri son's fool Meads put all Washington Into aa amused titter to-day. They decided several days ago that it would not do to announce the hour of the arrival of Abe royally equipped spe cial train bearing Benjamin, tho candi date, .beopoa* forsooth, he desired to es cape the crowd that would meet him If they know he waa coming. If tho hour tho train would arrive had been announced for days before In all tba local newspapers and bad been- pla carded on ail the bill boards and dead walls In town It le possible that two or three hundred Idle negroes and hood lum* might have congregated at the sta tion from curiosity, but to suppose that there would have been a crowd largo enough to worry tho gentlemen is the most humorous thing of the season, and It haa set everybody In town to laughing. Mr. Blaine’s being conflred to hie room in New York by Illness we* good enoughjfor the(aensatloniil newspapers to gull those who knew no better with, but It didn't go down with those who knew that Mr. Blaine left Washington became of the Irritation eauaed by tha dictato rial tone of the telegram* with whloh Mr. Harrison wee flooding him, and if he does not resume the active duties of bla position for sometime it will not be on account of hla health, bnt because he wishes to get even with Mr. Harrison by leaving hla In charge of matters over which h* Is almost certain to blonder. I have good reason* for beUeving that Mr. Harrison's treatment of Mr. Blaine, who things ho has a grievance, during the next few day* will settle bis chances for a re-nomination. It Is certain that Blaine doesn’t cars for the nomination, and that If Mr. Harrison has the tact l.e can have the Blaine strength thrown to him, which would make hla nomination certain; bnt It is equally ocrtaln that Mr. Harrison wIB have to drop the I-only- the-admlntstratlon style, which haa Several vrfn gqf boot bm to the K. F. exercise* at Braniwltk next weak. Bacxawicx, May Iff—'The Oglethorpe Division No. 4, Uniform Rank, Knights of Pythlzz, hzz recently boon getting In ime splendid work. ■ The division turned out In force last night to the practloe drill on Newcastle street. Captain Newman drilled them through all the faney movements. The men executed all orders with prompt ness and precision, and • large crowd congregated on the streets to witneas their excellent drilling. Captain New- tain la a veteran commander, and man age* hla men with the moat admirable akill, and he la determined to have them aecond to none when the teat cornea, rev BrtMae Harare. New Onlrans, Msy 16.—The grand Jtuy again indicted Jobe Cooney to-day far ettemptfag to bribe Juror*. The great Jury ha* adjoareed till Taeeday. - ■ ao Irritated Blaine, in order to succeed. The outcome will be walohed with In terest, and were it not for the “big head" which the courtesy extended by the people to the high office he fills ha* given Mr. Harrison It wonld not be In doubt Blaine holda the winning cards, and he knows It too. Representative Hooker, of Mississippi, thinks the democratic party will do well to go west for It* eandidste next year, and that If eoold not do better than to take Hon. William R. Morrison, of Illi nois, at present the democratic member of the Interstate commerce board of commissioners. Senator. Feffer and Representative Jerry Simpson unite In the declaration that the convention of the farmers’ alli ance and labor organizations which it la Cincinnati next week will not form a third party, bnt will conflno its pnbUe work to the inning of an address to the people. Representative Crain, of Texas, who la her* on private business, says the out look for the election of the democratic oandldate, whoever he msy be, next year, could hardly be brighter. Ho doesn’t think there wUl be a farmers’ alliance national ticket nominated, nor does he think there will bo the slightest doubt of the election of bis colleague, Mr. Mills, to the speakershlpof the next Keep your eye on Representative W. L. Wilson, of West Virginia. Ho It a young man, but he la growing as rapidly as any man now in pnbUo Ufa. His name Is heard on all aides here, and nothing but prala* le spoken of him. He la deep ly interested fat the organization of dem ocratic dnba, red he lent present mak ing speeches oat west- la their Interest Again the rumor Is revived that Jus- ties Bradley, ef the United State* su- retiring, and that will be nominated as Jastloe Bradley Iz past tha legal age lee retirement, and It may be that he lnteads to retire—many peo ple wish that ha had retired before the notorioe* 8 to 7 decision was mado—but I cannot understand why Mr. Edmunds, who; when I* good health, on two occa sions declined going npon the bench, ahonld, now, when hie health to begin ning to break down, aoeept the position. There Is something rotten somewhere lathe connection of this government with matter* relating to ChlU. The pub lic has never been given the true Inward ness of this Itata business. -It la expected that the names of the new Judges of the U. S. Circuit Court will be announced lu a few days. Ex-Senator Ingalls haa surprised ev erybody by turning up here, end the newspaper men era itching to learn what he came for. V •- ‘ ; v . •. Nzw Yoax, May 16.—Secretary Blaine passed s very good sight ami left** from pal* this meraiag.