Norwalk gazette, Friday, July 3, 1896 · page 12

 

 
 

:‘I

A RUINED CAPITAL.

 

The m of Cahaba. Once Chief
City of Alabama.

 

Before. the Days of Railroads It Was the
Center of Culture and Learning—
Now a Cotton Plan-
tatlon.

It was Father Ryan, the southern:

poet, first who said: “A land without
ruins is a land without memories.” If
such be the truth, Alabama is not with‘
out memories. A visit to the planta-
tion of Capt. Clifi Kirkpatrick, situated
about twelve miles from Selma, in Dal-
las county, beside the rippling waters
of the Alabama river, where the once
city of Cahaba, for many years the cap-
ital of the state, and the seat of culture
and learning, stood, will convince one
of this fact. What was once the streets

' and boulevards of the gay city are now

broad fields, where stately stalks of
corn and spreading plants of cotton
grow in luxuriance, nourished by the
fertile soil upon which famous men in
Alabama’s history half a century ago
gathered to solve grave problems of
.state or to enjoy the unalloyed pleas-
ures of antebellum times.

Before the days of railroads, says the
Chattanoonghnés, Cahaba, then the

" capital of Alabama, was in her glory.

Beautifully situated, with steamboats
plying up and down the Alabama river
between Cahaba and Mobile, carrying
down cargoes of cotton and produce and
returning with merchandise, the ancient
capital became the inland metropolis

of her state. The bulk of the cotton-

crop was shipped through it. The
wealthy planters and slave owners
made . their purchases there and its
trade became large. It was likewise
the hub of aristocracy and the seat of
colleges and schools of a high order.
When the legislature was in session the
season of gayety set in. The palatial
homes of the wealthy and historic fam-
ilies, many of whom owned lordly man-
sions in and around Cahaba, were
thrown open and southern hospitality
held uninterrupted sway. These homes
were veritable palaces of luxuriance,
for their owners lived in the lap of
plenty. 5‘

The decline of Cahaba began before
the war, when railroads missed it and
were built to Selma and Montgomery.
The days of river transportation were
numbered, and Cahaba’s trade began
to leave for the more favored cities, and
with it Went the population gradually.
Then the capital was removed, and
next the courthouse. The population
continued to diminish. Then came the
trials of war, the raid of Wilson’s cav-
alry and the devastation that followed.
By the end of the war Cahaba‘s glory
had departed. It was a veritable de~
serted village. The more substantial
of its buildings still stood, but its peo-
ple had sought other climes.

A visit to the ancient place—now a
cotton plantation—a few days ago dis-
closed SOme curious sights. It demon-
strated what wonderful changes time
had wrought. Nearly one hundred old
houses, relics of the past, still stand,
and around them the cotton plan ts are
just now disclosing their white blooms.
These old structures, built of brick,
will for years to come continue to mark
the spot where the proud city once
stood, for the owner of the plantation
does not contemplate pulling them
down. Some were stores, others were
churches and schoolhouses, and others
still lordly mansions. All are crum-
bling to ruins, and while a few are in-
habited by negro families who labor on
the farm, the majority are tenanted
only by bats and owls.

On a hill not far from the river stands
what was once the capitol building in
whose walls the eloquence of William
L. Yancy and other famous Alabamians
of by-gone days resounded. The old
building. a substantial three~story stone
and brick structure, still stands, and is
utilized now as a gristmill and steam
ginnery. Across from it are two blocks
of brick stores, time having made sad
inroads into them.

The once fashionable church of the
town, which cost many thousands of
dollars, is now used by a colored con-
gregation. It was,. when built, the
costliest and handsomest house of wor—
ship in the state. The old Dallas acad-
emy, where Senator John T. Morgan
attended school, is now only a towering
mass ”of ruins. The place where the
historic Craig family' resided is planted
in corn, and the broad expanse where
Gen. E. W. Pettus’ costly house stood
is now used as a pasture. The ruins of
the famous old Perrine mansion, which
cost sixty thousand dollars, were torn
away last year and the brick used for
other purposes. A solitary magnolia
tree marks the spot where it stood.

At one time Cahaba was a city of
many thousand people. Lots sold for
as high as fifteen thousand to twenty
thousand dollars. N ow the entire site,

- with land adjoming, embracing nine

hundred acres, is owned by one man,
Capt. Cliff Kirkpatrick, who came out
of the war penniless, but by pluck and
perseverance has built up his lost for-

' tune until now he possesses one of the

finest plantations in the south. He re-
sides with his charming family in one
of the twenty-thousaud-dollar antebel-
lum mansions, which has been refitted.
It is' hospitality’s own abode. The
property which Capt. Kirkpatrick now
owns could not have been bought fifty
years ago for ten million dollars. Some
thirty artesian wells, which quenched
the thirst of our ancestors, still flow
freely, but only the wandering herds
and the thirsty farm“ laborer imbibe
their sparkling waters. If the story of
Cahaba’s rise and fall could have been
pictured by Father Ryan he would have
immortalized the dead city.

 

 

Bird of Brilliant Plumage.

There are few birds whose plumage
is so“variable as the ptarmigan. Three
times in the year its plumage changes;
it has separate coats for spring, au-
tumn and winter. At the beginning of
November it puts on the last costume
of the season. Its spring brown and
summer gray serve well to hide it
among the. scanty herbage of its
haunts from the keen eye of the scar-
ing falcon.

 

‘-.'MISHAP TO A‘ SMUGGLER.

A Cab RunsOver film and Betrays an
' Ingenious Device.

Near one of the gates leading into
Paris an old man of stout proportions
was seen one day wending his way.
when a cab, driven at great speed, ap-
proached, and as the man paid no atten-
tion to the warning cry of the Jehu, he
was knocked down and the vehicle
passed over his body, to the consterna~
tion of the spectators.

A crowd gathered round the vener-
able individual, who lay on the ground,
not in a pool of blood, but in one of oil.
The hero of this misadventure, who had
onlyheen slightly stunned by the shock,
soon rose to his feet, with profuse
thanks for all the sympathy and com-
passion which his accident had elicited,
and then, disregarding further offers of
assistance, began to shuffle off as fast
as his legs would carry him.
~ One of the eyewitnesses of this cu—
rious scene went up to an employe of
the octroi and gave an account of the
episode, upon which the official, run-
ning after the victim of the accident,
extended to him a polite invitation to
rest in his office.

“I assure you I am not- hurt,” re-
plied the old gentleman, who displayed
great anxiety to take himself off.

“So much the better,” replied the~em~
ploye, “but I want to have a little talk
with you, all the same.” -

Some gentle force was required to in-
duce. the corpulent one to enter the of-
fice, but once there he was made to un-
dress, When he was found to be almost
a- skeleton. The mystery was soon ex—
plained. He had between his waistcoat
and his shirt 8. skin receptacle which
was capable of containing from six to
seven liters of liquid. On this particu-
lar occasion it had been filled with oil,
and, while it had saved the bearer from
severe. injury, it had betrayed him, and
he was removed to the depot at the pre-
fecture of police amid the laughter of
the people who had witnessed the acci-
dent.

A quantity of receptacles of the kind
described have been found at his dwell-
ing, and another individual has already
been arrested on suspicion of being an
accomplice. It need scarcely be added
that the oil was thus introduced into
Paris with the object of evading the
octroi dues. As a matter of fact, all
sorts of devices are employed by per-
sons who makc‘a specialty of this fraud,
but it is not often that a person is de-
tected in these tragi-comic circum-
stances—Paris Cor. London Telegraph.

She Thanked Him.

An effective reproof was that given
by an elderly man to a fashionably-
dressed young woman, Who, as it seems,
must have been surprised out of her
“manners.” The young woman was
walking rapidly along a street shaded
by many trees, when the elderly man,
coming up behind her, saw a large fuzzy
caterpillar on the collar of her coat.
“I beg your pardon,” he said, laying a
detaining hand on her arm as he spoke
and removed the obnoxious crawler,
“I wished to take off this caterpillar,
which was almost at. youryneck.” The
young woman stared haughtily and
with an air of resentment at the cater-
pillar and was about to pass on, with no
word of thanks. “If I made a mistake,
and you would prefer to have the cater-
pillar replaced, I can easily put it back,”
said the gentleman courteously, suiting
the. action to the word. “Oh, no, no,
please take it. ofl‘ ! ” said the young wom--
an, her haughtiness quickly vanishing;
and with his second removal the elderly
man got his “Thank you,” and the cat-
erpillar found another resting place.-——
Youth’s Companion.

, ”~41
Complexion Hints.

Overfrequcnt washing of the face
should be avoided. Some physicians in-
sist that the face should be washed but
once a day, and then in tepid water.

A certain amount of exercise is in-
dispensable. Brisk morning walks,
regularly taken and persistently ad-
hered to, produce a healthy glow that
defies artificial imitation. .

Avoid rich and greasy foods. Though
it is practically useless to tell a woman
to abjure sweets, it may be suggested
that they are. complexion destroyers,
and that the fewer one eats the fairer
one’s skin is likely to be.

Massage is recommended by many
who have made a special study of the
fine art of complexion-preserving. A
gentle kneading of the face at night and
in the morning makes the skin soft and
healthy.

Famous beauties nearly all unite in
giving testimony that a thorough
steaming of the face at night is wonder-
fully effective in producing a clear 0mm
plexion. This is done by holding the

' face over a bowl of hog, water.—Chicago

Record.

 

_ Father Pat’s Hospitality.

As to Father Pat’s hospitality, it may
be rude and rough, but there is no
mistaking its warm and generous
whole-heartedness. The dinner in a
country parish invariably consists of a
roast turkey, a boiled leg of mutton
with turnips, boiled bacon with cab-
bage, and potatoes serve-d in their jack-
ets. Claret is the wine principally
drunk. It is only on. very important oc-
casions that champagne makes its ap—
pearnce, but there is always a plentiful
supply of the best Irish whisky, and, if
made in ' the district, of “pot-heen.”
Father Pat has, it must be admitted, a
liking for whisky punch after dinner,
in 'udieious moderation, of course, and
his” only other dissipation is a smoke
—a1ways a clay pipe, never a cigarette
or a cigar. When a “suspended” or dis:
frocked priest is met with in Ireland—
and that very rarely happens——his mis—
fortune is usually to be traced to
drunkenness. There is never a lady in
the case.———Contemporary Review.

 

Gluten Gravy.

To one pint of good milk add one
tablespoonful of gluten meal. Leave it
surrounded by boiling water 15,0r 20
minutes. Salt to taste and thicken
with flour to the desired consistency:—
Good Health.

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Boat Song-3.

 

 

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. ' VIRTUE'VS. VICE. '

Battle in the Northern Pinerles
Won by the Former.

 

The Vast Woods No Longer Filled with
Stockades ln Whlcu Helpless Women
Are Kept Prisoners and Chalet] ‘

by Savage Dogs. '

k

In the northwest forests where but a
few years ago vice most hideous boldly
paraded itself in the public gaze and
almost to the present lurked but little
concealedin the neighborhood of popu-
lous communfiies, experienced search
fails to find any vestiges of the deprav-
ity that formerly prevailed. Occasional
discovery of ihaunts like those that
once infested the entire northwest re-
gion now raises a decidedly indignant

r outcry against such monstrosities of
[ the past. '

And yet, says the Chicago J ournal, it
was only eight or ten years ago that
every settlement in the pineries and the
mining camps of the northwest \vied
one with another in infamous and law-
less practices‘. Citizens of more than
one locality in Michigan or Wisconsin,
after pointing out the improvements of
a decade in the appearance of their
thriving city, conclude a tribute to the
,moral standing of the place and its citi-
zens with the statement that a score of
years ago this was by reputation “the
most disreputable town in the United
States.”

In every lumbering town was to be
found from two to a dozen stockades,
dens of infamy where womanhood was
held as cheaply as in any harem of an
oriental prince. At first these stood on
frequented streets, later in by-ways of
the city, finally retreating before the
advance of public decency to the cover
of the woods, half a mile from any
highway. Hither were brought young
girls enticed from Chicago, Minneap-
olis, and even more distant cities.
Every dive had its procuresses in every
city within reach. Under the control
of brutal men and hardened ‘women
the youthful victims were inducted into
their lives of shame, never to be re-
leased until death came. High walls .
of sixteen-foot timber placed on end
surrounded the rude huts. At the
barred gateway was kept a kennel of
fierce bulldogs, trained to pursue only
the unfortunate women that might at-
tempt an almost useless‘flight.

The disappearance of even the very
walls that sheltered these iniquities is
something marvelous. Some were
razed to the ground by woodmen,
wearied of the immorality they fos-
tered. All have vanished excepta few,
which stand decaying and deserted re-
minders of the old strongholds. One of
these is in theapine woods across the
Menominee river from Norway, Mich.
It was one of the most notorious resorts

. "of the northern region. \Vithin the

stockade stood a commodious twostory
frame house. The stockade itself was
of planking, sixteen feet high, with a
strong gate facing the front entrance
of the house, on either side of which
was a kennel of dogs. The escape
of a woman, disguised as a man
in order to deceive the dogs, was the
means of bringing to notice the char-

- acter of the place and its tenants.

She had been lured to the place with
assurances cf reputable employment.
Twice before she had attempted
to escape, eluding the dogs by her
change of appearance, but had been
overtaken by the keeper of the place.
A prominent lawyer in Norway swore
out a warrant against the slave master
and secured conviction and a heavy
fine. A few repetitions of this treat-
ment convinced him of the advisability
of a change of business. He betoOk
himself .to the copper mining country
on the shore of Lake Superior and en-
gaged in legitimate business. He is
now the possessor of a fortune of five
hundred thousand dollars.

The house he once occupied when en- .
gaged in his soulless business still
stands, dilapidated and tenanted only
by the “horrible associations, and per-
haps by the suffering spirits of the past.
On the decaying framework of the
stockade still hang the long planks,
separated by wide gaps, through which
may be seen the desolation within. The
gate and the kennels are gone. The
doors have fallen and the thin parti-
tions are broken through. It looks
what it really is, one of the last of its
kind. ' . - -

Exaggerated stories occasionally
reach the public of the revival of these
old haunts, but their untruth is evident
from the character of the inhabitants
that now make up the population. Like
all sections of the country, there is
more orless immorality permitted in
the northwest towns, but the old-time
stockades have disappeared. So, too,-
have the gambling resorts, around
which so much lawlessness centered.
The stirring scenes that made these
localities so interesting from a distance
are unknown now, succeeded by the
tameness of business enterprise. Ob-
servance of the Sabbath and of the
civilized customs of Christendom is not
on the Puritan order, but does not dif-
fer from that of any section of the pro-
gressive west. These parts have lost
their well-earned reputation as “the
toughest in the United States.” ,

 

 

 

Mr. Vaux's Lawn Roller.

The late Richard Vaux, of‘ Philadel-
phia, was a believer in progress and
had little reverence for antiques as such
-"—his hat to the contrary notwithstand-
ing. A'relative told recently how Mr.
Vaux received a well-preserved section
of one of the pillars of the Pantheon at
Rome. It was sent to him by a friend
who had some trouble in securing it,
and considered it an interesting relic.
He expected, on his return to America,
to find the broken column standing
upon the lawn of the Vaux resi:
deuce, perhaps covered with ivy and
looking down the ages rather scorn-
fully at the degenerate civiliza:

Jionp of the nineteenth century.

He was horrified to hear, however, that '
Mr. Vaux, not being in need of a

i broken pillar just then, had turned it ,

into a lawn roller. It did duty in that.
capacity for a long time, and is still in
possession of the family.

J