Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 January 1913 — BILL BAT WRITES ABOUT MOBILE, ALA. [ARTICLE]

BILL BAT WRITES ABOUT MOBILE, ALA.

Describes City, Its People, Indus tries, the Negro and the Climate in Characteristic Style. f Loxley, Alabama. Editors Republican: Having stopped several days in Mobile I will, state for the benefit of your readers that it is a clean healthy city, situated near the point where the Alabama river enters the Mobile bay, about thirtyfive miles from the Gulf of Mexico. Hundreds of vessels of every class visit the wharves except the largest ocean steamers and sail craft. There are two large depots, one of which is a terminal accommodating five different roads. There is a rushing trade in all the general staples of the world, but the chief exports seem to be cotton,, molasses, rice, turpentine and lumber. The leading imports are bananas from central America, Mexico and the West Indies, and hay and grain from the north. The boarding houses set excellent table and the rates are reasonable. The citizens are very courteous and obliging. The negroes know their place and keep it. Twenty per cent of them are at work in the warehouses, running the drays, driving cabs and buses, handling freight at the wharves and running all kinds of water craft, etc., while the other eighty per cent are fishing at the docks, drinking beer in the saloons (which are all wide open to the street) shooting craps, stand-

ing about in groups telling and laughing, or lying about on piles of lumber, absorbing sunshine, while the surplus fat fries out of their black necks and faces. The streets are surely ideal, well paved, brojad, clean and shaded for miles by old live oak trees, from which Spanish moss hangs in festoons, glistening in the sunshine like “Silver Threads Among the Gold.” Many mammoth magnolias lend their shade and beauty to the parks and streets. ‘The Last Rose of Summer” is still seen on many a moss-covered brick or cement wall. Pansies and many other flowers are still seen in the gardens and walk borders. Holly and mistletoe abound in the suburbs.

Many massive church buildings and one old Spanish cathedral, covering a whole block, show the religious tendency of the' people. One thing which impressed me very forcibly was that during my stay, visiting parks, shows, business houses, wharves, boats, hotels, depots, etc., I did not hear a single oath from black or white. The fish markets are piled high with a great variety of fresh gnd salt water fish, among which are red fish, red snappers, mullet, and sailors’ choice, also plenty of oysters, lobsters and turtles from down the bay. Oysters are sold on the market at fifty cents a hundred. The climate Is delightful, the brilliant sunshine giving a temperature in the day time of 70 degrees, made refreshing and balmy by the sea breeze by day and a land breeze at night. The nights are much cooler than daytime, bringing an occasional frost, but snow has not been seen in Mobile for twelve years. Respectfully and sincerely yours, JOHN E. ALTER.