Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 178, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 August 1917 — Impressions Gained of Hattiesburg By a Hoosier Visitor [ARTICLE]

Impressions Gained of Hattiesburg By a Hoosier Visitor

The following impressions were gained by a Hoosier who visited Hattiesburg, Miss., where the Company M soldiers are to be quartered. The following is taken from a letter which he wrote to relatives in this state: Hattiesburg, Miss., Aug. 13.—1 t is a classy little town, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where I have been for several days “sizing things up/’ with the idea in view of writing my impressions and the result of my observations, knowing that thousands and thousands of people in Indiana are anxious to hear all about conditions hereabouts.

Out at Camp Shelby, where huge piles of yellow pine lumber stretch out for miles and miles, early-arriv-ing officers of the guardsmen of Indiana and Kentucky tell me that they receive letters by every mail requesting this or that bit of information. They state there is a dearth of information in their states about this section of Mississippi, so this yarn is going to be in the nature of a newsy letter, giving accurate accounts of conditions as I find them both at camp and in the city. Parents, listen. Your sons are coming to one of the cleanest and prettiest little cities in all the broad Southland. Hattiesburg has a population of about 15,000 people, and it is 80 years old. It is only 70 miles from the Mississippi coast, where .bathing, boating, fishing and sailing can be enjoyed during all of the months of the year. The historic city of New Orleans is only 177 miles away. Six railroads enter Hattiesburg. The town is situated in south Mississippi, amid the “piney woods,” great pine forests that today are furnishing such enormous quantities of lumber for the erection of cantonments and the building of ships to take our’boys across the deep blue sea to whip the Kaiser, and transport food to sustain them. The great produce farms of this section, large and well cultivated lands, now growing corn, sweet garden truck and fruits, will furnish much of the world’s food supply during the period of the war. The soil of the cut-over pine lands lends itself admirably to the growing of crops that bring good returns in a financial way, especially where fertilizers are used intelligently, and thrifty farmers oversee all features of farm work, which can be done all the year around, and cattle can be raised with comparatively little expense, owing to the climate, which never gets severe, I am told by reliable men. t I find here a moral community. A handsome Y. M. C. A. building, fully equipped, attests this fact. There are about a dozen churches, two large colleges, half a dozen public grammar schools, a central high school and many private institutions*

Just to show you the moral attitude of the people, today I witnessed an unusual scene. I saw more than a dozen “Modern Magdalenes’ leave town. This came about as a result of the determination of the citizens and city officials , not to tolerate any immoral resort, and the mothers and fathers back home can rest assured that there will be no “tenderloin’ district here when their sons arrive. Darkened are the lights of what was once a small vice section. The doors and windows of the houses are closed, and for keeps, too, the officers tell me. It was only a few days ago that a committee met with the city authorities and talked over the moral tone of the community. It was decided that even the few women of the underworld must go. They have gone. Mississippi is in the column of the jone dry states, and I have yet to find what they term down here a “blind tiger,” a person who sells whiskey or beer on the sly. If one is caught they tell me they give him a very heavy fine or send him to the penitentiary. I amsurethe mothers and fathers of the soldiers need have no fear of their boys getting anywhere near a place where intaxicants can be obtained and that ought to be a great comfort ttffthem. The water here comes from artesian wells, and is good. I have looked into the health statistics and find there is less malaria a nd m this section than any part of the state, and U. S. medical corps men and state health men are now putting on a strenuous campaign to stop*every mosquito-breeding place. The Hattiesburg people have divided themselves into committees to look after various phases ity life in co-operation with army men. For instance, there is a committee to arrange social events m the homes, churches and auditoriums, to whiiffi jnrpupa uf-w^”^’ son™ to k b e W treX ld if Il t k hey°went OW to vail all over town. There is a committee to find homes for wives of officers, another to invite soldiers to attend church, another to arrange athletic contests between boys at camp and in the’city, another to plan social entertainment, musicales, band concerts, etc., when the young ladies of Hattiesburg can meet the soldiers and where there will be good comradeship and a spirit of hospitality.