Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 213, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 September 1917 — THE TRIALS OF THREE TOURISTS [ARTICLE]

THE TRIALS OF THREE TOURISTS

ADVENTURES OF IKE, BILL AND LESLIE SURPASS ANY FICTIONjfSVER WRITTEN.

You have SU heard the fable of the three wise men who set out to sea in a tub, also of the slow train through Arkansas, but we’ll bet you have never read of the tales of Ike, Bill and Leslie, three Indiana men, who set out for the sunny south, the land of fulfilled promises, in an automobile with the redoubtable Bill Porter at the wheel. When it comes to real speed you’ve got to hand it to the men from Indiana. With Gloster, Miss., as their destination, (five days distant, so they said) they finally reached the Mississippi town after ten days of ill-luck, the kind of luck that we will venture to say never beset mortal man before. The trials, tribulations, troubles and ultimate triumph of the trio are all embodied in the following letter, as well as the impressions they have gained of the southlands and the prospects that the future of that country holds in store: Lea Plantation, Near Liberty, Miss., Sept. 20.

„Here we are at last in our south* ern home and the more we see of the Sunny South the more we fall in love with it. The Lea plantation is a beautiful place, the residence of eight rooms nestling in a grove of live and other oaks, hickory, pecans and other trees. We came to the plantation this afternoon and have just returned from a partial inspection of the place. We found negroes picking cotton and visited their quarters. The cotton crop this year in this state is the best for years and the people : feel that the boll weevil, which made its advent 8 or 9 years ago is nearly a thing of the past. At Gloster and Liberty cotton growers wait in line for hours for their turn to have their cotton ginned. Every wagon load means over a hundred dollars to the owners and the negro tenants are jusy poring over the fashion cataogues selecting new dresses and other wearing apparel which they expect to buy with the money secured from the sale of their cotton. Wagons are constantly passing with loads of jaled cotton or with cotton seed, both of which now bring big prices. A bale of cotton weighs 500 pounds and brings over SIOO. The seed from a bale brings around SSO. All crops in this section _ are good this year with the exception of corn, which was injured by the drouth, but as the dry weather killed the boll weevil, the dry weather was a godsend to this country. Where three or four kinds of crops are raised in the north, many times that number are raised here and some crop is being harvested every month in the year. An easy living can be had here and that is probably the reason there is less hustle here than in the north. With the same effort put forth here as in the north one could soon become independent. We visited a few farms owned by lustlers arid iL 4id us good ta see the prosperity that was being lavished upon the owners. Ike Glazebrook came with us as a prospector and a skeptic, but two days was more than enough to convince him the south is the place ! for a person who wants an easy living and to escape the cold winters and high cost of living of the nprth. He picked out two places that suited him, and w* will be greatly disappointed if he does not soon join the Indiana colony now settling in this county. This morning we got word that the Caldwells, who were here two weeks ago had sent word to get options on two places, and word came yesterday that fine Woodward plantation of 1,000 acres near here in Louisiana had been secured for Joe Norman, of near Parr. Joe made his second visit here just before our arrival and spent three or four days on the place and we understand that he is so well pleased with the plantation that he has decided to buy it and move here at an early date. We see by Monday’s Republican that Charlie Bussell has just sold his farm in Hanging Grove township and as he told the writer just before we left for the south that he was coming down here soon and investigate, we expect to number him among the Hoosiers down here. Editor Watson, of Winchester, is figuring on a big plantation three miles from my place and this region will soon be settled by Hoosiers and newspaper men, as W. H. Myers, editor of the Morocco Courier, was here last week and also selected a place. The Lea plantation is three miles from Liberty and will be located on the Prentice highway, which, is being built from McComb City to Natchez. It will pass directly in front of my residence and will add greatly to the value of the place. The Lea place contains 400 acres, half of which is in cultivation,. Well, to return to where I left off in my last letter, which was written at Elizabethtown, Ky. After leaving there our bad luck continued and one disaster after another followed in rapid succession and if ever tourists had a tough time it, was Will, Ike and the writer. Money could not hire Ike to take another trip in an automobile. We suffered collisions, got off our road, were ditched a few times, had to be hauled up. hills with mules—and Fords—also out of ditches, and ran out of gasoline one day in a wild country oh a hillside,

which delayed us four or five hours until Will and Ike could walk fourteen miles to get a new supply. The writer guarded the car while they were gone by taking a much needed sleep under a pine tree. We finally arrived at McComb City Monday evening and as the lights of the city appeared we were in high spirits, but ust as we pulled into town and were searching for. a garage, a passing ]i'ord driven by a boy at a high rate of speed side-swiped us. Our car stopped, but the Ford went on, turned a circle in the road and headed for a ditch, but an obstruction stopped it, and it was a wreefc. Miracuously the boy escaped injury and he set up a howl and said we would lave to pay for the wrecked car. As a crowd collected and the boy began copying our number, we hiked out to escape arrest. We abandoned the main traveled road and struck out in the direction of Hattiesburg, right away from the course we should have taken to have reached our destination. We were nearly out of gasoine, our radiator was leaking and as we penetrated farther into the country the roads began to get muddy. We attempted to detour around McComb City and head for the west but got stuck on a wagon road leading into the timber. We finally managed to turn around and get on our former road and again headed east. After being hauled up a hill through the mud we stuck at a cross roads and prepared to camp for the night. Ike and Will as usual took the car and prepared to spend the night in an upright position. Will objected to the writer using him for a pillow, so I gathered up what bed clothes we had, the oilcloth hood of the car and waded through the mud to the front of an abandoned country store building and laid down on the porch of the building for the night. The floor was wet as well as my feet, and sleep was impossible. It was a night long to be remembered by us all. We had all given up hope of getting around McComb without stopping there for a supply of gas and facing arrest. At five the next morning a passing farmer lad was hailed and he said he could pilot us to a mill town where he worked where we could get gasoline. This he did and after getting gasoline and a lunch of canned goods we headed west, missing McComb two miles to the north and arrived in Liberty at noon, munis a headlight, which a mule we attempted to pass kicked out, and nearly minus two doors, which were badly twisted when the car attempted to race down hill backward ana was stopped when it ran into a ditch at the side of the deep cut, the doors being left open when Ike and the writer jumped from the car. ___. At Liberty we were cordially greeted by the citizens and were cheered by the news that we were expected and that the Lea plantation was one of the best in this section. After spending four hours there m getting the car in a running condition we started for Gloster and arrived there Monday evening after being ten days on the road. 1 We have been treated royally here by the people and Mr. Lea has offered us the hospitality of his home until possession can be given to the tenants, Mr. and Mrs. Will Porter and H.™ Robison