Kentucky Decay, And Bachelors

A tmirist, wiitos lo tio Ciuciiinati Cominércvü fróro Moíiticollo, Wayne County, Kentúck'y, fchat it ft 'ie ïuöst aricie'nt ;uuí woebegone looking placo yot found in Kentucky. The houses are few and exceedingly uncouth, unpuinted and uneared for. T'heTe is fcardíy a respoctabletóólan'g building In the ]laco. How suoh a poor town can bc the capital of so good a county as Wayno is a íúystery óf the sort freqncntly met with in Kentucky. Wayno is more than an áverago county, oontaining 1 1 ,OÜ population and about $2,600,000 of wealtS. Ita Worst disfigurníinnt is its caiital. ï rode up to tho ónly hotel sign in tho placo, swinging oVer a one-störy bríck low, dirty, and cróókeA, and asked a OTOwd of loungers if tho proprietor was about. That gentleman presonted himself and told me to " lig}t." I it. " Walk into this room," he saiá, takiiig me to a roomfrontn; the street, romished with a bed, a table, a chái'r, tnreé e'mpty bottles, and a copy of Nicholas Nickléby.- The furniturc, like the house, and everytliing Yi tó'wn, bóró eVidence of havinK seon botter duys. " Wliat's tho ago of this place ? " I asked hún, as ho appcarcd in a communicative tííóóa-. " It's aboul as oíd AS a'ny in tile Slatti" he replied, ' and about as no account.' I oame here forty-one jreaw ao last June, and, upon r1y word, the place is worso thah it n then. 8ó far ft-om iinprovDÏ8, it's actually gone down hill." "What'gthe matter with it?" "The Lord only knows ; I don't. I never did btke mnoh f.inr.y tn it and it's ftfactl Ricnt thn flrsf. tÁS A.C +),., i livod here tryittg to get aVa,y, tot I cernían t make t. It fáoks as tñóngh I dabbed down hora and stuck like a fly in akegof molaasee, and the inore Iworked to get out tho deeper I got in. But if we over get the Cincinnati road, Mm, liedlo will come out all right and bo a good placo to live in." TUe population of Monticollo is 373, arVd it a ittélaaóhóly i'áct Ihat out of this limíted ntunbor thero are more bachelor than in any other place ofan equal numberefínhabítanta ia the United States. Exeepting the druggist, there ie f a business man who is ínarriéd. "ity at'tentioii was iir.st callee! to this by noticing a !,., n or more healthy-looking middleajeed men oome to tho hotel for díaaer. They woro .all bachelors. The surrounding country is likewise afllictod. On one. roaa within five miles óf iówu iité fivo bachelor farmers, Vvho hire cooks and keep house, going to all the expense in maintaining eetabliahmenta that wouldbe neoessary if they weremen of families. AVithin six miles of towrt lliere is a family of süfc bróthers, all over thirty years of age, and all single, who live, together with a maiden sister as lady of the house. This eertiiinLy ú tho champion bachelor sectioh of the United States. In the light of such facts, itperhapsisnotetrange that thepopolation uf the town has Hot iAcreased in fiirt-y .ycai-s-. The faWn of Somerset, Pulaski County, has also seen better tiirtes-, Every man y mi speak to says it has, and goos off into a Itiag disquiaition npon the good old tunes of the past ; and the hamlet itself 1 .ears externa! andinterasl evidences of htivintr pasged into a deéline. It is situftteá ïieav the 'enter of the county, upon a gratie ëiönoei whieb allows the water to run off in all directions and make gulleya fin people to fall into at night when taking moonlight observations. Tho population is estimated at from 1,600 to 1,800, and a fair proportion of these seem to have an etisier #ay tó mak.a living than by the sweat of the brow. Evidencos of dilapidation and decay meet yoli ón every Street and at every turn. Hen is rt hottse wilh llic doors knocked in and the windows knOcked out, and no inhabitants other than fleaa and hogs. There is ono with the doors and shntters nailed up, waiting for the good tini" that is always coming to eveiy pl!n-e: ëen to forlorn Someweb. Then there is a biísitiess house in a good location, but closed, for we are told that business does not pay as it used to. Most of the buildings on tho square are dilapidated) bhöble-dowii lóoking conoern8, and it would add to the appearftnee of the placo if aflre slum ld get amone them. Of the three hoteki fcwt) are OWsed, le.iving only ono to battle with adverse fate. I asked a citizen what was the matter with his town, und he replied that the warhail taken all the blood out of its veins, thenlaifoW out of its benen, and tho santl out oi'its gizzard. " Tho armios soe-snwud back and forth herefor a long timo, " he continued, " and juat tore up everything. What they 'ondlit't dcwtroy they stitle. 'l'he Cutüberland river was a sort oí battle line which put us on the frontier. Every time eithur party gainod a victory, it let in a hungrier sot upon us. 8incc Ilie #ar we have n't picked up nmoli Moñey is so scarco business is clogged. It costa us half of vhut we have got to get the other half to market. People havo somchow lost heart. ïhoy have bceome content to live, without attempting to do anythiiifi further. So we jog along, aad the end of the year finds tis justabuut where the bezinning did, e3toept that somo of us hAY6 moved over to tliat gravoyard. Our only hojio is the Cinoinnatá ltuilroad."