VOLUME XII. LENOIR, N. 0., WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1886. NUMBER 1. STATESVILLE. NEW YORK. - f WALLACE BROS, General Merchandise -AND PRODUCE DEALERS, -AND - Headquarters for Med icinal Crude, Roots, Herbs, Berries,: Borlcs, Seeds, Flowers, Gums & Mosses, STATESVILLE, N. C. -tot- 'ALLAI General Produce Dealers -AJfD- Commission Merchants, 304 Greenwich St., DQOUCl'S Crallmiar 101 Wttk FVBX VEGETABLE TOHCS, pdeUr ud eoipUtelr CXK1XSKS aai XIBICHES TBS BLOOD. QmfcEena tat stloaeftafUTW aai UAur. Clean the eeaalexlem, aukM the ekis eotk. Itaoearaoi iaJwUMtoeteawaeadataaywsTedaeacoa. ttfUa-AXL 0THE2 BO MZDICDTES DO. in. NMMMad Biwwa'a boa Bitten ea a valuable tcolo yjr " DKLRU MyiinnTi. ISO. HVt t 4 tea r Ktek sad mm re Bom -- - Xadeenlvtw imwi cnuuoai. CtX, altmbx, ko. Burt) Miiei to aai 1 1 Itiii nipi ese.mw AG tn gmd lOeeata peetage, aad wa wUl ' 1 pU tax of gooas that wUi rnt 7m ta- out. tkan axtvthiB taintffa. Both MxW of UW way OX BUI Bor money a AW all gMruliTfttlmXB and wot is pare mb or all the time. . Capital not required. WawlU etart IWL Imubm pay nor for ibeee who etari at oooa. fniuo 00 Fwtlaftd, lam MOM. JEFFERSON DAVIS. lis Host ted Surrey ndings-How Hr. fla ils Passes his Declining Years. Correspondence of the Baltimore Sun. Beau voir. Mtss.. Sent, r a t.rin from Haiti mnro tn Huunvni. ut -J- " w. v ut v w . vuu VII CAW this time of the year is not a pleas ant one, but the "home of the ex- uoniederate chieftain, soldier and statesman is h. mnst rtalio-litf nl nliiil. ing place. Beauvoir is a flag station a 1 T ll V . . . on mo lxmisvuie ana IN ash vi lie Railroad, and is Bituated in Harri- son county, Mississippi, about half way oetween ivioDiie ana ftew Ur- lp.ans. Thft Rtatinn tnlroa ita iiuma from the estate of Hon. Jefferson jjavis, wnien was oequeatneu to mm on January 4, 1878, by the late Mrs. Sarah A. JDorsey, of Tensas parish, Louisiana, fin gratitude and appre ciation of his great services and sac- rjnees onj oenaii ot tne oouth. Beauvoir bekrina ut th milrnad st.H- tion; where vineyard of ten acres oi cscuppernong grapes lorms . a pleasing contrast to the tall pines 1- i i . jr : i. wmuu huuuiiu iu luia region. Aiigni inff frmh' thn train, and takino- t.hp road to vonr ficrht. von rtasa arnnnrl : : j--- j- i the vineyard; and entering a gate 1 1 3.4 T " I 1 I cross a lawn uoiieu wun live ouk and other trees, festooned with the Ljricturesque Spanish moss. Before vou is a large, roomy mansion, ount in the old-fashioned Southern style. About a hundred yards in front of the house, which is a double-framed square building, painted white, is the Mississippi sound, on Gulf of Mexico, with Ship Island in the dis tance. A veranda, about sixteen feet wide, runs around the mansion, and a hall wider than an ordinary room, through the centre of the house, makes a very pleasant sitting room in the summer. The interior shows the hand of taste and culture, with evidence of comfort and refine ment. In the centre of the hall is a large circular damask sofa, the centrepiece rising above the seats and holding a large tray of flowers. The parlor, dining-room, bedrooms, &c, are unusually large, and fur nished with handsome old furniture and tastefully decorated with rare war relics, curiosities;! family por traits and pretty ornaments, many of which are the products of the deft fingers and good taste of Mrs. Davis and her two accomplished daughters. The most notable fur niture, arranged from the piazza to near the centre of the hall, is the number and variety of comfortable rocking chairs. I counted ten of these, of every possible pattern, in sight. Books, carefully selected from the standard authors, adorn the tables or grace the shelves in a number of bookcases. The well scrubbed floors tell as plainly the duties of the ebony maid as the could have told herself. Facing the beach to the left of Mr, Davis's mansion is a low. four room house, built for his use. The rooms are small, and the piazza, probably ten feet wide, runs j uearly around the pavilion. The main room is occupied by Mr. Davis as his librarv. This is nearlv filled to the ceiling with books, a step-ladder being necessary to reacn tne nigner shelves. The books are histories, records, public documents, works of reference, &c, mostly bearing on the late war. In the middle of the library is a large table, on whichare various books, sheets of paper and newspaper clippings. Several large engravings of a sacred character surmount the mantel. Several old trunks, chests and cases filled with documents, letters, &c, arc arrang ed upon the floor. In this apart ment Mr. Davis wrote his great work on "The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government." The next room is intended for resting, in case Mr. Davis should desire to lie down, and is occasionally occu pied by strangers, who often visit Beauvoir to pay their respects and do honor "to the first gentleman in the South." Opposite,- this house, and to the right of the mansion, is a similar building, most tastily fur nished, and now occupied by Mrs. Margaret Howell Davis Hays and her three charming children. Mrs. Hays is the wife of J. Addison TTavo a. Vnnk pc at Colorado Springs. Cohand the married daughter of Mr. Davis., . . Ao T waived nn the wide, hierh 4U " . f o steps to the piazza surrounding the resiuence o iur. jio x o u, hv a ftnlored Vbnth. who announced mv arrival to tht family. In a few mom fin t Mrs. Davis made her ap pearance. After a cordial welcome and a few words of kindly inquiry I soon felt at home. Presently a step was heard upon the veranda, and Mr. Davis, dressed in the neat trarh of the old-time Southerner. appeared at the open doors of the hull hfi&riner in his right hand a ofAnt. ran ft and the inevitable slouch a? wrw ed hat. He recognized me at once, and, advancing with that " easy, nnnrflv flrranA which can onlv be ful- ly 'understood . and appreciated by known the senile VUVOw . WW A w w " D man of the old regime, spoke kindly a 1: iff XT. A words oi welcome, miss v anna a. Tlftvifl and Mrs. Havs soon joined us. and presided over the company with elegant ease and graceful courtesy, Thn-rn never seen a more delicto k- ful household than that gathered at Beauvoir at this time. - l leel a del hp.fore the nnhlio the names and the domestic fife of thie gifted family, but the great in terest felt by all Southerners in ev erything that relates to- Mr. Iavis and his familv must be rov excuse for writing what follows. Mr. Davis ' is unusually well ; in fact his health is better than it has been for several years, llis manner is genial ana very kindly, with the charming courtesy characteristic of the high bred Southern gentleman. Seventy eight years of age, Mr. Davis has yet a fresh and vigorous look, llis hair, mustache and whiskers are white in part, but his eve is bright and cheerful. His face in. repose is almost severely intellectual, but the smile which lights up his mouth and his quietly cheerful laugh dispel the first impression of coldness. Few of our public men have the quiet fascination of manner, the old-fashioned grace and the charming con versational powers of Jefferson Da vis. His memor. is capacious and retentive. One might with a facile phonographic pen collect great stores of reminiscences from hh lips. He loves to talk of the Confederacy ami his eyes flash with their old fire when he indignantly defends his administration of the Southern cause from the slanders of its ene mies. A patriotic regard for the public safety imposed silence upon Mr. Davis while the war continued. and a magnanimity which they have neither deserved nor appreciated, coupled with a proper sense of per sonal dignity, have impelled him since to refrain from the refutation of many misstatements by his" ene mies utterly scandalous and inexcu sable. He is a man of studious habits, a consistent Christian, the truest of husbands, the most affectionate of fathers, the best of neighbors, and one of the kindest of masters He rises about 9 o'clock in the morning, reads his mail and answers it . then devotes the remainder of theday to receiving visitois, riding over his estate, and studying the Various fields of literature and ; philosophy. He is a skillful euchre I player, and nearly every evening enjoys a social game with his family or visiting friends. Mrs. Davis, whose social qualities will be remembered by the brilliant society in Richmond, of which she was for three years the centre, is in excellent health. She is a stout la dy, and her face shows at once de cision and womanly character. In conversation she isquick, intelligent and extremely thoughtful, censur ing none, mindful of those who had befriended her family particularly the late4 John VV. Garrett in the days of trial, and evincing great in terest in the families of the men who had 'fallen for the Confederacy. Those who knew Mrs. Davis in oth er days as a Senator's or Secretary's wife in Washington, or as "mistress of the White House" and "first la dy" of the Confederacy in Rich mond -would find no difficulty in recognizing her now. Though time has wrought some changes in her, she is the same bright, genial, cul tivated, domestic woman, who U equally well qualified to grace the parlor, preside at a state dinner with historic men as her guests, at tend to the minutest details of her housekeeping, or visit her neighbors or look after the deserving poor. She is one of the best conversa tionalists I ever met, and her recol lection of society and events- in Washington, in Richmond and in Europe, and of the prominent men and women with whom she came in contact, are simply charming, and would make a book of rare interest were she disposed to turn her atten tion to authorship. Devoted to her husband, and taking a natural pride in his fame; an affectionate mother, who delights in her children and grandchildren ; affable and pleasant with her neighbors ; a noted house keeper and fine economist, and a charming entertainer of visitors, she strikes all who know her as wor thy to share the fortunes and com fort the declining years of the ex Confederate chieftain as she was worthy to share his honors and reign in society in Washington and in Richmond. Mrs. Davis is the daughter of Wm. Burr Howell, and has a long line of distinguished ancestry, who took an active part in the revolu tionary war and in the war of 1812. Her father, while serving as an offi cer of marines in McDonough's vic tory on board the Saratoga on Lake Champlain in the war of 1812-14, f greatly distinguished . himself. iapt. White You ags, in his official ' report to Commodore McDonough, says : "Second Lieutenant Wm. B. Howell, fifteenth infantry, in the United States ship Saratoga, render ed me every assistance, notwith standing his having been confined for ten days of a fever, yt at the commencement of the action he was found on deck, and continued until the enemy had struck, when he was borne to his bed. I would also rec ommend him to your notice." He resigned from the service in 1823, and married Margaret Graham Kemp, of Virginia. He settled in Natchez, Miss., and (afterwards re moved to New Orleans, where he was collector of the port until -his death at Montgomery, Alabama. Ho had eleven children. Capt. J en er son Davis Howell, who sacrificed his life in 1875, while in command of the steamer Pacific, off the coast of Victoria, after he had saved the lives of over 150 of his passengers, was the youngest child. Mrs. Davis was married to Jefferson Davis on Feb ruary 26, 1845. She is his second wife, his first being Sarah Knox Taylor, a daughter of Gen. Zachary Taylor. She only lived three months after her marriage. The story of Jefferson Davis'3 elopement with Gen. Taylor's daughter, which has lately been going the rouuds of the press, is as unfounded as m.-mv oth er lies that have been told about him. Mr. Davis has given me the following true story of his first mar-, riage : "I was one of the two offi cers selected from the first infantry for promotion in tho new regiment of dragoons organized in Mnrch, 1833, which separated me from ol. Taylor's rerinieni. In 1835 I went to Kentucky, where Miss Taylor was with her father's! sister, near Louis ville, and there married her in the presence of Gen. Taylors brothe. ,. sisrer, his son-in-law and daughter. (Doctor and Mrs Wood,) with many- others, members of the Taylor fam ily. I served under General (for merly Colonel) Zachary lay lor in the siege of. Monterey, and was ono of his commissioners to arrange for its capitulation." This facr suffi ciently explodes the scene so dra matically described as occurring at Buena Vista, where it is alleged the two men became reconciled. Mrs. Margaret Howell Davis Hays. the married daughter of Mrs. Da Vis, is of commanding height, with dark complexion and black hair and eyes, and with strongly marked and expressive mouth. She has a 1 fine face, indicative of intellect, energy and strength of character, yet beau tifully softened by tho gonrle ex pression of her black, earnest eyes. Her manners are kind, graceful and affable, 'her conversational, powers brilliant, and her talent and accom plishments are never displayed to a greater advantage than in her own home. Her three swo-ut children are tne pets or her father, whose love of children is one of his strong characteristics. Miss Varina . Davis, or Miss Winnio Davis, as she is sometimes called, the single daughter of Mr. Davis, was born in Richmond in 18C4, and was thoroughly educated abroad. She is affable and fascinat ing in her manners, a brilliant and accomplished conversationalist, a general favorite, and every way wor thy of her proud lineage and inher itance as "Child of the Confedera- cv. J. T. S. v The Fiddle in Politics c(iiattanooga, Tenn., Sept. 13. --A' rare sight. -which, perhaps, may not bo witnessed again for centuries, was seen at the Re 1 1 house in this city, tonight. Hon. Robe t L. Tay lor, Democrat!' nominee for Gpv enor, and his brother, Hon. A. A. Taylor, Republic.in candidate for the same position, occupied the same'room at the hotel. About 10 o'clock a crowd of 100 Democrats and Republican called on the gen tlemen, and after a general hand shaking, two violins were brought into the room. . Both Bob and Alf Taylor are fine musicians and when the musical instruments were placed before them, each took a violin and played a number of tunes together. It was certainly a novel sight the two brothers sitting side by side and as they warmed up, and the vio lins gave forth their delicious strains qf the old familiar tunes, the .audience of the distinguished brothers knew no bounds, and ap plauded vociferously. The music was highly enjoyed by every one present. Mount Zion Letter. Mt. Zion, Sept. 1. To the Editor of TJie Lenoir Topic: After the long . spell of stormy, rainy and oppressively hot weather, it seems almost like we have been transported to a different part of the world when the weather becomes so calm, clear, pleasant and delight ful as , it is at present. All nature seems to rejoice. The farmers who seemed so despondent a few weeks ago, now seem to rejoice in behold ing the vast improvement in the ap pearenceof their crops. The cool and balmy air seems to add fresh vigor to their limbs and with brisk and cheerful countenance, they do their work, confidently believing that in due time they will be amply rewarded for all their arduous toil in cultivating their crops. Col. H. A. Brown late of Wilkes county, but now a resident of mid dle Tennessee, recently parsed through this vicinity on "a visit to relatives and friends. Oh his re turn, he crossed the' Blue Ridge at Sanders' Gap, the lowest pass through the mountains and where the railroad leading into Tennessee should cross. Col. Brown says it is the most practical route across the Blue Ridge which he has yet seen. Should a railroad be built through this locality, there is apparently onough timber," minerals, building stone, &c. in close proximity to the route to Keep the trains busy en gaged in transporting them, for j . . . i m "I T centuries 10 come. r. u. u. Scrofula and all forms of scrofu lous diseases, are rapidly purged away by the use of Ayer's Sarsapa nlla. . ., ' S0UN9 VIEWS OF CARLISLE. Democratic Economy Eloquently set forth ny the Speaker. The Cincinnati Enquirer publish es an interview with Mr. Carlisle, in which the Speaker "refutes the char ges of extiavagance and other accu sations made against the Democratic Administration and and House of Representatives in the Ohio Repub lican platform. The following are the most interesting of the facts set forth by Mr. Carlisle : THE FIRST VEAR OF DEMOCRATIC j ECONOMY. "During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1886 and that is the only fiscal year which has elapsed since the inauguration of the present Ad ministration the ordinary expend i- , Hires of the Government were redu ced S2ojG30, 785 below those of the preceding year. There were, how ever, some extraordinary expendi tures, towit, in the payment of pen sions to Union soldiers. Jhat in crease, over the amount expended for the same purpose the previous year, was $7,302,596. So you will see that, notwithstanding this in crease, the net saving, as compared with the last year of Republican Administration, was $17,743,790 quite a! goodly sum." WHERE! TIIE SAVINGS WERE MADE. "We saved in the diplomatic and consular Service, $4,107,288 ; in ex penditures in the Treasury Depart ment, $3,530,359.39 : in the Judi ciary Department, $636,002.18 ; in civil expenses in the Interior De partment, $1,673,041.92 ; in the War Department, $8,346,427.73 ; in the Navy Department, $2,113,191. 93 ; in the Indian service, $453, 336.40 :-:in the customs service, that is, in collecting customs revenues, $2,960,726.31, and in the Internal Reveniie service, $437,303.31. There was another reduction which, per haps, ought not to be credited to the Administration, but it was a reduc tion none the less, and that was in interest upon the public debt through payment of the principal. a nut caving iui tuc jcai m was $806,110." INCREASED PAYMENT OF PENSIONS. "Under the administration of the present Democratic Commissioner of Pensions the expenditures on that account were, as before stated, $7,302,596 54 in excess of the ex penditures for the same purpose durirg the preceding fiscal year. This j resulted from the fact that there was a larger number of claims adjudicated and allowed during that year than m any preceding year, al though the Commissioner had 150 clerks less in hisottice than his Re publican predecessor, Dudley. We cut off 150 clerks." DECREASED APPROPRIATIONS FOR i THE CURRENT YEAR. "The ten great appropriation bills which provide for the annual sup port of the Government we have other permanent and extraordinary appropriations also are the Agri cultural, the Army, the District of Columbia, the Navy, the Legisla tive, Executive and Judicial, the Military Academy, the Post-Oflice and the Sundry Civil. There was appropriated by these bills for the fiscal vear ending June 30, 1886, the sum of $152,490,779.18, while the appropriation made by the last ses sion of Congress on the same bills and for the same purposes for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1887, was $146,004,583.44, or $6,486,195. 44 less than the preceding year. In stead of the appropriation being larger, it is six and a half millions less, j The increase in the expendi tures on account ;of the postal ser vice from the year 1884 to the year 1885! was $4,540,880, andjfrom 1885. to 1886 $4,660,590, while from 1886 to 1887, which is the current fiscal year the increase is only $664,873. The I vast difference you see $4, 000,000 less than the increase before under Republican administration." REPUBLICAN SENATORIAL EXTRA V A-j"- GANCE. ' - -' ' - "The appropriation bills as they passed the House of Representatives at the recent session, including for tifications, Pensions, Rivers and harbors, amounted to $247,490,524. But the same bills as amended and passed in the Republican Senate ap propriated $260,883,350, being an increase of $13,564,514. The House refused to concur in most of these amendments, and the bills, as finally passed by both houses, after a protracted struggle in conference committees, appropriated only about $3,000,000 in excess of the original amounts proposed in the House.' You see if we had agreed to the amendments of the Republican Sen ate we would have had $10,000,000 more than we have got now." NO DEFICIENCY THIS YEAR. "I can safely say that it is almost absolutely certain that the revenues for the current fiscal year will ex ceed the expenditures, including ' A A -.1 1 . fiaymeni or interest upon tne puo ic debt, and $47,000,000 " or $48, 000,000 upon the principal as a sin king fund by at least $30,000,000 or $35,000,000. It will be a good deal more, I think, but that is a good deal and, is not a deficiency by any means. The fact is that while the expenditures are being decreased the revenues of the Government are being constantly increased, Every week is better than it was before ; every month is better than it was before. ' , . RECLAIMING TnE PUBLIC DOMAIN. Since the beginning of the Forty- eighth Congress, laws have been pa-sed forfeiting and restoring to the nublio domain 50,482,240 acres of land previously granted to rail road companies and to Mates for railroad purposes in snme few cases. All the acts providing for the for feitures of these lands provide ex pressly that they shall be restored to the public domain and shall !e held for the benefit of actual settlers only under the Homestead law. The ter ritory embraced by these forfeitures is 78,878 square mile !-m ore ihi.n twice as large as the State of Ken- tuck y. In addition lo this the Dem ocratic House of Representatives at the last 8.'&si on passed bills forfeit ing 3,843,094 acres, which the' Sen ate has not yet concurred in. There are also on the Tialendar of the House, with favorable reports from committees, bills forfeiting 13,067,- 214 acres more, which will be passed, at the next session.: The area cov ered by all those bills is 159,408 square miles and most'of it pretty good land." ; f : REVENUE REDUCTION INEVITABLE. There is now only about $140,000. 000 of the public debt whick the Government has a right to pay at its! face, and nearly all the bounds representing thi3 indebtedness are held by the National banks. In less than two years this mdebtness will be fully discharged, and no other bonds mature until 1891, when $250,000,000 of 4per cents will bo payable. Duringjthe interval between the payment of the 3 per cents now outstanding and the maturity of the 4 per cents, unless the revenue is reduced or is used to purchase the obligations of the Government at a high premium, an enormous sur plus must accumulate in the Treas ury such. an amount as would par alyze the business of the country if hoarded and left out of ihe channels of trade. I am very strongly of the opinion, therefore, that when the debt which is now payable has been fully discharged, if not before that time, the people of the country will demand a reduction of the revenue. Linney at Downsville. Downsville, Sept. 20. To the Editor of the Lenoir Topic: J There was an appointment made t-.tr Mr. If. 'IT Linney, Iadenendent candidate for onress, to speak at i ns place 'ii tl e 18ih, lut owing to a inisundfis'andingj s.mh? wav or other, his opponent, Uul. ' . H. JI. Cowles, was not present. I herefore Mr. Linney did not make a cam paign speech, but he and Mr. II. S. ! Wuir spoke at length, in a joint dis cussion on "Our Duty asDemocra s' and at the close of his remarks. Mr. Linney announced that he had withdrawn from the ongressioiiai race, and that he was no longer a candidate. -Now, I do uot wish to become a grumbler or & kicker, neither would 1 attempt to array my weak and puny might against "The Power of. the Prees," but I do hones; ly think, that the public press has unjustly abused and ridiculed Mr. Linney ; of course, Mr. Liuney may have abused the press, but which was the aggressor ? i Now, it is a well known fact, that a man who never changes his opini ions is uot a progressive man, and if Mr. Linney ha3 changed certain views that he formerly held, and now holds others, the truth and jus tice of which he is fully convinced of, and boldly speaks out his con victions to the people, should we therefore call him a traitor, a crank or an enemy to his party ? , And again, as we cannot read the inward thoughts of man, nor look into the secret musings of the heart, how then have we a right to say that he is not honest in his opinions, or that his motives are not what they should be ? As to whether Mr. 'Linney i3 cor rect in all his political theory or not I do not pretend to say, but I do say in all sincerity, that I do be lieve he has been actuated in the course he has taken bp principles of true patriotism, And whatsoever the editorial com ment throughout the country may be concerning his withdrawal from the race, I will still believe that" his same spirit of patriotism just men tioned, has caused him to lay aside his caudidacy thereby blighting his political prospects now, and perhaps forever. In writing the above I have not meant to injure the Democratic cause, neither have I meant to de tract from the honor due our wor thy nominee, Col. W. H. H. Cowles nor have I meant to make any disingenuous or personal thrust at The Topic, for whose opinions 1 have always had the highest regard, but I have simply said, a little of what I, as a Democrat, think con cerning Mr. Linney and the Con gressional campaign, and notwith standing the fact that The Topic does not agree with me, still I hope that that spirit of fair nlav.' which has always characterized its editor still prevails sufficiently to give ' me a nearing. k. u. uowns. A Sluggish Liver Causes the Stomach and Bowels to be come disordered, and the whole system to suffer from debility. In all such cases Ayer's Fills give prompt relief. . After much suffering from liver and Stomach troubles. I have finally been cured by taking Ayer's Cathartio Pills. I always find them prompt and thorough in. their action, and their occasional use keeps me in a perfectly healthy condi tion. Kalph Weeman, Annapolis, Md. Twenty-five years ago I suffered from a torpid liver, which was restored to healthy action by taking Ayer's Pills. Since that time I have never been with out them. They regulate the bowels, assist digestion, and Increase the appe tite, more surely than any other medi cine. Paul Churchill, Haverhill, Mass. INVIGORATED. I know of no remedy equal to Ayer's Pills for Stomach and Liver disorders. I suffered from a Torpid Liver, and Dys pepsia, for eighteen months. My skin ' was yellow, and my tongue coated. I had no appetite, suffered from Head-; ache, was pale and emaciated. A few boxes of Ayer's Pills, taken in moderate 1 doses, restored me to perfect health. Waldo Miles, Oberlin, Ohio. Ayer's Pills are a superior family medicine. They strengthen and invig orate the digestive organs, create an ap petite, and remove the horrible depres sion and despondency resulting from Liver Complaint. I have used these Pills-in my family, for years, and they never fail to give entire satisfaction. Otto Montgomery, Oshkosh, Wis. ft ( Ayer's Pills, Prepared by Dr. J. O. Ay er ft Co., Lowell, II asa. Sold by all Druggist and Dealers lo Medicine. MUCH BETTER TH&M POLITICS. How k Road Was Made in Mitchell County, N. G. Shull's Mills, Sept. 19. . ,. To the Editor of The Lenoir Topic: A road across the Blue Ridge, connecting the upper valleys of Wa tanga and Linville, with the valley of Banner Elk, has been long need ed for the convenience of the peo ple of those valleys, and as a miss ing link in several through lines of ; travel and trade. But the route for it was across a sharp corner of Mitch ell county, which is almost unin- . habited, nd which runs like a horn into Watauga county, between, its thickly settled Banner Elk and up per Watauga valleys. The county commissioners oi Wa tauga county have no right to order Watauga hands to make a road in Mitchell county : and there was no Erobability that Mitchell county ands would be ordered so far from their homes to make the road. ' Here was a howdeo do. There was one way left to get the road, and that was to make it. Capt. W. V. Lenoir wanted the road so much that, though he said nothing to anybody, he began last year to make it. After iaking what he could at that time with some help from others that offered itself, he had to stop,-but began again, last month. The road Jiad been so well graded and made, as far as it was ' opened, that many who needed it be gan to grrtw impatient to see it o peiied all the way. But they saw that 'apt. Lenoir wus overtasked, and that they would have to wait a long time for the road if he did not have help. So the people of the upper Wa tauga valley began to drop in with.' their mattocks and shovels to help him. I As they came in .it continued in charge of the work on the Linvil!o eud of the road ; while the people ' of Banner Elk started to meet them from the. Banner EU end of the road, under the leadership S. M. . Dugger, proprietor of Dugger's Ho- . tel, to whoso untiring zeal and en-. ergy the work on (the Banner Elk end of the road is chiefly due. Tu two parties met on the ninth of this month, well pleased and iu high spirits, and Capt. Lenoir and Mr. " Dugger joining their shovels to gether threw the last earth that was moved to complete the opening of . the road. j It is one of the best graded road across the Blue Ridge in the Stat , and will at once become part of 1 1 main line of travel between Lju i.r and Cranberry by way of Blowing Rock, and it will stimulate a num ber of important improvements in the roads connecting with it, and in those competing with it. j This is a pleasing affair in those hard times, is it not Mr. Edit r 'i An important leading road has been made by a small portion of the people of Watauga across the Blue Ridge in Mitchell ocunty. This has all been done by ordinary labdr, without a petition, an order of court, a summons, an overseer, a public meeting, a speech, or even a newspaperr paragraph. The wind work was all left out. A few drops of mattock blows be- 4 gan to patter on the road, and then a lively shower of them be an j to rain down upon it. That rain open ed the road, and not words. Now that it is open, I hope that you will excuse these few words about; how it was done, from one of ,tho boys, who, like Mure Gipson "Was Thar and Seed It." If your hair is iurning gray, don't use the poisonous dyes which burn out its life and produce many dis eases of the scalp. Ayer's . Hair Vigor is harmless, and 'will restore the natural color of the hair, stimu late its growth, and bring back its youthful gloss and beauty. r

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