The Colonist.
Devoted to the Interests of the Warm Springs Manufacturing Colony.
VOLUME I.
NEW YORK CITY AND WARM SPRINGS, N. G., MARCH 11, 1871.
The GoXomsf;
PUBLISHED UNDEB THE MANAGEMENT
01? THE
WARM SPRINGS
MANUFACTURING COLONY.
Issued for the present in New York, but will be
transferred for permanent location to
Warm Springs, N. C.
A limited number of Advertisements will be taken.
THIS
mm
SHARES, SllO.
As an Initiation Fee,
$5 is Cliar’gcd for
tlxG Urst Shares
•^nd $1 per share for each
additiomai share.
' person of good moral character, may
become a member by the payment of the above
Initiation Pee, and may subscribe for any number
of Shares from ONE to FIVE! Every member
is entitled to ONE LOT for each paid-up Share.
The size of these Lots will be governed by the
number of acres purchased by the Colony.
ALL LETTERS CONTAINING MONEY FOR
SHARES, OR MEMBERSHIP, ARE TO BE
SENT TO
J. B. LYMAN, Trustee,
TEIBTOE BUILMSGS.
LETTERS ASKING INFORMATION SHOULD
BE SENT TO
D. S. ELLiOTT, 214 Bowery.
D. V- B. ORfflSBY, Gen’l Agent.
Me. LYMAN, gives his personal receipt for the
money, as soon as it is received ; and a certificate
of stock and a member's book will be sent by the
Secretary, as soon as they are made out.
o lEx:o-T :hi :ei. .
AN ACT to incorporate the Warm Springs
Colony, iMssed at the sessions of the Gen
eral Assembly of North Carolina, oflWlQ
and 1871.
Seo. 1. The General Assembly of North
Carolina do enact, that Dwight S. Elliott,
E. Porter Little, Joseph B. Lyman.Leonard
C. Thorne, Edward J. Aston, Francis W.
Nuber, William A. Morgan, and their asso
ciates, successors and assigns, be, and
they are hereby created, constituted, and
declared to be a body politic and corporate,
by, and under the name of “The Warm
Springs Colony,” and by that name, they
and their successors shall have perpetual
succession and a common seal, and shall
be capable of suing and being sued, plead
ing and being impleaded in all courts what
soever, and may hold, possess, acquire, sell,
purchase, grant, lease, convey and mort
gage real and personal estate, and the
capital stock thereof shall be one hundred
and sixty-five thousand dollars, ($165,000)
but may be increased to five hundred thous
and dollars, ($500,000), to be divided into
shares of one hundred and ten dollars,
($110) each, and the said Colony shall have
full power to pass all such By-Laws and
regulations for their own government as
they may deem necessary, not inconsistent
with the laws of this State, or the United
States.
Sec, 2. Be it further enacted, that it
shall not be lawful for the said Colony to
mortgage or pledge their real or personal
estate to any person or persons, or corpo
ration, for any purpose whatsoever, to an
amount greater than thirty-three and one-
third, (33-|) per cent, of the actual cash
value thereof: and it shall not be lawful
for the said Colony to guarantee or pledge
their credit to any person or company
whatever, for any purpose other than that
immediately connected with the legitimate
business and concern of said Colony ; pro
vided that nothing in this act shall be so
construed as to prevent the said Colony
from executing a mortgage to secure the
payment of any purchase money still un
paid on the property so mortgaged.
Sec. 3. This act shall be in force from
and after its ratification.
In 'General Assembly, read three times,
and ratified this day of February, A D.
1871.
The Origin and Purpose of this Movement.
It is natural for all men, and especially
forlAmerioans, to believe that some well con
sidered step in life, some purchase, or
movement or combination, will greatly aid
in securing a better fortune. Tens, yes
hundreds of thousands of poor but indus/
trious men in tiro Eastern and Middle
states, have believed that the right thing
for them to do was to go west, and thou
sands to-day are living in affiuence on ICO
acres of rich land, all paid for, who, if they
had stayed East, w'ould to-day be grinding
along at a poor, dying rate on stony pas
ture land not worth $10 an acre.
Most colonies have been agricultural
only, and their inquiry has been for land
that was cheap yet productive. A fe-w
months ago a score or two of artizans be
gan to discuss the feasibility of going to
some country where land and water-power
is cheap, where food is abundant, health
excellent, scenery noble, and where they
could find a good local market for what
they could make. They organized, elected
officers and commenced correspondence
and inve-stigation. The high regions of the
South attracted their attention ; they stu
died the Cumberland plateau, the moun
tains around Chattanooga, the broken re
gions of West Virginia; they made some
search on the Pacific slope. These inqui
ries were kept up for many weeks, and the
result of them was that for climate, health,
scenery, water-power, timber, ease of access
promise of good market, they turned with
satisfaction to the mountains east of Knox
ville and Greenville. The next step was
to learn what spot in all that region gave
most promise. After careful search and
a.sking .many questions of. good -obeop^'ors,
their attention was arrested and fixed upon
a property eight miles from the western
base of the Alleghany mountains, 25 nn'Ies
s. e. of Greenville, Tenn, the Warm Spring
of Madison County, N. C. We gleaned all
the facts with relation to it thai were easily
accessible, but feeling the importance of a
judgment on the subject in v/hich we might
confide, Mr. Lyman of the Tribune was
employed to visit the region and give the
property a minute examination.
His commission and the report which he
has brought back will be found in another
column, and will show that we were not
misinformed as to the remarkable attrac
tions and capabilities of the Warm Spring
property. AVe have bought it.
It will be seen by a study of Mr. Ly
man’s report that a large number of me
chanics and skilled workmen can at once
find employment. The repair and enlarge
ment of the hotel will imply an outlay of
at least $5,000. Its furniture and equip
ments. which we propose to make on the
spot, will cost several thousand more. Our
plan is to proceed at once to erect a saw
mill, grist-mill, a shop with all the machin
ery necessary for making furniture, tools,
and other articles of wooden-ware.
The organization on which w'e w’ork is
substantially as follows : The members of
the Colony have elected a President, a Vice
President, Secretary and Treasurer. Also
three Trustees, three Auditors, and a Board
of Directors, twelve in number. These,
excepting the Auditors, compose a Board
of Management who discuss and pass upon
all matters relating to the interests of the
Colony. All expenses are ordered by them
and no bill can be paid without their ap
proval.
The duties of the Trustees are to devise
the purchase of property, the erection of
buildings, the purchase of machinery and
supplies. No bill can be paid unless en
dorsed by two of the Trustees.
The leading feature of our plan is to allow
and to urge every worker to he apart owner
of the shop or building or yard in yahich he
loorks. That is all we mean by the word
co-operation. And we think the justice,
equality and fairness of this plan will
please every man who has suffered or seen
others suffer* from the tyrrany of capital.
Our motto is—“Strength in Union,” down
withthe one man power, the man who puts
in three hours of skilled labor is just as good
as a man who puts in a dollar to buy the
lathe that helps that skilled laborer. We
seek to flank this direct clash between
money and muscle; and we do it by giv
ing every man a chance to be a part owner
in the mill, the dam, the wheel, the band,
and the machine with which he works. He
is part owner of the ground around the
mill, and o|the stream o.n,wh.ich it stands;
yes, when he looks up from his work an5
sees a cloud capped mountain with its
rough coat of pines, anil ivy, and hemlock,
and a wild stream dashing over the gran
ite, he can say ; part of all that is mine,
our line runs back of that peak, our child
ren can pick up those knots and limbs for
firewood, they can gather chestnuts and
berries on it, and if iron or marble, or cop
per or zinc is found under those rocks, I
am part owner of the mine.
In this way w'e propose to make at Warm
Springs a rational and Christian democracy,
a towm where there is nobody rich and no
body poor, where no mill-owner’s carriage
dashes mud on the legs of a tired worker
in that mill; where the price of labor is
regulated by the nature of things, and the
actual state of the market; and the true
relation of a day’s work to a bushel of
wheat, not by the will of tie employer. If
a man remains poor and lielpless in such
a communitj', the fault or misfortune is all
his own ; if another man wishes to be a
grandee, he will find nobody to lord it over
and nobody to hob-nob with. It is to se
cure this state of things that we have said
to the world; “come, throw in a hundred
dollars and unite in this movement, buy a
share or two shares.” Our call has been
responded to, we have bought a large and
valuable property, and made a handsome
cash payment on both real and personal
property. The_enterDtise ,is bo longer a
pla/7, it is a, fact." , : ’ .
How the Property was Chosen.
Co-operative Hall, 214 Bowery,
New'York, Nov. 15, 1870.
Joseph Lyman, Esq,,
(Agricultural Editor of the N. Y Tribune.)
De.ar Sip. :
At a meeting of the AAiestern North Car
olina Co-operative Manufacturing and
Agricultural Association, held at our Hall,
on Saturday evening, the 13th instant, it
-was voted, as expressive of the desire of
the Association, that you be requested to
proceed immediately, or at your earliest
convenience, to the Warm Springs, in Mad
ison County, North Carolina, and there
confer with James H. Eumbough, Esq., the
proprietor of the property, as to the exact
condition of the place ; its topography; its
phenomena, its attractions; its extent; its
buildings; its value; and the best terms on
which the whole of the property, as de
scribed by Mr. Helper, in his several com
munications to us on the subject, which Ave
herewith hand you, can be purchased.
For this purpose, the sum of $125, which
you will find enclosed, has been appropri
ated. AVe trust that you may be pleased
to accept it, and that you will soon favor us
with your good judgment, in the form of a
full report, in reference to the AA’arm
Springs property; the advantages it pos
sesses in its thermal waters; its prospects
for a railroad; its eligibility as a site for a
new town; its water-power, and other facili
ties for manufacturing; and its agricultural,
horticultural, and pomological resources
and capacities; also the mineral resources,
if any, of the country adjacent: and any
other information which you may deem of
importance to Our contemplated Colony.
We would also thank you for your opin
ion, and for other particulars, in relation
to any other property or properties in
AVestern North Carolina, which may come
under your observation, and which, in your
judgment, may fitly challenge the attention
of our Association.
Yours, very respectfully,
DWIGHT S. ELLIOTT, Pres’t
C. AV. C. DKEHEE, Sec’y.
To the Cfficers and Members of the Warm
Springs Co-operative Associalion.
Gentlemen:—In obedience to the in
structions fn the above Commission, I have
to repor't that I went to the Warm Springs
property and examined it minutely, mak-
V
\
ing full notes of all its various attractions
and capabilities. I then proceeded up the
French Broad river to Asheville, and exam
ined a fine agricultural property on Elk
Mountain, five miles from that town, and
by inquiry informed myself of various other
tract.s of land and mill properties in tl^e
counties of Madison and Buncombe.
I found railroad access as far as the
mouth of AA’olf Creek, eight miles from the
Springs. The stage road connecting these
points is in some places quite steep, and
in others rocky; but its character is a mat
ter of temporary importance, for the road
is graded for a part of the way up the
French Broad, and if work is actively re
newed the cars may be stopping at the de
pot, close by the Springs, early next season.
The moneys of the road have been misap
plied and squandered, but enough has been
rescued to buy the iron and comiolete the
grading. The AA^arm Springs will be the
point at which the Tennessee and North
Carolina road connects with the AA^'estern
North Carolina road. There is a difference
of two or three inches in the guage of these
roads, and this will require a transfer of
freight and passengers, and tend to make
the station one of considerable importance.
The French Broad is a large stream,
pouring down as much water as the Dele-
ware at Easton, or the Connecticut at Brat-
tleboro. The mountains through which
its pathway is, cut rises in steeps, and
sometimes in precipices, from the water’s
edge to the height of five hundred feet, and,
at points, a thousand feet. But at this point
they recede nearly a mile from the stream,
and leave on the left or south bank a tract
of excellent arable land. This land i.s flat
and alluvial for
acres.. This field is smooth, in good con
dition, . extending' for nearly half a mile,
along the'margin of the stream. It is now
in winter wheat, and is likely to produce
from 12 to 15 bushels per aern. Just back
of this bottom is a steep bank about twenty
feet high, and on reaching the top of it
you see a second bottom, or table, of about
fifty acres more, of land not so good as the
first field, but suitable for potatoes, oats
clover, and admirably situated for building
sites. A stream that rises in a spur of Iho
Alleghanies, twenty or thirty miles south
of the Springs, and pours through a wdld
and precipitous region, here empties itself
into the French Broad. Its name is Spring
Creek, and the waters of it are clear, cold,
and abundant all the year. It is as low as
at any time in the year, and I judge that it
would fill a race eight or ten feet wide,
four feet deep, and give in the race a velo
city of four or five miles an hour. Its fall
is such that in several places a low dam
and a race of a quarter of a mile in length
would afford ahead of from fifteen to twen
ty feet. A dam with a race of this charac
ter is in the place, and a saw and grist
mill, which, by an outlay of, say, $200,
could be put in fair running order.
On the west, or Tennessee side of Sju-ing
Creek, the land rolls more, but its quality
is even better. There are about twenty-
five acres of bottom on the creek, and a
second bottom of thirty-five acres. Back
of it is a field that has been plowed for an
extent of about fifty acres, and beyond, on
the west end of the property, is a pasture,
or old field, of about thirty acres. In short,
of valley land, arable and excellent for any
purpose, I find about one hundred and
twenty-five acres. Back of this, and run
ning up on the flanks of the mountain, and
including some steep banks, of little value
except for pasture, and some stony and
some cool and springy land, but not unfit
for cultivation, I find about one hundred
and twenty-five acres, or two hundred and
fifty acres of surface that can be cut into
gardens and building lots. Back of this
the mountains are steep, but -B’orth some
thing for the firewood that grows on their
sides, and which could easily be rolled
down.
The whole area of the Spring’s tract is
somewhat over six hundred acres. Over
about fifty acres there is a good timber
growth of white pine, hemlock, oak, beech,
and poplar. Much of the timber can be
rolled into Spring Creek, and floated to
the mill through the race. South of the
Spring’s tract, but separated from it by a
narrow strip belonging to J. J. Gudger, is
the Canebrake farm. It lies on both sides
of Spring Creek, and includes about two
hundred acres of arable land, of which
thirty or forty acres are quite strong and
pi;odudive. ^ A .la^'ge boundary, of wild
land is connected w'ith it, embracing some
five hundred acres. Some of the timber is
easy of access, and some is on the sides of
steep mountains, covered with loose rock,
and too remote from the stream to admit
of floating. I went up one deep glen, or
gorge, on this land, and saw very large
hemlocks, poplars, oaks, and beeches, ia
great number, some white pines, snd soma
hickory and ash, but not a great deal.
Going up Spring Creek, beginning, say,
three miles from the Spring, I find a great
■wilderness. For five miles there is no hab
itation, and only a wild mountain bridle
path, This great forest is full of game, so
much so that a ham of venison can gener
ally be bought at the Spring for fifty cents.
Spring Creek runs directly through it, and
in many places—I judge from the face of
the country—hundreds of pines and hem
locks can be cut on the rocky sides of the
steep mountains, rolled down to Ihe water,
and taken out in a flood. Such I find the
AA'arm Springs and its connected tracts aa.
a farming and lumbering property.
AS A POPULAR RESORT.
The chief value of this estate consists in
a remarkable spring on the margin of the .
river, and a large hotel near by. The
spring boils up constantly, and in great
quantities, from unknown depths in the
earth, and the temperature of the water is
almost exactly that of the human blood and
hardly equalled, in tne country.
A -wall of brick, laid in cement, has been
built ah-ound the spring. It is about 10x20,
and divided by a wooden v,'ull into two
pools, one for male and one for female
bathers. The depth is about four and a
half feet, and the bottom is clean and grav
elly. The flow of hot w’ater is quite large.
I judge it would, if all saved, fill a hogs
head in ten mimlto's Besides its warmth,
this water has mineral properties of con
siderable value. It contains magnesia and
sodium, and has been found lielpful as a
beverage for those whose digestion is bad.
The hotel building, which stands a few
yards from the spring, is built of brick, is
very substantia], and in good repair. The
main, or two-storj^ part, is over two hun
dred feet long, and the continuation, one
story high, is over two hundred fee,, long.
There are t-wo L’s, one eontaiiiiiig the
kitchen and dining room of the main part.,
and another set of rear I'ooms on the con
tinuation. Though connected, tiie one-story
group of buildings can Ido used separately
from the two-story or main structure. I
hear that four hundred persons ha-s'c been
ntertained here, before the -war. The rooms
are too large, and much space is given to
halls and entries that are of little use. By
raising the roof of the t'wo-story part, or
rather turning it into a in:insard, and di
viding the interior differently, at an outlay
of, say $5,000, would give this iiotel a cap
acity for five hundred guests.
The AYarm Springs are nearly two thou-
and feet above the level of the sea. High
mountains enclose them on all sides, save
the gorge through which the river has for
ced its pathway. It is uncommon to see
ice over two inches thick, and the nights
of July and August are so cool that one or
t-w'o blankets are required for comfortable
sleep. The -vi'ater is all in rapid flow. The
air is rendered pure and fragrant by the
pine and hemlock forests that line the
mountain sides.
You perceive that I am describing the
choice situation in America, and one of the
most favorable on the face of the earth for
chest diseases of all sorts, I saw a number
of persons who had suffered from bleeding
of the lungs, and they have gained strength
faster, and had been more exempt from
pain and coughing, in this climate, than in
any other. Patients of this class need
comforts and refinements which the coun
try until recently has been unable to afford
them. Many cannot endure a jolting ride
over mountain roads. But as soon as di-