VOL XXV
BOO.NE, WATAUGA COUNT V, TIIUIWDAY, OUT. 2, 1913
.NO. 6.
ji QXO D I A
f
Till Kind Yob Kara Alwajs Bought
Bear the
Signature of
jr yf J '
6AjertT-&6&4(
PROFESSIONAL.
T. . Bingham,
Lawyer
BOONE,
all matters of a
I, .
Jf rn I no r 11 fA
Collections a specialty.
Ottiee with Solicitor F. A. Lin
ney 1 29 ly. pd.
JAMS C. CLIXE,
Attorxey-AtLaw
Supar Grove, - - - .North Caro.,
i"Vill prncti?e regularly in
the courts of Watauga nnd ad
joiuing counties Special atten
tion given to the collection of
claims,
2 27- l:i 1 j r.
VETERINARY SURGERY.
I har been putting luiu-h utiuly
on this itibject; have received my
diploma, ana am now rim'i"" i
... . ii : i i
for the practice or veterinary cur
gery in all Ita branches, and am the
only one in the county, all on or
iddreni me at Vilas, X. . K. F. D. 1.
Q. H . HAYKS,
Veterinary Surgeon.
-17-'ll.
Dr. E. M. MADRON.
- DENTIST.
Sugar Grove, North Carolina,
"A11 work doneundcrjxuar
intee, and best material used.
I.13-'ll.
E, S. COFFEY
x TlORNEi Al LAW,-
BOONE, N.C. .
.'rorapt attention given to
il matters of a legal nature.
VB Abstracting titles and
oiipntion ol claims a special
l-l-'ll.
Dr. Nat. T. Dulaney
- SPECIALIST -
KYE, EAR; NOSK, THROAT AXD CI1KST
EYES EXAMINED FOR
GLASSES
FOURTH STREET
Bristol, Tenru-Va.
EDMUND JONES
LAYEIt
LENOIlt, N. 0,-
W ill Practice Regularly w
the Courts ol Watauga,
s-l 'n.
v TTORNEY AT LAW,
BANNER ELK, N. C.
"Wi!l practice in the courts
Watauga, Mitchell and adjoining
ounties. 7-6-' ii
?. A. LINNEY,
-ATTORNEY AT LAW,
boone, n. c.
Will practice in the courts of
the 13th Judicial District in all
matters of a civil nature.
.-11-1911.
E. F. LovUl,
w.
M T.OV
I Ml 0 villl
LOVIII Oi LOVIII
-ATTORNEYS AT LAW
-B00NE, N. C
Special attention given to
all business entrusted to
theircare. .. .'. ."
1 UmJm ME SNEAKS,
I Sornethir to Saj About the Pass-
' a2e if Su.k Bin The
1 Elkin 1 l,tlhan'-
''apt 1'. I-vill in .li;irl..(l,. ol..
S.ini weeks ago, I saw an ar
'tide in the Raleigh X,.vvsainl Ob
server taken from the hexing.
; ton Dispatch, ia which the edi
tor, Col. IL I!. Varnir, makes
'some very serious charges nginst
N-Pjmany of the best men ottle
e . t f i , .. . ,'mnniiiiiiniii i t i vii'
til fllO l.iMriwIririirii rr ri hhmr md ; 1
r r-
to the railroads in the Ial.or of
the convicts, were Mit-aked t.iro'
the Legislature without more
than a dozen men ineither houe
know ing w hat was done. Having
myself liei n a member of the Sen
ate in 1U07, when the act was
passed charteri ij; and rantinr
aid to the Ll';in Alleghany
Ilailroad, I desire tosay that the
charge is without any foumhi
tion in fact. I w as also present in
the Legilat uie of 1 !)'., when
the net was passed jrraiitinfroin
o0 to L"0 convicts tj aid in the
building of the Watauga & Yad
kin Iliver Railroad; in each ciisc
these bills were discussed beloie
a full committee, and were fully
understood by ad of tlaiu,
(ir)(j
thev were r e port e d
favorably by a unanimous vote.
In the case of the Watauga
Yadkin Uiyer road, the bill was
introduced by Mr. Smith llana
inan, member ol the House of
HepreseiitativeH from Watauga
count'. Mr. I 'mi I Kitchiu was
chairman of the coinuiittce, and
an entire evening was given to
the discussion before a full com
mittee. There were nt least 100
persons in the building and it
was discussed by Ilagaman,
Houghton, Ii. P. Dougherty and
the writer, nnd besides other mem
hers of both houses of the Gener
al Assembly and newspaper re
porters were present. There was
not a dissenting vote against the
favorable report, and the proceed
ings before the committee were
published in the News and Ob
server. Mr. Morton, from New
Hanover, made amotion to re
port favorably, eayinir that he
had been in this country and
knew that it was a matter of ab
solute justice to the country.
This is the way those bilks were
"sneaked" through.
Now, Colonel Yarner, we would
like to haveyou tell who these
sneaks were; who those bold, bail
men, from Murphy to Manteo
that did conspire against the
S"tate of North Carolina to rush
these bills through and despoil
the State. Was it Doughton, who
has spent the best part of his life
in the service of the State of North
Carolina? as it -J. C. ISuxton,
who was chairman of the com
mittee? Was it I)owd,ol Mecklen
burg? Whs it Daniels, of Hali
fax? Was it Webb of Duneombe?
Was it I'harr of Mecklenburg!
Was it A. cock of W ayne? Was
it Bellamy of Brunswick? Was
it Drewrv of W ake? Was it Hu ke
f r:,.nnvillp? Was it Holt of
Ml VJ I Hill
Guilord? Was it Long of Iredell,
orKluttzol Rowan? These are
nit n w hose services in the inter
est of the State of North Caroli
na are known to all men, and
thero were many others not men
tioned, who have always been
ready to fly to the rescue of our
State in every crisis, either in
wnr or peace 1 .
n . i... J nut
Have me
UOIUI1CM vv, ,
courage to ten us ,uu.
... - and w10 these men are.
i il .tAiin r 1 V W.
I The Colonel seems to no ionu o.
that word "eneak," having used
it three or four times in his arti
cle. .-ain, the Colonel is in error
when he says that these roads
a r only being built in he mter-
st tl individuals and cmpora-
tions, wlio will lie llif only oies
to reap ndvantng' a in fie huii-( road and we lu-ver Lad the ph-as.
; ding of these mads. I think it . uiv of sho inj ban our count ry.
is a truth that cannot be dispn- Now, I t: what i- an alleg
, t-d til at the policy ! the State 1 railro el'. I'leaso ilefia". Col.
has been to aid in t'te construe .1 S. I ami. our all man agcr of
I lion of railroads to develop t Im the ji niicnt i.iry, does not Uar
, resoiiiecs of North Carolina, mr yon oat in his description ol the
. since the first railroad was con- Watauga A Valkia River ll nl
striicti j within her borl.us: i t , roa'l. None of u has ever Itar
i aided in the construction of the met! Col Vainer in the least.
iimmgton ami w eiaon, m
Carolrna, the Western NorlhCaio
l;na, the A tin u tie and North Caro
! lino nti.i llnil urn lieir nml .i.l
l-in oIIai' I -i il i .
Thesi'irreat imnrovemeiit shave
made theState rich and powerlul. miles wide, containing from ;..
This aid was granted by public ,"00 to To.OOO souls, including
taxation of the people of all the three entire counties and about
State, and the State would have half of another, and perhaps the
been lichl.v paid for its outlay if hiig.'.st territory east ol the Mis
it had never got one peny for its sissippi River that has no rail
t.f,.l' I tnul' 4-1,. f.itl... 1 I'fl.'lft fir Hilh'P t t'ri fit:! 11 li -i t It .,1 If
tion, ha vmir been a elose observer ,
of the business of the State for
the last 40 vears, that the State
bas never lost one penny by rea-
son of taking stoL'k in the various
rallroads which have been com
pleted, except by the scale of her
stock in the s.iid roads.
The declaration the Colonel
makes regarding the stock of
these
force,
alleged" railroads has no
because the stock of n
railroad has ever been salable
lilthf. rnilroiid wns out into on-.
eration; but it is a fact known o
all men that the development of
the country through w hich any
road passes, and tha result of im
provement and institution which
springs upalongitsline will event
ually pay the State in taxation
many times for all it has given
them. Rut the president of the
Good Roads Association has
stored in his great mind, ns set
forth in his keynotespeech before
his association on the seashore,
a speech he has lately had repub
lished, to emphasize the meeting
of the Good Roads Association
at Raleigh, on the very day of
the meeting of the extra session
ol the Legislature. What is this
great and vaunted policy that
he is going to launch forth to
overwhelm the Legislature If we
are to take his speech for his pol
icy, it is to abandon the work on
the railroad, abandon the State
farm, and put the comicts to
work on the public roads. This
scheme means that the w hole ex
peiise of the State's prison is to
be borne by taxation, so that
the convicts shall be a benefit to
all the people alike. Now, to be
just to all the people, according
to his own allegation, he must
distribute tlieln throughout all
the counties. I understand from
the authorities of the penitentia
ry that there are about 000 able
bodied convicts able to perform
hard labor; now there being 100
counties in the State, it would
give each county six convicts,
and it would lake about two men
to direct and guard these con
victs, and if there were no repair
ing to be done to the roads, they
would probably get our roads
done about the year A. D. fiOOO.
Now it is easy to see that this
policy is a pipe dream of the
most absurd and irredescent va
riety. As to the Colonel's "alleg-
ed" railroads," he rode on one of
them, the Watagga iv Yadkin
River for 121 miles. The road has
first-class new engines, new en
gines, new freight and passen
ger cars, with heavy rails, is now
running on regularechedule, nnd
as I understand, is making tnon-
-i . . i.. ....
ey over anu aoove regular e.
p'enses. We were nfi aid he would
not wee further than the end of
the rails, so some of us sent him,
together with the entire force of
the penitentiary Hoard, on invi
tation to visit this country and
no-reed to meet them at the end
of this "alleged rona won ve-
hides, and bring them along
over the line, nnd show them
some of our resources and beau-
ti.- p-i.tiemaii
the "alleged"
ana we appeal to tin s o l e r
thought of the just men of North
Carolina. This territory tying
llnvr ilhil totrtli id ll.u IMno l'i.1..o
i. iiu-i noi iii wi mr lain- niur
iiTifl t ha Si'ito hoi
ahout ((!
mihs
long and from to ."(
, .i ,. ., ,. . ,. i
has the liuest, soil, finest climate, i
grows almost spontaneously all
t ho rich, nutritious grass. -s, is ca
pable of producing almost all 1
mhos oi vegeiauies ami nuns in ;
almost unlimited ijuantit ies, to
get her with all theceicalsand, in
fact, everything except cotton
and tobacco that is generally
raised in the State. The market
llr (,ur produce lies to the .South
ami Last, our haul is an average
un-;of.5; imit'ri to North
Carolina
produce
' "liiroaa poinrs. our
reaches the railroad burdened
with a freight charge of about
$10.00 a ton, alter which we en
counter the same exorbitant
freight rates that are so justly
complained of in the State. These
conditions put us out of the mar
ket und we cannot compete with
New. Y'ork, Vermont or Maine,
and they tyen ship cabbage and
potatoes from Denmark and Hol
land to the eas'ern part ol North
Carolina at much less rate ol
freight than we can from the
mountains So it is with incom
ing freight. II one of our merch
ants buys a carload of fert ilizer,
cottonseed meal hardware or
any other commodity, he pay
the railroad freight rates to our
nearest station, and then he has
to pay $200 to ha ye that car
load of merchandise brought in
to this territory.
Those conditions are intolera
ble and although our coun'ry it
rich, our people are not prosper
ous and cannot prosper, and
when we consider the fact that
these two railroads, the Llkin &
Alleghany, and the Watauga ix
Yadkin River, o() miles apart, tr
ing now to climb this great bar
rier, the sloposof the mountains,
the completion ol which would
consummate the effort of oui
people for 'JOyoars, and when tin
further fact appears that these
railroads will soon make valua
ble connections the Alleghain
wit h the Norf.dk tx. Western, anil
the Watauga x Yadkin River
with the Virginia iv South-Wes-tern
two great coul hauling
railroads, opening up two greal
gateways Into our State, having
a tendency to equalize the unjust
freight rates complained ol, we
are surprised that these great
schemes have not been made,
beloie now, a great State policy,
at the same time doing justice
to this territory, und enriching
the state also by the improve
ments that would spring up all
oyer this countiy.
This country has been nptly
termed the great 'Hygienic High
way," to which multiplied thou
sands annually resort for health
and temporary residence. A prom
inent man from the City of Char
lotte iufotuied me n short time
ao that he believed if we had
comfortable transuortatioa fa
cilities to this country there
would tie ovi r
100,000 per pie
annually resorting to it. They
loye to pee these green hills, to
tii'u! mil-vs, but
went lack over
Aasn ttsftaneer S;Mfcrs cf Witajja
rni.n!
J I'.y I- D. Low k
Prior to II.. year IspJ there
were only three families liiig
incite valley of Llk Crwk, and
thee wire the families of Ijevi
Moo.ly, .loci Liners nnd Deldah
i.uni. i in illustrious iiauglitiTi
of Pedeiit. The first mill that was
ever constructed in this valley
was a small corn-crack'-r put in
operation by .loel Kgers. About
the time this little mill was com
l.l'ted John Houston I'aird, a
young man ol poetical turn of
mill J who was staying with his
aunt Delilah, thought he would
do a littl.j advertising for the
new enterprise o Ejigers, so plac
ed a number of sin posts along
the mountain trails bearing the
following inscription:
"( hie mile ami a half to the foot
ol the hill,
t)) . , ',r,rpM' MPr(.),nilt
Mill."
And then theyoung man would
g. to another point and post nti-
other:
"Two miles and a hall to the
foot of the hill,
And to .loel Lagers' Merchant
Mill.'
Lggers considered that he was
a great benefactor and thought
In: had contribute 1 too much to
the public welfare to have his
industrial plant advertised in
this manner. John Houston af
terwards went to Texas, but the
old man could never forgive tha
youngster for his sallies of wit.
About the year IN IS Maitiu
L. P.anner came from Forsyth
county and settled in this valley.
He built a cabin and cleared a
small field, but he soou grew tir
ed of his surroundings and sold
his lands to George . Dugger,
and took up his abode in Carter
county, Tenn., where he remain
ed only a short time and then re
turned to North Carolina and
settled on the head waters of
Toe River, where he resided un
til his death only a few years
ao. Martin Banner was the
father ol seven sons and thrte
daughters.
A few years latir Martin was
followed by his brother, Louis P.
Manner, with his family of five
sons and t hree daughters: An
thony L. Banner, another broth
er, with his family of four sons
and two daughters; John W. Ban
uer, another brother, with his
family of four sons and three
daughters, and later by Dr Matt.
R, lianner, the youngest broth
er, w ith his family of two sons
and two daughters, and still la
ter by Edwin II. Banner, anoth
er brother, with his family of two
sons, three daughters and two
sons-in-law.
All the six brothers lived to be
of the age of from 75 to 00 year.
While the older Banners were liv
ing and before the younger set
began to remove to other states
more than half of the population
of this valley consisted of Bun
tiers, but they have died and re
moved until there are not more
than about twenty-five of the
Banner family left in this valley.
Anthony Banner had a great
fondness for jokes but more par
ticular of that kind he oiiginuted
himself, and he was especially
delighted to make and circulate
ridiculous jokes on his youngest
brother Dr. Mat. Banner for the
reason that they would worry
intensely.
During the fall of INTO Dr.
Banner shipped two hundred and
fifty Texas ponies to Johnson
enjoy thisbalmy air, to see the
fatted cattle browsing along the
brooks and the lambs skipping
upon the green pastures. And
now we close, and rest our case
with the noble and patriotic peo
ple of North Caroliua.
r,tv. Tinnes-Mi &n-l drove tit m
from that "ooiiit into WatauLii
;County, but owing to ll.e giei.t
; number tin r- was c n.fideiab'e
i delay fiom t he time it as repor
ted til it the ponies ha I lei n
shipped until tle'.r nuivul;
j boubt was living exj rested l y
liie curiously inclined and pros-
jpfctive puicli.is.is about their
1 Oi .mimr unit ll.iu f....t.i.-.. .if tin.
situation created a leitile field
for the ingenious mind of Antho
ny to get in some efhetive work,
and among others he circulated
the lollow ing report: "Dr. Mat.
has heard from his ponies; they
started from Texas and when
they reached the Mississippi Riv
er there was no way for them to
cross except to swim the river, so
the-drove the ponies into the
river and as they were coming a
cross there was an old woman
washing on the bank, and not
knowing what thay were and
thinking they mere squirrels cr
some other little wild animal--,
she flew into them w ith a stick
and killed nearly all of them be
fore she found out. what they
were." In the lot there was one
something like thirty years of
age nnd Anthony bought this,
ind he would often make this ip.
murk, "This pony was the first
that was ever driven into Texas,
lr. Mat. brought this along to
.show people that these ponies
never die." These ponies were
vicious and diflicult to handle
As they had been shipped from a
hot climate and arrived at ti e
beginning of a severe winter,
the sudden change caused many
ol them to take cold, and having
to stand out and shiver in the
cold a gnat many of them died;
and this gave Anthony an oppor
tunity to circulate this report:
'Dr. Mat. w ill make more out of
the dead ponies than he will out
of the liye ones; he extracts the
teeth and uses them in Ins dental
work; just a few days ago he put
in a set of teeth for a woman:
she acted like a Texas pony,
broke up nearly all of her dishes
before she found where the trou
ble was and she had to lay her
set of teeth aside." One of the
Doctor's friends to'd him of An
thony's jokes and this brought
forth the following sarcastic re
mark: "1 do say that brother
Anthony has accumulated more
ignorance than any man I ever
knew of his age."
As late as about the year 1872
there was no postol-hee in this
valley, the nearest being Valle
Crucis on the one side and Crab
ber ly on the other, and about
this time a mail roust wasts
tablished between Boone and
Cranberry, and at the same time
a postollice was established. As
the population consisted largely
of Banners t he ofh-e was named
Banner Elk, and the oliice "still
bears this name though the town
is incorporated under the name.
(Coin biued iioxt.wcek.)
Low Rates West
Sept. 25 to Oct. 10
California, Oregon, Mon
tana, Wyoming, Nevada,
Washington, Idaho, Colo
rado, Arizona, Utah, New
Mexico, and Texas.
Fast Time & Good Service
- Writ ma for lowest prevailing
rate and reliable information
D.S. CHANDLER, Ditt Paiinr- Afett,
L AN. R. R-, KNOXVILLE, TENN.
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