Newspapers / The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, … / Oct. 20, 1907, edition 1 / Page 20
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- "he excellent sketch which follows i taken from The Edinburgh, Scot- s 4, Review, And has been in the t session . of Ool. Armand I De- osset, of Wilmington, tor t year, i he author wu an aide on the staff of General Lee, and, being an Eng 1 shman, returned to his home soon rter the surrender. , He afterward became, a member of Parliament and labor editor of The, London Times. Through the courtesy of Colonel De Kossett The Observer is privileged to reproduce tt: - . . ' It is said by Coleridge that no wan throwno h the surface? of human af fatra even succeeded la" simultaneous ly gaining distinction and- affection, unless he possessed something of an epicene -nature, that is to say, a mix ture of masculine and feminine Quali ties, Without claiming- for General Lee In the highest sense of the title "great," it i impossible to deny that hie memory will be cherished by those . who. In the crisis of his three years (rial, stood -and suffered fey his side, as an exceptionally dear And precious possession, v Few soldiers, : if asked whether they would rather have serv ed under Lee on the one hand, or un def Cromwell, Frederick the Great, Marlborough or Napoleon on the other, would hesitate t-r prefer the foul" famous generals to the' discom freted Confederate. Tet it Is doubtful ' whether any of the four after they bad passed away, and had ceased to communicate the electric shock of their . presence and contact of eye, voice; character and influencedto others, possessed such hold on the af fections and esteem s were Inspired by Robert E. Lee. The truth seems to be that the greatest men are necessarily and In tensely selfish. All great men are - monsters, ays a German proverb, and tt may, I think, he conceded that ashen a man is playing a consplclous , role in life, and is generally loved, he . Is net, tn the world's highest sense, great. He Is probably something bet ter. He has, the thoughtfulness about others, the unobtruslveness and re nunciation' of self, the truthfulness, - purity, modesty, charity, gullelessneas which cannot long be unnoticed by - Chose around him, and which lay Arm -hold upon their hearts. But to be ' great, to fill a very large space in the world's eye during a man's few, brief years upon earth, he must throw niod eaty and ' unobtruslveness overboard; he must be grasping, aggressive, dis creetly greedy of praise, covetous of a large share of honor, judiciously en vious; must know how to undermine troublesome rivals without being found out, and to help useful friends without being supplanted. Heartily agreeing with Coleridge that where distinction and affection have been won colncidently, there must be the epicene element In their winner, I venture to doubt whether man's affec tion is ever won by ths greatest, or. In , other words, whether in the greatest any of the woman is to he found. The men who are brave from tenderness , are braver thun the men who are fcrave from pride.. But the men who, to encourage or spare others, are gratuitously brave, are not selfish . enough to be great. The cslm Judg ment of posterity, especially if assall r d by the pen of Mr. Carlylo (who Is , said to hold that Washington stands ' too high,, and who, if I am rightly in formed, contemplates lowering his pe destal,) will, I think, reverse the ver dict of Mr. Everett's well known lec- ture, and will pronounce that Wash ington was not greater than Peter, or Frederick, or Marlborough, as Mr. - Everett contends, but was simply , tnore estimable. The exceeding lovahleness of Lee - (became more patent as your con- sclousness that as a politician he lack ed vigor and self-assertion became more Irresistable. This lovableneas was based upon a never-tiring unsel- . flshneas, a contagious endurance of hardship and danger, a shirking mod est y, an abounding tenderness. Ths child and the young girl, who had never seen him before, ran to him in- ' stlnctlvely as to a friend. Ills look " spoke of honesty, directness, klndll- Hess, courage. His smile, was Irreslst- ably winning. But the stuff which made Cromwell, Napoleon, William . the Silent, greater as politicians than as solid era was lacking tn Lee. All . that there was of true and bravo In . the people whom ho so nearly made a nation called on him by signs that he who ran might read, to put Congress ' aside, to control the press, to be die- tator indeed; and yet he would not! (; Nevertheless, in the belief that there Is no more powerful stimulant to a " noble ambition than the study of such a character as Lee's, I desire to throw t my stone upon the calm by gathering together a few notes, for the general - accuracy of which I can entirely - vouch, exhibiting the main features of ' the eventful six days which Interven ' ed between the evacufltion of the Con- ' federate lines around Petersburg and Richmond on the night of April 2d. and the surrender of lei'a army on the morning of April 9th. - la order rightly to understand these .six days, it should be premled that . the Federal cavalry, mnssd under -Oeneral Sheridan, numbering about - 15,089 sabres, splendidly equipped, and " converted by their able com ' tnander into a body of military hort,- i men Upon whom an Austrian or French sabreur might have looked without disdain, moved south wnrrts , down the valley of Virginia between "the 1st and 10th of last March, and ,' encountered a scratch Confederate army of about 3,000 men. under Gen. - Early, at Waynesboro'. Oen. Early distrustful of his men, who were equally distrustful of him, planted them with their backs to a deep river, In order to make rtrat Impossible, , The result is easily foreseen, Gsn. fcheridan bagged two-thirds of his en emy forc and most of his enemy's artillery. Sweeping rapidly onward toward the James river between ' Richmond and Lynchburg, 'Sheridan found himself confronted by n swol len and impassable stream. He fell back, rounded the left wing of Lee's army, crossd the Pimupkey river at the White House, (where he recruited Ms strength by picking up 1,200 fresh horses which awaited him there,) and up to the 2Sth of March 'joined Gen, Grant tn the lines before Petersburg. , To Sheridan's untiring and sagacious , activity la the subsequent operations, more than to the agency of any ottwr man. Is duo the completeness of ... the Federal triumph- the seemingly In explicable collapse of the Confederacy, It was not long before Oen Grant's accession of strength ws felt by Lee. Upon the evening of Saturday, April r. 1, General Longwlreet, who had- de fended Richmond by commanding the Confederate forces to the north ot James river,, received information ; from Lee that Grant had detached Fhrtdan'a cavalry and two corps - ef (r.'.-.ntry (about 2,000 men In all) to 't against the Southslde Railroad, l if Tore commtinicatlng: with Long- srrc-t. Le had dispatched Pickett's sand Bushrod Johnson's divisions, Ha rar's battalion of artillery and Flu ,"fh fjee's-IMMea of avtryh-sH s fiit 17,000 men), Le had so weak- -1 I hl lines before Petersburg, that -' ! ne Confederate left to Qams -and Straggle Under these circumstances, Lee called upon Longstreet for men. But at dawn upon the 2d of April, before Longstreet had had time to obey Lee's orders. Grant descried from his wood en tower Of observation of the weak ness , of the Confederate lines." Im mediately he threw a very heavy col umn consisting, I believe, chiefly of Gibbon's corps, upon the weakest spot The Federals carried with very slight loss the outer line, thinly held by Heath's Division of - Confederates, and bulge! inward until they : struck two of the detached forts, whereof a string or system ran behind the whole length of the , Confederate . .outer works. These two detached forts, which Were of course ' designed to cover each other, were named Forts Gregg and Alexander - . ; ,i " ' . The officer In command, of 'Fort Alexander, which was fartherest away from the on-coming Federals, deemed It more Important to save his guns than to try and help Fort Gregg. Re ceiving no assistance from its twin brother, Fort Gregg, manned by Harris's Mississippi Brigade, number ing 260 undaunted men, breasted in trepidly the tide of Its multudlnous assailants. Three times Gibbon's Corps surged up, , and around the work three times, with dreadful caf nage, they were driven back. I am told that It was subsequently admitted by Gen, Gibbon, that in carrying Fort Gregg he lost from Ave to six hundred men; or, in other words, that each Mteslsslpplan Inside the works, struck down at least two assailants. When at last the work was carried there re mained, out of Its 250 defendants, but 80 survivors. In those nine memor able April days there was no episode more glorious to the Confederate arms than the heroic self-immolation of the Mlsslsslpplans in Fort Gregg to gain time for their comrades. Fort Gregg fell about seven o'clock on the morning of the 2d. After a delay of two or three hours, the Fed erals swept onward in the. direction of Petersburg, taking the Confederate lines enrevers. At this, moment Longstreet, accompanied 'by Ben nlhg's Brigade of Field's Division, about 170 bayonets strong, met the on-pouring flood, and checked It long enough to enable fresh troops to hurry up In his rear, and to form a fresh line in front of Petersburg: Simultaneously in an attempt of Heth'a Division o re-establish their lines, General A, P. Hill (who com manded the Corps to which Heth's Division belonged) lost a life which for nearly four years he had unflinch ingly exposed In nearly a hundred of his country's battles. About the same moment wag dispatched the memor able telegram which surprised Davis in church, and announced that the last day of that heroic resistance which had made Richmond the most notable of beleagueredcltles had at length arrived. The delay purchased by the obstinate defense of Fort Gregg, and by Longstreet's bold hand ling of Bennlng's Brigade, saved Petersburg until the tobacco and cot ton stored In that city could be burn ed, and until leisurely preparation for Its evacuation could be made. It Is 'remarkable that no further onslaught was made by the Federals throughout the day. or during the evening, although the flames springing up in many parts of the town must have told their own tale. At night fall on the 2d all "the Confederate troops, about 4,000 strong, which re mained under the command of Gen eral Ewell, to the north "Of James river, fell back from their lines, and passed through the bewildered streets of Richmond, traversing before day break the bridges over the James River, which were so soon to be given to the flames. About eight on the night of the same 2d, the Confederate troopn also commenced leaving Pet ersburg, thlr retreat being covered by Field's Division under Longstreet. Pursuit there was none. It Is prob able that already Grant was bending all his enegles to get round and cut oft Lite's retreat. The Petersburg section of the Confederate troops, full of vigor and elnn, crossed to the north side of the Appomatox river on a pontoon brlilge. and made sixteen miles during their first night of re treat. It would be difficult to conceive anything brighter or more hopeful than the tone of Gen. Lee's spirits on the morning of the 8d. "I have got my army safe out of its breastworks," he said, "and, In order to follow me, my enemy must abandon his lines, and can derive no further benefit from hlg railroads or from the James river." There can be little doubt that Lee's design was to recruit his army with rations which he hoped to find In abundance at Amelia Court House, and to fall in detail upon the Federals who breaking up Into bodies of on or two nrmy corpH, were scatter ing all over the country with a view to a vigorous pursuit. 'Two rtnyn' rations nt Amelia Court House for 40,000 men would p.inlbly have made a grent dlffenence In ilie !mm"late. though, ns 1 believe, none In the ultimate hlstorv of the Continent "f North America. There It little satisfaction In dwel ling In detail upon the five subsequent dnys. for which n parallel must be Houxht on- the banks of the Beresina, or In other similar postages of mili tary anpulHh. It Is hardly necessary to state that at Amelia Court House Lee found not a ration. 1 shall not paus( now to distribute blame, or to Investigate who was at fault. All that I have tn state In that the fault was not Ixe's. whose orders on this subject fpr a fortTiiuht past had been urgent Country through which he was pass nd reel. It hfm necessary for Leo t- break nearly half his army up Into foraging partleg to get food. Th 1ng was a tract of straggling woods and pine barrens, with occasional lit tle patches of rleurlngs. The forag ing partU1 had to go so far e-fleld in quest of fo.xi that they were' taken prisoners by wholesale. In the face of such suffering aw they left behind. It cannot b wondered at If some of the poor fellows courted capture. Those forager who returned to Lee brought little or nothing with them. The sufferings f the mn fro in the pangs of hunger has not been ai- proached In the military annals of the past fifty years. But the suffering of tne mules sna norsos must have been even keener; for the men assagod their cravings by plucking the buds and twigs of trees Just shooting In the early spring, whereas the graw had net yet started from its winter sleep, and, food for the unhappy quadrupeds there was none. As early as the morn ing of the 4th Lee sent oft half, his artillry toward the railroad to re lieve the famished horses. The artil lery making slow progress, thanks to the exhaustion of the horses, was cip twrcd by the Federals on the 8th, but not until General Lindsay Walker had hurled many of his runs, which were, of v course, - subsequently t exhumed (seventy Of them at one haul) by their captors, i r' j'-s.r::,':. - -IHs-eeey o see 4hs the-tegomotton of an army In such plight must hive been slow and slower. The ntreat was conducted in the following fash Ion: About midnight the Confederates 'of the Con2deic2 slipped out of their hasty, breastworks which they had thrown up and held during the previous day, and tell back until 10 or 12 o'clock, the next morn- ing.S Then they halted, end immedl' ately threw up earth-works for their protection during the day. It was not long before the wolves were again on their heels, . and from thetr earth work the Confederates exchanged a heavy Are with their pursuers through out the day. - Delayed with the neces sity of guarding the ammunition train from tmrty-nve to forty muss .in length, enfeebled by hunger and sleep lessness, the retreating amy was only able to make ten miles each ' night The delay enabled the active Sheri dan to get ahead with bis cavalry, and to destroy the depots oi previsions along the railroad between Burkevtlle and Danville. Upon the Sth many of the mules and horses ceased to strug gle. It became vnecessary to - urn hundreds of wagons. At intervals the enemy's cavalry dashed In, and struck the - interminable ammunition train here and there, capturing and horn ing dozens . upon dozens of wagons. Toward' evening of the 5th, and all day on the 6th, hundreds of men drop ped from exhaustion, and thousands let fall their muskets from Inability to carry them any farther.; ; The scenes of the Sth. (th, 7th and 8 th, were of a nature which can be apprehended In its vivid reality-only by men who are thoroughly familiar with the harrowing -details of war. Behind, and on either flank, an ubi quitous, and increasingly adventurous enemy every mud hole and every rise In the road choked with blazing wagons the air filled with the deaf ening reports of ammunition explod ing, and shells bursting when touched by the flames dense columns of smoke ascending to heaven from the burning and exploding vehicles ex hausted men, worn out mules and horses, lying down side by side gaant famine glaring hopelessly from sunk en lack-lustre eyes dead mules, dead horses, dead men everywhere death many times welcomed as God's bless ing In disguise who can wonder if many hearts, tried In the fiery furnace of four years, unparalleled suffering and never hitherto found wanting should have quailed in presence of starvation, fatigue, sleeplessness, mis ery unintermltted for Ave or six days and culminating in hoplessness? Yet there were not wanting occas ional episodes which, recalled some thing of the old pride of former mem ories, and reminded men that this hunted, famished crowd was still the same army that had won two Bull Runs, which had twice (In pursuit of a fatal policy) trodden Its enemy's soil, and had written Fredericksburg, Chancellorsvllle, and a doxen other, glorious names upon Its banners On the 6th a large body of Federal cavalry, having got ahead of , Lee's army and occupied Rice's Station, was attacked by some Confederate horse men under General Rosser, who drove them off, capturing 680 prisoners. On the 7th, a heavy attack was made up on Mahone's Division, and the prow ess of this active Confederate general, so frequently exhibited during the lost twelve months 'of the war, was main tained to the end. Inasmuch as a Fed eral brigade, getting entangled in a ravine, was surrounded by Mahone's men, and literally disappeared. On the evening of the 7th, General Gregg, with six or seven thousand Federal cavalry, made a desperate attempt to. capture all the wagon trains. He was gallantly met by two thousand horse men under Fitzhugh Lee, and defeat ed. General Gregg himself was cap tured. Throughout these gloomy days, as an offset to the countless Confederates captured while foraging, by the Fed erals, numerous Federal prisoners were taken by the Confederates, and became participants of a hunger and suffering of which they had no pre vious conception. I may as well men tion now that as the surrender be came more Inevitable, Generals Flu hugh Lee and Rosser, with about 2,000 Confederate cavalry, tacitly de termined not to be Included In It, and started off toward Lynchburg. On their road they fell In with a Federal supply train, and burned 860 wagons. the scanty and partial rations which after the surrender, were issued on tho night Of the 9th to the starving Confederates by their captors, were apologized for by the Federals on the ground of destruction of these 860 wagons by Fitzhugh Lee. The reader will have gathered that when General Lee found his depots along th Danville road destroyed by Sheridan, he had no alternative but to make for Lynchburg. He still hoped to get rations and to turn suddenly upon Grant, whose army was dlspers ed into many columns. The fatigue of the pursuit though unaggravated by famine, wag beginning to tell upon the pursuers. But In pressing for Lynchburg, Lee found himself In a dnngerotis predicament. He was on a strip of land, not more than seven or eight miles broad, between the James and Appomatox rivers. On the after noon of th 7th. Lee's situation seem ed so unpromising that Grant, for the first time, sent to propose surrender. Lee at once replied that his circum stances did not seem to him such as to Justify his entertaining such a pro noal. On the morning of tho 8th, Grant renewed his solicitations. Lee did not decline, but debated the mat- ter. calling a ronncll of war In the evening, ko determination was ar rived at on the Sth, and at midnight the usual dreary retreat was resumed. Tho .spring of etiorgy and will, un strung by long want of food, had run down in the men like the machinery of a broken clock. Hitherto the re treat had been covered by Longstreet and Gordon alternately, but now the Federal force which had aot ahead of Lee, and was obstructing his retmt, had become so considerable that Gordon was thrown out with MOO men In front, while the "old bull dog,". Longstreet. whose pluck" neither hunger, nor fatigue, nor depression could abate or subdue, stilt covered the rear. M daybreak on the th n courier from Gordon announced to Lee that a large-- body of Federal cavalry ; (In other words. Sheridan's army) was serosa the road at, Appomattox Court House, At the same moment" a heavy force of liifantry under Grant was pushing longstreet vigorously in the rear. Botween Longstreet and Gor don were the remaining wagons, and clinging to them thousands of unarm ed and famlshtng stragglers, too weak to carry their , muskets., 4 Lee sent or ders ,to Gordon to cut his way through, eouto fu'll r eaute. , , Presently came another order from Gordon an nounclmr that the enemy was driving him back. Lea had . thlt moment less than 80,000 mn with muskets in their hands. The fatal mimnt had Indisputably come. Hastily donning his hestnnlform. and buckling nh h sword, which It was never hta fashion to wear. General turned sadly to the rear to Seek the final Interview ;wiTneneaownt, " " " ,""" There Is no passage of history In this heart-breaking wsr which - will. for years to come, be more honorably mentioned and gratefully remembered than the deivimnor on the ! a of April. 1861, t)f G-neral Grant to v.irJ General Let'. I do not so much silluJe to the facility with which honorable terms were accorded to the Confed erates, as to the bearing of -General Grant and of the olllcers about him toward General Lee. - Tho interview was brief. Three commissioners upon either side were immediately appoint ed. The argreement to which these six commissioners acceded la known. In the meantime, immediately that General - Lee was seen riding to the rear, dressed more, gaily than usual and begirt wtth his sword, the rumor of Immediate surrender flew like wild fire through .the Confederates. It might be imagined : that an army, which had drawn its last regular ra tions on the 1st of April, and, harras sed incessantly 'by night and day, had been marching- and fighting, until the morning of the th, would have wel comed anything like a termination of Its sufferings, let It come in what form It might. Let those who idly imagine that, the finer feelings are the preroga tive of . what are called the ''upper classes' learn from this and : simi lar ; scenes -to ' appreciate "common men." As the great Confederate cap tain rode : back from his Interview, with General Grant, the news of the surrender acquired shape and consis tency, and could no longer be denied. The effect on ths worn and battered troops-t-eom of whom had i fought since AprlL 1861, and (spares surviv ors of hetacembs of fallen comrades) had passed unscathed through such hurricanes of shot as within i four years no other men had ever expert-i enced -passes mortal' description, r Whole lines of battle "rushed up to their beloved old chief, and. choking with emotion," broke ranks and strug gled with each other to wring him once more by the hand. Men who had fought throughout the war, and knew what the agony and humiliation , of that moment must be to him, strove with a refinement of unselfishness and tenderness' which he alone could fully appreciate, to lighten his burden and mitigate his Pain. With tears pour ing down both cheeks, Gen. Lee at' length commanded voice enough to say: "Men we have fought through the war together. I have done the best that I could for you." Not an eye that looked on that scene was dry. Nor was this the emotion of sickly sentimentalists, but of rough and rug ged men, familiar with harshtps, dan ger and death In a thousand shapes, mastered by sympathy and feeling for another, which they never experienc ed on their own account. I know of no other passage of military history so touching, unless, in spite of the melo dramatic coloring which French his torians have loved to shed over the scene, it can be found In The Adieux de Fontalnbleau. , , It remains for me briefly to notice the last parade of an army whereof the exploits will be read with pride so long as the English tongue Is spoken. In pursuance of an -arrangement of the six commissioners, the Confeder ate army marched by divisions, on the morning of April the 12th. to a spot on the Appomatox Court House, where the y stacked arms and deposit ed accoutrements. Upon this solemn occasion Major-General Olbbon repre sented the United States authorities. With the same exalted 'and conspicu ous delicacy which he had exhibited throughout these closing scenes, Gen. Grant .was not again visible after his final Interview with Gen. Lee. About 7,800 , Confederates, marched with their muskets In their hands, and they were followed by about 18,000 unarmed stragglers, who claimed 'to be Included in the capitulation. Each Confederate soldier was furnished with printed form of parole, . -which Was filled up for him by his own of ficers, and a duplicate handed to a designated Federal officer. By the evening of the 12th the parolee were generally distributed, and the dis banded men began to scatter through the Country. Hardly one of them had a farthing of money. " Some of them toad from 1,600 to 2,000 miles to travel over a country of which the scanty railroads were utterly annihilated. Many an Interesting diary of the ad ventures of these Individuals, as they journeyed from Eastern Virginia to Western Texas, or possibly to Mexico, may well have been written. It Is to be hoped that one or two such will yet be g lvento the world. Shortly after no.on on the 12th, Gen. Lee, escorted by a guard of hon or of Federal cavalry, mounted his horse for the last time, and started for the Clty'of Richmond. On the road he arrlvedab out evening at the head quarters f his "old war horse," Gen. Longstreet, and the last and saddest of their many Interviews too place They are scenes which are too sacred and affecting for description, even inuugft . tn pen were guiaed by a Macaulay or a Hoffman. If ever there were two genuine, simple-minded men upon earth to whom anvthin dramatic or theatrical utterly ab horrent, they are the men of whom I am writing, J close this brief chroni cle with the remark that In proportion io me reaoers estimate of the sus iainej nenoism wun which Lee and Longstreet, for four year bore tip and stoodq erect under such a hurrinn a never yet "was laid upon man. win be his appreciation of the circumstances ana emotions unaer which their part ing interview xook pmce. The Awakening of India. Harper's Weekly. H When one of the admlntttfratl,1 officer. ( I nh : flee i0J,2har' of hJ t,f" Sf 22Sf-; 7er" adPte1 &mfTuL??Z .STk V 1 L.L appropriate 1 ""rua 01 weiuuznB were innerirni in rngiisn. on tne other side, in the nnfive language, was this remarkable declaration: : "God deliver us frnm the rule, of our POuntrorn Jni , a frank statement Is surely the very best evidence, of approval of , Eng-1 llsh methods of -government India Is awakening to a sense of her responsibilities, arid to the ad- vantages that have been offered her by the British governments It is graauaiiy Becoming a nomogeneous were offered for sale at the small sum nation i thought f and ucuoa on a.ot twelve dollars and a half per acre, broad plane. ; and -aitmv niil h"' eight per cent Interest and tong time, tho outcome, and Independence of This, with the -removal of tho tax, outside Interference will be guaran- gave the California pioneer a chance, teed by England, Her posKlon win This y.aB there wni be canned and eventually be relatively, the same -to- ehlrmed about two hundred thousand ward the British crown, as Austra- . mum Aine. ou uv umw. cm- y.v, inu wm w. iiiU,iinuuin a composite part of ths British em- pwe, . free, rrom - tne internal strifes that beset her for ; eentnriea before and up to the. tints 'yOf British oc cupancy. ,.;;-.,:.,C.V'-:.:-v-,. V 1 Favorable Report From Dull Dear. Caahiun Atvfie;:S';rf;Vi'-r t Chief Bull Bear; - warrior ,and statesman, was at the J,"', "w;Lr.:t-. ,Wi Caahton depot (Wednesday ; morning. 1 . ?ki . ' accompanied by Mrs. Bull Bear and PLANTING THE PINES, ' r the Misses Bull Bar and several rel-i After the Roll is prepared, the plants atlyes and "friends. The party was are put In with methematlcal accura en route re their country pjacs west cy, the single rows, four feet apart; the of I Kingfisher, having : spent six double eight The four-foot apart ar- months touring - the Eastern States, Mr. uuit Bear etprtssea greater ap prestation' of New Torkv than any other city he visited.. He said the popla-fthe Easter8Sta4-weMTteT-slghVsan-ltlmart too small in sltt and too light in color to suit his taste, but cald that they were very affabls , In manner ana pmyea many amusing games, - a w w HISS CAIIIUE Honolulu Hawalln Islands, Sept, 28. We ( a re in the midst of, the largest pineapple plantation In the world, em bracing something like 3,000 acres and about 12,000,000 plants. i About 1,500 of these acres are own ed and leased by the Hawatin Pine apple Company, while the remainder represents individual holdings. : . - Wahlawa, the home of these pine-! apple plantations, Is a plateau run ning in helsht from 900 to 1.000 feet lit lies at the base of the beautiful Walanae Mountains, some of waose peaks . tower four thousand feet Into the purple mists. 1 . It is delightfully cool up here, a blanket, at night being not only v a comfort, hut a positive necessity; as Is alao, a finely meshed bar, for the mos quitoes, like the wise old owL sleep In the day that they may husband their strength for the coming night. We never , before I had muc'4 respect for the Intellect of ths mosquito, .but of the Wahlawa .variety It must be said that- they have as keen an eye for a break in the defences, as a Ro man general or an Indian scout -- - ' It U aajd that a trio of Irishmen, unaccustomed to the pests In the land of Erin, suffered mu-oh from their at tacks that they decided to sleep out in the bushes. However, they had hardly crossed over to the land of Nod, before they were attacked by a larger army n than before," Fireflies added their presence, also, gllvlng a hasy glow to the : dismal:! rsvne. Finally one of the Irishmen in a tone of surrender, j. called 'out, "Get r up Mike,' it ain't no use.They'rs come with thlr : lanterns v V-' 5: - MR. BTRON O. CLARK. THE DIS COVERER OF , WAHIAWA., ' This strip of land, lying Unclaimed between several baronial estates, was discovered some fifteen years ago by Mr:- Byron O. Clark, at one time Sec retary and Commissioner of Agricul ture In Hawal. We' had the privilege of talking to Mr. Clark, and learning from his own account something; of . rata . pioneer work. : - . - ' - ... To the Iconoclast In spirit who de cried any plan on his part to culti vate this soil, he replied, "Well, the air's all right - I can make the soIL But I can't do it alone. I'll send for some friends from the California coast as neighbors, and we'll see what can be done." , Mr. Clark was as good as his word, and to-day the pineapple 4 fields ' of Wahlawa are' one of the show places of Oahu, and the pineapple Industry one of the best paying In the islands, although yet In its Infancy, THE SOIL OF WAHIAWA. This soil, ten per cent of which Is Iron, is. certainly unresponsive looking In appearance, and . apparently de serves the slighting remarks made In regard to At, It . Is a redlsh-hrown, porous and sticky; and when allowed to get on clothing, hard to remove, hence the workmen dress In copper colored clothes and legglns of the same hue, while some of the women resort to bloomers, PREPARATION OF SOIL FOR CUL-' TIVATION. ', '' , The preparation of this soil for cul tivation takes no small amount - of labor.' ' In its - natural) state, ,,14. Jsa covered witn a spontaneous growtn oi guava bushes ' which require grubbing up before anytaing can be done. After ths guavas are removed, a three horse sub-soil plow Is used to turn over this lava-like soil. Then comes the strange part. , In this con dition, the ground must lay fallow for about a year In Order to "sweet en." Not even a sunflower will grow1 until the soil Is ripe for the planting. At the end of that time, it is replow- ed, harrowed, and Cultivated until It Is loose and fine. ; EXPERIMENTING Mr. Clark and " his "California Colony" used their places at Wahlawa as experimenting stations. They tried to grow various fruits and vegetables, but all with meagre success. Some at last, gave up discourag ed. Many had lost their all. EXPERIMENT WITH PINEAPPLES. Before, this time, the smooth cayenne variety of pineapple had been Introduced Into "ne Hawaiian Islands, but had been cultivated In Manoa i Valley and around Pearl City only, in a sort Of perfunctory manner. At last, they were tried at Wa hlawa, and beholdl the pine had found its natural home. They re quire little rain and rood drainage. Wahlawa Is a land of rolling knolls, and the dally showers merely refresh the growing plant. ' ' BEST PINEAPPLES IN THE WORLD. Although the smooth cayenne va riety la known . wherever the pine apple Is grown, in no part of the world, it is claimed,, is the fruit, so deliclous'ln flavor, so mellow, so Juicy. When ripe they are a golden yellow, and so sweet as to require no sugar; I an ,1 yet, so acid as to bite the tongue, 1 wi . 4 M A. . . ' V Z1. v..i v-t " ' .conuuenuy uruu try will, partlcularly ln the can ned state, supercede all others. , , ANNEXATION EWS OtTT.: ' ",-"--.15 1 """Juii mat wuicnuuicB vwhiu w .... . .v 8Ucn signal success .m n.umwa u inlands were annexed to tho United States. " " 1 . 1 The grower was then relieved of the duty of 35 per cent.' ad valorem which he had been paying, and which 1 together with the limited steamship service at the time, had made proflta doubtful. . . The Territorial erovemment then dt- vlded th land Into homesteads, Farms (200,000 cases of the canned fruit, ot tw0 ,osen cans eacfl, tor wnicn tne .canner es get about tour aotiars tu per ca8e t Next year's pack will prooapiy ne double, and It will he only a few yars nntll Hwall will be able to supply the tfnited States with canned pineapplea Calls' for the canned fruit are com ing from England,, but the xprise of transportation is great, p the canner- rangement. with plants two feet apart in the rows, ' is th most ; popular, v Driveways every , 200 , feet facilitate haullna- , ' . 7 than' to look out over these vast ' pineapple flslds with row after row of i the gray-green plant with the strip of red earth between. No gn?3 is at F. T1I03L1S. Jowed to grow. The rows are as pre GUse as the tucks on a dress,. and the pines, stiff and straight, have the ap pearance of being carved from metal. j Plants are put in at any time from April to November and some rult can be found the year round.- However, the crops yield their abundance from June to September, end from Decem ber to March, but the summer crop Is about four times that .of the 1 winter harvest In the summer-It is that the canneries run day and night; work up an , average of from seven to twenty car loads of the ftesh. fruit, and turn out from fifteen ,to fifty thousand cans In the twenty-four hours. k ; : : It takes from fifteen month to two years for plants to produce their first crop of fruit. They also produce from two to eight shoots, or sucker.: as they are called which spring up around the apple --when, Bearing maturity, These suckers are i removed : and are used to renew.on to extend the planta tion, t'v They ara, almost as valuable aa ths fruit Itself, I at present selli ng for flS to $20 a thousand. a The second crop, which Is. the finer, mature In : twelve months and Is made by tearing two suckers; by accident three) on, the original stalk, hence the second crop yields two or possibly three apples to the stalk, i ,? ,. r, And so the process continues. Two suckers are left each year on the orig inal stalk until at the end of ths sec ond or third year, when the old roots are usually plowed up. However, we saw some beautiful plants growing on stalks four years old; but some five-year-old stalks looked exhausted, and had fallen beneath their small yield of Inferior fruit and their abundance of suckers. . , -:-vs-.v ."--v. In the clearing, old roots with their suckers are saved, DUt are carefully overlooked hefore hetna' used for re planting, as they are ant to beconre rotten and diseased. All diseased plant? are burned. s"y,,,r .::yi,rJ'i:tk'? Tops from the ripe fruit are alsc used as plants. It takes a little long er for plants to mature when so pro Dagated, but the fruit is equally as large and good. TOPLESS PINES, The growers are constantly experi menting and learning more and more about pineapple culture. Their latest experiment 1 to top the fruit In In fancy. Some claim, and with reason, that the top draws its nourishment. from the fruit, and, 'consequently, the larger the top, the larger the core, But the people are not educated up to' the point of topless pines In Hono lulu. It detracts from their appear-J ance. . joesines, inrre is w risa in cut ling too deeply, thus affording an op ening for bugs and' pests. Insect pests, so far. have not seriously interferred with the business. PACKING FOR SHIPMENT. ! Although 80 per cent of. the pine apples raised are canned, the fresh fruit when shipped . brings a better prioe ($80 a ton at San Francisco), and but for the coastwise shipping law, and the poor provision made on American ships for carrying fresh jtrult-jvould be shipped in greater abundance. I ,..When being prepared for shipment each pine Is . carefully wrapped In straw, and packer-Jn crates holding from1 'twenty-Ave toiWiIrty according to weight. The average weight of rtnese , pines is about, five , pounds, though It Is not uncommon to see large fields of them that would aver age six or seven pounds, Tjrhlle some may be found here and there weighing as high as from 10 to 12 pounds each For shipping purposes they are pull ed when green. Great care must be taken to reject any with a break," as the juice Is apt to soften and sour the entire lot. . PRICE PAID FOR PINEAPPLES. Pineapples bring (from twenty-five o thirty dollars a ton at the factories, and as an acre will produce anywhere from seven to fifteen tons, no small sum la realized by tne grower, al though' It la estimated that it coia about a 'hundred dollars per acre to drfrsv the expenses Incident to cul- tivi"n. In addition to the original cost of j- lanta CANNERIES. Almost simultaneous with the suc cessful growth of pineapples, canner ies sprung up. 6 Thre are now three pineapple cannezir.n M operation In the fields of WahJawa, and one In Hono lulu, the Hawaiian Pineapple Com pany's cannery having but " recently moved to the latter place. This fall a fifth factory will he put jp by Mr., W. B. Thomas in the midst of his vast aereajre. ... Heretofore, his excellent fruit has found a ready sale at the Hawaiian Pineapple Company's cannery, ;but the large private inter est of himself and son have made it to their advantage to erect plant of their own. A VISIT TO THE HAWAHAsN PINE ' ' APPLE FACTOJRT. A visit .to the Hawaiian Pineapple Company's factory Is interesting be yond measure. The fruit is prepared for canning almost entirely by ma chinery. There Is a machirfe for peel ing the fruit, one. for .coring and siring one for slicing, as well as moving troughs to convey it from' oh operator to another. f , - . - ' v After being siloed the fruit is laid on an endless board which slowly moves before. band of Hawaiian girls wear ing long rubber gloves to protect their hands' andV'armi from the aclduous juice. These girls select and assort the slices for the various brands and put 'them Into their proper cans,' . s, ' These cans are then Carried to the syrup fountain where boiling syrup is poured upon the fruit,: which la, -as yet. uncooked. 'Tops are then put on by hand. The, cans ere men placed on a moving board and are carried through the ex hauster to drive out the air. j : vAfter this : exhausting jf process ths tops sre nressed down by machinery, and then follows the cooking. , No solder-la ed In cspplnjr the cans. - . . ' '. COOKING THE CANS. . " ; t The cans are . aubmerged - Into a trough of belling water for several minutes, A Chinaman wtth Iron tongs stands by, If a can shows signs or es caping steam, It Is grappled out and cent back to be exhausted again. . . Whn the , large lucious pines are toeing run through thr slscrs, much of the most delicious , outer portion is grated away. This constitutes the ma terial for the best graded brand of pineapple, and Is more delicious In flavor than the sliced. Owing to lack of demand, however, It is sold much cheaper a the markets, ' The labeling la done by Hawaiian girls, the labels being often supplied ty firms on tne mainland. ; " In peeling fruit by machinery there la necessarily more or less waste. Doi en of llttlo Hawaiian hoy wait out- std and the-rougti pour out 'the refuse they get many luclons morsels to fill their hungry mouths, as well as a goodly amount to pack away. The manager says the pcrlinj-s have jc r i i J 1 i rca cr t J f r t j tia',!.j.' ,. CunfoquetHly :'ec:,i! e.,.ort )n '-been made to ve it. Hie floor V.--omts wet as the "i x fcoi s on, neeeK.-i; satin the use of i hose several times a il.ty. a vo:,ias f.uccn-i in pineap- '.. FLE CULTUIIIX ' . A woman's attempt to catch a few of the flying dollars from this pineapple I 'u usury, and ner success, may be ot Interest. -'J: , ; - , ,' ' . A widow with two children, she went , out to Wahlawa, contracted for a government . homestead, built her house, planted, her ten trees per acre according to the law's requirements, , had Hier land Dlowed. en -hnn M . Jteep boarders,, as may seek a change '"," r!ing air of the plateau. f rW more tnan a year, her land laf fallow, fihe could not K. m.nl. to buy plants, ; No one felt like throw ing away, two hundred dollars on a1 woman's enterprise. But she had been ' Professional nurse at one time, and ' , one day, a sister, nurse came passing -' py. Is It possible." she said, "that you cannot borrow two hundred dollar, as, -many people, as krow, you? Myf I'll " ' I ' Th mOHf V ,lnw..JI I' 1..t. ' -'I; rne first year the Interest was paid at , - ier centi he second, the principal , and Interest were paid,--and ths fourth ty thousand dollars ($2,000) was Cleared off of twenty acresf land, a larae nortion fmhtM, ':' too ; young or fruitage.' - . She h&s sine lum n.mi.i Australian ,of . large ideas. ' Thev art ' ' "S-T :m,ym t: other, plantations. rJAr.ear"' 'we'J' be " Poor as $whaJtl0.v! "then - we'll he v? rlehow, though she may not ' i narrlson Made Good His promises Indianapolis Newa " s", . : r; MPCoac of Bowling -1 ureen,A Ky.r- in conversation with . ors. Brayton Potter and other phy- Gei of the lata . uen Benjamin Harrison "Durlna ' wl1 M,a the doctof.y "Colonel Harrison for he was then , colonel-.waa for &anim in - com mand at. Bowling Green. Many sol-' diers, were sick, and he appropriated the hotel of the place, the Mitchell Sft!!?,t0r UM 1"PU1. Mr. ' MltcheM murmured somewhat, ' but ,?d 2 ,,va t0 mH'tary neces- ' slty. ColoneL Harrison assuring- him ' that hs ihould be paid for the ' of the' house,- even though Harrison T should, hava to pay out of his own -pocket: The war ended and th years went on, Mr, Mitchell -was well to . do And presented no claim. Finally when Harrison became -President of the United States, Mr. Mitchell con cluded to send his bill directly to the v ; President He did so. and President ; Harrison sent him his check for the money." ..- -:, Oil "Well pays Preacher's Salary. Lima Correspondence Columbus,; Oi Dispatch, Afew years ago the Rev George Wood Anderson organised the Ep worth Methodist Episcopal church, and later secured sufficient funds to 1 erect . . a modern stone structure. Knowing there was oil about Lima, he conceived the idea ot boring a well jn the church's back I07. " . A subscription paper was paiseC $1,200 -was pledged to make un losses if they ra me nd the M v. i, Anderson started , his - oil well. It i proved a small type ' suslter, aid ever since the, oilmen,, operAteJ dal'y by a gas engine, which alto eprafs the church 1 heating. .and lighting plant has been pouring out 'sulflclent Crrde oil o not only pay the Tninia- -tor's salary and all other church cx- poies tut to make up a bank ao count Mg enough to build the chtiich over 'again, ',.'' s His Cijjar Doesn't Taste Right And Tet It Is the Same He Was Smoking With So Much Relish After Dinner, Last Night. Out of the Very Same Box, Too IT ISNT THE CIGAR IT'S THE , STOMACH. , , ' Every amoker has experienced" this peculiar condition of the atom ach and liver, the result usually of Imperfect digestion of food. And the blame' is usually put on the cigar and not where It belongs .Such men -are usually high livers, hard workers mentally, living under high pressure and high draught, and It doesn't take a great deaf to dis order the stomach or rendei the Hv er torpid - -They should make It a practice to use some tried and reliable remedy like Stuart's Dyspepsia Tailets, that will aid Nature and not force it and win - taae v cars or tne . sadden ait tacxa of-acute indigestion , : xne . use 1 or tnese tabiiis is not to bo oonrounaea with the patent medicine habit - Stuart's i Dysnensla Tablets v are not, a patent, medicine, " but ars composed of the very ele. ments ' which - nature . provides the healthy stomach to do the work of ' digestion- pepsin, dlastaie, ' golden seal,, etc. There la no secret in their ' preparation they are absolutely pure and therefore all,' the world uses them. No' matter ' how .disordered the stomach may be, it will right Itself if given the chance, , Stuart's Dys pepsia Tablets digest food where thi stomach can't, give the t&bused stom ach and intestines a rest and offer renewed strength to the worn out glands and muscles. ' 1 Brain workers can rely on Ktuart'a Dyspepsia Tablets, no matter how -tense the strain AH Or-iggiats rarry , them in the fifty-cent . pa :knge,' t-r If you- rtier fre triai Mt..fw. be had by sending yosr name snd 1 address tp-day. F. A Stuart. Com rany, 150 Stuart Building, Marshall,' Mich. .,
The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 20, 1907, edition 1
20
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