ENGINEERING TRIUMPHS
ON ROAD AND RAILROAD
LEADING TO MOUNTAINS
Genius Shown By Southern Railroad Engineers and Highway
Commission in the Designing and Construction of; Lines
Traversing the Most Pictu resque Section of Western North
America.
Bion H. Battle in News and Observer, the 14 miles from Old Fort to Ridge
I don't know who was the genius, crest in -open cars so that we could
er the several bold fellows, for I sus- see just what nature and the engineer
pect they were more than one, who
conceived and built the various lines
of the Southern railroad through the
North Carolina mountains,. But who
ever they were they deserve the ever
lasting gratitude of all who love the
majestic in nature.
have provided here in the way of uni
versal scenery.
But this is not the end. Going on
up to the top of Mt. Mitchell we get
back to that same Andrews fountain,
for after the train has wound in and
out and switched back and forth and
! i i j i i i i i
In previous journeys over the ; reversed, ana almost uea lxsen in
Southern to the mountain country I j hard knots until it has gone a dolen
have been interested in the Andrews j miles from Ridgecrest the conductor
fountain between Old Fort and Ridge- j points out to a familiar figure as we
rest. Although the floods of the; rise to a point on the summit of the
summer interfered with the flow of ! Blue Ridge and informs us that it is
tjhc fountain this winter it was not; the Andrews fountain. Four or five
those products. Already the cheese
and butter men have shown that
North Carolina can not be outclassed
in the quality of butter and cheese
made, and the future is one of promise.
The future gives promise because
small farmers are turning to live
stock in the mountains. Some years
ago, when farms were bigger and
hands could be hired, farm operations
were on a different scale. But of late,
with the inducements to the laborer
to go to the centers of organized in
dustry the farmer has been compelled
to depend on his individual effort.
The result is the smaller . farm, and
the smaller farmer. And the result
of that is the more intensive applica
tion of the small farmer, and the
specializing in things like butter,
cheese, aef, poultry and the .things
that bring money and bring it every
week in the year. In consequence the
mountain farmers are among the
most self-dependent farmers of the
State, and when the man who makes
figures brings out his reports that al
ways show favorably for the moun-
PRESIDENTS BIRTHDAY.
Something of His Life and An
cestryand Interesting Facts
About Other Presidents.
Charlotte News,
President Wilson was 60 years old
Thursday, December 28. He was born
in Staunton. Va.. in 1856. Entering
upon his second term of the presi
dency of the United States, Mr. Wil
son is at the threshold of the most
important epoch in American history,
if not in world-history. It would now
appear that he is to be spokesman
for a world-peace during the early
months. He is just emerging from a
term of office during which unpar
alleled strains and stresses confused
and confounded the, American mind,
swayed public opinion and tossed the
sentiment of the American people
about on its bosom like flotsam and
jetsam. Despite the heavy burdens
that the President, has borne and de
spite the fact that he has reached the
age of three score years, time seems
to be dealing gently with him. His
health is splendid and he looks to be
Children Cry for Fletcher's
'A
- ' v.V
iii"
" " "T " . " T ' miles farther ud toward the ummit!tain counties. Thrift and its substan- i neaitn 1S P' e "
tte flow of the fountain that I wanted miles farther up toward the .ummit , h younger than the record of the
to study, but the mountain picture j ot mu uvixcnen ne cans auenuon - that are him WQuld indi.
vain Luuuuca ao wen a niuuxi- i
that the fountain helps the observer ' again to the Andrews fountain visible
to locate. The most of us are so ig-j from the rim of a vast amphitheater
norant of our natural advantages which we are rounding just on the
that we have no fair comprehension j edge of the backbone of the divide be
f the wonders that are ready for us j tween the east and west. From the
if we care to go afield and see what same summit are visible Mt. Mitchell,
is there. The Andrews fountain the highest land east of the Rockies,
helps to get a line on some of the fas- Graybeard, Pinnacle Mountain, and a
cinations of the mountains. Coming dozen or two famous old peaks that
up from Salisbury as I watched the are alone worth a visit to the moun
thing this trip we saw the fountain tains.
(a fine big stream of water it was Asheville folks say about a quarter
in its day before the floods) soon af- of a million tourists visit the moun
ter we passed Old Fort. Coming tains annually. Why a million do
i i t 1 1 i.1 xT
around a curve it showed itself on the not is proDaDiy Decause me ouier
right of the train as we approached, three-quarters of the million do not
We rounded a curve and lost it. Pres- realize what is in store for them. Af
eatly the" train came around a big ter a traveler has made the trip from
horseshoe curve in the Pennsylvania Old Fort to Ridgecrest and then to.
mountains, and we caught the foun- Mt. Mitchell and then out to the
tain in the center of that long swing South Carolina line he should start
around the mountain curve. We right back cn the trail, and walk de
rounded another curve and climbed Hberately through the mountains of
higher up the mountains and present- Polk and Henderson, through moun
ly, on coming out of a gorge we could tains from Black Mountain to Mt.
see the fountain below us at the left. I Mitchell summit, through the moun
Winding around the knobs above tains from Ridgecrest to Old Fort,
Graphiteville we caught a glimpse of and a11 over the mountains in the ad
the fountain from a point where we jacent country. Or, if he goes in his
dodged across Mill Creek Valley, and car he should stop at certain points,
then again as we rounded another Pu up for the night at some conven
point we caught sight of the fountain ient house, or camping spot, and de
once more, away below us, but not vote considerable time to wearing out
very far distant. Around another shoe leather ranging over the moun
prcmontory the train crawled and tain trains that he will encounter. It
presently "the fountain was visible ouSht to take three or four days to
down the valley, still much lower work the journey from Old Fort to
down the mountain, but still not very Black Mountain, and as much more
far away. Then before we pulled to idle about in the Mill Creek water-
into the tunnels that onen the way , snea irom Lrrapnitevnie up toward
tain towns.
The thrift may not be suspected,
but when it is remembered that the
mountain farmer makes things on
which he can live, and that he sells
the surplus after he has cared for
his family, while the man further
down the mountains toward the sea
makes tobacco and cotton, which he
must sell to get his living, the im
portance of the work of the mountain
farmer is more apparent. The latest a native of Ireland was a minister of
figures I have on this line are those ! LIlti ueilumuiauo"- xn
of thp of 1Q1 n wvfc o-of I earlier period of the republic's history
ting a trifle old now. But they tell
a story, nevertheless. In the census
cate.
The president is the third son of a
clergyman to attain the highest office
within the gift of the American re
public. Grover Cleveland was the son
of a Presbyterian minister, like Wil
son, these two being the only Demo
cratic presidents in the last half cen
tury. The other clergyman's son to
become president was Chester A. Ar
thur, whose father, Scotch-Irish and
The Kind You Have Alvrajz Eoucht, cud v!dc
in use for ever over 30 yecra, tos borne t::
and tics Dccn u:.; .--
-CUUaAZ Allow no c-o to :x '.z Z",, T3.
All Counterfeits, Imitations ana just-aocd
Experiments that trifle with and endanger the health
Infants and Oiildren Experience against EzperiaJr
What II S OH l
Props, end Seething Syrups. It is pleasant. It COal,S
-r,AiVifvr nitim "Mnrnhine nor other narcotic Riin-.. lt
age is its guarantee. For more than thirty years it v
teen in constant use for the relief cf Constipation, Flatow
WinQ U011C cinQ .uiaxiiiuca. , a.i.ytu.& x-cvensnness arie-V
GENUINE CASTO
(Bears the Signature of
In
: the majority of the chief executives
were the sons of planters or farmers,
but of late years the offspring of pro
fessional and business men have been
most favored. Since Lincoln only two
little more than $2.50 to each inhab-1 farmer's sons-Garfield and Benja-
min Harrison nave reached the
year the State had a population of
2,206,287. The cattle in the State
then were valued at $12,550,000, or a
itant. But the cattle in Ashe were
valued at $490,897, an average of over
$25 to each inhabitant, while in Al
leghany the value of the cattle was
an average of over $47 to each inhab
itant. Robeson, one of the biereest !
white house.
The president is- the eighth native
of Virginia to be selected to that
high office since the birth of the re
public, his Virginia predecessors hav-
beeen Washington, Jefferson,
farm counties of the whole United i
States in the value of its products, Madison, Monroe William Henry
had cattle worth only about $3 to the Sar"ET?"' T,yler and Taylor; , B.th ,of
i ivir. w nson s parents were oi cscotcn-
inhabitant.
One thing is always to be said
about cattle in farming. No matter
how low the selling price of a beef
I steer may go, the eating value of it
never deteriorates. If . the farmer
in the mountain has no cotton or to
through the summit of the mountains
to the west side of he range we once
Mt. Mitchell. But this is not the
time of year to go out there with the
more saw the fountain. For half j mountain tops white with snow, and
an hour or more we had been climb- j ice on the roads and streams. Spring
ing up the steep grade, weaving back j and summer are the seasons to ap-
Use For Over 30 Years
The Kind You Have Always Bought
TM C C E IMT-ACI F COMPANY, NEW YORK C I TV.
What were you YESTERDAY?
31
What are you TODAY ?
Irish descent. There have been nine
Scotch or Scotch-Irish presidents of j
the United States Monroe, Jackson,
Polk, Buchanan, Grant, Hayes, Ar
thur, McKinley and the present occu
pant of the white house. Fifteen of
bacco to sell to buv beef, he can al-T - "-c uCCxx "S""
ways have beef without selling any- fernal ancestry and one, Thomas
thing if he raises cattle. And if he fe" We!sh' nlJ W preS"
raises cattle he does not worry about hcnt descended frorn con-
how low cotton and tobacco go, f or ! J?1 ZJl
, x, , u- ;and Roosevelt, both Dutch.
he does not have to sacrifice his crop
to buy supplies for his table if he has j .
not raised them. He still has beef j from the time the trip has commenced
and forth around the shelving slopes j Point f or the holiday on this roof of j and milk and butter. The cattle man until the foothills begin to give va
of the rocky faces, winding back and
forth into coves and out on the ab
rupt points, but simply climbing up,
creation.
The floods for the summer gave the
mountain country a hard jolt in many
and sawing in and out, never pro-ways- 0ne was in the Iuin of the
gressing far in any direction except
upward, and at the beginning of the
half hour as well as at the end, com
ing out around a point of rocks to see
once more the fountain. I asked the
conductor about the distances we
were traveling, and he said that from
the time we came in sight of the
fountain until we passed out of sight
crops which has made it necessary for
the farmers to dispose of a lot of
their cattle for want of feed to carry
them through the winter. In some
ways this will be a serious setback.
is more independent of the market
than the low ground farmer, for the
cattle man has the choice of selling
or eating his crop. The lowlands
man must sell his crop to some one
else and depend on it for his living.
Or that is what he has done largely
in the past. It is a good sign that
he is a changing his tactics in the
In another way it will work out in ! last two or three years.
the long run perhaps to advantage.
A number of these mountain counties
are becoming famous beef sections,
cf it we had traveled something like j the moist soil making good grazing.
Ui recent years the beet men have
ten miles, but that we had progressel
scarcely more than a mile and a half
from the first point to last. From
Old Fort to Ridgecrest is 14 miles by
rail and four miles direct. But in
coming up that four miles direct we
were obliged to follow the devious
curves of the mountain because our
been improving their stock material
ly, and it will not be a great while
until the type of beef cattle from
the North Carolina mountains will be
of the highest standards. For years
the stock feeders of other sections
have been scouring the mountain
countries for the cattle raised here
train had lifted itself a Quarter of a
mile in the four miles. To do it we!cnd brought to an age ready to be
had to follow a long line to get the ! turned off to feederswho fatten and
grade. sel1 them. Of late the idea of high-
I watched that bit of railroad en- class beef ha3 been SettinS a popu
gineering as long as we could see a.larity' and the quality of the stock is
curve in the road, and then it occur-; rapidly reaching a plane that tells of
red to. me that most of us are sub- a cattle industrir in the near future
limely ignorant of the wonderful that wil1 make western North Caro
things that are about us. How little I lina beef famous' The present bit of
we appreciate the attractions that men ; f dversity will be overcome, and from
will journey miles to see. I have been ;it wiU Probably be an advance to a
around the world enough to know ; ti11 b(Ttter grade of Etock of a11 sorts
that mighty few such engineering tri-'Better beef on some farms will be
umphs are found anywhere as this : paralleled by better milk and butter
bit of work around the Andrews foun- C0VS on other farms' and the !ive
tain. Yet it took the third frin oJst0ck inaustry will stand on a much
------- WVWX
this bit of road to fully comprehend
widened plane. The interest in but-
the significance of the thing. One i and cheese 111 the mountains has
trouble is in the road itself. Thelgrown wonderfully in the last three
Southern folks ought to haul us upor four years, aided largely by the
- ; I animal industry department of the
State.
SCHOOL TEACHER
Wards Off Nervous Break Down
Mi8' am a teacher the
public schools, and I got into a very ner-
IJ -down condition. I could nofc
sleep .and had no appetite.- I was tired
all the time My sister asked me to try
Vinol I did so, and within a week my
appetite improved and I could sleep all
night and now I feel well and strong."
-Ro&i M. Keller, Alburtis, Pa.
We guarantee Vinel, which contains
beef and cod liver peptones, iron and
manganese peptonates, and glycero
phoBphatea for run-down Conditions.
W. A. LESLIE, Druggist,
Moreanton. Also at the leading drug
stores in all North Carolina Towns.
Any man who is disposed to
growl about the taxes that go to
maintain the agricultural department
should know that the work of his tax
money does is saving him money at
every turn. Undoubtedly the butter
and cheese that North Carolina is
making now is an important factor
in keeping prices lower than they
would be if we had to depend on the
outside world for our total supply of
Found a Sure Thing.
I. B. Wixon. Farmers Mills. N. Y.
has used Chamberlain's Tablets for
years for disorders of the stomarh
and liver and says. "Chamberlain's
Tablets are the best I have ever
used." Obtainable everywhere.
With all of the material prosperity
that is overtaking the mountains the
visitor cannot get away from the in
teresting fact that the stupendous
ness of the mountains, the climate,
the constantly changing scenery, or
putting it all in one word, the moun
tain, is the real factor. Material pro
duction is an essential to the comfort
of the human race, for men must eat
and be clothed and sheltered. Those
things, however, are incidental. Most
of us manage to take care of the bod
ily needs. It is when we have step
ped beyond the compelling physical
needs and reached the satisfaction of
the emotional that we have felt the
enjoyments of life. We may admire
the works of the denser centers of
civilization, the product of human
hand, the art of nature, but to arouse
the sense of appreciation of the
greatness of creation we must get
to the product of a more caapble
hand than that of men. The moun
tains and the sea are the climaxes
of construction, and in Western
North Carolina the mountains are at
the climax. To the North' Carolina
mountains the people will come in
steadily increasing numbers because
the mountains have a fascination, a
continually increasing drawing.
One thing about a trip to the North
Carolina mountain country that will
not be overlooked is the agreeable na
ture of the trip that winds up there.
Whether by automobile or by rail the
journey is through a pleasant coun
try, cities, villages and rural scenes
Neglected Colds Grow Worse.
A cough that racks and irritates
the throat may lead to a serious
chronic cough, if neglected. The heal
ing pine balsams m Dr. Bell's Pine
riety, and the mountains finally are
approached. Whether by rail or au
tomobile the approaches are delight
ful, the roads good, the surroundings
always pleasing, and at the end of
the journey are ample accommoda
tions, either at expensive hotel,
cheaper place, or woods camp, to
make the outing satisfactory.
I don't know anybody that has
done more for the people that the
Highway Commission of the State of
North Carolina in building the good
roads through the mountains and the
Southern railroad in building its al
ways interesting line into and out of
this roof of the world. The highway
is winding around to newer corners
every day, the counties are taking up
the work, and the railroad from time
to time gets out to some new and in
teresting quarter. This will continue
as more people come this way, as they
will, until the mountain country of
the future will be the vast park and
playground that the mountain folks
hope for. It takes a bigger man than
I to foretell the development of this
part of North Carolina, for the moun
tains have a marvelous future.
Christmas Sandstorm on Border
A dispatch from El Paso, Texas,
to the Raleigh News and Observer
says the North Carolina boys in camp
on the border experienced the most
disagreeable. Christmas of their lives
Monday. "Mere words cannot de
scribe adequately the horrors of a
Texas sandstorm, such as has been
raging in camp all day," says the dis
patch. "For hours today it was im
possible to see the headquarters'
tents from the windows of the bri
gade office only a few feet away.-
"The day closed with rapidly fall
ing temperature and rising wind and
many tertts were torn down. The men
were served an abundance of turkey
and other fine eatings, but it was all
with dobe mud."
Constipation Causes Bad Skin.
A dull and pimply skin is due tn a
sluggish bowel movement. f!nfT-nf
"to f WWiOTIlHO All A-SX iVll O JL U1C I j , - w4Vvwi
Tar Honey Nature's own remedy 1 VV Q -iu rfna .ea.r your com"
:n j Dlexion with Dr. Kint'a MT t
win owuic anu relieve me irritation, iyin mv . . 9.
breathing will be easier, and the an-
33 What will vnu ho TOMORROW?
Mi
inree words will answer all three k
questions
DO YOU SAVE?
OPEN AN ACCOUNT IN OUR SAVINGS
DEPARTMENT. 4 PER CT. INTEREST
PIRST NATIONAL BANK
MORGANTON, N. C.
SSSSSSSSSS88SSSS8SS8SS8
o
o
o
c
o
o
o
o
mo
o
S2
o
o
o
c
&
o
o
o
o
88
o
ss
c
3
O
O
O
c
3
S3
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
88
o
82
82
Q
C
O
o
o
o
o
88
82
82
:
82
a
o
mci
6
Buick
Dodge
Reo
Vim Trucks
B. S. GAITHER
Agent Burke County
SS8888888SS8SS8SS
tiseptic properties will kill the firerm
which retarded healing. Have it han
dy for croup, sore throat and chronic
bronchial affections. Get a bottle to
day. Pleasant to take. At all Drug
gists, 25c,
Pills. This mild laxative taken at
bedtime will assure you a full, free-non-griping
movement in the morn
ing. Drive out the dull, listless fi
ing resulting from overloaded intesd
lines ana siuggisn liver. Get a bottre?
today. At all Druggists, 25c. ? J
mLZ II ii r
-only one night Memphis to T
No missing connections entire
runs through, Memphis to Texas-
Leave Memphis 9:30 p. m.
Dallas 11:45 a. m. next
Ft. Worth 1:25 p. m.
Another through train to Texas via w
Belt Route leave Memphis 9:35 a.
H. H 8uttop. District PawienrAig
READ THE NEWS-HE RALD ADS IT PAYS
f'NTER TOURIST FARES