Newspapers / Lenoir News-Topic (Lenoir, N.C.) / June 24, 1885, edition 1 / Page 2
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THE LENOIR TOPIC. ?. . SCOTT, Jr., Editor ani PnMer. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 1885. Entered at the Post-office at Lenoir as second-class matter. Subscription price, $1.00. JSPdvertisinrates reasonable. JEfAlI bills for advertising pay able weekly. I5f1752 conies mailed June 1 J. TEE USHTS AKD SHADOWS. Interesting Phases of Hunan Raton ts Sean In a Great City The Abode of LBzoril and the Haunts of Woe and Wickedaess. . j ..; - .'. New York, June 15. Ay To the Editor of The Lenoir Topic : No other city on the American continent offers such attractions to the student of human nature as Ne)v York. We wish to see the bright side first, that is, the evidences f wealth, the magnificence and luxury, and for that purpose leisurely stroll along Fifth Avenue, where all the surroundings are suggestive of '! a prodigal expenditureNof money. We wonder at the splendid buildings, homes of the rich, admire the ele gant toilets and pretty faces and regard with astonishment the never ending procession of attenuated youths in tight plaid; casings, and shiny hats and slippeis, on the pol ished surfaces oi which sunbeams merrily dance. Watch them feebly twirl their silver-knobbed canes arid look up languidly through their sin gle glass as though to say, "Fifth Avenue, doncher naw." Presently we come upon a couple of ugly, an gular brick houses that mar the line of brownstones and we feel disposed f to inquire what parsimonious indi vidual has dared to invade this sacred precinct of the Almighty Dollar. Our surprise is natural at finding that they are the residences of the Astors, the largest real estate owners in - America, if not in the world. The plainness of these buildings brought into greater prominence by the nearness of the r -, STEWART MANSION, just one door up. j.ne possession of that piece of property alone would make one a millionaire. It is of marble, carved and fretted and chis eled, and is one of the most imposing structures in the city. The great merchant prince built it some years before his death, and his widow is said to be at present its sole occupant. Its interior reflects the perfection jof artistic furnishing and decoration, splendid paintings, statuary, tapes tries and other works of art. But," with all its elegance, there is some thing about the Stewart mansion that brings to mind a splendid pris on, a sort of magnificent mausoleum. OTHER NOTABLE DWELLINGS. "A few blocks further up the Ave nue ris. a large double brown-stone, fashioned in the height of architec tural elegance. Its owner and occu pant is reported to be the possessor of more money than the entire State ' of North Carolina is valued at on the tax books. William H. Vanderbilt is the man. In the same neighbor hood are the costly residences of two 'of his sons, the homes of Gould, Sloan, Gebhardt (the parental roof of the Lily's American love) and hun dreds of others just as rich, and beautiful. THE CATHEDRAL. cos Our attention is attracted by an immense, majestic pile, of marble, rising to a bewildering height iin graceful ; spires' and turrets. The building occupies an entire block. The money spent on it would buy but the county of Caldwell, bag and bag gage, at its assessed value, and the money required to finish it by the ad dition of a few colossal steeples wo Aid build another Lenoir and leave enough over to pavo the streets and put in gas and water works. Such is St.. Patrick's Cathedral, which has been many years in building and and represents the offerings of tens j of thousands of Irish servant girls and common day laborers. It is well worth while to attend services, which are being conducted. We enter the arched doorway, invest twenty-five cents each in a reserved seat, and an accommodating usher conducts i us up the aisle. - The vast auditorium is indescribably beautiful. A flood of yellow light from myriad candles imparts a radiance to the immacu late raiment of innumerable choristers. The walls are hung with rich pictures ; life-size f figures of the saints look down from their . niches far over head. When servi ces ar&, concluded we inspect the works of art at our leisure, r THE PRIDE OP NEW YORK. We have seen Fifth Avenue, the great centre of wealth and fashion, and have a desire to visit the haunts of the lower million. . It is Satur day night and we turn in the direc tion of the Bowery. , Nearly every nation under the sun is represented in the throng that surges along the pavements, and the great majority of them are of the laboring classes. The fierce, whispered Scandinavian jostles the swartny Italian into the gutter r,' Erin's sons and daughters urr iher deadly brogue at their arch-enemy, the red-faced, phleg matic 'Dutchman ; the meek Celes tial scurries are unmindful of the jibes of ruffians ; the Frenchman is there with his never-ending zs, the Spaniard, the Cockney fienglish man, the. Turk, the Southern dar key, such a conglomeration of un washed, unkept humanity ! Such a jamming and j inhering and swear ing in eighteen : languages. I Never fcsfcrs t?4 we realized wnat.a bless- ed thing it is to be a linquest in order to make one's expletives intel IiViWa to foreisTi tramDS of assorted nationalities who are continually digging mm m wie'riua uujeTrj, turn. Self-preservation as much as anything else induced us to dodge into a , beer-oabden; A thousand men and women seat ed at small tables are clinking glass es and swallowing their beer with evident relish. - A. cloud of smoke from hundreds of cigars floats up to the roof and ouLthrough the open sky-lights.; There are visions of men and women' in . white aprons, flitting about here, there and every where, with huge trays of plates and glasses. Thirty or.forty young women attired in red dresses that terminate with picturesque abrupt ness just above'the region of the knee, are making considerable mel ody on a variety, of instruments. Now, the strains have died away ; a young man and woman come for ward and go through with an excru eiatin? character sonsr in German. A Niagara of applause greets this enort, tne players dow and smiie and clear their throats for business, and we make a desperate lunge for the door to escape the infliction. IN THE ITALIAN QUARTER. From the Bowery we turn into Mulberry street and enter the heart of the Italian quarter. Groups of women arp seated around the base ment doors with nursing infants at their breasts,engaged in excited dis cussion in their native jibberish. Chasing each other through the nasty street and breathing the pois onous gases that arise from uncon fined sewage are scores of weazen faced, untidv children. We peer into one of the crowded tenements. There, women and children are huddled together promiscuously preparing for sleep a hundred I of them in a room. Even the roof is utilized for this purpose one that we visited serving as the bed-chamber for 137 human beings ! Filth reigns supreme in these places, which give out an unbearable stench, and there is about them an air of misery, want, wretchedness, disease, death, j ' THE HEATHEN CHINEE. From Mulberry street we re-enter the Bowery and then go to, Mott street, to "pay John Chinamen) a visit. John hangs out there to the exclusion of pretty much every one and everything else, for when he brings around his pig-tail and "washee" not even the Italian can find much pleasure in the vicinity. We find him at home in force, attir ed in his loose blue blouse, soft hat and thick-soled sandals. lie is lounging about the frSnt door shout ing tea-chest lingo, and takes no further notice of us than to look! up lazily out of his queer little biasj-eet eyes. We pass a Chinese restaurant, but withstanding the allurements of fiillet de mus and rodent s a-la- mode, ts.ke a short cut through to Baxter street. j "DOT CO-AT SO SHEEP AS DIRT." Since the world begun, where did all the cast-off clothing come from? We look in store after store with amazement, and wonder if the whole world has sold out its ward-robes preparatory to practicing dress ! re form with loin clothes. Each! en terprising establishment has two; or three street canvassers, who hot only solicit but actually drag the helpless victim into their lair,! by force of arms. We stopped to see a father in Israel yank in a struggling wayfarer who had no escort. He actually called for help and Rachel sallied out and assisted him in fin ishing the job ; and then we fled to escape similar treatment. WHO SAID BONNETS ? .Division street next claims our attention. It is inhabited by a race of milliners, in fact is Baxter street over with women in the place of men and bonnets and ribbons j in stead of clothing. The denizens of this quarter are quite as importu nate as the fiends of Baxter, and as they are' women we cannot knock them down, or even swear at them or threaten to sound the polico alarm. In vain we explain that we have no present use for head-gear much less female ' head-gear. Six women lay violent hands on us and but let us draw a veil over our ignominious defeat. ; THE HAUNT OP CRIME. From the Bowery again we next turn into Hester street, the seat of more iniquity,' pure and unalloyed, than any other portion of the city. It is noted as the resort of desperate criminals, burglars, sneaks, murder ers, foot-pads and abandoned wo men in tne last stages of decline. Nearly every house is a "dive," where these characters resort, and hardly one of them could it speak; but would tell a horrible tale of the shedding of human blood. Not far from us is Burglar Eed Leary's dive, where Burglar Walsh murdered Burglar Irving in a dispute over the division of plunder and was himself murdered bv Burglar Porter. ' Just in front of us is the "dive" of the notorious Billy McGlory, whose wickedness has given him a national notoriety. We enter the basement by a short flight of steps and come into a low-pitched room used as a bar and dance hall. On a small platform in the corner two men are grinding villainous sounds from a couple of violins, ?; Fallen ,) women with hollow cheeks and sunken eyes are whirled around in the embraces of stalwart ruffiians. Some of them are drunk and reel through the fig ures, lunging1 this way .and that their blunders evoking a storm 'of shocking 5 profanity. ' We decline pressing invitations to participate in the dance, and appease the Wrath of the refused damsels by ar"setnp" to a vile beverage that not even they dared to more than taste, and we seize the occasion to look for more congenial companionship. ' We have seen more of the varied phases of human nature- its light and shadows, the comic side, the serious and the vicious, in a few hours than it would be possible to see Outside of a great city during a life-time. Caldwell. AN IMPORTANT ARREST. A Gang of Bsru-Burners and Robbers Pur sued from forth Carolina ists Ta&sss- see, and Ron to Earth In Carter County, Where They bad a Store Filled with Stolen Goods. i For some time, probably a month or so, the citizens living on Cove Creek and Beaver Dams Creek in Watauga county have suspected that there was an organized band of rob bers operating in those neighbor hoods. These suspicions were grounded upon the fact that the barns, smoke houses and other out houses of many of the citizens were frequently entered and provisions and household plunder stolen. ' The nuisance became so great that a closo watch was kept up and efforts were made to detect the marauders. On the 9th of this month some Eerson on Cove Creek found that is smoke house had been robbed on the night before, and at once a par ty was made up to trace the thieves, if possible, to their hiding place. Their trail, which led across the line into Tennessee, was followed, and on the tOth the party met Joe Dot son, Henry Johnson and another man whose name we did not ; learn, coming towards the North Carolina line and carrying a lot of empty sacks. As Dotson is a notoriously bad fellow with the reputation of being almost an ontlaw and as John son's character is not a great deal better, the three worthies were in continently arrested and placed un der duress, according to that un written but well-understood border law which prevails along the line, and which provides for harnessing up a thief or an outlaw wherever he is found. , After this arrest the posse of citi zens followed the trail and, making their prisoners take the back! track, took them along with them and made them give much valuable in formation which finally led to their drawing up at a house in Carter county, Tennessee, which proved to be the lair of these bold robbers. Here they found a woman, with whom Dotson was living, keepiug house and attending to a little store ! which they had opened and which was furnished with a great variety of "seasonable goods," consisting of household and farming utensils, pro visions &c, nil stolen from the good citizens of Cove Creek and Bea ver Dams. As the store had just been started it had drawn to it no trade and, wonderful to relate, al most every article that had been missed by the people who organized the search was found intact in this store, except a small padlock. Dotson, Johnson and the other gentleman whose name is not known, were bound hand and foot and brought to Watauga jail and the owners of the stolen property took it back into possession. The three criminals were very much afraid to be brought back, being in constant dread of being lynched by the peo ple to. whom they have been such a trouble, for they are notably bad raen, and their crimes have not been confined to these last rogueries. Ajconfession from one of the men brings to light the fact that they are the gang who, a! month or so ago, set fire to and burned the house of Asa Reese, the barn of J. J. T. Reese and a great deal of fencing on Beaver Dams. Incensed as the peo ple are against them, they are in no danger but, if by hook or crook they should escape and renew their outrages, a short shrift would re ward them. On the night following their in carceration in Boone jail they sawed out a couple of logs of the cell and came very near escaping. Tho jail er, however, detected their trick and made them secure. It is said that the authorities think of bring ing them to Lenoir for safekeeping. . The Chautauqua. Black Mountain, June 17. To the Editor of The Lenoir Topic : Black Mountain is a small station on the W. N. C. R. R., about 15 miles east of Asheville,. N. C. It has, in addition to a depot, store and some dwellings, a large and well kept hotel under the management, of Mr. J. M. Stepp, who uses every means in his power to please his guests and make ; them comfortable. The hotel is pleasantly situated among the mountains and the scenery around affords a scene high ly picturesque. The pure air, borne along by the gentle morning, noon and evening breezes, is bracing in deed, and makes one's cheeks glow with the flush of ruddy health. ; This is the home of the North Carolina Teacher's Assembly for the year 1885. And no where could the weary teacher find a more healthy place to spend a few days for rest and recuperation, preparatory to again entering into his arduous la bors in the school room this fall. I The Assembly met June 11, with a good attendance, and daily ' there iiave been additions,; until the pres ent time, when the number is over, four hundred. There are all kinds of teachers and those interested in educational work. There are old teachers and young teachers, and a majority are ladies. Surely no school in the State will ; be without a live and energetic teacher, ; and one ac quainted with the modern and most improved methods of imparting in struction; J The teacher who' does not attend these late instituted means for training" iii school-nm-h work, will certainly be outst riped .'n the educational ' race by those who do, and finallv be crowded ami push ed out (as thty ought to be) and' will be compelled to eek some lothur employment for a livelihood. It is a treat to any teacher jto be here. Every opportunity v foH im provement and pleasure is afforded him. The morning is taken jup in lectnringand discussing the methods and principles of teaching, together with talks and. hints on school gov-, eminent and discipline. It is under stood Miid subscribed to by t he Cba u tuuqua that the rules of etiquette he suspend rd to a certain extent and in a certain direction. If you wear the "badge' von have an ex'nsive right to assume t'n hcquaiutancu of any other one who does the jsuine thing. There is intelligence! and beauty both represented intheinoble corps of teachers now gathered to gether at the long-looked-for Chau tauqua.! . Height. ttt Zion, Wilkes Coonty, N. C. - ' '. ": l June 15, 1885. To the Editor of The Lenoir Topic: I have recently returned from the "gold diggings' on the waters of Mulberry, Wilkes county, and will give you a few items relative to the same, j- Our company, consisting of four, commenced working in Rich mjpun tain gulch, on the 1st instant, (using sluice boxes the same as the miners! do on the Pacific coast We worked about two weeks and averaged 'about a dwt a day to the hand, and! if we had a sufficient supply of water, we could make four times as much just as easily. Some of the gold is ex ceedingly fine and some rather on the coarse order. The largest piece we found is worth about two dollars and a half. We are prospecting for the main lead and expect to find it at no distant day. The gold we are taking out is of an excellent quality, being worth about one dollar per .dwt. ! :" . v. . . There are many - other places in this vicinity, both on the waters of Mulberry and Roaring river, which would pay well if properly developed. Another company speaks of j open ing a claim on the waters of Roaring river soon. If they do, they will undoubtedly succeed ; for there is a great deal of gold - in this locality.' If we had plenty of prospectors here as energetic as they are on the Pa cific coast, the gold which now lies hidden beneath the boulde.ls and pebbles in our streams, benefitting no one,1 would soon be brought up to the light of day and put in circu lation among the people. But a great many of our people here are afraid to i expend a dollar for the purpose of developing our mineral resources, lest they should! never more see it, or its equivalent. There is plenty of money here if we only had the courage to go to work ano" "dig it out" ! and if we are too penurious and indolent to do so, it is no mat ter for us if we do suffer for the want of it. T. 0. L. Heights of a few of the Towns and! Moun tain Peaks in Western N. C. The' table below is compiled from iTof. Ji-err s report. j TOWNS. Lenoir (public square) 1,185; Pat terson li279; Blowing Rock 4,090; Boone 3,242; Jefferson 2,940; Ba kersville 2,550; Morgantbn 1,184; Asheville 2,250; Wayiiesville 2,756; Wilkesboro 1,043; Charlottei 725; Salisbury 760; Bumsville 2,840.' j MOUNTAINS. Hibriten 2,242; Table Rock3,918; Hawk's Bill 4,090; Poore's Knob, (Wilkes county) 2,665; Pilot j (Sur ry county, 2,413; Grandfather 5, 897; Flat Top, (Watauga cohnty.) 4,537; Elk Knob 5,574-. Negro Mt., (Ashe county,) 4.597: White! Top. Va., 5,530; Gap, at head of Watau ga and Linville rivers, 4,100; Beach Mt., 5,541; Snake Mt., 5,574;Roan 6,306; Mitchell's Peak 6,707. 4 ; Railroad Earnings. Tortvllle Enqnlrer. ? The railroad Commission. has fur nished a compilation showing jthe earnings of the railroads in this State for the month of April, as compared with the earnings for the same month last year. The total earnings of all the roads for April, 1884, was $427,319.49 ; for April, 1885, $406,383.77 ; increase, $4,801, 44; decrease, $25,737.16 ; net de crease, $20,935.72 ; net per cent, decrease, 04.90. For the roads nam ed the earnings were as follows: Atlanta and Charlotte Air-Line 1884. $75,925.48 ; 1885, $76,184.48; increase, $258.60 ; 0.34 per cent, increase; Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta 1884, $44,571.13 ; 1885, $41,492. 43 ; decrease, $3,078.70 ; 06.91 per cent, decrease. Cheraw and Chester 1884, $2, 185.35 ; 1885, $1,951.91 . decrease, $233:44 ; 10.68 per cent, decrease. Chester and Lenoir 1884, $3, 842.04 ; 1885, $5,092.27 ; increase $1,250.23 ; 32.54 per cent increase. As by the March statement, so by the statement for April, the Chester and Lenoir makes the best showing of any railroad in the State. f A "railroad conference" was held at Blacks, Cleveland county, on the 10th, in which were delegates from YorkvilW, S. O.; Cleveland county and from Burke and McDowell counties.. The question is to build a road from Yorkville, by way of Shelby, north to Marion and thence to Cranberry ; or to Morgan ton and ; perhaps thence, by way of Lenoir, across Cook's Gap, to the Shenan doah Valley. ! The press convention meets next year at Shelby. 1 STATE TOPICS. The number of pensioners, in the State is estimated at 4,000. f C The Farmer and Mechanic and State CironiVferRaleigh, have con solidated. iv W. P. Connelly, - Esq., has been appointed store-keeper by Collector Dowd in Iredeir. , ' Gen. John A. Young has been appointed postmaster at Charlotte, and A. H. (Baldy) Boyden at Salis bury. L'. -t-:- Capt. Ben Newland has bought the Chedieter property on Patton Atenue, Asheville, and will become a resident of that city. ' ! The News and Observer says that the Governor will have to re-appoint 6 out of ten of the magistrates ap pointed by the last Legislature. He must do so in all cases where they do not qualify within three months after notification. TIMELY TOPICS. Asiatic cholera in Spain. . ' The Bartholdi statute has arrived in New York. Gen. Grant is at Mt. McGregor in the Catskills and is worse. ,The Marquis of Salisbury has ac cepted the English Premiership and will form a cabinet. Cluverius has been sentenced to be hanged-on the 20th of November. His only chance now is an appeal to the Supreme Court. Kail's Hills, Wilkes C). ' '!' ' Hall's Mills, June 8. To the Editor of The Lenoir Topir: As f have eoen nothing; in your interesting papr from this locality for some time, I will give y,ou a few items. ' : ; t Corn crops are growing finely cilice the late rains. Small grain has come out considerably,; but can not make an average crop, so much of it was frozen out the past winter. We have an excellent prospect for an abundant fruit crop. i i " . Miss Jennie C. Land is on a visit to her aunt Mrs. Xf. L. Hall. - : For a long time gold has . been known to exist in this locality, but no one seemed to have energy and enterprise enough to develop it un til Rev. Vm. Hall and Dr. D. M. Hall undertook to open up and de velop these hidden mineral resources here. They have spent a great deal of time and money at this business and are now in a fair way to make their money back. They have re cently secured the services of T. C. Land, an old prospector and miner from Oregon and have opened up their mine in "Rich Mountain Gulch" which prospects well and is thought to be exceedingly rich in the precious metal. It already pays about a pennyweight a day to the hand, and when properly opened, we . are satisfied it will pay much better. They are satisfied that the main lead crosses this gulch and it is their intention to follow it up until they strike it. j There are many excellent indica tions of gold in many localities here and if we had enough men as enter prising as the Halls to 'properly develop them, we are satisfied that this would be one of the richest mining regions in Western N. C. Go at it, gentlemen. Why suffer for money when there is millions of it lying almost at your feet, waiting to be taken out and put into circu lation ? Cease whining about hard times and go to work and ! develop the hidden resources of your coun try and soon your efforts j will be crowned with success, and you will no longer complain of hard times ; butpeace and plenty will be yours. I Wnat gave rise to the name Yad kin ? Mart. XT at auga Hotel. Blowing Eotk, N. 0., 4,000 feet above the sea level, in the midst of the finest mountain scenery in the "Land of the Sky," is now ready for boarders: ! TERMS: Per Month From $15 to $25. according to location and age. Per Week, $7. Per Day, $1. i Capt. and Mrs. Waddill, the well known hotelists and caterers, are in charge. C. & It. R. It. SCHEDULE MATLAXD XXPBI8S. .: NO. 52 Lnmra Lcnotr Sam Ar, HodKDvill6 8:31 a m Ijovelady 8:M am " Hickory 9:35 am " Linoolnton 10:56 a m " Oaatonia 11:50 a m " Yorkville lp m Chewier 2:05 p m No. 63 Leave Chester 4:30 p m Arrive Yorkville 5:38 p m " Gaatonia 8:45 pm -" Linoolnton 806 p m " Hickory 9:30 p m -" Lovelady 10. p jb HndsonvUle 10:) pm u Lenoir 10:45 p m nnSEI AXD ACCOMMODATION. ' . No. 8 Leave Lenoir 6am Ar Hudaonville 6:40 a m " Lovelady 7-10 am Hickory 8: a m ' Linoolnton 11:30 a in " Gaatonia 1:40 p m Yorkville 3:25 p m " Chester 5:30 p m No. 6 ; Leave Cheater Tin Arrive Yorkville 8:50 a m M Oaetonla 11 a m " Linoolnton 1:16 p m " Hickory 3:50 p m Lovelady 4-50 p m " Hndaonville 5:30 p m ur- Jno'r 6 pm- , Norx. No. 63 wiU wait indefinitely at Lenoir for No. 63 supper at OastoBia. No. 6 will wait indefi nitely at Lenoir for No. 5. - T. II. VANCE, Attorney - at - Xar, Lenoir, N. 0. . r . H. C. BOTIilN. . Watchmaker and Jeweler, lexoir, n. c. - ! Cp stalra over UartuVa Hardware Store. All work guaranteed. House & Lot for Sale. I offer for aale my house and lot, having neat and convenient outhoases, good well, eta. The location ts handy to the eesitre of town and to the churches. The lot contains one acre. - Address lira. 8. M. WHITTZD. Lentoir, H. C -Meiz Goods Spring is here and with it Comes our We have nottime to particularize ; and for the present content ; Ourselves by calling your atten tion to one of f the largest and hand- somest stocks of goods ever brought -to this market. -t-c-t- Wlien in Need of any thing from a of To a Suit OF CLOTHES, SEWING 2XACHINE OR COOKING 2S3TOVE, Come and see us and we Will do our best to please You both in Price and QUALITY. Come one, Come all. Itespeetfully, CLOYD AND NELSON. B 4U BUY 9i ,01 any kind call on J. B ERYDI Who will make it to your interest To Buy From Him. Why ? : Because he sells it at prices . that suit times. ' Bedsteads, ; Bmreaus, Dressing Cases, Tables, ; ChaTrs, Washstands, Da fee, Bedsprings, , Ilattrcsses, &c.? &c., cc., &c., &c. : Lenoir, N. C, ne 23. . , ; t Watch This Column for F. WIESENFELD'S NEW ADVERTISEMENT. Aretneceived i-, i : i Watt Plows, TnT SEWING .MACHINES, Always on Hand. . ! 1 . . Respectfully, fcnfeJi x j - , - I.J t'Y i .UO' , . .'i-tOl'li'i' ''
Lenoir News-Topic (Lenoir, N.C.)
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June 24, 1885, edition 1
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