VOLUME X.
LENOIR, N. C, WEDNESDAY. JULY 29, 1885.
Number 45.
Wallace
Bros
STATESVlLLE, N. C
WlxolesalE Dealers
General
n ;
Largest Warehouse
v and best facili
ties for han
-i
dling
Dried Fruit, Ber-
I ' ;
ries, etc.. in
the State.
RESPECTFULLY
Wallace
August 27th, 1884.
6 :'
? i i
J. M. Spainhour,
I LENOIR, N. C
Caea so impure material for filling teeth.
Work as low as good work
can be done H; i - ;
Patienta from a dlatanoa "umj
Yoid daisy by informing him at what time
they propoaa coming.
. . : : : ' "' ' "
.bios
F. LEE CLINE,
UDLIUTID JOIJ2Z3,
ATTORNEY - AT - LAW,
LEironi, it. c.
cluitoit a. cilley,
Attoynoy-At-IaT7,
2IjBOZ2.oilir ZT CSV
Prnctica ia All ThQ Courts.
OUR NEW YORK LETTER.
Kiagara Falls turned into a Free Stats
Park-Scattering Politics-Summer
Resorts-Hew York Breathing
Spots Hell Gate and the
Statue of Liberty.
New York, July 14.
To the Editor of The Lenoir Topic:
Tomorrow will be a big day for
all the citizens of New York and for
the sight-seeing world in general. i
The State has bought 118 acres of
land tying about Niagara Falls,
which embrace all the points from
which a good view of the greatest
natural wonder in the world can he
got. Tomorrow it will be made free
to all the world. ' Heretofore it has .
cost a great deal of trouble and mo
ney to get a view of the Falls. The
private owners of the land erected
fences and charged toll to all . who
went there. It has been j impossible
to see the Falls to advantage at a
less cost than $10 $10 just for the
privilege of getting on the ground
to look' at it. j And many visitors
have spent as much as $50 t o get the
full benefit of the majestic sight
from every point of view. There
have been built about the place, too,
all sorts of unsightly buildings.
Every conceivable annoyance to vis
itors has grown up. The trees have
been cut down which added so much
to the impressiveness of the scene,
and factories have actually been
built there. i
Now that the property has been
bought by the State to hold in trust
for her people forever, all these will
be torn down. The formal transfer
of the land will be made with! great
ceremony and celebrated 1 properly.
It has cost the State of New,. York
about a million and a half of dollars,
but the State of New York (is very
rich indeed, and it has done an em
inently proper and liberal thing in
preserving its greatest wonder.
Politics is beginning to warm up.
A calculator of the outlook does not
know how to guess, but it seems
6afe to predict a Democratic victory,
if the Democrats nominate a man
who will carry the Independent Tote.
There never - was before; so much
scattering politics. You : see there
are straight Democrats, straight Re-
Bublicans, Democrats who voted for
laine, Republicans, who voted for
Cleveland, Mugwumps, Independ
ents, Tammany men and half a doz
en other divisions. One thing is
certain. Nobody is going to dare
wave the bloody shirt. That kind
of a game has completely played out.
The public sentiment of New York
recognizes the South a an integral
and important part of the Union,
and there is going to be j no more
foolishness here on that question.
But men are startlingly j independ
ent. They do not care for the old
parties and old party lines as they
did a few years ago. They are will
ing to vote for the best man and to v
forget-fjffy; . largely at least-rthe f
foruter party lines.- i x "' '
People from all quarters of the
country Hon. Henry Watterson in
cluded are r nows flocking . to the
summer resorts all along I the coast
in every direction irorn me city.
Coney Island is a great, city, late; in!
the afternoon and at night. They
are in the sea, on the sand, on merry-making
grounds, in beer, enjoy
ing music, swinging, eating, walk
ingdoing everything to keep cool
and to have a jolly time. During
July and August very nearly all the
great stores in 2.ew York and ;
Brooklyn close on Saturday at one
o'clock, and all hands have a half
holiday before the whole holiday of
Sundav comes. And Sunday, of
course, is the biggest day of theaudJ3u
' over the green swards at its base.
In the Parks there is free music
on Sundays and thousands and thou
sands of persons go to enjoy it. In
fact, the city does almost everything
for human comfort, - and so many
things are free. 4 And those that are
not free are so cheap that even! wej
who are poor, can afford them. For
example, you can get on a boat at 8
cAjIock in the morning and go up
the Hudson beyond West Point, en
joy the cool ride, see the finest sceri-i
ery in America, enjoy musio all the,
way and come back, arriving at 7 p.
m. all for 50 cents ! Yon can go
long distances for correspondingly
cheap fare. Tomorrow you can go
to Niagara Falls and back for $5. It
is more than an all night ride on a
road that makes 45 miles anhour.
You can go to Boston for $5, sailing
on the finest steamer in the world.
The rich can get more luxuries and
the poor more pleasures in New
York than anywhere else under the
stars and stripes. i
You know what HeU,0ate w.f-tt-j
is a firreat rock whole acres big in 1
Eat Kirer up above tnegreai onage
which prevents big boats from going
out or coming in byi .'Long Island
Sound. 7 They have honey-combed
it to a great depth; down under .the
water, and have been at iwork blast
ing out; a vast city under there with
hundreds of streets and pillars and
alleys, for twelve years, j All those
spaces will be filled up with strong
powder; and dynamite in a little
while and the whole bottom of the
river will he blown, into, f ragmen
and then taken out by. dredge boat. iM
It wni1)e the biggest explosion naV4he made me sleep,' and then he hoi
ever took place in the world. It
will shake two cities like an earth-I
quake and rouse the dead, if an
earthly noise can. ",.'
By the time that is done the great
statue of Liberty will be in place,
and New York harbor, always beau
tiful, will be made more beautiful
and more safe that ever before. I
Caldwell.
BILL NYE ON VESUVIUS.
He Takes a Drop of the "Crater" in His
'' Usual Style, f
The study of the habits and
temperature of the volcano at a dis
tance of about 10,000 miles is one
that has always afforded uie much
pleasure. In watching and noting
the peculiar phenomena of the erup
tions I have almost lost sight of its
attendant dangers. ! -
A volcano is always feverish and
restless till after the eruption then,
it feels better. The first symptoms
of an i eruption are cold feet, bad
dreams, bad breath and dark circles
around the crater. This will be
followed by an uncomfortable feel
ing in the bowels of the earth and a
fluttering pulse. The volcano is
then about to erupt, and those who
live near there had better sell out at
a sacrifice. ' j
One thousand eight hundred and
eighty four years ago the Roman
geographer and weather crank, Stra
bo, spoke of Vesuvius as a burnt
mountain ; but it had not at that
time turned itself wrong side out.
Quite a forest grew where; its crater
now stands. For fifty years Vesu
vius had billious spells, but kept on
drawing its salary without loss of
time, but in 79 A. D. it turned it
self loose and tore up the ground a
good deal. Real estate went to an
astonishing height ; but became de
pressed at once. The south half of
the mountain was jerked loose, as
Pliny has it, and knocked galley
west. This was followed by a show
er of hot wet ashes, which complete
ly obliterated Pompeii and Hercula
neum. Those towns have been ex
hausted lately, but owing to the
criminal delay of the authorities in
doing so, no lives were saved.
These cities are not covered with
lava. Scientists say that the ruins
were found under - a deep layer of
volcanic tufa. I do not know what
tufa is, but presume the term is per
fectly proper and safetb use in good
society. I have heard of the tufa,
cigar, which is sold at the rate of
tufa for five cents, but I am com
paratively ignorant of the general
appearance of the volcanic tufa.
This is a joke that I thought of my
self. Times are so close this winter
that lam obliged to originate a
good many of my own jokes and to"
write on my own autographs. My
amanuensis, who has stood by me so
long and aided me so well, has been
discharged. Autograph-hunters will
notice that my autographs are not'
as good as when I had my amanu
ensis. ':.'
For fully 1,000 years Vesuvius
then remained in a comatose state,
with only an occasional eruption.
Then for 500 years it did not erupt.
1538, on the shores of the gulf of
Baiae, , in the bay of Naples, a new,
and attractive crater was opened. It
was a good, easy-running crater, and
r the lavawas hot when it came out,
liuu la f a jjj uut guvu 1U1 iuuu, ,XI
hardens" ih the stomach and-faint
the breath with the odor of sulphur,
f In 1031 Vesuvius-itself again be
came intensely irritable and showed
signs of a morbid desire to erupt.
During the 1,500 years of quiet the
crater had been covered over with
forests infested by the wild boar of
Italy and the tame bore of England.
The slopes of the mountain were
cultivated up to the foot of the corie,v
green
Suddenly, in the latter part, of
December, Vesuvius rose on its hind
feet and painted Rome red. All
Southern Europe and a part of York
State were covered with 1 ashes and
debris from the internal economy of
the volcano. Many people were
killed who had never jpreviously lost
their lives. The way Vesuvius slung
hot mud at the Neapolitan hordes
that fall was a solemn warning .to
the puny pushers of putrid politics
in the land of the free and home of
the brave. The beautiful cities of
Resini and Postici were entirely des
troyed, and those of Torre del Greco
and Torre del Annnnziata J would
have perished if they had not spread
the names of towns over themselves
and escaped. A good long name in
Italy i is rather to be - chosen than
great riches. j
I ! About every ten years since the
above date Vesuvius ! has been liable
to jar the country and shake down a
few towns, covering the people with
fstuff that is entirely useless. The
eruption of Vesuvius is a fine sight
at night. No doubt that 'there will
always be more or less apprehension
on the part of speculators until some
American ''rustler" puts a damper
in the crater of Vesuvius, bo he can
regulata the eruptions, j At present
those spasms are too irregular and
too vehement. . .
A little girl was asked by her mo-;
ther on her return from, the temple
how she liked the preacher. "Did'nt
like" him' at all, was I the 1 reply.
V'Why V r V 'Cause he preached till
lered so loud that he would let me
go to sleep." ......
THE SCHOOL LAW.
Duties ef Count Boards of Education.
The General Assembly of 1885
saw fit, after mature consideration,
to relieve the board of county com-
missioners of the charge of the ed- "
ucational interests of the county
and to place them in the hands of a
special board. ' ''
You have been selected to fill this
position, and I desire, earnestly, to
call your attention to the great im
portance of your duties. On you
and your executive officer, the coun
ty superintendent, rests the educa
tiona I welfare of the ch ild ren of
your county. Knowing the . impor
tance of your duties, the assembly
has not failed to give you the powers
to discharge them. By section. 2551
of the school law the apportionment
of the county school fund is placed
in your hands and you have -discretion
over one-third t(to be nxed to
equalize school facilities to all the
districts of the county so far ax may
be practicable." Thinly populated
districts are put specially, under your
care, and you are furnished with a
fund to meet their necessities.
The holding of county institutes
is' left to your discretion. The ad
vantages of an institute are too ap
parent to need comment. Let,
therefore, your failure to order one
to be held, be based on reasons' which
cannot be controverted. If there be
any doubt, give the educational in
terest of the county the benefit of
the doubt, and hold the institute.
Again, the.constitution, article 9,
section 3, orders that public schools
shall bp. held for at least four months
in every year. The school law, sec
tion 2599, orders the board of county
commissioners to levy a tax suffi
cient to maintain the schools four
month", should the regular tax not
be sufficient forthat purpose ; and
the Constitution, article' .9, section
3, makes them liable to indictment
if they fail to so maintain, the
schools. It then is your duty as
guardians of the educational inter
ests of the children of your county,
to call the attention of the board of
commissioners to any' deficiency
there may be in the school fund of
the county to maintain the schools
four months, and to submit to them
an estimate of the sum'necessary to
carry out the requirements of the
constitution in this , respect . You
make the apportionment ; have con
trol of the prices paid teachers ; and
know the wants of the ' several dis
tricts : the knowledge of. a . deficit
comes directly to you . You are not
empowered-to levy 'lu tax. but it is
rour dutv to call attention of the
oard of commissioners to the facts.
and throw on them the responsibili
ty of failure to carry out the re
quirements of the constitution and
the statute.
Notwithstanding the constitution
since 18G8 and the statute since 1881
have positively required the county
commissioners to maintain the school
four months, still in many .counties
it has not been done.' . The conse
quence is; that the average length of
public school terms in our State was
11$ weeks,. and in many Vounties it
was as low as 7 weeks last year.
Trusting, gentlemen, that under
your administration this state of
things will be amended, , and the
children or the state allowed to en
joy the educational rights proposed
to be secured by . the. constitution
and assuring you of my hearty co
: operation and' advice whenever you
may need it, I are, yours. V " '
S. M. Finger, ,
, State Supt. Pub. Instruction.
f r Rst. Waiter W. Uoore, 0. 0.
'.';'- . . ' ..-;: ;
" Wilmington Star. t,t. ... ;t , t . ,
We heard Rev. Dr. Moore, at the
First Presbyterian church at night.
His morning Bermon is represented
to us as being specially une. He
looks to be about 32 or, 33 years of
age, is tall and slightly ;, built. . He
has an intelligent face, a fine head,
and a weak voice but a pleasant one.
He did not use a note as. far "as twe"
could perceive. His style is easy,
without marked mannerisin or ex
cessive gesticulation . He j speaks ,
readily, felicitously and occasionally
with earnestness. He is not an ora
tor, but a very, agreeable speaker..
His sermon at night was on Regen
eration, and! the text was the famous
one in John's Gospel and. tfye inter
view between the Saviour and " ; the
. Jewish teacher, Nicodemus. ' It was
Hhebest discourse on the subject we
remefnber to have heard. The in
troduction was extr'emely happy-an
excellent test of sermonizing. The
discussion was clear, cogent and o
sustained, interest. , The , language
was colloquial arid, easy, but scholar
ly and exact. In 32 minutes the
. speaker packed away" about as much"
solid thought and illustration . as
many D'Ds would be able to get in
in an hour.or perhaps . a week.. It
was noj; a great discourse, but a yery
good one. The plan was' simple and '
-yet exhaustive. . fudging the gifted
and cultured young North Carolini
an by this one effort, we' should say
he was a man of marked promise, ,
was a r thinker, a .reasoher and ; a
!8chplarf..W l). :'. .: v v'( f ) 'r
Taken together, all the beauties of
art and nature do not interest the
inquisitive female so much as the
view she gets through, the keyhole.
UY FIRST BUFFALO EUXT.
Bakeesville, July 17.
To the Editor of TJieLendir Topic:
It was in October, in the fall of
1878 t that I and three other men
left Clearwater, Kan., for a buffalo
hunt in the Medicine Lodge conn
try, on the Big Cimaron river.
'We were well prepared for a hunt
ing and a pleasure trip good wagon
and team, tent, forage, Remington
rifles, shot-guns and plenty of am
: munition.
The weather was ' mild and clear,
i Indian summer was in all its glory.
! The wild blue haze that overspread
: the far distant prarie "lent enchant
: ment to the view' the gentle zeph
i yrs that played o'er the prairie add
! ed a pleasantness to the scene and
; wafted the fragrance of millions of
: beautiful flowers that decorated the
f endless plain.
1 We camped the first night near a
beautiful little stream of pure clear
water and near the banks of the
j placid waters of the Ninescah.;.
We winged several fine young
! prairie chickens that evening and
j and had a broil that the most fastid
j ious epicurean might envy, a feast
jthat none can fully appreciate unless
they partake. After supper wo had
a four-hand round interspersed with
music on the banjo and harp. (While
listening to the sweet strains of mu-
sic as they were wafted away by the
passing breeze and lost on the silent
plain our minds wandered far away
to the homes of our childhood; away
from the treeless plain to the grand
old mountains of Carolina. We
thought of the old oak beneath
which we' spent many an hour in
gleeful play ; of the mill pond in
which we spent Saturday evenings
during. Bummer, turning summer
saults and sticking our heads in the
mud; of the old hearth stone around
which was a broken circle, a vacant
chair, a fond mother thinking of a
darling boy in a distant land. u.
The next morning we were up
bright and early ; we brought down
a fane antelope and chased several
wolves over the prairie. About
midnight of our second night I was
awakened by the hungry howl of a
lone coyote. Grasping my rifle and
'slipping out of the tent I spied the
'coyote a short distance off. I raised
limy gun, took aim by moonlight and
jfired ; there .was a rousing time
Jamong my comrades, a snort from
Ithe horses and a long, lank howl
'from a dying wolf. '
Late in the evening of the third
day we reached the "happy (?) hunt
ing ground."
, After "pitching our tent," getting
everything ready for the hunt and
'passing a quiet night, ' we started
early next morning to try our hand
in the wild, romantic chase of the
buffalo on the Western plain. Leav
ing one of our party at the camp,
myself, and the two others mounted
lour ponies and rode a mile or so
when we spied a small herd of buf
faloes off to the right. . After con
sulting a few minutes we rode slowly
towards the herd until they saw us,
then with a wild dash we rushed
j within shooting distance of them ;
jthen suddenly halting we fired.
Three buffaloes bit the dust and the
balance of the herd started off in a
run; they raised a cloud of, dust and
a noise like low distant thunder,
j We started after them in a gallop.
I chased one huge - old bull that
Istrayed off' some distance from the
rest of the herd. ' I would ride as
close to him as I thought safe just
for the sport i sometimes he would
turn for a fight but I would check
imy pony, and he would resume his
retreat. und:I in pursuit. "
Finally; the bull concluded that I
was crowding his rights, when he
made a sudden turn and came at my
pony with fury. Seeing that I was
in immediate danger I halted, raised
my gun and fired at the region of
the buffalo's heart, . but the instant
I-was pulling the trigger of my gun '
a rattle shake bit one of the legs of
my. pony, causing hi m to make a
sudden jump, which made me miss
my aim, at the same time throwing
me 'to the ground. I jumped up
immediately hint tfte buffalo was too
close . to be . pleasant and also too
close for me to reload and shoot. My
pony had left me and the only hope
of escape was to runand run I did.
It was "nip aluck with us, , but
"nip" got it. Nip was so close to
I me sometimes that I could feel his.
; hot breath penetrate that part of my
"pants that wears out first. We were,
traveling as . fast as boy and buffalo
.'could more, v when there was a sud-.
denness on that portion of my anat
omy that my mother's slipper used
'to touch, then I went whizzing
; through the air, upi np, up, I went,
and as I started down I saw the buf
falo standing still but looking up at
'me5 with two firy eyes and waiting
'patiently for my descent j but I
-'cheated him ! ;. . v:"HV'".'--
V I While falling I reloaded my gun
and killed the buffalo I Kivette. ,
r . i.-T THT
Guest at the, reception This is a
'dreadful bore 'r let us go. : Stranger ,
il agree with., you but my ' wife
won't let me go ; I am the host.?,.
1 ! A, housekeeper, has diaooTered that
a Buffalo sausage manufacturer puts
a jlittle meat in the, ends of the cases
; and. fills in the centre with sawdust.
Jn this way jthe mannfacturer has
for some time been- making "both
ends meat."
Vashisgton Kotes.
Ownboro Patriot. , i-'
Washington. July 18, "Coot"
Jones was surprised when he got
here to find himself a full-fledged
"Col." The question as to who se
cured his appointment has not yet
been settled. Two of the city papers
speak of hint as "Edmund Jones
Lincoln" and as having been ap
pointed by Senator Vance,! while the
Post says that Ransom made the
appointment at Vance's request.'
Leazer, of Iredell, is slated, for
the next appointment. He too, will
be made chief oft division, in the
Treasury Department. It goes with
out saying that this will be a good
appointment all round. -Representative
Henderson has been! laboring
hard to' secure Mr. Leazar's appoint
mentwith the co-operation of Sen
ator Ransom. ,
Lt.-Gov. ' Robinson has arrived,
and will receive his commission as
special Indian agent, in a lew days.
It has been stated in this correspon
dence that he had been appointed
inspector of public lands. I In that
there is error. The salary is $2,000
and expenses. It is a very desirable
appointment. n J
The appointment of Cot John Ns
Staples, as Territorial Judge, has
not yet been made. Attorney-General
Garland has recommended the
appointment, and the matter is in
the President's hands. What Ter
ritory he will be assignejd to, or
whether it will be an associate jus
ticeship or chief justiceship, is not
known at this writing. Some weeks
ago Private Secretary Lamont sugf )
gested the New Mexico judgeship
to Senator Ransom. Coil. Staples
then had his eye on the! assistant
solicitorship of j the Treasury, and,
as a last resort, deputy commissioner
of Internal Revenue. Lament's sug
gestion was not acted on until the
chances were narrowed down to the
Territorial judgeship or chief of di
vision. Comprehending the situ ac
tion Senator Ransom and Represen-'
tative Reid pressed the Attorney-5
General for the judgeship, that being
Col. Staples' preference. The result
has already been indicated. It is
Col. Staples' desire to go to Wash
ington or Wyoming Territory, and
he would prefer the chief justice
ship to the associate justiceship, but
office seekers under this Adminis
tration are not choosers, to any great
extent. None decline, and all go
where they are assigned arid go with
an expedition that indicates perfect
alacrity.
k Gen of Oratory.
At a social party ffiveri to the
. .. ...
members of the bar, at j Jackson,
Tennessee, during session of the
Supreme , Court, . Col. Landon C.
Hay nes uttered the following gem of
oratory. During the evening Gen.
N. B. "Forest arose and said :
Gentlemen, -I propose the health
of the eloquent gentleman from East
Tennessee, a country sometimes
called "The God-forsaken,
Col. Haynes responded :j .
! "Mr. Chairman and gentlemen :
I plead guilty to the '8oftiimpeach-
ment.' I was born in Ease Tennes
see, on the banks of the Watauga,
which, in . the Indian 'vernacular,
means 'beautiful river' and beautiful
river it is. Lhave stood upon its
; banks in ray childhood and looked
, down through its glassy waters and
have seen a heaven below, land then
looked up and beheld a heaven above;
reflecting, like two mirrors, each in
the other, its moon and planets and
trembling stars. Away from its
banks of rocks and cliff, hemlock
and laurel, pine and cedar; stretches
a vale back to the distant mountains
as beautiful and exquisite as any in
Italy or Switzerland. There stand
the great Unaka, the great Smoky
Mountains, among the loftiest in
America, on whose summits the
clouds gather of their own accord
even on the brightest day. (
': There have I seen the great
Storm-king after noontide, go " and
; take his evening nap in his pavilion
of darkness and of clouds.1 I have
: then seen him aroused at midnight
as a giant refreshed by slumber, and
cover the heavens with gloom and
darkness ; have seen him awake the
tempest, let loose the red lightnings,
that ran along- the mountain i tops
for a thousand miles swifter than an
eagle's flight in heaven. -1 Then I
have seen them stand up and dance
like angels of light in the clouds, to
the music of the grand organ of na
ture, whose . keys seemed : to have
been touched by the fingers of Di
vinity in the hall of eternity, thai
responded in tones : of thunder
through the universe. Then I have
seen the darkness drift away beyond
the horizon, and the morn ' get up
from the saffron bed like a queen;
put on; her robes 1 of. light,.: come
forth from her palace in ; the sun,
and stand tiptoe on the misty moun
tain top, and while night fled from
her glorious face to his bed-chamber;
at the pole, she lighted with a smile
of sunshine the green vale and beau
tiful river where I was born." - A
- "O I' beautiful land of mountains,
with thy sun-painted cliffsJ how can
I ever 'forget thee." '; ' s . : -;m ;i .
Gen." Forest stood stupefied while
CoL Haynes pronounced these : mar
velous sentences, and said afterward
he would not have been more amaz
ed if he had been struck by a flash
of lightning from the summit of
Smoky Mountain.
Primitive Poga. :
Dark Ridge, June 27J
To the Editor of the Lenoir Topic J
Many years ago, as our thoughts
glide back over the great chasm of
time, we beheld this beautiful conn
try in a wilderness, the home of the
bear, deer and panther. Old men,
such as Peter Potter and Samuel
Dngger, used to roam these moun
tains in search of game. Samuel
Trivett arid Vincent Greer were the
first settlers of Poga. It was amus
ing to hear them talk of this region
25 years ago, when bears were as
plenty as squirrels are now, and
thousands of coons. Weeds grew
up as high as a tall man's head ;
rattlesnakes as plenty as mice. In
one instance B. Johnson and Joel
Trivett killed 39 in some rock cliffs.
I very well remember the old fa
vorite coon dog of Vincent Greer,
Drive,) and one of Samuel Trivett's
(Rock.) If ever a dog was worth a
cow these were. Every pretty night
in Nov. Greer and his boys were .
sure to coon hunt, and almost sup
plied their family with coon. But
as time sped away persons of other
counties began to come in, the wheel
of industry began to move, people
began to raise corn to sell, wheat
and rye were sown, the latter espe
cially. About that time Rev. A. Cannon
moved to Poga with a family of girls
too beautiful for even the sun to
cast his rays jupon. All the boys of
the country were charmed. He had
also a host of boys. They all took
wives and have large families j of
children, so you plainly see there; is
most- as many Cannons as small
guns. , , .
While these things were gomgon
we may look to civilization. TThe
people grew almost wild. Young
men almost grown had never heard
a gospel sermon. But one famous
old veteran,, towit, G. W. McGuire,
moved from Ashe and laid seige I to
Poga. He, at the expense of his
own hands, procured and caused a
meeting to be held monthly in his
little log cabin. . Shortly after, a
Baptist Church was constituted with
only nino members. This church,
by the guidance of divine aid pros
pered, and the results were stupen
dous. It has now about 100 mem-
bers, many of whom are men of
wisdom arid understanding. (,
The times now are very different
from the old original times when
people dug roots and carried them
10 or 15 miles to market. Now the
farmer's attention is on his farm and
home affairs. Where 25 years back
was a sheep' trail is now broad wagon
roads, and now we have the pleasure
of walking only a few miles and see
ing the cars which, if we had seen a
few years back, . we would have
thought it was satan on wings. We
can now take a few chickens, eggs
or berries to Cranberry, only a few
miles, and sell for the cash. I
E. Mitchell and E. Taylor are the
famous Cranberry peddlers. I think
it would be safe to say, they have
for the past three years sold 1000
chickers, 10,000 eggs and 500 lbsi of
butter. There is a steam sawmill
in only two miles of this place which
is fast converting the beautiful tim
ber of this country into plank.
There is another saw mill on Beach
Mountain, only a short distance a
way which is sawing up all the cher
ry timber of that region. . s- '
j . G. W. McGuieE.
' ! " ' ' ! j
: The Boone Normal. 7
Boone, N. C, July 18.
To the Editor of The Lenoir Topic:
The Boone Normal has been in
session 8 days and is increasing every
day in interest. - The school now
shows an enrollment of over 150 pu
pils and of this number nearly! all
, are teachers. Miss McDowell has a
primary class of little fellows that
are numbered in the 150.
Wilkes county is better represent
ed in the school than any other ex
cept . Watauga and I must ; say of
those whotattend from Wilkes, that,
that they exhibit superior training
as teachers take them as a whole,
while the same is true of all the lady
and gent teachers who have been
taught the new method of teaching.
All show a decided improvement
and wherever you find a teacher who
has departed from the old method,
especially in, mathematics, you find
a ready and ripe scholar. T
Caldwell, sends some bright fel
lows. Ashe county has only a few
but ofithe first , quality, Mitchell
county is not represented, why is
this ? Watauga4ms her whole force
out or nearly so. All are - pleased
and are taking great interest in the
-Normal. .-,ir . " --
No school ever had a better corps
of teachers. . Our , superintendent,
Prof. Scarborp is a . very efficient
man a man of fine social arid in
tellectual qualities. Capt. Dackett,
;Prof. Spainhour and Mr. Eller iare
ne teachers. Our lady teachers are
first-class,- Miss Lucy Jurney,MIiss
Maggie McDowell, Miss Annie Moore
and jiliss Dewey-r-all fine specimens
of womanhood of fine culture and
excellent teachers; and, - of course, -good
looking and sweet ladies. . j We' !
are pleased withjmr Normal, j -
- ULD UAL.
, ! There are no w hjte
elephants in
the circuses this
has gone up.
year. wnitew2a
H t