tjjr me
YOL.TJMB XI.
LENOIR, IT. C, WEDNESDAT, NOVEMBER 28, 1886.
NUMBER 10.
Wallace
Bros.,
STATESV1LLE. N. C.
Whole salE Dealers
Geneial Merchandise.
-tot-
Largest Warehouse
and best facili
ties for han
dling Dried Fruit. Ber-
ries, etc.. in
the State.
RESPECTFULLY
"Wallace
Bros.
August 2:th, 1884.
SPRING FEVER
At this season nearly every one needs to one km
sort of toaia. IliUN enters into aim nut every phy
sician's preecriptioa for thoes who need building ap.
U-J u u 0E5TT0.11C.
is the only Iron medicine that is not injuriene. ,
t Knrichee that Bla4. In-rfareravtea the , :
yatesa, Iietrea Appetite, AM Diestlen '
It does not blacken or injqra the teeth, cause head
sche or prodooe constipation kAt Iron mttticinm do
Dr. O. H. BurxxrT, a leading physician of
- Springfield, 0 says: .
-Brown's Iron Bitten is Uwroofblyjtopd medi
cine. Ins H in my practice, and find tt action
excels all other forms of iron. In weskness. or s low
condition of the system. Brown's Iron Bitters is
usually a poajpTe nwrasaity. It is sQ that is claimed
for Jt."-
Gennine has trade mark and rrosasd red Uses en)
wrapper. Take other. Made only by
BRWH CHEMICAL CO., BALTIMORE, If 0. .
LaDTXS Uawd Book nsefn and attractive, con
taining list of prizes for recipes, information about
coins, etc., riren away by ail dealer in medicine, of
nailed (o aoy address oo receipt of So. stamp. , ,
CLINTON A. CILLEY,
I Attomeyilt-Law, W
Practioe in An Tho Courts.
INKLINGS FROM IDAHO.
"Oregon Boots"-'Hell Broth" of the Ed
Biands Bill ThB Festivs -Cowboy
Tb8 Oanceof Death Wonderful
; Springs Boise City
Two Postscripts.
Writing and Riding on the Or
egon Shout Line R. R., Nov. G. -
To the Editor of TJie Lenoir Topic:
In running over to Boise City yes
terday, I noticed that two ot our
fellow passengers had on what; they
call out here "Oregon Boots.' These
are heavy steel shackles or manacles
placed on prisoners to prevent their
escape. They weigh each about 18
pounds, and a man with one of these
on each foot makes a poor attempt
to escape. There is no getting them
off by the, prisoner himself) as they
are of hardened steel, fire-proof
both lock and boot and the sheriff
just puts the thing onto a fellow's
leg, and with the key in his (the
sheriff's) own pocket, the prisoner
is given the freedom of his surroun
dings. It is no use to try to escape,
unless .your friends seige you and
put you into a wagon and "get the
drop" on the officer in charge. They
are so arranged that the wearer can't
run even if he jumps a car; or a
stage; hence when the convict gets
on his f0regon Boots" he may safe
ly calculate that the doors of the
penitentiary "the Pen" they call
it out here, are the next thing that
will close on him.
I want to tellyou something about
Idaho crimes and Idaho criminals.
I am on a freight car "caboose,"
writing with such material as a
freight conductor can give me, and
as I write "on the run" can't prom
ise elegance' of chirography much
less elegance of diction.- The courts
in the7 Mormon counties are in full
blast, and polygamists are now being
sentenced to "the Pen" by the doz
en. Your eastern papers I presume
keep you posted as to these proceed
ings somewhat in a general way onl y.
Out here, we have the matters in
full deta.l- . I can't dwell on them.
When a Mormon is convicted of liv
ing with more than one wife under
the operations of what is known as
"Edmunds' Law" he usually gets
a fine of $100 to $300, and from 10
days to G months in "the Pen"- ac
cording to the fellow's purse, and
according to the status of his repen
tance and promise of future acqui
escence in the law. At a recent
court, last week, at -Blackfoot, four
bigamists were sent up one day's
proceedings. The sheriff is allowed
his per diem and mileage en route.
So he buys a wagon and ; team, and
puts the fellows in charge of the
same, with orders to proceed, ; across
the country to , Boise ' City where
the State Penitentiary is located. Of
course the prisoners go without
guard and they are as sure to turn
up at the right place and at the
right time as if the sheriff or his
deputy were with them. The. men
will serve their accorded terms in
the Pen and return to their homes,
where they are received by their
brethren as"martyrs for the church."
One very rich Mormon was Hp for
triaL He had paid his attorney $500
to "fix" him p. K. j Ho plead guilty
of course, and the judge, being a
humane and good man, let the fel
low off with a fine of $300 and . 10
days in the county prison, which
latter was arranged at the best hotel
in town ! So the stovy goes. Was
it Tennyson. I haven't got my
authorities here that said
"Every door is barred with gold,
and opens too to golden keys."
and that "the jingling of the guinea
always helps" &c ?
But I need not repeat the rest.
One of the fellows in our stage
yesterday was sentenced to 15 years
hard labor for some of his deviltry.
The judge put in his words ' some
what ruthlessly, when the convict
rose and said ironically, 'can't you
make it more lee-ne-ant, judge say
hanging, for instance ?"
"I wish I could,? said the judge
in reply. -
There was a cowboy tried for
murder at this term of the court.
The cowbeys are always in some
kind of deviltry here though many
of them are gentlemen and scholars
that do not participate in actual
crimes. Last night my companion
in a stage ride was a young English
gentlemen, a graduate of Eaton
and, Oxford. You would not have
suspected such, looking at his broad
brim cowboy, hat with leather band,
and the wide leathern girdle about
his waist. There is no telling a man
here by his looks; only the gamblers
and the "soiled doves" are said to be
the best dressed people that you
meet. 'V .
One of theiamusements and duly
recognized "sports" of the cowboys
out here is in what is called. "The
Cowboy Dance." This is an indul
gence that involves two things the
bottle and a six shooter; the last is
loaded, but the other.has been emp
tied of its whiskey into the fellow's
stomach. And if somebody don't
look sharp, the revolver is next emp
tied into some other person, jt
JIThe cowboy tried for his J life '-at
the Blackfoot court had killed his
friend and comrade m,a dance.
They were both drinking and could
not wait for an innocent- vietim;
if
ru
dance," says one "and you
hold."
The fellow danced' till n
was growing
tired, but he knew
there was no relief till the caprice
of the man who held the loaded re
volver upon him was fully glutted.
He began to beg, saying his legs
were tired. "This arm .! is tired,
too," says the villain, who was point
ing the six shooter, his finger on the
trigger, and "I am going to change
to the other hand." He chauged
the pistol to his left hand, and in
the act of doing so, the thing went
off and put a ball through the dan
cer's heart. - .! .."'
Of course we eastern folks would
say this is murder. The court or
rather the jury held that in this
instance there was no malice or ill
will; it was all in cowboy fun, and
so the fellow "went up" for 10 years
in the Pen, instead of being hung
- as it should have been.
' Only a few nights ago a cowboy
in the same town rode right up iu
the front of a freight train and shot
a hole into the head light of the en
gine, put out the light and made
the engineer stop his train. The
engineer knew what was "up" and
so he came to a halt. He got out of
dancing, however. But the young
devil in spurs and pistol determined
to have "the dance" by some one.
The first man showing himself was
tho village blacksmith."-The cowboy
leveled on him with his pistol cock
ed and shouted "dance."
The man danced good-humoredly
forhe kuew it --was no use for him
who had no railroad kings behind
him to protest. He, too, soon
grew tired, for the fellow kept urg
ing him to dance faster. At last he
told him he must quit. . "Hold on,"
he says, "strip off your clothing and:
dance a little in the street." j
The poor blacksmith had to obey
this diabolical behest, even '-at the
expense of the revolting indecency,
it involved. And., so far, the young
scamp has gone unpunished for ei
ther of the crimes mentioned.
' There are out in this country the
forms and ceremonies of law and
order and of good society also. But
public sentiment either upholds or
condones crimes here that in tin
east would meet with swift and se
vere punishment. It occurs to me
that there is more effort and more
money expended here in the arrest
and conviction of horse thieves than
any other class of criminals. When
a genuine horse thief is caught it is
very seldom that the order of a
count of "twelve good and true
men" is stood upon. A rope and a
limb, or an extemporized scaffold
and there is short shrift, before his
honor, Judge Lynch.
: Withal, Idaho has numerous at
tractions. But, like its ! neighbor,
Nevada, it-is simply, geologically
speaking, an immense basin, the bed
of an extinct sea, where, in the pre
diluvial period, great , volcanoes
spread lava, liasalt, alkali and ashes
over magnificent plains. Dig down
here nearly anywhere and you .find
volcauic remains. Today I have
been running along the lino of the
Oregon Short Line R. R., where it
is built near the banks of the great
Snake river the Indian Shosh-aa-na.
(Shoshone). Nearly, every cut is
through a lava bed, with its white
scam of overlying or intermingling
alkali the volcanic ash. In one
place, there is a long stretch of roa(
bed through a sand hill near the
river bank. The strata here shows
that once counter currents beat over
the country, and the sand forma
tions, partially petrified into solid
sheets, show wave marks indicating
one period, while above ' or below
may be another wave mark exactly
the reverse, showing still other pe
riods. The most remarkable of all the
natural. phenomena on this railroad
the Oregon Short Line are found
at Soda Springs, just west of the
Wyoming border, and where the
great Bear river was arrested in its
northward flow toward the Colum
bia and made to turn suddenly and
pour its sullen waters into the Dead .
Sea of Utah. Here, as I say, at
Soda Springs are some intensely in
teresting and wondrous phenomena.
There are numerous fine; springs of
natural soda water. There is one
about. 100 yards from the depot, and
from whicn, you see, as you look
out from the cars, the volumes of .
soda water spouting up into the air
geyser like and falling back, to
run over the rim of a crater upon
the sumtnit of a high mound, built
up by the deposits of solid matter
pnee contained in the waters as they
rolled away .in all directions. Now,
the waters are collected into one
channel, and by means of a pipe or
trough, are turned into the adjacent
bath house. These baths, it is said,
are an infalliblue cure in all cases of
rheumatic afflictions, that is, where
"cures" are possible. There is one
spring with water that is 90 per
cent of pure soda. This water,
when drank, cures all diseases re
sulting from ("curable") dyspepsia.
This spring is also possessed pi most
remarkable powers otherwise . ; If a
bird flies near its waters the noxious
I fas kills it at once, and the bird
falls, into the vortex or on the ' bank
immediately i by. You submerge
birds, eggs, any kind of flesh or
vegetable matter into these waters, ;
and let it remain a week or 10 days,
and it is a perfect petrifaction. I
have seen some of the most beauti
ful specimens of; petrified matter
from these waters. v-: ' A v
f The outflow from these; springs
lias in the process t)f 'ages Covered
the whole valley around witha layer
of calcareous and metamorphic for
mation.; You can take a rail or pole
and with it punch a hole right
through this thin crust all over
whole acres of the valley. Just be
low is a bottomless, abyss, and yet
people live right upon the top of
this brittle crust. There is quite a
town and city there, and where con
gregate the lame and the halt, and
dyspeptic hordes from various parts
of he world. Some English fami
lies from London have been there
all the past summer.
The carbonic acid gas that escapes
from these springs is very deadly in
its effects. I have alluded, to the
fact that birds are instantly killed
when they attempt to pass over the
"90 per cent spring," as it is called.
Some time during, the summer, a
drunk man from, the town reeled
and fell by the spring, his face over
tha waters. He was dead before he
could be pulled away ! Nevertheless
the waters possess very efficacious
properties when drank from a vessel
away from the crater where the gas
escapes.
Among other named springs there
is one called "the Steamboat Spring."
The waters come up with a puff, '
puff, puff the noise like the escape
of (steam from a boat's boiler.
jl may add that on arrival of the
passing trains at Soda Springs, you
see half a dozen or 60 of little girls
in! tidy frocks, with pitchers and
buckets, ready to sell the thirsty
passengers all tho soda water he
wants for a nickel. You take it
"straight," that is, without sweet
ning, unless you carry your "syrup"
with yeu ! Some folks give the lit
tle ladies the nickel just for the
pleasure of having a word with the
bright-faeed carriers of water so
anxious' to cool the thirst of weary
Eilgrims across the lonely desert
ere. Woman always has some
charm, or joy, or blessing, that may
be;obutnie(i for love or money. But
this is honi twit, &c.
But see what a letter I have spun
out, most of which has been written
as von see with the car upon
whicn I am seated, going 20 miles
an hour. I want to tell you some
day in a future letter about my trip
to Boise (Boy-sa, as it is called out
here,) the beautiful capital of this
Territory, sitting under the morn
ing shadows of bleak and grassy
mountains, at her foot an immense
sage plain 50 miles across yet" her
streets lined with stately Lorn bardies
and cotton woods that grow by
swift river and irrigating ditch, and
where you see a single school house
of brick and sandstone wallscosting
fifty-four thousand dollars, and
where you hear tho babble of five
hundred and eighty-five daily schol
ars as they go through "recitation"
to nine new-fangled teachers, and
where you may see alsoj the most
wonderful equestrian 'i statue 'on
earth.
1 This statue is the work of a young
German who was snowed up, or
snowed in, in the mountains nearby
some four or five years ago. He had
nothing with him in the way of tools
except an ordinary pocket knife and
a small hatchet that he carried in
his belt. With these twb he has cut
and carved out of wood, the most
perfect equestrian statue of George
Washington that is in existence. It
is life size rather heroic, perhaps
and it has every essential element
of cut and contour to make it a per
fect work of art. It was presented
to the Capital City, and is now the
sbh? monument of the higher arts
that ornaments the public grounds
about the swiftly growing capital,
'inlhis gem of Desert cities. But
this as it relates to the letter about
Boise City is perhaps like the
. i ' ' " I storv
Of Billy Gory."
I must bid you good night, for
the shades of dusk have come, and
the brakeman is lighting lamps.
j j Pooatello, Idaho, Nov. 8.
J P. S. I have another P. S. which
I must incorporate with the above.
(There has just passed on to the
penitentiary, through the place from
which I mail this letter, the last of
the prisoners "sent up" from the
Blackfoot U. S. Dist. Court. There
were 19 in all in addition to those
that had previously gone forward
from this Court. ;
I was standing at the door of the
hotel where I stop, as the men came
out from supper, going into the car
standing just by. I therefore had a
good opportunity to see them all
and to study, their faces. There
were two of the men that were the
objects of more than ordinary inter
est and curiosity to the great crowd
gathered around. These two were
the cowboy convicted of the killing
referred to in my letter, and a young
gentleman of high social business
position in the country and who was
sent up a year for resisting a Federal
officer in his effort to arrest another
man a friend and neighbor both
Mormons. The gentleman I refer
to, en route to the Pen., is a fine
looking, , ; good-faced man ; , and he
had concealed his friend in a cellar
beneath his house, and refused to let
the officer in pursuit search the
premises. For this the judge Jndge
Hayes, the new appointee sent him
on for a year in the penitentiary.
In common with a large crowd of
the .man's friends, "I felt sorry for
the poor fellow and not only for
him but for various others. , A large
crowd of friends had gathered to bid
the men good bye; and it reminded
me of war times, with the great
bundles of clothing and-appurtenances
for the winter and the farewell
to loved ones not to be seen again in
years perhaps never. Many of the
convicts were old men sent away
from their wives and little ones
gone to tho felon's pen for the coin
mission of what they believed was a
religious right. But this Democrat
ic Administration is putting its foot
down on polygamy and that feature
of Mormoni8m is certainly doomed.
You can rest assured of that facti
And though we grieve for these de
luded individuals in their suffering
the penalty of violated law, we can
but rejoice that a great curse is go
ing from among us. Like many
other great evils, it has to be wiped
out in tears and sufferings. Of
fences must come; but woe to them,
upon whom the retribution falls.
The young man I referred to (the
cowboy murderer) is but a beardless
boy. He looks as though he had
been well raised but igone astray.
He had what would have been a fine
face under culture and restraint. It
is said he is exceedingly thankful
that he escaped the gallows; and it
is to be hoped he has learned a les
son which will make j him a better
man when he emergef rom the pris
on walls. But such men rarely rise
above the ignominy which attaches
to the felon. This boy entered the
cars with his cigarette, amid the
hand shaking and good byes of a
score and more of comrades. The
poor fellows the con victs I mean
know me not; but there is One above
who does know that tho crimes of
these men, and their consequences,
have brought not only sorrow to my
heart, but a flood of tears to my
eyes, as the scenes burn upon my
memory in the prayers of this bless
ed Sabbath evening. But what about
the tears of others, dearer to these
men than tho strangerHnthis land ?
i ' M.
WASHIWGTOH LETTEB. j
Washington, Nov. 13.
To the Editor of the Lenoir Topic:
As the members of the Forty
Ninth Congress assemble in the city,
it is interesting to note upon the
faces of Republicans an expression
of discouragement. They feel that
the Democrats have come to reign a
long time. They have ceased talk
ing about candidates for 1888. Be
fore the elections there was so much
said on the subject here that one
might have thought that the coun
try was on. the eve of another Presi
dential election. jr
You hear nothing more now about
a war in the Senate. Republican
Senators are in a measure subdued,
while the talk of the Democratic
Senators is conservative and loyal.
The defeat of Mahone causes the
Republicans to regard the Senatorial
contest in Ohio with great anxie
ty. Their majority in the Senate is
getting beautifully slim. In case a
tie occurrs as it dii a few years ago,
Vice President Hendricks cannot be
caught sitting, on the fence some
times, as was , Uncle David Davis.
Mr. Hendricks' vote jean always be
counted in advance.
The forecast of the position to bo
taken by members of the new Con
gress on the silver question, recently
published, is not regarded as likely
to prove true after Congress has met"
and received the President's message
and the report of Secretary Manning.
The President and the: Secretary are
not likely to occupy d ifferent ground
from. that taken by Mr. Cleveland
last spring. It, is thought he will
appeal reasonably to both Houses of
Congress to support . his views and
try them in practice.!
Though you may not hear a great
deal about it, changes in the offices
have been going on here since tho
fourth of March, i They go on grad
ually, but any one going into the
Departments after an absence of nine
months would find but few. familiar
faces at the desks of the higher offi
cials. Jn the Treasury, for instance,
both of the assistant Secretaries are
Democrats. The Solicitor of the
Treasury is a Democrat, as is also
the Commissioner of Internal Reve
nue, the Treasurer, and the Register
of the Treasury. A Democrat ; has
succeeded the "old commissioner of
Customs, and the new director of
the mint is a Democrat. The first
and second Controllers are Demo
crats ; all six of the auditors are
Democrats; a Democratic Appoint
ment clerk files away applications; a
Democrat signs the report of a Bu
reau of Statistics, and there i are
many changes lower! down the line.
The new appointees j have been good
men, possessing qualifications that
suited them for their duties. ; .
s ' There are few men in the service
of the Government who work harder
than the head of the Treasury. And
as one of his subordinate officers
said,' "The worst of it is, he expects
everybody else to work." The same
officer continued ; "Manning is a
great big fellow, full of blood and as
strong as a horse, He can sit up all
night at his desk and be as fresh as
a daisy next morning, but we can't
stand it." : Mr. Manning has no re
spect for 'old-time methods, or offi
cial hours. One day he asked for a
certain report to be made out. A
chief of the division told him that
he would begin the work next morn
ing, as it was then three " o'clock in
the afternoon. ' The Secretary look
ed at him for a moment and calmly
said, "I must have the" report in the
morning," and he got it. It is cer
tain much more activity is display
ed now than ever before in the dis
charge of business jat the Treasury.
The Secretary's energetic touch is
felt in every branch of it.
The President is working atjhis
first message to Congress, securely
shielded from the distracting annoy
ances of, place-hunters. He .finds
time, however, to come down in .the
East Room at a certain hour, three
times a week, and shake hands with
several hundred callers. Som a
musing and (characteristic incidents
occur at these public receptions.
Guests are hot all willing to pass
Mr. Cleveland with the conventional
"How do you do." "Many of them
are intent on exchanging a few
words for memory's sake. At his
last handshaking "a young girl said
to him, "I was a prohibitionist, that
is why I did not vote for you." "Well,
I forgive you," said the President
with a smile His laat caller was an
old lady who said, "It is refreshing
to see and shake the hand of a Dem
ocratic President, but" with empha
sis, "you want a wife." The Presi
dent said he knew it, and with) her
good advice ringing in his ears, went
upstairs to work.
Lettsr from Old Hal
Boone, N. C, Nov. 17.
To the Editor of Tlie Lenoir Topic:
? After somedelay I thought I would
scribble a few more lines and give a
few brief items from the county and
perhaps other localities. ;
Our people are very busy now
gathering corn. Corn shucking and
pumpkin pielare now in order, with
an occasional fat possum. Plenty
of fat beef on hand. Hogs are get
ting fat on chestnuts and acorns.
Corn is a good crop this year, j Ev
erything pleinty except wheat and
money. I . i
AVe have dismissed the idea that we
will have much sale for our fat cattle
this fall and consequently are disap
pointed in raising : the usual'money
crop to supply our wants, and the
report is that cabbage is dull about
your city. , j
Now, the Republicans say tb the
Democrats, yhere are the good times
we were to have when G rover iook
seat as President of these United
States of America? The Democrats
say, wait until we have turned all
the rascals out, which Grover in
tends to do immediately if .not soon
er. Republ cans say the cause of:
hard times is that the Democratic
party has got; into power. Mr. 4-iacre
of Ohio made speeches in this iwise
and told his people that when Gro
ver was elected it ruined the coun
try. It seems that a majority of
Ohioans believed what this man said.
He tried it on the New Yorkers but
they said, go back to Ohio;? wej will
hear you at a more convenient sea
son. Col. Fellows over there in N.
Y. said to the people in answer to
the Ohio statesman that he was but
"a 4 acre lot'f and not to hear him.
Well Mr. Republican how did N.-Y-.
go, any way ? It endorsed Gj)rver
and elected Hill j by ten thousand ;
have you heard from the old Domin
ion Y For she had the same opin
ion. Lee for GoYjernor, over 20,000
majority against l Mr. Wise. I And
what does the colored friend jsay ?
Niggers are voting the Democratic
ticket it Virginia What will be
come of the country? Revenue
Democrats, no sale for property; no
money; New York and Virginia gone
Democratic, Iowa almost gone, Con
necticut agoing, Maryland gone
Oh! how sad. It is even hinted that
John Sherman will not be returned
to the U. S. Senate from OhioJ His
"bloody shirt" speeches nearly made
the State Democratic, only lacked 3
or 4 of having a Democratic Legis
lature. Just think of it, my friends,
and behold what manner of evil
await the G. O. P. Where is the
forty acres and the mule ? Gone
glimmering; sad and so solemn.
Where, oh! where are the mugwump
friends and allies ? ' Are they) ablo
to stand ?. ... No, they have fallen also.
New York is clean Democratic now
and from hence forth, and the; mug
wumps are left with no eye to pity
nor no party to save them." j
G rover Cleveland is the President
but so far he is only executing tho
laws passed by the Republicans as
he is sworn to do. No legislation
has been made j since he became
President and we are still under tho
old laws and no others. Wait and
see what Congress will do, and ob
serve the block game the Republican
Senate will throw in the way! of re
form and prosperity that the Demo
crats will try to carry out ais they
have promised the people to do, and
then judge ye jbetween them. I
look for better times. : ' j
: I am always interested to read the
excellent pieces of M. V. M. "over
the Rockies," hope he will continue
to. enlighten the readers of The
Topic about tbat interesting part of,
the country. . M. V. M. is a Demo
crat, "dyed in the wool." He has
fought many battles for Democracv.
It seems now befitting for him to be
appointed by; a Democratic Admin
istration to a responsible position in
the public r service. I am truly his
friend,' but I am. very uneasy. He
says he is now in a very cold part of
the country. Then what about those
pipe-stem legs of his ? . He has the
bone, but the flesh "is weak, those
legs and arms .of his can't: survive
such a climate.. ! Then I move that
he be removed to a more salubrious
clime ' at once.. Think of a, man
whose legs are the size of chair posts
out in that cold bleak climate try
ing to run uncle Sam's government.
Let him be removed at once. Come
South, young man ; come South.
May his shadow grow larger.
In Ashe county, on north Fork,
two peddlers were fired upon by two
men who aimed to rob the peddlers.
One of the peddlers got badly shot.
They have the j shooting parties in
jail at Jefferson!. Names of parties
and full particulars not known to
me. 1 j'
The road hand3 on Middle Fork
are getting along pretty well. This
is a new road from Boone to Blowing
Rock and when done will be the
finest road in the county, but if cab
bage don't get a higher price we will
not need it so much.
A rumor has! come to mo while
writing that the late Wm. Bingham,
a brother to Maj. II. Bingham, who
died 11 years ago, was killed by somo
drunken men. ! It was known at tho
time of his death Uhat some myste
rious facts were connected with his
death. Owing to onc of .the partys
statementsJa few days ago that he
(Wm. Bingham) was murdered, has
caused some excitiment on Cove
Creek where the Mr. Bingham lived
and died. Parties now say his head
x say
was broken by a lick with a deadly
instrument. There is now a general
''talk of taking up the corpse for tho
examination of the head. I know
nothing about the fact. The matter
has just come to light and what will ,
be done or madie of it I cannot pre
dict. J j '
Prof. SpainhDur just from Ashe
county reports that a young man by
the name of McMillan was drowned
a few days ago in New River.
I , Old Hal.
A Wonderful Spring.
Glade Spring, Va., Nov. 13.
To the Editor oj" Tlte Lenoir Topic:
I have just returned from a trip
to your State in Ashe county, where
I met with you
r paper, whicn pieas-
ed me. 1 call
it a live paper. I
have heard much of tho mountain
scenery, trout streams, &c. Also of
the vast mineral wealth still unde
veloped, and other mineral interests
which have beeh partially developed,
but the half ha3 not been tolid, nor
have I the ability to tell it. jOn the
trip I passed i from Taylorsville, by
way of Mr. David Worth's, who hos-
Sitably entertained me, thence down
Tew river and up Buffalo to Jeffer
son. Thence over the hills down
Linville creek,1 around a mountain
of the same name, on to the springs
Bethesda Healing Springs, which
is truly a wonderful water.
But of this Ij will not speak, as I
am an interested party, only to tell
you that I have purchased the prop
erty, about '0 acres of land includ-
iug the springs!, and am now trying
to form a stock company with a cap
ital of $50,000 which amount will bo
sufficient to improve it well. Iain
confident of success, as at this time
accommodations for 100 persons arc
needed there. 1 The waters have al
ready ; a wide j reputation in Vir
ginia, which will grow as the water
becomes better: known. Some cures
are (as expressed by one who used it)
wonderful and mysterious. I would
like very much for parties in yoar
county and Aehe and all over the
State to take stock in it. We thiuk
it isdestined to become -a great piacc,
of resort. All; it lacks is . improve
ment. . I am a paralytic si iu el ;
years - (55 years old) and iin.i-!j. i.
attend business properly; theivfoiel
would like forsome enereLic go
ahead young man, whocau comuiand
capital, to take hold at on -e and
push things. If I do not get a stoc k
company or partner or partners, my
intention is to improve :ttl I ran
with my limited means and have uc- -
commpdation i ready by June ;u .t
for a few visitors. I have already
commenced shipping the water
which ships well.; I am notable at
present to supply th . demand but;
will increase my facilities for .-hipping
as fast as I can. In a iVw: e.irs
no doubt there will Ikj a railroad at
or near the spring. That alone a al .
increase the Talne 4 fold of this!
property.
My reasons for expecting a rail
road are. the vast mineral resources, 1
to say nothing of the valuable tim-f
ber, of this pait of N, Carolina and
Johnson county, Tenu., which i
think will find an outlet down New
river by railroad to connect with
what is nowcalled the Cripple Creek
road, up New river in irg.nia, or
with a narrow gaugt? road from
Danville, which is alreadypu6hing -.
its way to New river. ; .
WThat Ashe county uow needs is a
good wagon road from Jefferson to
the Virginia line in Grayson county. -I
have been told there is a road con
templated and . a charter for it al
ready granted, which will come near .
Bethesda Springs. This road, if.
built, will add greatly to the valuo ;
of the springs and to the traffic of '
the county generally. . - 1 '
Senator Ransom 1 am told recent-'
ly paid a visit to Bethesda and ex-.
pressed himself much pleased with'. 'j
the water. I only. wish it were more:
generally known ' among prominent . ,
men and-capitalists. The, water will s
sustain its reputation.
i H. V. Thompson.
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