VOLUME
XI.
XiBNOIB, N. O. , WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1886.,
NUMBER 20.
ST.VTKSVIU.K. XEWYORK.
WALLACE
BROS,
Geneial Mer
chandise
AND
PRODUCE DEALERS,
andU -
Headquarters for lied-
.
icinal Crude, Roots,
Herbs, Berries,
Barks, Seeds,
Flowers, Gums & Mosses,
STATESVILLE, N. C
-tot-
WALLACE
BROS.,
General Produce Dealers
-AND
Commission Merchants,
304 Greenwich St.,
BRMS,
-THE
DESTTOIIIC. ?
This medicine, combining Iron with pure
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Care Dyspepsia, Iadlestlm, Weakness
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and NearmJoia.
It is an unfailinr remedy for Diseases of the
Kidneys and liver, i
It is Invaluable for Diseases peculiar to
Women, and all who lead sedentary lives.
Itdoes not injure the teeth, cause headache,or
produce constipation othrr Iron medicine do.
It enriches and purifies the blood, stimulates
the appetite, aids the assimilation of food, re
lieves Heartburn and Belching, and strength
ens the muscles and nerves, , .-
For Intermittent Fevers. Lassitude, Lack of
Energy, &c., it has no equal.
jfay The genuine has above trade mark and
crossed red lines on wrapper. Take no other
at amtjhr RSOWI rHHUf.ll CO., B4LTIB0BI, SB.
CLINTON A. CHiLEY.
Attomev-At-La7,
Practice in All The Courts.
liffiii
llHll Ul HI Id
z
. , MSffttMICT. OMTUSTS.
f Emporia, Kan., Jan. 18.
To the Editor of the Lenoir Topic :
From the Desert over the moun
tain range through one of the
greatest tunnels in America (a
mile and a quarter long) and you
"rush; iuto a valley of almost perpet
ual paradise, where spring and sum
mer go hand in hand nearly the
whole year-round. You leap, as it
were, in one swift bound, out of the
utmost desolation into the green
fields of plenty, from arid wastes
down into gardens and orchards of
richest luxuriance and variety. Over
in the Desert grows no human food
save that manipulated by the sava
ges. But in the Los Angelos valley
there is scarcely a fruit, vegetableor
grain known but what you can now
tind it fresh and delicious in. the.
open markets. December as it is,
you can scarcely enumerate a food
product, but whit yon can find it
here now ripe and just plucked
fresh from the tree, the bush or the
vine. Of the sub-tropical fruits, I
have seen the date palm, the banana,
the orangeand lemon, growing in
all their perfection.. You see' olean
ders and geraniums in full bloom,
growing w-ild and in profusion along
the wayside. The very air is rich
with, perfumes wafted from their
bloosorns and from myrtle and hon
eysuckle. The rose but-hes are laden
with the most splendid of full bloom
flowers.. The date palm is the most
splendid and stately tree I have ever
beheld. You sec them here over 50
feet -high, and with fronds more
than 20 feet in length.
Yon go into the markets of Los
Angelos, and yon are astonished at
the infinite variety and size of the
fruits and vegetables you see before
you. You get apples, peaches, pears,
pomegranates, figs, dates, grapes,
limes, lemons, oranges, and straw
berries and raspberries larger than
you ever saw them in the east in
May or June. I have seen great
crates of strawberries as large as
guinea eggs. I have seeu here also
single persimmons that measured
104 inches in circumference. This
variety of persimmon the Japan
ripenSj without frost. I have eaten
tlm right off the tree in the or
chards here as sweet and as luscious
as you can imagine. I haVe this day
pulled grapes fresh from the vine
3;ard a where they are still hanging
by the thousand. I have eaten or
anges that have hung on the tree for
a whole year getting riper aud
sweeter and more delicious all the
while though of course they have
dwindled away. in size. An orange
gTove in full fruit is certainly one of
the most beautiful sights the human
eye ever rested upon, with its richest
green and gold. You can buy three
oranges here for a nickle oranges
that would sell for 10 cents each in
the east. Oranges here are cheaper
than apples. I have counted as
many as 36 in one cluster on the
tree.
i But it is not alone in fruits that
this country can boast. Everything
in the way of table vegetables or
staple grains can be grown here, and
about all the year round. Tomatoes,
which you know are easily killed,
grow here in many of the localities,
ripening daily all the year round. I
have had them fresh three times a
day during a week's stay here. Yon
see corn in tassle now in the gardens
and you can buy fresh roasting ears
any day in the markets. I am told
that some of the valley land here
has produced as much as one hun
dred bushels to the acre. It looks
like this crop would be a satisfactory
one, but it does not pay to buy these
lands and attempt corn even at one
hundred bushels to the acre, and
even though this is the only part of
California where corn can be grown
vt all to any degree -of success.
Lunds that will produce such a crop
wU readily at one hundred dollars
and more to the. acre, and they are
Appropriated to better paying crops,
such', fcs 'oranges, lemons,' walnuts,.
(Eiiglifch) grapes and figs. You hear
of men clearing from two hundred
to five hundred dollars per acre on
these crops, hence they are more sat
isfactory than corn or barley. The
whole face of the country in south
ern California, where there is any
cultivation, appears like one perfect
garden spot, so far as X, have seen.
You find men engaged here in rais
ing forest trees on an extensive scale.
. There is a species of Gum tree the
Australian Blue Gum that , has
been known to grow to the diameter
of 18 inches in seven years. It is a
very beautiful tree, tall, comely and
valuable for fuel. Fuel is scarce in
California. I was astonished to find
that mo6t of the stone coal .that is
burned in the State is shipped all
7th e way from Australia, nearly ten
thousand miles away. Vessels come
in laden with it and return with
cargoes of wheat and, Oregon lum
ber. .- ':.:'';'' :'v :-,;. .! ;.';' .
The wonderful. productiveness of,
southern California, with its match
less climate a summer that contin
ues nearly the whole yearhas just
brought Los Angelos very promi
nently before the world since the
completion of the two southern
transcontinental railways that put
her in easy and convenient commu
nication with the east. It is : but a
very few years since this was a sleepy, -dream
v old Spanish town, with its
adobe "houses, its quaint and yellow,
missions, (churches) and its languid
and sombre Latin and Mexican peo
ple, men that still wear cloaks and
hats with brims a foot broad. Such
was the picture that was in my mind
a picture produced by the impres
sions formed some 10 or 15 years
ago, when I read much about ; this
place.
But auother wonderful surprise
was in store for me when I ran1 into
the place early in this month, for I
found it one of the very livest and
briskest cities in America. Ameri
can genius has now pessession of the
place. It is enthroned in nearly
everything her;.. You see the eager,
western look, th? bustle, rustle and
push. There is life, energy vim in
every thoroughfare, in every avenue.
The progressive American has el
bowed the dreamy Spaniard out,
and you see him with his sharp eye,
his enthused face, and his quick
step, on every street, across every
plaza, in all this busy town that has
suddenly jumped from 1,200 people
to 40,000 in less than five years.
Official statistics given me show that;
during '83 and '84 there were built!
here 2,000 houses, and up to date in
'85, there were 1;800 more on the
list. It is no wpuder therefore that
real estate has been rapidly advanc
ing in prices. Men of ordinary
'means can't get anything like a foot
hold here. One gentleman told me
he had bought, less than 10 'years
ago, an old field adjoining town, for
which he paid $33 per acre, and that,
he had recently refused 3,000 per
acre for five acres of this lot. ; I saw
a house and lot which, 3 years ago,
sold at $5,000, which was considered
an extreme price then. The owner
has just refused $25,000 for the same
property, now in the heart of the
new part of the town. Eight years
ago the U. S. Government leased,
for 10 years, a building for postof
fice, agreeing to pay $000 yearly. It
was considered a very high rental at
the time. One-third of this room
now rents for $900 per year,' and
$2,000 is offered for the whole, an
nual rent. I was shown a little stall
or booth, not ten feet square, but
which was rented as a fruit and to
bacco stand at a monthly rate of $40
per month.
To give you further evideuce of
the rapidity with which real estate
there has been advancing, I will
mention the fact that a friend in
Los Angelos showed me a lot near
the Southern Pacific depot which
was offered him at $500 early in No
vember. He urged me to buy it as
an 'investment," and I ,sent him
round to the owner with authority
to close the trade at that price. On
his return he told me the place had
been sold some two weeks ago for
$1,000, and it was now held by the
recent purchaser at $2,000.! I met
in the city two Texas gentlemen who
had been interested with mo in some
speculations in Texas in '81. They
were now living permanently in Los
Angelos. They told me that they
had purchased a large body of land
some ten miles out of the city when
they first went to Los Angelos a year
ago, paying therefor at the rate of
about $20 per acre. They are now
selling the same lands at -$I5Q per
acre, having made quite a fortune
on their investment. A Tennessee
lawyer, whom I know there has, as
I am informed, made over a million
of dollars in speculations in real es
tate in Los Angelos county since
1870. He is an elegant gentleman,
who delights in showing his friends
and strangers visiting Los Angelos
around the city and its environs in
his stylish turnout. I enjoyed his
hospitality one fine evening. Speak
ing of strangers in the city, 1 am
assured, on the testimony of reliable
authority, that there are now during
this week, more than three thousand
visitors in the city. It is said that
the annual influx of strangers com
ing here has averaged near twenty
thousand for three years. In conse
quence of the immense amount of
transient business, I am told this is
the most difficult postoffice in the
V. S. to manage.
This country is a perfect elysium
during the winter for northern peo
ple accustomed to the rigors of win
ter. But,! good land, how hot it
gets in August I The strangers don't
see the country then only from ne
cessity. I have seen the mercury
here in southern California 120 at 2
o'clock in the evening and up in the
nineties at 2 o'clock in the night.
No one knows the dread oppressive
ness of such a heat without breeze
or anything else to mitigate it un
til he tries i; as I have done. Sleep
is impossible under such circum
stances. So you see that the Cali
fornia rose has its thorn, and the
Los Angelos sweet has its bitter too.
But the real estate men never if
they can help it let the shadows
fall npen the bright pictures their
cunning tongues give of this charm
ing paradise. ;
By the way, speaking of Paradise
and Veal estate generally, I j am re
minded of one interesting fact which
Ihave never seen in print in regard
to Los Angelos. Several years ago
there came to this city a rich South
Carolinian. Ho was charmed with
the country and decided to make it
his future home. He bought prop
erty, improved it in many ways, and
increased his fortune largely. He
concluded that here was the original
Paradise, and that he would recon
struct, in one -of his city squares,
the very Garden of Eden itself. At'
immense expense he had made stat
uary representing the primeval man,
the woman Eve and the serpent ; he
.put out also the apple tree and all
the other paraphai nalia of the early
Paradise.. The soil here is fitted to
produce a veritable garden where
paradisical trees and other vegetation
may be j supposed . to grow. Every
thing was soon in full grown splen
dor and luxuriousness. The Garden
was in full blast to use a common
expression to the great' delight of
thousands of visitors, who were al
ways welcomed by the owner.
To represent the progress of the
ages in America, our Carolinian,
built a largo and quaint castle with
thirteen faces or sides and thirteen
erables. These were to represent the
Original Thirteen of the American
Colonies. . Each front showed the
name of the State and its coat of
arms. ' ."'..'
But the man soon died, and ev
erything about his Garden . of Eden
except the name is now going to
ruin3. The castle still stands though
faded and gray.. Many of the trees
and much of the shrubbery and the
arbor of vines still remain. But the
fine railing once around the place js
gone, and brutes both biped and
quadruped -have depredated to j&
shameful extent on"the once invit
ing parterre. A heartless, selfish
real estate man now owns the prop
erty letting it remain so content
to await the coming of still higher
prices. 1
Nor is this all. The story of
shame docs not end here. In the
height of the man's prosperity, he
created a large and beautiful Park
in the city, adorning it richly in
many ways. He presented this to
to city of Los Angelos, and it is now
one of her most delightful resorts.
But a day of adversity came upon
the queer and great-hearted South-ern-r.
lie lost the bulk of his for
tune, and with it went his inind-
which people
had long believed was
cranked and crazed by his hobbies
and the
poor
fellow died in the
county asylum for paupers ! If ever
there was a man the victim of mu
nicipal ingratitude it was he !
M. V. M.
WASHINGTON LETTER.
Washington, Jan. 29.
T 9 the Editor of Hie Lenoir Topic:
The U. S. Senate devoted a day,
this week, to obituary eloquence in
memory of the late vice-President
Hendricks. The occasion drew a
large crowd to the Capitol. Forthe
first time this session since the open
ing day, every seat in every gallery
of the Chamber; was occupied with
the exception of the small gallery
reserved for the Diplomatic Corps,
aud at every door and place of ap
proach was gathered a group of spec
tators. !
On the floor of the Senate every
Senator who was in the city was in
his seat, an attentive and respectful
listener.- ! Settees and chairs were
provided for members of the House
and other privileged and distinguish
ed people who were entitled to the
floor. Over both Houses of ; Congress
the National colors floated at half
mast; over the Senate for Mr. Hen
dricks, and over the House for Rep
resentative Han kin, of Wisconsin,,
who had died the day before.
Both of the Indiana Senators,
Harrison and Voorhees,, paid glow
ing tributes to the dead statesman,
that of Senator Voorhees being es
pecially striking and; free from the
trite forms of expression common on
such occasions. Other Republican
Senators besides Harrison, among
them Evarts, Sherman and Spooner
testified to the uniform courtesy and
integrity of Mr. Hencricks, and
above all to his devotion to the prin
ciples of his party. r
Mr. Spooner being the new Sena
tor from Wisconsin, this funeral
oration was has maiden effort in the
Senate. He said Mr. Hendricks was
heart and sonl a Democrat, who be
lieved thoroughly in his party and
its principles. , "He was no 'trim
mer' in politics," continued he, "and
indeed, I think if he might give di
rection to our words today he would
bid us to say of him that he was a
"partisan" Democrat. He rightly
thought that politics should be a
matter of conviction, and that every
man of firm political faith owed it
to himself and to his country to be a
partisan to the extent of laboring
earnestly in all honest ways to pro
mote the principles in which he be
lieves. Senator Voorhees mentioned that
eloquence in the forum and in the
sacred desk had. paid its richest trib
utes to the exalted abilities and
stainless character of the deceased.
The tolling bell, the mournful dirge,
the Bolumn minute gun, the mighty
multitude of mourners, had all at
tended the funeral of Thomas A.
Hendricks, and had borne witness
to the deep love and grief with
which he was lowered to his last
resting place.N All the honors due
to the dead had been paid by the
Chief Magistrate of the Government,
by the authority of States! and by
unrestrained affection of the people.
"In the Senate however," said he,
'.'we may not be silent; even though
the cup of honor, to his memory be
overflowing. Here on this brilliant
lighted stage, he fulfilled his last
official engagement, and closed his
commanding public career." 5
Vest, Hansom, Hampton and Sal
isbury were, the other -Democratic
Senators - who paid tributes to Mr.
HendricksL On Tuesday of next
week the House of Representatives
will devote itself to simple eulogies
in his memory. -
The House adjourned immediately
upon the formal announcement of
Representative Rankin'sdeath. This
was, of course, the proper thing to
do in the absence of any rule requir
ing different. It could not have
made an invidious distinction. But
the country is indignant that Con
gress should waste time under every
possible pretext,' and it is high time
for the adoption of 30Fneplan where
by respect may: be shown for th
memories of deceased Congressmen
without interrupting public busi
ness. Announcements of deaths
should be made at the close of a
daily session, and either Sunday or
evening sessions should be held for
eulogies. A reform of this kind has
beeu presented in the nouse, and
will come up soon for discussion.
Representative Rankin came7 to
Washington in a dying condition.
He had an intense desire totake'his
seat in Congress again and.be sworn
in with the rest of the members,
saying he must accomplish this, if
he died the next minute. On the
opening day of the session, by a su
pernatural effort of the will, h
dressed and went to the Capitol,
took the oath, and drew his seat,
making while he did so, some reck
less remarks about his approaching
death. It was too severe a tax upon
his strength, however, aud he was
taken to his home which he never
left again. I He occupied rooms in a
house adjoining the residence of
Postmaster General Vilas.! When
negotiating for winter quarters here,
the land-lady asked hi m if he want
ed the rooms for the winter. "Yes,"
he replied, deliberately, "I will agree
to keep them for the winter, or as
long as I live ; but rent stops the
davlam buried." ! i
Facts About Land-Grant Thieves.
i 1
New York World.
! "
Briefly stated these facts are as
follows : The Central Pacific Rail
way, flanked by the Union and Sou
thern Pacific roads, has been engag
ed for a long time past in the liberal
distribution of money for political
purposes. These roads have repre
sented not only their own interests,
but the interests of all the land
thieves in the Territories of Utah
and Arizona and the States of Ne
vada and Colorado. This money has
been used locally to bribe employees
of the Government, and with con
siderable success. In Washington it
has been used in the maintenaiicebf
a very strong lobby and in thebrib
ing of Senators and Representatives
in Congress. The financial agents
of this ring are ia direct communi
cation with men at both ends of the
national.
They are the names of men who
have the confidence of the country.
They come from the Middle States.
Their names cannot be mentioned
now since the papers that would im
plicate them are not now on file and
the evidence in the case is not fully
perfected. Of those - Western offi
cials who are suspected of receiving
bribes, one is in a comparatively
high position, others occupy minor
places. Whether the charges against
them will be proven with sufficient
clearness to warrant their arrest is a
question. The business of bribery
in the Western States has been re
duced to so fine a point that convic
tion on such a charge in a court of
law would be exceedingly difficult to
obtain. Tbe evidence, however, will
be sufficient to warrant the quiet re
moval of the officials in question.
All of the ? facts before mentioned
will be in the hands of the depart
ment within the next two weeks.
That the land thieves are aware of
the disclosures about to be made" is
equally as certain as that the facts
exist. Their agents here liave been
notified bvl wire, and a close watch
has been kept on the officials of the
Interior Department for a week past.
A representative of the World called
upon Gen.; Sparks, the Land Com
missioner,; this evening to j question
him concerning the developments in
Utah. The General expressed some
surprise at the statements made, and
said that hehad no knowledge of
them. j . " -
"Mr. Dement," be said,; "arrived
here Wednesday evening, j and ; ha3
been up at the department every
day since. 1 I have been too busy , to
have any extended conversation with
him as yet, and had intended to hear
his report of the state of affairs' in
Utah the early part of the coming
week. He has told me of great land
frauds existing there, such as we
have discovered in other parts of the
country, but I think these state
ments are exaggerated. I think the
frauds in Colorado are as great as
those discovered in Utah." . "
"Mr. Dement,"" continued the
General, "is a very able man, in fact
as able a man as could have been
appointed to his present position.
He was one of my selections; and I
have every confidence in his ability
and integrity. You had better see
him in this matter." . . ,
: Sjurveyor-General Dement was, by
direction of Gen. Sparks, -found at
the Harris House!. :f He expressed
some surprise at the statements
made; declined to ' be interviewed.
Finally he said r ; "I will ; say; this.
There is no question but that there
is a broad conspiracy in the West,'
formed by men of the greatest ca
pacity and men who look upon the
public domain as their legitimate
spoil. - It is my impression that the
interest of the country in the future
for some time will be directed more
to the Department of the General
Land-officqjihan to any other de
partment of the Government. Gen.
Sparks will be compelled to meet the
strongest opposition of brains and
money that any pue man ever en
countered. ; . V
"Sums of money from one thous
and to twenty-five thousand dollars
haye been spent to obtain the co-operation
of the representatives'of the
Government. Aside from the benefit
the Utah ring can derive from influ
encing legislation,rthey " now 'have
another object in view the defeat
in the Senate of those appointees of
the present Administration with
whom they have not as yet been able
to tamper. Most of the subordinate
officials of the Land Office have been
in the West long enough to have
come under the blandishments of
the members of the land ring and
their agents. Those who have fallen
are known, or at least some of them
are, and they will be summarily dis
missed when charges are filed against
them. Those who have stood firm,
however, and who have the confi
dence of the department are as yet
not confirmed. Their confirmation
will be fought in the Senate, that
the Land office may be harassed and
that less conscientious representa
tives may, if possible, be obtained.
For the accomplishment of these
objects strong influences have been ,
brought to bear and a large amount
of money spent. Five Senators, it
is alleged, have already received
large sums of money and are now in
the pay of the land thieves. Two of
these are from the west, two from
the Middle States and one .from a
State in the far East. !The publica
tion of their names will create a
profound sensation. Two of them
are held in the greatest respect and
almost veneration by the people of
the whole country. The other three
bear honorable names and would be
among the last of the seventy-six
that those most familiar with public
men would select to answer; to a
charge of bribery. On the other side
of the Capitol there is a larger rep
resentation, including a number of
obscure Congressmen.
"My belief is that Gen. Sparks
will come out of the struggle suc
cessfully and that the end will show
him to have been not bnly faithful
and competent but so pronounced
will be his indorsement that he will
necessarily take a. position as great
as that of the. most prominent Am
erican politicians. Further than
this I do not care to speak. I have
endeavored to avoid recognition since
my arrival here, and prior to this
time have spoken to no one outside
of the department on the subject, I
cannot imagine how my presence
here became known. ' :j
MRS. BAURD's" DEATH.
The Mather Follows tbs Daughter.
Washington, ! Jan. 31. Mrs.
Bayard, wife of the Secretary of
State, died here this morning. The
immediate cause bf her death Vas
congestion of the brain, brought on
by the shock of her daughter's sud
den death two weeks ago, For the
first week following that event, she
stood the strain and the excitement
quite well, but a week ago last Fri
day she was compelled to take her
bed, and gradually grew worse from
day to day. On Thursday conges
tion of the brain made its appear
ance. She was unconscious for
twenty-four hours before'; her death.
.Although for year's Mrs. Bayard had
been a confirmed i invalid, she had
for the last six months been in bet
ter health than for many years. Last
year she was verv ill at her home in
Wilmington, Delaware, with a com
plication of diseases of the liver and
stomactr, and her recovery at that
time was considered doubtful. At
the solicitation jof her daughter.
Miss Kate, she pat herself under the
care of Dr. F. A.! Gardner, of this
city, and under his treatment she
had improved so much as to be able
to go into society this winter,Jand
although still an invalid, she was in
comparatively good health when her
daughter died. She was about fifty
one years of age. j With the excep
tion of her daughter, Mrs. Warren,
of Boston, and her son, who is in
Arizona, the family were present
when she died. Thebody will be
taken to Wilmington jfor burial to
morrow, and the funeral will be held
there Tuesday. ; 1
The President was immediately
notified of Mrs, Bayard's death, and
ho at once sent Col. Lamont with a
note of condolence to! the secretary,
and later in the day Miss Cleveland
called at the house, j
v. There will be no funeral services
in Washington. The Remains will be
taken by special car to Wilmington,
and deposited in the old Swedish
church, where they will remain un
til two o'clock Tuesday , afternoon,
when the Episcopal burial service
will be read and the body placed in
the tomb. Mr. Bayard, has . asked
that . no official demonstration be'
-made, and the President will not go
to Wilmington. r Several members
of the cabinet, however, will attend
the .funeral. v ; 7: 1- :f-: ; " -. '
. The Cabinet officers, Senators,
Representatives, diplomats and pub
lic men generally, have called at the
Bayard mansion today to -express
their sympathy with the Secretary -in
his affliction.
Mrs. Bayard was born in Baltimore
in 1835. Her father, Joshua Lee,
was one of the. leading business men
of that city thirty-five years ago. '
She married the secretary while his
father was a Senator from Delaware,
and they were married in 1856.
There were twelve children born to
them, seven of whom are still living. .
Up to seven or eight years ago, Mrs.
Bayard was a leader in society at the
Natio'nal capital
I Watauga Boy Abroad.
Last week we received a letter, .
with the request that it be published,
in which was enclosed the following
card :
SERVICES AT WILDER St. CHAPEL,
NEAR COR. CHILDS AViLDER,
ROCHESTER, N. Y.
Sunday School, (German and En
glish classes 3 p. m. German .
preaching Sunday ten a. m. En
glish preaching Sunday 7$ p. m. -German
prayer meeting Wednesday
evening 7. English prayer meet- .
ing Thursday evening 7. Young
Men's Reading Room open Monday,
Tuesday and Friday evenings.
Rev. J. B. Hargett, Pastor.,
F. B..Bisnop, Supt. S. S.
The writer of the letter, Rey. J,
B. Hargett, as it appears from his
letter, has a wide acquaintance in
Watauga county where his boy hood
affections still linger : '.
To the Editor of The Lenoir Topic:
Will you be so kind as to give the
writer room in your paper for a short
note under the above head?
It is the writer's great pleasure to
subscribe to the above head. My
friend, Milton Shearer, a boyhood
friend, sent me the Christmas copy
of The Topic. In this copy was
contained so many names of places
and persons familiar to me that I
felt almost as though I was in Wa
tauga and talking with my friends
while reading its pages. If I had
been in my native county journeying -for
a day or two, and there had :
gathered around my acquaintances'
from the various localities, it would
have been more real, but would the
reality have left as greatjan unsatis
fied friendship as now exists in my
affections? I saw in The Topic
letters- with Christmas greetings
from places of various scenes of my
boyhood. These were only giving
fresh interest to the undieing pict
ures of my memory, especially wjtlf
the names which gave them a light
er color.
Now my sisters and myself have ,
many very dear friends in Watauga
and Caldwell counties, N. C., to
whom I would be pleased to write a
personal letter, but such a thing is
not practicable. Sol will make
this a general greeting, especially ,
for Ann and myself. - . J ',-.'
Ann is'now living at Green For
est, Ark., doing well.- Her husband
J. H. Norris, has a good farm there
and is making himself and wife a
happy and comfortable living, al
though they have lost about two i
thousand dollars since they were
married. They have two little boys
living ahd one little girl dead. L
think that Ann is about the best
farmer's wife I ever saw, but she
had good rearing in those Southern
hills. ' y
Jennie, who i am sure is kindly
remembered by many good hearts in
Watauga, has passed away. She died
at Ann's home in '82. She was a
good christian girl whom there are
few like, in like circumstances. ;
Those whom she loved so dear can
have, I hope, an opportunity of
meeting herein a better world.
As to myself I have spent a ITftle
more than half of my time since I;
left North Carolina in school. Want
to remain in school one or two more
years yet. The greater part of the
other half I ; hare spent in four of
the Western States, the remainder .
of the time I dispensed with in trav
eling. With kindest regards toall friends,
I am truly yours, the v atauga boy,
J . B. Haegett,
Trenor Hall, Rochester, N Y.
Tbs Sugar-Loaf Country.
Sugar Loaf Township, Alex. Co.
To the Editor of The Lenoir Topic:
i -
This section is situated in the
northern parrof Aleck, .and is, .
therefore, in a mountain region.
Some of them afford. a fine view of.
the surrounding country, among
which is the Sugar Loaf, which is a
large mountain with an almost flat"
summit, encompassed almost all .
round with a massive led ge of rocks.
This mountain was visited not long -since
by a party of lively young la
dies and gentlemen. The visit was
highly appreciated by the party, .
which made good use of its time .
beholding the wonderful curiosities
of nature, viewing; the surrounding
country and making itself mer-"
singing love songs, etc. , i.
The people who compose the pop-"
ulation of this section are mainly
farmers, who are a God-fearing, in--
dustriou8 and frugal class, lovers of
right and haters of wrong. . ;
m This is one of the finest fruit sec
tions of the country.
The people have had a school here
all winter, but it will soon close.
, : " - Magister,