Mdotolni
By
. lio
A RANDOLPH COUNTY PAPER FOR RANDOLPH COUNTY PEOPLE.
VOL. 6. NO. 24.
ASHEBORO, N. C, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1910.
ONE DOLLAR A YEAR
Eli Whitney.
EH Whitney, inventor of the
cotton gin was born 145 years
ago Thursday (December 8th) at
Wes thorough, Worcester County,
Massachusetts.
On this anniversary, the south
for whom he solved the problem
that has enabled it to develop
one of the greatest industries of
modern times paid silent and
reverent tribute to the memory
of the modest and resourceful
New England school teacher who
pointed the way to market cot
ton profitably.
No single American has done
more to make his country com
mercially eminent and prosper
ous. In civilizing influences, no
achievement wrought by the in
genuity of man through all the
ages has been marked by such
useful results to the world he
enriched by his discovery or the
country to whose fame his gen
ius has given enduring prestige.
More wonderful than the wizard
ry of an alchemist or the sorcery
of a master of legerdemain is
the story of the evolution of the
cotton industry, to which Whit
ney g.ve life and vitality. Up
to 1793 when Whitney evolved
his gin, so little cotton was rais
ed in the states south of Mason
and Dixon's line that the Brit
ish Customs officials, thinking
they were being deceived by
false invoices, seized the first
eight bales of it entering Liver
pool from this country in 1784 on
the ground that such a quantity
could not have been raised here
in a single year.
In the 117 years since, $16,000
000,000 worth of cotton has been
exported from this country. In
the face of this it is difficult to
conceive that there was a time
when we grew so little of that
now indispensible staple that its
appearance in a foreign market
excited suspicion. But for cot
ton the United States would be
a debtor instead of a creditor
nation. To Whitney and his gin
it owes the fact it has had $7,
000,000,000 the best of it in the
international balance of trade
in the last 100 years.
1 All that Uncle Sam now needs
to complete his absolute domina
tion of the textile field of the
world is control of the linen in
dustry, which he has set about
wresting from England. Al
though the largest producer of
flax, paradoxical as it may seem,
the United States, up to some
years ago, used not a pound of
it to make linen. Millions of
tons of the straw after yielding
its seeds have been burned up
as waste on the farms of the
west as they used to do with
cotton before Whitney conceived
his gin. As Whitney showed
the way for the commercial utili
zation of cotton with his gin, so
did Mudge with his Oxford pro
cesses make available for manu
facture of American linen the
once valueless flax straw. In
what these two ingenius Ameri
cans have accomplished in their
respective spheres there is a
striking analogy. With his gin,
Whitney performed the work of
a thousand men; with his secret
processes Mudge made it possi
ble to accomplish here in two
days what required from twenty
to thirty weeks to effect abroad.
Both men were revolutionists in
that they, set at naught the tra
ditions of the field in which they
worked and laid the foundation
for new native industries, for
which their country and posteri
ty must ever be tueir debtor.
FINLEY IS OPTIMISTIC
Declares Out,ook For Retail Business
In South Is Excellent.
Columba, S. C, Dec: 12 Pres.
Finley, of the Southern Railway
company, who has been in the
south for the past two weeks, in
speaking of the business outlook
in this section, said:
"Internal business conditions in
the southeastern states are
excellent, Fundamentally, this is
due to the generally prosperous
year that our farmers have had.
Taking all things into considera
tion, I doubt whether southern
farmers as a whole have ever
had a better year than that now
drawing to a close. Cotton, the
most important crop of the south,
is moving at prices which yield
to the grower a generous margin
of profit. The southern apple
crop is large and profitable. The
southern corn crop has far sur
passed ail previous yields and is
having a far-reaching effect on
business conditions. Heretofore
the planter has drawn on the
proceeds of his cotton crop to
buy corn for his stock. This
year he will buy much less corn,
and it the same time, will have
more home-grown meat. He is,
therefore, in a much stronger
financial position and is able to
spend more money on buildings
and other improvements on his
farm, to buy farm implements
and to make larger purchases of
general merchandise.
"As a result of the good agri
cultural situation the outlook for
retail business in the south is al
most uniformly excellent. Deal
ers in dry goods, clothing, gro
ceries, boots and shoes, hard
ware and stoves, and merchants
generally report a good volume
of business with encouraging
prospects.
"Manufacturers
and agricultural
of vehicles
implements,
and other manufacturers who
sell principally to the southern
trade, anticipate good spring
business.
' 'The fertilizer business of the
south is one of large importance,
and it is predicted that this sea
son's movement, which will be
gin in January, will be substan
tially larger than that of last
year."
Speaking of industries manu
facturing for the general trade,
Mr. Finley said :
' 'Furniture manufacturers are
now filling moderate orders and
are looking forward to larger
sales after their new styles have
been displayed at the January
expositions in Cincinnati, Chica
go and Grand Rapids. The
southern cotton mill situation
is uneven. The long-delayed re
adjustment of the prices of mill
products to the higher price
level of the same raw material
has not yet fully taken place.
There is, however, an active de
mand for some special lines' of
goods. Jobbers are reported to
have relatively small stocks. The
situation is, therefore, promising
for an active business as soon as
sellers and buyers can get to
gether on prices. Leading cot
ton manufacturers believe it is
not unlikely that such a situation
may be reached not 'later than
the early spring.
"The demand for v iron and
steel is not active. Lumber has
also been rather inactive, but
mills in many localities are now
reporting a brisk demand and
largely increased sales.
The financial situation in the
south is strong. Money is easier,
and especially in localities where
the farmers have marketsd a
large propotion of thetr cotton,
bank deposits are increasing.
Collections are generally good
except in some localities where
cotton is being held".
The Musty and Distant Past.
Puzzles of Mystery and Ruins Lett for the White Mail to Solve in
The Puye Canyon.
(By M. J. Brown, Editor Little Valley, N. Y
For more than a mile the white I skeletons lie.
cliff homes of our first American
rise up from the level to a hight
of from 200 to 600 feet, and so
close together are they but a thin
space, of the soft rock separate
them.
It is a sight for we foreigners
we Columbus Americans who
don't know our country.
Hundreds of years ago, no
doubt thousands of years ago,
these cliffs stood perpendicular,
but time and erosian of wind and
rain have crumbled and broken
down the rocks, and where four
and five stories of human homes
were once chiseled, now in many
places but two and three stories
stand, the crumbling rock and
the wash of accumulations from
above having buired the lower or
ground floor rooms.
When these cliff homes were
dug there was no iron in New
Nexico. They were scooped out
by hand by these pre-hisioric
people, carved out by pieces of
volcanic glass that they traveled
many miles to the Jemez ) pro
nounce it Hamez) mountains to
find.
From the wash at the foot of
the cliff I picked up several fine
specimens of these glass tools,
thick and as hard as a beer bottle,
and as surely glass as if blown in
Pittsburg. With these frag
ments that th mountains vomited
up, these little cliff men burrow
ed out their homes.
The formation of the rock is
soft well, simply ashes and I
took a knife blabe and soon made
an excavation that would hold
my fist. But these men did not
have knives or any metallic sud
stances, and I do not wonder
their homes were not made
larger when they had only these
fragment of glass to dig them
with.
I commenced on the ground
level (what is now the ground)
and went down the line, crawling
into almost every home, and I
will never forget the impressions
of awe and mystery they
gave me.
The first room, the living room,
of almost every cliff home is the
same, and inside they vary only
in the number of additions carv
ed out, and I suppose these were
regulated by the size of the
family and the arnonnt of glass on
hand. Almos every room has one
excavation leading from ir, but
very, few of them are high enouch
for one to stand erect or long
enough to lie down. The Indian
farmer, who has custody over the
Puye cliffs, said that one common
side room seems to have been a
grave, and when member of the
family died he was put in this
little round room, in a sitting
position, and then the room
walled up and plastered over.
He said "that excavations in
many of the rooms had proved
this and many skeletons had been
found, not mummies, ether in a
sitting position on the. floor, with
back to the rock, or in many
cases, f orwTard on the floor of the
cave, face down.
So I take it that these second
rooms, chiseled out, plasteed and
1 ft open, were graves waiting
for some one to die, and when
they died, the corpse was walled
in, and another grave dug to be
in ready, that the funeral
ceremonies might not hitch.
And yet as I will tell you later,
there is a great burial ground on
the messa where hundreds of
Hub.)
Every home is plastered, cover
ed with coment, and some have
many coatings. That is they are
plastered about half way up the
walls, and yon can plainly see
where the plaster ends, and
where the smoke commences.
You can hardly stand erect in
the highest part of the oval
rooms, so it seems that the walls
were plastered only so high up
as would dirty a shirt waist when
Mrs. Cliff Dweller was sitting on
the floor with her back to the
wall. In one room I took my
knife and cut through seven
layers of plaster, one laid over
the other, and each strata clear
ly distinguishable. Whether
these layers were put on once a
year or once in a hundred "years
I can only guess.
On every side of these oval
rooms are various sizes of nitches,
cut into the walls and plastered.
Some are high up some on the
floor level all shapes and sizes.
We can only wonder at their uses
but no doubt they were the side
boards of those days, and recep
tacles for the family necessities.
One in particular was just the
size for a baby's bed, and per
haps it was.
In one room, plainly deserni
ble, was what was once the
opening of one of the larger
rooms, mentioned above, and an
oval seam oh the plaster showed
the opening had been closed long
after the rest of the room had
had its coat. Mr. H:ag, the
custodian, said that no doubt a
skeleton was sitting just .the
other side of the wall. . Oh, for
a pick and thirty minutes, when
the guard wasn't there! I would
have dug out this fellow, rattled
his bones and asked him, what
it was all about.
One house, just about the mid
dle of the long cliff, and where
a stone stairway ascends to the
messa, was different from all
the rest. It was a double home
or rather where a home had
once been built and then another
added, making one room, double
the size of nearly all of the other
hundreds of rooms of the city.
Let me explain that every house
is built alike, about 6x10, every
one has a door opening, just big
enough to crawl through -on
hands and knees and that every
house has an opening just above
the door, about 12 inches round,
for a smoke hole.
And from the inside of this
house could be as plainly seen as
if it were done yesterday, where
one door and smoke hole had
been walled up. Small stones
were laid up in the wall and
plaster spread between, and
when the work had been com
pleted the cement was joined
to the older plaster on the wall.
And here I saw a mark I will
never forget the print of a hu
man hand on the plaster, the
imprint of the Cliff Dweller who
did the job. How long it, had
been there none can tell.
And now letme tell you some
thing about some relics that I
dug from the floor of a cliff
home priceless relics to me of
an unknown age and civilization.
At noon the custodian had to
return to his tent to meet some
forest rangers for the little In
dian uprising had caused some
excitement. The distance wa3
four miles. The driver had laid
down for a nap. I watched the
man disappear down the canyon.
I remembered a cave that had
particularly interested me as
having the walled opening and
as having so many more small
rooms cut from it. I took an
empty pear can from where we
had lunched, battered the opened
end down like a wedge, and then
I went up the ladder to this ruin
like a squirrel. And there in
the dust of ages blown in from
the desert, brought in by the
rock squirrels and birds, I dug,
dug frantically for some relic,
while the powder dust filled my
eyes and ears.
And I found a treasure trove.
There I uncovered small, wiz
zened bits of corn cob, nearly
mummified by this dryest air on
tarth, and there I found a part
of an ear of corn with the ker
nels on, and just as plain corn
as if I had taken it from a New
York state feed store. It is as
black as a coal, both the kernels
and cob, and the kernels are as
brittle as coffee berries, and
black all the way through. From
the quarts of dust I carried out
to a better light, I found a dozen
or more separate kernels, which
I gathered and treasured like
diamonds.
For an hour I frantically dug
to the rock floor almost every
inch of the space, but only in
this one corner did I find any
thing but broken bits of 'potery
nad I found many of these frag
ments. Beside the one perfect section
of a corn ear I found the taper
ing up to another ear, with the
small kernels at the end, and five
small pieces of cob wizzened to
the size of your finger. --
I noted that as soon as expo'sied
to the light and air the kernels
on the corn could be easily rat
tled off, and how to save my
treasures was the question. I
climbed down from the cliffs,
shook off the dust, and put the
relics in my hat, and got back
to the wagon just in time to
meet Mr. Hoag on his return.
Later, as I sat talking with
him, and forgetting my treasures
I pushed up my hat, and two or
three ancient kernels of corn
fell down over my modern fore
head. ' I believe I was scared
pale, not so much because I had
been forbidden to dig, but be
cause I was afraid of losing my
treasures. But he did not notice
the leak. , I have the relics now
safely packed in cotton, in ten
boxes in my suit case, and when
I get home I will plant some of
the kernels and see if I can't
raise a crop of Before Columbus
corn.
I have exhausted my space
and I haven't told you half. I
have yet to tell you of the stair
ways, the trails, the kiva and
what a sight met my New York
eyes, when we had climbed the
stone stairway to the table land
above the cliff homes.
Now if the Indians will only
be good one more day and let me
get out with my tin box of relic,
then they may have this dried
up and deserted land, and the
spirits and ravens may guard
the graves of these little old
men of long ago.
BARN BURNED.
About two o'clock Saturday
afternoon a large barrl owned
by J H. Kearns at Farmer caught
fire from some unknown cause
and was burned to the ground.
The barn and contents, valued
at $800. were a total loss, with
only a small amount of insurance
in the Farmers Mutual. The
origin of the fire is- a mystery
as it was first discovered in some
shucks" in the hay bin overhead;
Mr. Kearns was away from home
when the fire, occured.
THE DEMOCRATIC PIE BRIG
A Washington dispatch of
November 16th says that hun
gry Democratic officei seekers are
flocking to Washington City like
unto Coxey's army. Let us
quote.
Democrats all over the country
are manifesting a decided taste
for government pie, according to
advices that have been received
in Washington since the election
of November 8. It has been so
long since the Democrats have
had anything but scraps that
the thought of eatii&g at the first
table has already started many
hundreds of them to Washington
in the hope that the general dis
tribution of positions to be hand
ed out when the Republicans re
tire from control of the House on
March 4th, 1911, will afford them
the relief that they have long
yearned for. They have eaten
corn bread and bacon so long
that the sight of genuine pie has
made them begin the march in
this direction. It is true that
not for 16 years has there been
such an opportunity for the Dem
ocrats of the country North
and South alike to come into
their owrn as the present oppor
tunity affords.
May they enjoy the feast and
leave a few of the crumbs for
the Republicans who march to
their relief in the next go-around,
for iheir tug at Uncle sam's
purse strings will be hard, to be
sure, but brief. Union Republi
can. HaV TO TEACH GOSSIPING
re
j ti.: i.k
I you wisn to cultivate a gos
siping, meddling, censorious spir
it in your children, be sure, when
they come home from church, a
visit or any place to which you
do not accompany them to ply
them with questions concerning
what everybody wore, how every
body looked, and what everybody
said and did, and if you find any
thing in all this to censure always
do it in their hearing. You may
rest assured if you pursue a
course of this kind, they will not
return to you unlanden with in
telligence; and, rather than it
should be uninteresting, they
will by degrees learn to embellish
in such a manner as shall not fail
to call forth remarks and expres
sions of wonder from you. You
will by this time render a spirit
of curiosity which is early
visible in children and which, if
rightly directed, may be made
the instrument of enriching and
enlarging their minds a vehicle
of mischief which shall serve only
to narrow them. Ex.
ADVICE TO FARMERS
But even in the South the
winter is at times more or less
severe and the long night and bad
days give a great opportunity
for study and planning. The
farmer in this day who has not a
fairly good supply of books on
his profession, and who does not
take and read farm papers, is go
ing to be left in the wave of
progress that is sweeping over
the South. Study your business
and get all the help you can
from the Experience of other men
who have put it on record for
you, and plan the work of the
coming season so tnat wnen
ap iag ope is you can go "ahead
without a hitch. Progressive
Farmer.
Many people make the path "of
life unnecessarily hard to trawl
bpcaue theyl)ersist in imagin
ing difficulties that do not exist.