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NORTH CAROLINA UNITED.
already
that
We give
From Cherokee to Currituck.
The completion of the West
ern North Carolina railroad
Murphy is a matter of such im
portance that we like to dwell
upon it. That jwhich required
fifty years to accomplish, and
which, accomplished, unites
with bands of steel the entire
people of our native State, here
tofore kept asunder by natural
barriers, i3 something worthy
of more than a passing notice.
The people of Cherokee and
surrounding section celebrated
the event on the 23d of July.
The Democcat has
given a report of the
ings, but did not give
was of great interest.
below additional letters from
two distinguished North Caro
linians, with an editorial notice
from the able editor of the Ath
ens, Tenn., Athenian, w OS
present and delivered one of the
best speeches of the day, and a
letter from the president of the
Chattanooga Board of Trade.
The following is the letter from
ex Congressman Thomas D.
Johnston: j
Messrs. R. L. Herbert, F. P.
Axley, J. W. Cooper, R. A.
Aikin and Ben Posey, Commit
tee on Invitation.
Gentlemen: I cannot ade
quately express the deep regret
I feel, that manv circumstances
beyond my control, will prevent
my accepting your invitation to
be present with the good people
of Cherokee county on the 23rd
mst., to celebrate thel comple
tion of the Western North Caro
lina railroad; but though com
pelled to be absent, I will in
spirit unite with them in their
rejoicings of this great enter
prise which for nearly- a half
century they have been earnest
ly looking and laboring for.
with alternate hope and disap
pointment; and I do this, the
more cordially, because it was
' my good fortune in the past to
make this one of the special ob
jects of my legislative labors.
Most heartily do I congra tulate
you and them on this happy be
casion, and most sincerelv dp I
believe it to be the beginning of
a new epoch in the history
your county.
Blessed as your section is with
so many natural advantages.
and enriched bv such a varietv
of mineral, arid other wealth.
there is every reason to hope
that the completion of this rail
road, which brings your people
in closer uid more intimate com-
, mer?i :il and social relations with
the Stat' and business sections
. of the country, will be themeans
of making it one Of the most desir
able, both for homes and busi--
ness investments in our rapid iy
growing Southland. We veoplV
therefore, have much cause for
rejoicing over this most auspi-.
cious event.
But I cannot rid myself of the
thought and I trust I. may be
pardoned t for alluding to" it
that in the' great joy of the day
there will be, I know, sincere
and 'heartf It regret, that he,
who was the chief projector of
this great enterprise at the
,time apparently imnracticable
of building a railroad through
the mountains of Western North
Carolina, and who with such
persistent zeal, continued his
efforts in behalf of his section
end people in the face of dis
couragements that would cause
the stoutest heart i to quail
that he, though living, is pre
vented by his sad affliction
from joining with his beloved
people in celebrating the com
memoration of his life-work. I
need not say that I refer to Col.
William H. Thomas nor should
proper tribute be withheld from
others who we're his co laborers
and successors in this srreat
work. The lamented Hayes, of
your own county, Brvson, of
Swain and Robinson, of Macon,
.and others, all of whom so ear
nestly labored in behalf of this
railroad.
It is befitting that the celebra
tion of the laying of the corner
stone oi tne magnincent court
house, w! ich you are to erect in
H T T 111 i i
luurpuy, snouia oe tne crown
ing act of this memorable occa
: sion,. For while the one betok
ens the admiration of justice in
the courts of the county, the
other evidences the realization
of that justice to which the
"XTT A '1
i vv tjstern peopie nave Deen so
many years entitled, and for
which they have so patiently
waited.
Again assuring you and the
people of my inexpressible re
gret at not being able to be pres
ent and; participate with them
in their rejoicings!, and renew
ing my warmest: congratula-
; tions on the completion of the
to j Western North Carolina rail
road, 1 am with sentiments ot
highest esteem, j
Very truly yours,
Thos. IX Johnston.
one of the piom ers of Cherokee
countv. sow n resident of Ashe
ville, his remarks being emi
nently eloquent an:! appropriate,
giving a history of the long
struggle of the people of Murphy
and vicinity for an outlet by
means of the W. N. C. and the
M. & N G. railroads.
Col. Davidson was followed
by Maj. R. M. Furman, of the
Asheville Democrat, with a
stirring address of fifteen min
utes, and the reading of letters
-i i
it were possible, ifor me to be
present with your people so that
I might assure them that the
felicitation over this very lm-
pqrtant event is not connnea to
them, but is common to all the
people of N. C. We have at last.
after many years of toil and
struggle, bordered the State
with lines of tra vel and trans
portation, so that from Curri
tuck to Cherokee! there is swift
and easv communication You
are no longer wedged in between
Georgia and Tennessee; but from
your extreme border you have a
FrWi Ex-Judge J. C. McRat:
My Dear Mr. Norvell: I am
much obliged ifor vour kind in
vitation to attend the celebration from distinguished gentlemen
Of the Completion Of tlie . N . wVir rVrnlrl nnt h nrAiifc innlud-
Ci R. K., to Murphy, ana wish irk0. fh(, ftovfmor of thp State.
Dinner over, notwithstanding
continued showers of rain, th
peopl.- seemed eager to hear
further speaking which was
ontinued briefly in the follow-
t tit Ti - r
msr oraer: w . x . ivicuarron.
Col. T. M. Burkett and Capt. J.
A. Turley. of Athens, Maj. H.
B. Hardy, of the State Chronicle,
Raleigrh, B. L,. Duke, Durham.
H. A Gudger, Asheville, and
Col. Ben. Posev, of Murphy.
The exercises of the entire day
were interspersed with most ex
cellent music bv the Cherokee
Rrn5 "Rand. nomnoKfid nrinci
grand highway tp Asheville and llv of voung in ixX1 f rom tho
to Raleigh. Your friends m the TT b ,;nvftrnn1tl.i coViool at
i,ast may now see tor themselves Yellow HillN.;L.. in charge of
the rich and fertile valleys of prof Spraue. "
pasture land ana nne iarms, xne
nahand Norfolk is completed,
your next line is tho Murphy
knd Ch"ntr.?inoora line.
I hope Chattanooga may have j
the opportunity heton? manv ;
vears have passed, to unite thai
goo 1! people of Murphy andj
Cherokee county, to join wiin
us to celebrat' the opening and
the completion of the Murphy
and Chattanooga railroad.
: Thanking you for the kind in
vitation to be with oji the 23d
THE ASHEYILLE DEMoffi
in st.
Yours truly.
Tomlixsox Fort.
mountains and rivers, the min
about to I be
the thousand
make the
one of the
eral wealth just
developed, and i!
advantages whiddi
county, of Cherokee
richest and mostldesirable of all
the counties in tte State.
I trust and believe, that the
completion of this road maj
prove of the very highest good
to the State, and j ma; bind the
more closely -together the best
1
Thus briefly ,C Llined was our
first visit to Mvi phy greatly en
joyed. It turnished a rare op
portunity for the acqnaintance
of people, and plans whih will
be basis for more extended re
ks concerning the county in
future articles in tliese columns.
To Mr. and Mrs. T. C. Dickey
our entire party Avere indebted
for most hospitable treatment
and a bountiful table. Thev are
anions: the forernost neoDle of
pele mthewotld, the people that enterprising locality and
i nope you ana; yours are wen Thftir hmiSH :s bpodnnartPrs for
T ..,1,1 l-.W, I 1-
x wuuiu Hive an extensive transient travel
sometime as
and doing well.
to near trom vou
'A m rin rr t hp hpct. rtnrlt rf tVP
to how you are getting along, C0Untry, and right royally are
and how Ahe country prospers PprHinpH
and our friends are.
Your friend,
McRae.
Col. McCarron, in the Athe
nian, Athens Tennessee:
In company with Col. T. M.
Burkett and wife, Capt. J. A.
luriey ana wire, it was our
privilege to visit; Murphy, N. C
last week for the first time
early Wednes
tie nartv were
Pattv and N.
where they
We are also under obligations
to Col. A. A. Campbell, of the
Murphy Bulletin, and to Dr. J.
W. Pat ton and J. S. Maroney,
of the Cherokee Scout, for cour
tesies extended. Murphy is the
county seat of Cherokee county
and has a population of about
700, situated at the junction of
The Greensboro North State
on the V. N. C. Railroad and
Col. A. B. Andrews:
On July 23d last, the firt tr lin
entered "Murphy, in Cherokee
county, over the Western North
Carolina railroad. Thus were
Morehead City and Murphy
united bv rail. On that day
Col. A. B. Andrews was titty
years of age. On his 50th birth
day was completed the colossal
task which he undertook of con
structing a railroad fromi Old
Fort across the Blue Ridge to
! Asheville, and thence to ayn-
esville and over the Balsam
mountains and on to Cherokee
county along the banks of the
Tuckasege, the L ttle Tonnes
see and the W-autifulNantahala.
Does the reader stop to think of
what a great and :rrand work
has been accomplished:' Does
the reauui reilect on the won
derful brair and enprarv whichl
was necessary '.' push through
such a magnificent undertak
ing? -Mountains lo .be crossed,
vallevs to be traversed: rushing
rivers ana piayiui mouniain
streams to be bridged; tunnel
after tunnel to be cut through
insurmountable elevations; mil
lions of money to be raised
among strangers in a financial
center at times shaken by panic
made timid by disaster or en
tirely closed by distrust.
North Carolina had a son who
was capable and abla to do all
this. By his fruits you can
judge him. Col. A. B. Andrews
undertook the task. He re
solved to do the one thing which
had been the talk by day and
the dream by night of North
Carolina statesmen for years.
The man who had never seen
A T.nroTA 8-raors WppVItt Drw.
BY
ASHEVILLE, N. C.
THE PAPER FOP THE PEOPlc.
Leaving Athens
day morning t
joined by W? H.
B. Dunn at Gradv
.. . . . i.
took tlie 10 o'clock train on the
Knoxville Southern, and dining
at Blue Ridge to6k the narrow
guage for Murphy, 24 miles dis
tant, reaching trere early in the
afternoon where the entire party
were the guests of Vr. and Mrs.
T C. Dickey' MrJs. Dickev being
a lister of Col. ! Burkett. The
followino: day. Thursday, had
been set apart b the enterpris
ing people of Clerokee county
as an (;ccasidn f(r the celebra
tion of the laying of the corner
stone of their now court hous
at Murphv, under the auspices
of the Masonic Grand Lodge of
I e tate. i ne jj ceremony was ;
in charge of Grand Master H. A.
Gudger, of Asheyille. and war.
participated in by a large con
course of the order from various
loages in the vicinity, making
one of the most imposing pro
cessions every Witnessed in that
country. The other part of the
day's program was the celebra-
ion of the completion, to Mur
phy, of the W. IN.' C. railroad
from Asheville,i 120 miles dis
tant. To do this a beautiful
grove half a mile distant from
the town on the banks of the
picturesque HiaVassee, had been
selected, where, a t 2 o'clock.
about 3,000 people had assembled
with hundreds of baskets of pro-
visiuiib, uesiue nve ueeves
and a dozen sheen which had
been had barbbcued on the
ground ready for the multitude.
Thu 5 immense tables were loaded
with substantial from a liberal
people in honor of an event for
which they had long been pray
ing, worKing ana looking.
Previous to arid after dinner
the people were 'entertained by
short speeches I from various
persons from ab'jroad and from
among traemselves, all of which
seemed to be appreciated by
rousing acclamations of ap
plause as each speaker referred
to the glowmgl prospects and
ich resources 6f the country
surrounding.
The exercises 6f the day were
in charge ot Mayor R. L. Her
pert as president of t e commit
tee of arrangements under whom
the day was rendered highly
enjoyable, except for dousing
showers of rain against which
the committee had not entered
their protest in time.
Mr. E. B. Norvell delivered an
appropriate addrfess of welcome
followed by Col. A. T. Davidson,
the Hiawassee and Vallev rivers, the word "failure? among: his
branches of the Tennessee with personal effects, had the confi
an elevation in a pure atmos- deuce of railroad mangnates
phere between the Blue Ridge and money kings. Although
and the great Smoky Mount during the many years of con
ains of 1,600 feet aoove the level struction of the Western Xorth
of the sea. Carolina railroad, the ups and
It is the great mineral region downs were many, the work
abounding in iron, gold, copper, went on. And it can be truth -corrundum,
talc, mica and mar- fully said that at one time when
ble, the latter o which is being nearly all were discouraged,
extensively worked in places Col. Andrews hazarded his pri
aiong the M. & N. G. railroad, vate fortune rather than give
Property in Murphy is com- up the hope of completing the
manding a good price, $t?,000 Western N. C. railroad. He
being recently paid in caslF for did all this and had the nerve
a lot on tlie public square, boughc to back up his judgmentand his
by Col. B. L. Duke, of tlie great great wid-power with his own
tobaco firm of Durham. " monev.
The new court house is in course Fifteen
It will he A l SrCP S.nSTO ireol-lir nana. A-ti .1- .1 .
Bv,v "wttij jjti, vicu tu me rHXia., liCItUX
and Political interests of Weatern North Carolina. It will u lit tvitt
endeavor of the editor to make THE DEMOCRAT useful to tlerrtv:.;
Taried interests of this rapidly growing city and ectfoa. cf;.itT
be spared to make It entirely acceptable becau-c of tt .i-ci -e (
DEMOCRATIC IX POLITICS
by Bruce & Mor
tain
. -.
vears aero the moun-
region of North Carolina
was comparatively an unknown
country. Asheville was a typi
cal countv town, unheard of oe-
yond State lines. To-day it is
the finest jewel in the crown of
the Old North State, and its
of construction
oran, of. Atlanta, will one of
the handsomest structures of the
Kina m tne btate. ana is Deine-
built of granite; marble and
brick.
The country is full of pros
pectors and when Murphy gets praises are sung throughout the
a western outlet bv wav oi" civilized world. The natural
Athens and Chattanooga sho wealth of mines, water and
will be on the direct road to wood, the salubrious climate,
prosperity second to no town in the great agricultural and hor-
this region of natural health ticultural possibilities of the
1 111 fl T - '1 i t-t ,
ana weaitn. riue xtiage ana smoky moun
tain sections all were enclosed
rium m x-rcbiaenx ot tne are visible an(j open to the touch
unattanooga tioara ot Trade: of the world. x From Cherokee
Messrs. R. L. Herbert and to Currituck is now a pleasant
others. Committee of Invitation, all rail highway. The same to
Murphy, N. C. Morehead City and Wilmington.
Gents: I received this morn- The man who accomplished this
ing your invitation to meet with result should never be forgotten
tne citizens ot Murnhv. and iy tne people of North Carolina.
Cherokee county, North Caroli Collect together all the politi-
na, on the 23d inst., to partici- cians m the St,te over whom
pate in celebrating the comple- the people have fussed and
uuu oi tue vvesiern iNortn uaro- tumeu ior xwenty-nve years
lina railroad to Murnhv. A past and the sum total of thpir
business engagement to" meet labors in behalf of theirconstit-
parties here on that day, which uents would not make a shadow
I cannot now alter, prevents my when compared with the bene-
acceptance of your invitation. fits to North Carolina and her
In behalf of the Chamber of people to be derived from the
Commerce of the city, I con- construction of the W. N. C. R.
gratulate Murphy, and the R by Col. Andrews.
strong; arms and stout hearts of iNorth Carolina may well be
those who have fought "the proud of such a citizen. Col.
world the flesh and the devil" Andrews deserves the plaudits
tor her realization of this sten ot tne people, and suecpfi lino-
it r : 1 1 : i . '. 53
in tut? muire. jcdis w m oiuK uib pnises when
"Go West and grow up with tnev, l00k at the resut of his
le country" is T-anirilv h
work, the greatest achievement
It 111 be Democralic in politics empaaUcaliy and rel:al:r hO-u
name and the Ufe-timc creed of its editor implies.
ing "uo soutn and grow up V.. , ttlCB OI money
with the country." East and. sklll brains and energy.
wof i;o " i
nnlv mvinimoc .rt Mercvme'. said Miss Pas-
THE INDUSTRIAL INTERESTS OF THIS SECTION
Agricultural, 3rechanical aad Mining, will receeive special
The resources of every county, the various enterrrlses of all .tie r5?-'
will have constant consideration.
The department for the Home Circle will be complete.
As THE DEMOCRAT is already assured a lare circulation ia tte
of Asheville and all the Western Counties, it will be an excellent
for advertisers.' Rates will be reasonable.
Send In your names with the cash at once. Address,
THE ASHEVILLE DEMOCRAT,
ROBT. M. FURMAN, Editor,
v. '-v oaiu xiAisa iras-1 t
see, "I sincerely hope they will
years have shown the largest :tiX SI viney 7m
cnU c xr : i.ii I vv uy noi.
" jriul? "Just think how ranidlv w!
"East nd West lines" pay un- ?Lt "-HarS b tunes aa
less they are fed by feeding to fast Marper f Bazar-
JN on U ana &OUtn lines. 7 ' Have you read the direction! wraDDeD
Asheville, N. C
name or umet of frlenditsaliijj
W win thmk any one for any
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