welFiBilif'd'IMook
XOl. I-, NO. 2G.
PINEHURST, N. C, FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 1898.
PRICE THREE CENTS.
A PLEASANT OUTING.
Pinehurst Guests Picnic at
Thagard's Mills.
Beautiful Weather and an Ideal Spot for
a Day's Recreation in the Woods.
Numerous Incidents Enliven the Trip and
Add to the Party's Enjoyment.
Last Saturday morning a happy and
very noisy party of about forty people
started in carriages and teams of all de
scriptions for a day's outing at Thag
aid's Mills, about nine miles from town
It was called a basket picnic, and the
Hotel and Casino provided generously
lor the pilgrims representing those
places. Solitary individuals took their
lunches go-as-you-please. The start was
successfully made amid great applause
from "the-stay-at-homes," and the east
gate of our fenced city opened for our
departure. We had hardlv got well
started alongside the railroad track when
the trolley car hove insight, and at its
near approach great excitement was
noticed in the procession, and immediate
ly "Ponipey," cart and all, started for
the woods, to the great enjoyment of the
two ladies who occupied the outfit.
Stumps were numerous and the danger
great, but after having tried to climb
over a two-foot stump ami failed, "Pom
pey" was subdued.
While this was going on, one of the
horses hitched to the surrey was trying
to stand on his head, to the great amuse
ment of the three lady passengers, two
of whom immediately vacated the pre
mises. The gentleman driver was
level-headed if the horse was not, and
kept the animal on his feet a purl of the
lime at least. As the horse, after a
great deal of persuasion, declined to
proceed farther, and Thagard's was
still nine miles away, Charlie Haxter,who
was along on the back of his noble horse
(everybody knows Charlie) suggested
that his horse be hitched in the place of
l he (lecliner, and with the help of that
'"ave-hearted trio, .Messrs. Jenney, Tay
' and Hamlin, he would undertake to
I'ilot the surrey to the end of the voyage,
:"d he did.
Without further mishap the whole
i :n ty arrived at the mills, although Tay
'" and Jenney made noise enough, from
human standpoint, to wake the dead in
:H the graveyards we passed. Upon our
; ' rival everybody said, "What a hand-
me place, a fine grove, just the place
''' a picnic," etc. Of a truth, Thag
!'d's Mills and vicinity is the finest bit
! I scenery in this whole section of coun
try, and our party scattered to feast on
the beauties of the place.
The flour and grist-mill with the old
water wheels and the dam was the main
point of interest. As usual, Mr. Jenney
risked his life, this time on the pond in
an old ticket v boat liable to e;o over the
dam in a minute if the paddle broke or
his good right arm should become para
lyzed. The old saw-mill a short distance
away attracted a number of the sight
seers. Hocks and ledges" were another
curiosity, as they were the first we had
seen is this section of the old North
State. We wish there were some nearer
Pinehurst so it would he possible for a
lover to fill his pockets when he called
on his best girl, to keep the old man'
dog away. Anyhow, Professor Lincoln
pounded at them, broke them up and be
came lost to all other things, human or
divine, hut the question is, did he find
it?
It would be impossible to tell the com
plete history of everything that occurred,
but no picnic party ever had such re
sources as ours. We had artists galore,
and kodaks were like the locusts of
Egypt. Snapshots were the order of
the day, and the order was fully carried
out. The old commissary building was
sketched and sketched; also the old mill.
Miss (iilbert is at home on Monday after
noons and her studio is in the "Palmet
to."
No clock was necessary to tell when
dinner hour was nigh. Those that never
had an appetite before were more than
ready to empty the lunch baskets. Mrs.
Thagard at the mansion house kindly
allowed the coffee to be made in her
kitchen, for which she has the thanks of
the entire party. Mr. Hedding from the
Holly Inn took charge of the lunch in
the pine grove, and the Casino pilgrims
and others pooled their issues and ate at
the same table-cloth. Mr. Jenney acted
as chief cook, etc. He found an apron
somewhere, and then thought he was a
cook in fact. Practically the only thing
lie did was to try to make some lemon
ade, and that would have been a failure
but for the assistance of Mrs. Tufts and
Mrs. Spinney. Mr. Taylor tried to act
as a waiter, but made a failure of it, and
Mr. Tufts had to take his place. Of
course we do not say that Mr. Tuft's was
an expert, but he was betterthan Taylor,
anyhow.
Well, everyone had a great dinner at
that table cloth, and went away satisfied.
Until 3 o'clock everybody went wherever
lie or she listed, but at the blowing of
the horn we all assembled in front of the
commissary and Pinehurst's photograph
ic artist proceeded to transfer to plate,
for the pleasure of future generations,
the countenances of the entire party.
The teams were made ready at 3.30,
and what fun it was to see the rush for
available seats. The surrey was the
favorite of some of the ladies, even if one
of the horses had tried to stand on his
head on the way over in the morning. ;
The procession started, and brave Charlie
handled the reins with three lady passen
gers aboard. Hut their happy content
ment and hopes for a speedy return were
soon over. Charlie attempted to start
the team with all the confidence in the
world. Hut, alas! he now had twode
eliners, and the ladies skipped out quick
er than you could say Jack Hobinson,
and took passage in a less stylish team.
Charlie then took aboard a trio of giddy
girls, and after many trials and tribula
tions conquered the rebellious steeds and
caught up with the procession.
The journey home was then finished
without further incident, except that the
same parties who made so much noise
(for we certainly can't call it singing) in
the morning continued it to the journey's
end. About 5 o'clock the caravan drove
up in front of the Holly Inn, and dis
embarked, a happy, if tired, crowd well
satisfied with their day's outing.
Prof. Lincoln's Lecture.
The following is a synopsis of Prof.
Lincoln's lecture on "The Geology of
N'orth Carolina" given in the Village
Hall on Wednesday evening of last
week :
Coining as we do from Northern homes
and scenery, we naturally feel our curi
osity stirred by the strange contrast be
tween there and here, as regards to the
external forms of Nature. It is with the
view of gratifying this curiosity rather
than of presenting new facts that these
remarks are ottered. North Carolina
cannot be understood as forming a sepa
rate unit in geology; it is only one of a
series of states which unite to form the
Appalachian and seaboard regions. A
good point to begin with, is furnished by
the arclwean rocks, of which we will not
otter a description further than to say
that they are typically shown in the Adi-
rondacks, and consist largely of crystal
line material, viz: granite, gneiss, schist,
limestone, with various deposits of metal
ores, uie aremean series (.tne woru is
Greek, meaning ancient), comprises the
oldest known rocks. It covers the Adi
rondacks, much of Canada and Labrador,
large tracts of the Appalachian region
(Hlue liidge and and hilly land to the
east, known as the piedmont country)
also the Ozark mountains in Arkansas,
and much of the Hocky mountains.
The piedmont region (the word means,
"foot of the mountains") in Virginia and
North Carolina, is considered as a para
dise by those who do not require lofty
mountains. Its surface is agreeably un
dulating and hilly, its soil fertile, and
the crystalline rocks, with some slate,
are the basis of its visible features. It
represents the remains of a semi-continental
mass of old land which has been
wearing away under the action of rivers
for countless ages, and from it have been
formed the land masses to the westward
from the Cumberland to the Mississippi,
by deposit from rivers, made while
the valley of the Mississippi was under
water. The original region of which this
is a remnant may have been a land of
huge mountains stretching eastward far
beyond the site of our present capes of
llatteras and Fear.
On the eastern border of the piedmont
lies the sandy, coastal plain of the At
lantic states. The change from rock to
sand is marked all along the line by
water falls in the rivers, and by a series
of important towns placed at the head
of navigation : Baltimore, Washington,
Hichinond, Haleigh, Columbia, Augusta
and Milledgeville, being all upon this "fall
line." Pinehurst lies but a few miles
from this line, and but a short journey is
required to place our foot upon granite or
sandstone rock. These sands and clays
of the seaboard belt are deposits made by
the rivers of old time in the ocean, which
once washed a coast where now stands
Haleigh. In certain indentations of this
coast there was made during the triassic
age a deposit of red sandstone belonging
to the same range as that of Connecticut
and New Jersey, and exposures of this are
quite near us.
There is little of mineral wealth in the
seaboard belt except clay, a few iron
beds and a small amount of good bitumi
nous coal associated with the sandstone
last described. At Cumnock, some thir
ty or forty miles northeast of us, there is
a working mine of this coal. The gem
minerals are found in the western half of
the state, and are noted for their variety
and beauty, though not for their abun
dance. They comprise the oriental sap
phire, ruby and emerald, the diamond,
the hiddenite of equal value with the
diamond, and among- minor gems, ame
thyst, rutile quartz, quartz topaz, and
remarkable varieties of crystalline forma
tion in clear and smoky quartz.
One of the most curious uses to which
our minerals are put is that of furnishing
the basis for Welsbach burner. The
mineral in question is monazite, which is
mined (exclusively) in this state. The
burner consists of a hollow cotton wick
in a wire frame which is saturated with
a solution of this mineral and dried; the
cotton burning oft' at the first use leaves
a skeleton of mineral matter which be
comes incandescent. Another important
mineral is mica. The gold produced is
small in total-amount. It is related as a
curious fact that, prior to the existence
of local mints, a farmer of North Caro
lina ran a mint on his own account for a
quarter of a century (prior to the civil
war), the gold coins from which are now
rare.
A famous punster, upon being asked to
make a play of words upon any subject
given him then and there, said that he
could do if. "What is your subject ?" he
asked. "Well, the king," replied his
companion. "The king is no subject,'
instantly replied the clever wit. Short
Stories.
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