The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1869-05-27
For tho COURIER.
A Trip South.
CONTINUED.

-
through Weldon and Goldsborough
to Wilmington, on the south side Of
Petersburgh, in sight of tho large
and beautiful National Ccmetcry.-
We passed mile after mile of earth.
works, some of which are here and
there levelcd down and plowed over,
but many miles are just as they were
left by the armies at tho time the OK
hausted Confederacy found the last
ditch.
A large proportion of our route
from Petersburgh to Wilmington was
through miserably poor land, with
an equally miserable looking popula-
ton, mostly of that class known as
"poor white trash," and God hclp
thcm-poor they are indeed, in every
sense Of the word. Numbers of
them wero at oil tho principal STOP
ping places of the railway, with poor
little dilapidated mules, Or oxen and
carts, having something to sell
thor stock in trade generally consist
ing of bushel Of peanuts and few
punches of light wood. To make
light-wood, they bruisc, or cut, on
ono side of the pitch-pino trees,
which interrupts tho flow of the res.
inous sap and causes ii to accumulate
until this portion of the tree is full
of 1t. The wood is then called "fat,"
and is prepared for use by cutting
into small pieces and ty ing in bunch
cs of six or eight inches, which they
sellat % cents eeach, at retail, or 10
to 10 cents by the cart load; their
cart load being less than many ofthc
negro women (who abound there)
would carry on their heads.
Vast regions of the Carolinas, both
North and South, are good for moth
ing but naval stores, pitch, tar, tur-
pentine, and lumber-yellow pine,
and of an inferior quality. Almost
everywhere on the lines of railways
through those pine forests, you are
in sight of turpcntine distilleries and
tar kilns. The sap in it's crude state
is obtained by cutting a box in the
side of the trees, and then with a
light axe, with handle ten feet long,
cutting a grove up the tree. This
box will hold pint or moro, and fills
and is collected one each day. Resin
is the residium that collects in the
distilling, and is placed on large plat
forms to dry and harden before being
put in barrels for shipment.
We arrived at Wilmington at $50
P. NJ, having seen in tho days ride
but one good section of country
south OF Petersburgh, that being the
valley of the Roanoke, in which lived
the brilliant and eccentric John
Randolph, and whom, we arc told,
once owned seven miles of river front
not far from where we crossed. The
valleys of the Tar and Neusc rivers
are not wide or valuable for cultiva-
ton, where we saw them.
Wilmington is an old looking town,
with nothing very striking in its ap-
pearance. Here tho Cape Fear river
is quito wide and deep, admitting of
large vessels whose masts were tow
oring about us as we crossed it.
Upon taking tho cars again on it's
south side, we met with Jos. A.
Worth, brother of ex-Gov. WORTH
lie is a frst-class gentleman and bus
mess man; lives near Fayetteville
and has line of steamers plying be
tween there and Wilmington. He
was on his way to Florida, to buy q
sugar plantation. He and his broth
ers, in connection with some Bosto.
mans, are working gold mines in
Randolph county to profit, and he
represents that all that is wanting to
develop tho richest gold fields there
on this continent, is capital and skill
cd labor. His Company employs
Welch miners principally. We had
the pleasure and advantage of his
company to Charleston. He is thor.
oughly acquainted with the Carolinas
and their people, and gave us a great
deal of valuable information. He
looks at everything with business
eye, and gives it as his opinion that
the former slaves can be educated
and proftably employed as frecmen.
Said his inducement to go to Florida
was that some of his acquaintance
thore who owned fine sugar planta-
lions were discouraged, and wanted
to sell out cheap; that after he bot
one of their splendid plantations he
would show them that the negroes
would work for him.
Arrived at Charleston, we strolled
around sightseeing. Went pretty
direct to a small park on the bay,
where. out a few miles in the harbor,
we could see Forts Sumpter, Pickens,
Moultrie and Wagner, none of them
looking very fort-like, except Stump
ter, and even it looks badly battered
and Scared, as does also this famous
old city. None other that wo saw
shows so much the havoc of war;
Whole squares still lie in ruins, COW
cred with the debris of burnt build
ings and their contents. Many fine
residences fronting on the beautiful
bay and harbor, are standing unoc-
cupied, while others are partly filled,
portions of them being badly dam
aged by shot and shell. Nowhere in
the United States, is there such per