New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1870-08-20
YANKEE ENTERPRISE IN NORTH
CAROLINA.
"A Visit TO Abbottsburg-Ifs Lumber and
Manufactures-The Negro as a Work.

"A Visit to AbbOtfsburg-Its Lumber an.
Manufactures-The Negro as Work
.ineman.
Correspondence New York Tribune]
WnMINGToN, August 8-This morning
took the train of the Charlotte road for Alb
b0ttsburg, with view to the inspection O
an anomaly in North Carolina, namely, al
enterprising village The ride thither wa,
to me an extremely interesting one from
the direction Of the country traversed, sc
unlike what one sees in the North. Through
sswamps of cypress, juniper and gum trees
hung with moss festOOns, over dank and
eluggish pools of water below, amid piney
woods with trees barled and cut for tur
pcntine, the road took its course with now
ana then stop at little station made up OF
a few sheds, q few white lOungers, few
naked negro youngsters, and few active,
sharp-snouted pigs nOsing about at their
own sweet will. A three hours ride over
such swamps as saw gives QUE an unusual
sense of the superiority of railroad travel
over other methods. While dashing along
in Northern train you generally see good
roads and pleasant drives, and with Dex-
ter at your service, might approximate
railroad speed on a dirt road. But cy-
press swamp is painless and trackless, ex-
cept to the railroad, and it is most salts
factory sensation that of rolling smoothly
and rapidly over stretch of way where
Dexter himself could only splash and floun-
der in hopeless decentralization
reached Abbottsbmg at halfpast nine
O'Clock A. NJ. That place looks like new
village out West-started by Yankees.
The first thing that strikes ones eve is a
neat new store, one story in height, about
thirty by sixty feet in dimensions, and
painted white, with delicately tinted drab
window shutters. Then several large frame
structures are to be seen in the vicinity,
with numbers of small wooden dwelling
houses. Things look new. and there is the
thriving sound of circular saws in the air.
stepped over from the store at the station
to an ample One-storied house with We
randall near at hand, where found Senator
Abbott, who is the head and front of this
enterprise, sitting on the stoop, l made
known my errand; and was very courteously
shown about the place. Abbottsburg is
now five years old. In 1865 Senator
Abbott began operations there in the heart
of an uninhabitated pine forest Now he has
several hundred acres Of land cleared, a vii
lags built with population of about five
hundred, and several manufacturing estab-
ishments to give it life. Business is car
ried on under two corporate names-the
Biaden Land Company and the Cape Frear
building Company-the former doing the
numbering and saving, the latter the manu-
featuring business. 1 first inspected the
Lane Companys stables, a large white
building, with accommodations fer some
thirty mules work is done entirely with
these annimalsI: then the saw mill. with its
huge circular saws for cutting up logs. and
its lesser affairs for smaller WORK Huoe
logs of pitch and yellow piue lay On the
ground outside waiting their turn to be cut
up, and paths Of sawdust in every direction
attested the cutting that had already been
done. 1t is the intention TO utilize the saw
dust as fuel as soon as the requisite changes
can be made in the boilers and heating APP
paratIIs.
The Building Company occupies a large
swo-story edifce. A shaft one hundred ana
fiftv feef in length, aud the longest south OF
the Potomac. driven by steam, of course,
runs through the lower room. aud to this a
very large number OF machines can be at
tached. All varieties OF Woodworking ma
chimes, IRON the planer TO tho; scroii-saw,
are already in operation, and there is room
for . considerable increase in number with
GU. crowding. This company manufacture