Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1873-10-03
Columbus County and the lower
Cape Gear.

COIU kli bus County ana tec Lower
Cape Gear.
There are now eight steamboa on
this river running to Fayetteville and
owned by Fayetteville men, viz the
Hatrt, North State, Jfu1chison, Cor
e,7aor Worth, IVacc, Ice, Cumberland
and Juniper.
These eight steamers cost $4,000
or more, averaging near 500, 1000 apiece.
Some of them cost 10000, while
others cost 81, 0G0 The boats make
| each two trips q week from Fa.ette-
vile and back, at a cost o. S75 to 800
per trip. The time is usually - to Is
hours from here to Wilmington, 112
miles, and fare 81, including bedroom
and meals. Altogether this is the most
delightful and cheap route Of travel
in North Carolina or i'll the Southern
country. The boat officers are very
polite and the table fare is good.
| Columbus county IS low and swampy
and thinly settled. The recent i'm
mense rains have flooded the country
till the continuous lakes, creeks and
| ponds look like an ocean, except that
trees and bushes are to be seen. It is
said all the bridges and mills in CO.
| lumbus and Baden arc about washed
| away. Several neighbOrhoods were
prevented from attending court OH
| account of high water and bridges be-
ing washed away. For six or eight
miles in one place along the Whining
ton, Columbia &, Augusta Railroad
formerly Wilmington & Manchester
Railroad) the water was from one To
! three feet deep all over the woods and
swamps. Nearly the whole of Tues
day it rained in torrents. Still there
| was q large crowd at Whiteyille on
Tuesday.
Columbus county is one of the larg-
est in the State in extent of territory
and has many thousand acres of the
finest farming land. Timber, shingles
and slaves with turpentine make up
the leading business. though the pres
ent crop of cotton may be ZOO bales.
The business Of cypress shingles is an
important one in this county. One
gentleman, Col. II. B. Short, of Elem
ington. has sixty or seventy thousand
acres of land, and he does an immense
shingie business, as most of his land
abounds IN cypress.
Col. Short was formerly of the Green
Swamp Land Company, in Brunswick,
but nowls principal owner and operator
of the White Marsh Company. He has
been very successful in business, and
is one of the most energetic business
men of that section. Pennington, the
village where he resides, is on the W.,
C. & A. r. R., and just at Waccamaw
Lake, beautiful place and fashion
able resort. The Lake is four or five
miles wide and eight or ten long; is
filed with delicious fish and affords
fine sailing and scenery. One of
the best hotels in The State is there,
managed by the well known Mrs
| Brothers.
Columbus has 1890 OF 2, 900 voters,
and Conservative majority of 400 TO
500. The county has no debt except
few jury tickets and items for poor
house, and such like, for the present
year, and county taxes are hardly
heard of. The people are plain, intel
Ilgent, Woodworking and thoroughly
Democratic. And they were Demo
cratic even in old times and believe in
the old-fashioned, honest doctrines Of
Andrew Jackson, Thos Jefferson and
old Father Richie. of the Richmond
Enquirer.
Much rice is cultivated, and here we
found rice cooked right. Every grain
stood out to itself and a bushel or SO
was cooked for each man. In fact that
IS the way to cook rice. We saw fields
of rice now ready for cutting, but the
floods of rain still keep it under water
and it may be damaged There are a
miles of railroad in the county, and n
large quantity Of tar is made for mar
ket- The people are generally il a
good condition, and care very little
about Jay Cooke, or Henry Clews or
TIL" banks and speculatiOns.
Whltevllle is a beautiful place, with
a population of some 400. 1t is a mile
from the railroad, and if the New
York, Norfolk and Charleston Rail
road, which IS now surveyed that far,
goes there, Whiteville will become a
large place. Col. Baldwin keeps an
excellent hotel, and the citizens are
generally very liberal and enterpris-
ing. The Whiteville Wine Company
has been very successful. Il is com
po~ed of u. p High, II. c. Rockwell
and L. 5. Memory, and they make
5000 gallons year. They also make
~ barrels of fine grape brandy, and it
Is certainly good for we tried it. They
! buy grapes from the surrounding
| country and make into wine, and have
four small vineyards among themselves.
| The wine Is from the sclppernong.
| and III all some 20, 600 gallons are pro-
duced there. This company sells vines,
and their principal business is a vine
nursery. They sell 100 choice rooted
plants at so They have two kinds of
VINE and most excellent brandies.
HE Wilmington, Columbia & Au-
| gusta railroad IS a well managed in
| stltutlon. Trains run faster on that
road than any other road in the State.
and the cars a"e very comfortable. 1t
| Is but seldom in the Northern States
| that you find cars running faster than
on this road. This is the first railroad
we ever Travelled on, and of course we
feel some interest in it.
1t was then the Wilmington d Man
chester r. r., and was built hy VIII
mlngton merchants and South Caro-
lima planters.
These large planters took their
hands and worked out contracts on
the road and built it across the Pee
Zee and to the Wateree at Man
chester. III miles from Wilmington.
Gen. W. W. Harlec, J. Eli Greco Of
Marion, Gen. Chandler. Spann.
Mayors, Cooper, Manning & Co Of
sumter, and Walker, Wallace, McRae,
FanBokkelen, DeRosset & Co. of vii.
mlngton, figured in those DAYS.
When that Railroad was built in
lSoo,3l, the stage line and telegraph
was broken up and removed. It was
the great connecting link of Southern
and Northern Railroads, and made at
once the great course of travel.
Wilmington is steadily growing. and
has now population Of fifteen to
eighteen thousand, though twenty
thousand is claimed The business is
certainty enlarging, and many new and
cosby buildings are going up. Among
these buildings We may mention the
new Bank of New Hanover. stores IT
g. r. French, d. \. Smith, Giles i
Murchlson and others.
In Wilmington business we find our
old friend f. w. Kerchner among the
very largest merchants, and Williams
* Hutchinson, willard Bros, All
ram X Nollers, &C., are all doinga
very large business, and also others.