Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1878-06-28

Life In North Carolina.
HIGH MoUSTAISs-How THE PEOPLE LIVE
SOME OF THEIR PECULIARITIEs- PIETY AND
wHIsKEY.
A correspondent of the New York sun has
been soiourning in the regions OF western
North Carolina. Some of his pictures of
scenery and life are very interesting. and We
cffsr no apology for copying freely from
them
WILD MOUNTAIN REGION.
Southwestern North Carolina Is aptly term
ed the land of the skies. Marion, Mcdowell
county, is the centre of an amphitheatre of
noun :ains From % TO 30 cloud-capped
peaks are in sight The most prominent Is
Mount Mitchell, 100 feet above sea level,
and ], 700 feet higher than the White noun
tains of New Hampshire. Chngmans peak.
% feet lower pierces the sky like pyramid
n few miles away. Mount Llnyllle, Grand
father mountain. the Roam Hickory Peak,
Table Rock and the famous Bald mountain
stand on the horizon like grim sentinels.
The scenery is magnificent. and certainly un-
surpassed this side the Rocky mountains.
From the top of the Roam the tourist catches
a glimpse of nine States. The mountain |
ridges of Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama |
face him on the west. On the north Inc |
peaks of Otter are reared above the tobacco |
ribbed Aleghenies mark the southeastern |
boundary OF West Virginia. The mountain |
spurs of Georgia and of the Palmetto state |
stretch away to the south, and the red gold |
belt of North Carolina is spread to the east. |
Bright seams of verdure mark the fertile val |
leys OF the Yadkin, Catawba, Broad, French |
Broad, Great Pedee, Wateree and Savannah |
rivers. Springs gush from the ground be |
meath the feet of the tourist, sending their |
,rot.r- 70 tho onlf of Mpyicn VIA the leuneS- |
see. Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and within |
a stones throw a purling brook starts for the |
Atlantic ocean by way of the Iadkin, Wa |
teree and Santee. Ii Is a country OF vast |
water power. There are cascades at nearly |
every turn in the mountain roads. and crys- |
tai streams filled with speckled trout irrlgate
every section Of land. The country is fairly |
settled. Grass grows luxurantly upon the |
slopes, and the valleys quiver with golden |
gram. The piping OF quail and whirring OF |
peasants are heard, and rabbits, foxes, deer, |
bears and wolves are killed by the hunter
HOW The PEOPLE LIVE.
The inhabitants are honest, but indoent. |
They lack the skill and enterprise of the |
Yankee Many of them work one or two |
days a week, and spend the remainder of the |
time limiting and fishing. Occasionally an |
energetic fellow buys a iurm, erects frame |
house and settles among them. They hail
him with ioy. and his neighbors usually work |
for him and take their pay in corn and bacon
in preference to cultivatiug their own land.
A few plant little gardens and raise shallots
lettuce. peas, beans, radishes, beets and cab
bapes, but the greater number of the popula-
ton live on rice. grits, corn bread, and ba-
con. and rarely taste vegetable. Eggs and |
chickens change the bIll of fare, and are
washed down with muddy coffee or butter
milk. The wives OF the farmers say that |
L. III. Etra
asks for 1t look at him IN astonishment. The |
cooking is unpalatable Everything swims
in grease One kind lady laid a dish OF ap-
ple sauce before me with the remark that 1t
was something good. alt isn't stewed in
water" she added "a cooked 1t myself in
pure grease" Cuttings, or the entrllls of
hogs carefully cleaned and boiled seem to be
a favorite dish. They have disagreeable
smell. and cannot vouch for their taste
PRETTY GIRLS.
The men all wear white shirts and home
spun garments. The most Of them 60 with
out under clothing summer and winter.
Black felt hats uniquely cooked are univer-
sally worn The women are clothed In PLAIN
calico gowns. Flounces and furbelows are
scarce and corsets and stays below par.
Gingham dresses with girdled waists nd the
big buckles SO fashionable years ago COM
plete the Sunday toilet. The girls ride to
church on ln1stbAck ihihtih,
brother, and lovers, shading their faces
from the rays cf the sun with large yellow
parasols Prettier girls were never seen.
They have regular features, small mouths,
ripe lips, delicate compilations, the whitest
teeth. and the tiniest feet. Once married. |
however, they lose these charms. Maternity |
and hard work drag them down. The houses
are filled with little children, and family |
without little ones is unknown. | saw no
nd no of suuft-lif.-
ping The taint of slavery remains, TOR no
household, however poor, WAS without Its ne
gro servant
POPULAR FECULnEIrIFs.
With all their shyness the natives mani
fest a reasonable amount of inquisitiveness. |
Is this the road to Bald mountain Z" in
quired of an old lady wedding bed Of shall
lots.
"Hit are. she answered "Lut what mout
be your name ?
The name was given BE so kind as to |
continued.
"A right smart nine mile" she replied, |
but whar mout you come FROM"
Il came from New York. Do you think | |
can find accommodations for the night at |
Mrs. AIurphyst
Certain sure" she responded, 'but did
you leave New York this morning :"
'ph 10, shd /, smlllnB, L leit on iueh-
day evening Do you think | can get corn |
for my horse at Mrs Murphy's? -
Certain, she returned, but mout you
know a man in New York named Jones Z
Il know several by that name, l replied.
I'VE once had postmaster named Jones. Is |
that the gentleman =
Il reckon he warnt no gentleman. she |
said My daughter she sent him 20 cents
iu a letter Tor pair of are-rings and when |
l. a. l...t- Lraal md
made her ares sore.
She was about to go into the house and
show me her earrings, but ! thanked her and
bade her good evening
The mouniaineer5 have quaint way of
expressing themselves. In beginning SEN
tence with the pronoun lit they say hit -
and this seems to Zoe the only word in which
they interpolate am h.
''Im dogged II 1t ain hot, certain, sand
one man as he saw me mopping my brow.
called his attention to rOseate fat girl who
was watching our movements. she feels
the effects OF the hot weather right powerful
certain. lac ponded.
A rnooushiner who had lost his umbrella,
became nervous and fretful Its d d sell
dom what's become Of that umberelly y he
exclaimed. ! suggested that tho landlord
might have mislald IT. The landlord he
repeated why he don't know how to keep
hotel in spite o hell.
LIFE INSURANCE AND CIRCUS.
The simplicity Of the mountainers is re-
markable life insurance agent strayed
among them seven years ago, and induced a
Mr.. Murphy to take out policy for 81. 500.
The people were aghast. They misunder-
stood the theory Of life insurance They
looked upon it as some coltriyance by which
man cOuld keep himself alive forever in de
fance of the will Of God that he should die
4 4, IL, 4.
his impiety and irreverence in not trusting
implicitly in the Almighty But after he
died, and his widow had received the insu-
rance money and erected an unpainted sum
mer house over his grave the spirit OF the
mountaineers changed Insurance agents
did a thriving business, and the head OF near
ly every family In the mountains has taken
out policy. Two or three years ago Marion
was blessed with a circus. Ii was the first
exhibition Of the kind after the war, Monn-
taineers within a circle of 40 miles flocked TO
the little village. They slept and cooked IN
the open air. Many of them brought great
bags of chestnuts and sold them to the mer-
chants at % cents bushel to get money for
the purchase of tickets The market was
glutted and the nuts could not bo given
away When the circus opened and the
band began to play scores of the mountain
eers with bags of chestnuts on their backs
besieged the ticket wagons and endeavored
to trade them off for tickets sharper
opened booth near the tent lie exhibited
paper box with three compartments, placed
two one-dollar bills and fifty in the box be
fore the eyes Of the spectators, and charged
them five dollars a choice. They went for
the fifty with rush One man lost over
eighty dollars brought to town to pay his own
and his neighbors' taxes. A presiding elder
mortgaged his mule, and was cleaned out of
fifteen dollars. The sharper was coming
money when an old squirrel shooter took
him by the neck. saying "Dog my buttons
if you put the fifty in the box at all He
opened the trap without delay, and ont drop