The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1879-11-06
Among the Mountains.

tt ftttN ~ iIC - I tt -
the view OF sketching The Land of the
Sky for the purpose Of illustrating Mrs.
Rebecca Harding Davis articles that are t.
appear in HdrperS -NGGa-tae.
1t has been reserved for a new diScoverer,
an heroic adventurer. a rival, IN fact, oi
Baron Munchausen, TO unearth this dread
ful horde Of bandits and see them in every
day life, and especially while they are III
their ~plcaSantest mood. Look at the follow
ing; it has an Italian tinge. with Fra Dia-
VIOLA aud his followers in the foreground
In the evening the other men tethered
their horses near the camp, and lay around
on the grass smoking. None OF them spoke
to ne. except the one who cane into the
tent. After supper be started 70 leave the
tent, but had not gone more thana few PAGES
when he turned and deliberately fired two
shots at Inc with his revolver. | took up a
repeater rife with which MessrS. Harper had
supplied me-, but seeing the other men get
ting on their feet. retrained from using It.
What did that man shoot for?' asked.
No one answered for . while, and at length
one said, Zoos he knows no better: at which
they all laughed.
He ''refrained from using it = and to be
mistaken for a revenue officer! No moon
sinner would have made such a mistake
as that. The battle would have commenced
lOuS before THAT.
Yet this hero never lost his nerve: be was
ready to do or die:
1.-The 'moonshiners' continued to watch US
wherever we went, and the guide got scared
| and refused to remain with me, or [ should
have gone ahead into the Indian reservation.
| met with several Incidents of a similar cha
racter, and you can have no idea OF the dan
ger-Well, not exactly danger, but continual
annoyance that | have been subjected TO-
When Mr.. Graham was asked by the IN
teryiewer if he thought they really intended
violence to him, he replied:
Il don't know. They seemed principally
DESTROYS Of soaring me, and to some extent |
must admit that they succeeded. | would
rather fight a Sioux indian any time than
one of these ''moonshiners - they are so
mean and cowardly. They lie in ambush day
and night and might take a pop at one any
time. Whenever they hear of a stranger
they suspect him of being an officer, and
thirty or forty farmers will lie in ambush
and dodge him from place to place. | heard
Of a great many having been killed IN this
way"
Graveyards must be thick and pretty
well-filled out in jackson. If this state
Of things continues a year or two longer the
farmers will have to cmigrate and the State
fence in the county for Il public cemetery.
Mr.. Graham then goes on with the oft
repeated rigmarole about political persecu-
tions, gathered from hearsay, and then the
champion liar breaks out again and con-
troverts his previous statements. In speak
ing of some alleged political murders, he
says:
II could name the places and the persons
in some cases, but | should object to doing
80, because the Tribune is read down there,
and it. would lead to trouble. Several
Republicans, mentioned to me thew thought
of leaving the South, not because their bus
mess was not prosperous, but because Of the
contemptuOus treatment they received from
Southerners. One man has a sawmill and
as much work as he can manage says he
shall leave this year in consequence OF
threats that have been made against him.
knowing that | represented a New York
paper, some Of the Democrats were very
kind to me. 1t was common for them to
say: Here, boys, this newspaper man is
from the North, and Mast and the 7riHuue
will give US HI when he gets back.
In regard to the Walhalla murder. Of
which you had along account. a leading
Democrat introduced me to the crowd at
the hotel after this manner: 'sNow. gen
tlemen here is Mr. Graham from the North.
and can write this thing up for US. You
see, Mr.. Graham, that the Northern people |
lidNC III e Ludl Tue man was SlCt because !
he was a Republican. It was nothing Of the
sort simply a little scrimmage about some
property. The man did have some intiu-
ence with the negroes at one time, but At
the time he was shot he had no influence so |
tar as the Republican party was CONCERN
and 1T Is absurd to say he was shot for
that"
L had not troubled my head about the af-
fair, but Its being pressed upon me in this
manner led me to make a few Inquiries. and
ION the statements of the Democrats them
selves, L feel convinced that the man was.
shot to get rid Of him because he had inan.
ence."
How the Ir1bune is to reconcile Mr.. Ora
ham 5 statement with the fact that many
Northern men have purchased farms in the
otate. ana others are looking for suitable
locations; that the head of the Northern
immigration bureau, a Northern man him
sell, advises Northern farmers to come and
settle there, IS one Of the unexplained mvs-
0r,a, 49,