The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1883-10-06
THOMAS NJ. HOLT
HOW HIS CAREER PROVES NEW
ORDER OF THINGS.
The Reward that Awaits the Men Who
Leave the Professions for the Indus

HAw RIVER, October 2.-We have had
so nany lawyers in North Carolina,
many doctors, so many politicians. and 80
many men who strive 10 win distinction
and a livelihood by what they doubtless
term ''genteel employment" that it is
with genuine relish one meets with a man
who has turned aside from the professions
and chosen purely practical career and
won success. Such man as thi. is Col.
Thomas NJ. Holt. the owner and operator
of the Granite Cotton Mills. situated at
! this place.
/ Col. Holt, while q junior at Chapel Hill
! in 1851, became possessed Of the desire to
/ lead the life of manufacturer, and con-
/ sequently he went TO work in his fathers
factory. giving special attention to the
! making of cotton yarns and fabrics. His
early training and personal attention TO
| business explain the present popularity of
! his goods with consumers everywhere
| He started in mill which had only 52S
| spindles, but which to-day contains S,i24
| spindles and us looms, giving constant
employment to nearly three handred men,
women and children. These occupy hfty
or more we'll constructed and neatly
| painted brick and frame buildings stu
ated near the mills. Besides these dwell
! ings, there is a five-story Touring mill that
! does an extensive business; large store
house fitted with general merchandise,
! from which the operatives and neighbors
! get their supplies; an elegant and convent
emily arranged office, and sundry store
and warehouses. To complete the pic
ture there is an attractive and comfortable
chapel, in which Col. Holt and his family,
the operatives and neghbors gather to-
gether for religious worship, the pulpit be-
ing filled at the expense of the munificent
manufacturer.
The tourist, as he rides in the cars across
| the bridge which spans Haw River, has
m a
nary lOveliness. Far away extends the
valley of the Haw, clothed in luxuriant
grain, with here and there a patch of
meadow-land. The broad stream of water
pouring over the dam far below him,
mingles its splashing noise with the busy
hum Of the shuttles near at hand. The
magnificent factory building, the flour
mills, the neat cottages Of the thrifty ope-
ratives, and the numerous other buildings
all grouped together, make all interesting
picture; and if he be a tourist, not 80 the
| manor bOrn,' a sensation OF surprise is
apt to take hold of him. If he be a native
Carolinian, feeling of pride will fill his
| bosom, and the name OF the gentleman
who has fathered all the enterprise, viii
ever after be fresh in his memory apd
warm in his esteem.
On the south side of the bridge, sitna1ed
on beautiful sloping knoll, is Col. Holt's
residence. It is a princely mansion, and
is doubtless the most elegantly finished
and furnished country dwelling inj the
State. The grounds cover twelve Jcres,
are most highly improved, and ornautnted
with embellishments seldom SEEN in
Southern country place. The buildings,
| including the factories, houses and the
| residence were built at a cost exceeding
$3.50, 900, while Col. Holt himself is worth
much over half million dollars, the
greater part of which is the profits made
from cotton manufacture. Il
When Mr.. Henry Grady, of tie Atlanta
Constitution, visited MoreheaJ City last
pleasant conversation asketJ him these
questions: -
IF you were young felbw just start
ing out in life, would you a4bpt the same
course of life you have fon fwed?'
''Certainly," replied the folonel, 'noth-
spinning and weaving o'/cotton, when it
is properly looked afterI 1t is assured
wealth and independenf to any man of
intelligence who will attempt it near the
cotton field. To show rbu my faith in it,
my son is now working in factory in
finished his study of the card room. He
will soon be competent to take charge of
a mill, and then he will have one"
This young man left home of his own
accord, and went to this factory with the
intention of becoming practical ma
| cnllllSC ana manu1dcCuTcT. Dy uIHC u Ills
own push and perseverance he worked his
way up from the anvil, and true to his
fathers prediction, is one of firm now
having a factory built at Company Shops,
which promises to be quite lucrative en-
terprise. If only this example of father
and son GOULD be appreciated by every
father and young man i'm North Carolina.
and followed by hundreds of young men,
North Carolina would soon great
changes.
Wien Mr.. Edward Atkinson, in his ad-
dress at Atlanta, during the Cotton Expo
sition, stated that he had educated his two
sons at the Boston Institute OF Technol-
ogy. and that both had served an appren-
ticeship as mechanics, he was greeted
with applause A North Carolenian, who
had applauded very heartily, said to an
other: That is the true doctrine, and
am in favor of everybody in North Caro-
lima taking the same cOurse-eXcept my
SELF This reminds me that once heard,
several years ago, very cOgent expOstu-
lation by distinguished Vlrginian, on
the importance of raising our boys me-
chanics, artisans. and practical business
men. The speaker himself, however, was
a lawyer, and he had four sons, one of
whom was an editor, one clergyman,
one physician, and the fourth a lawyer.
Nevertheless, the advice was good, if the
practice was different from his doctrine.
and the occasion to follow such advice is
more urgent now than it was then, for the
liberal professions are all crowded to
.~erfowing.
J.. But to return to my subject: In addi-
ton to his manufacturing business Col.
Holt is the owner of the well-known plan
tation of ''Linwood.'' at the station of the
: same name on the North Carolina Rail
road. a few miles from Lexington. 1t is
here that he raises such vast quantities OF
wheat, clover, hay and improved cattle
and sheep, that familiar to every at
tendant at the State Fairs at Raleigh.
Col. Holt, as everybody knows, has long
. been the President of the North Carolina
State Agricultural Society, which un-
! doubte1ly owes much of its success to his
shrewd management and openhanded lib
, erality.
There is no man in North Carolina who
has attained more complete success in his
SDacialtv than Tom Holt. He is our rep