The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1885-01-17
Our North Carolina Trip

On the Goth of December we took oui
seat in u Lehigh Valley car for Philadel.
phia, on our way to North Carolina. ar.
irving at the City of Brotherly Love III,
same evening. Next morning We pro
ceeded to Baltimore; after q stop in thai
growing city and great business centre,
on the evening of Jan. 1st, we took pas
sage on the magnificent Bay Line Steam
er, Carolina. commanded by thaD
prince Of good fellows, Capt. WIllets.
enjoyed delightful tnp down the bay
to Portsmouth. N. G, stopping at Fort.
ress Monroe and Norfolk; reaching
Portsmouth in % hours from the time o.
leaving Baltimore, distance OF IT'S
miles. The Carolina" is fiue boat Of
S3l tons register. aud one o! the best
se4-going in the bay service.
Portsmouth is quite busy town op-
poSite Norfolk, on the n. G. side of tht
James river. with decidedly mixeG
p p'pulation-the colored people appeared
to us to prcdominate, and among them
wsre some OF the most miserable speci
mems OF humanity We have ever met
their clothing being one mass of ragt
aud tatteis-tied together with pieces OF
string-almGst SEAMLESS aud buttouless;
others again present more DECENT ap.
pearance, few APEING the style and dig.
nifty OF lheir white "brethern aud sis.
tern" with ludicrous effect. But the
cars roll into the depot, and we step in'o
the sm oking car, which il rapidly filled
with a very miscellaneous clrgo--em.
bracIng among the number the purely
white, the jew and Gentle. the intense
ly black and the mnlatto; aud, what al
ded to tho grotesqucness of tho assem-
blage were long, cone.stsmmed pipes Of
the two negresses, which they puffed
away at with an uucliousness that would
do credit to the cold man amiable" ol
tae CARBON ADVOCATE, in fact we had al
most concluded !bat We were novice il
the art OF PUTTING tobacco smoke; but
as rule the eolcred people are almost
servie in their politeness, even to theiI
own color, especially is this so if the on,
addressed has been fitted ont by one O
those merchant dealers who guarante,
to fit like IL paper on the wall"
The route from Portsmouth to Weldon
is through a sparsely settled and wei
wore country. There are a larg
lumber of cltsnngs along tho line,
greater portion of which are cut up int
small homtsteads aud occupied by ne
} groes, who seem TO be content with tn
most primitive arrange nents. both as t
domicile and to the accomplishment Q
; the work Of the husbandman. Thei
5 dwellings comprise the msanest kind o:
one-story log building, and few of theG
t possessing glass in the wiudows.-wood
+ en- shutters keeping out both heat an
> cold. Scattered along the line are quit
! number OF homes of u better class, OF
I cupiei by white people, many of whoI
= appear to be recent settlers from III
: North, who are introducing more moo
a ern buildings and implements Of labol
! which must eventually show its infuenC
j upon the colored race, who at this tim
I are very low in the scale of human civi
7 i2ltion, and what is worse they seel
content to so remain, The land appear
: to be rcb, and with proper eultur
would yield most bountiiul harvest.
1 From Weldon 10 Raleigh is our neg
D stage, adistancs Of 100 miles, the surfac
5 Of the country Presenting tho sam
3 'qualid apgsarasee, the villages con
Frising perhaps one, two, three or s