The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1885-11-26
Up IN CATAWBA
WE IIND ALITTLE TOW Full
III 81 ~ ES> ACTIVITY.
Hickory Makes Famous Her Thrifty Lit
tie self BY Polishing up the Products of
the Forest and the ficid.
Especial Cor. STATE CHRONICLE !

Tor If one OF It's churches TO me YESTERDAY
II would be mile and half high Thi,
remark is literally true \ few years az
thls Sprlghtly Piedmcnt town could hoa>,
OF railroad warehouse, a blacksmith
shop and might add sign board snd
plIe OF rocks. Now when YOU get oil
I the train, commanding buildings greet
your gaze In every direction. Handsome
\ brick stores tobacco factories. costly dwell
iugs college buildings, wagon and other
manufacturing establishments are Just
such evidences Of business activity as j.
necessary 10 stamp on the mind of the
stranger t1at comes this Way an impres-
/ sion that Is wholesome and lasting
Hickory hasn't sprung up like some
/ towns We hear of out west. where the fel-
/ low went out possum hunting and during
/ the night, being pursued by bear, went
up a tree. dropped of TO sleep and next
day found himself in the way of parties
putting up telephone wires through a town
that had been built all around him while
| he was asleep. 1t has taken the combined
effort on the part OF It's business men 10
make Hickory what IT Is. 1t is not IA Raj
elgh, nor a Charlotte, nor is it yet awhile
Durham or a Winston, but il is An active
and healthy little sister of theirs, with
/ bunNant hopes, lofty ambitions and "A de
termination TO rival either of them in pro
sressive thought and industry. Situated
IN the fertile Piedmont Valley on the ex
treme eastern slope Of the Blue Ridge its
| surrounding lands are rich and productive.
Its climate is so salubrious and its water
50 pure that disease diminishes like mist
IN the sunlight. Towering peaks of pic
| turesque grandeur almost touch the sky in
| the distance and lend their blended beauty
as the enchanted gazer casts his eye
| across the intervening glens.
The planters of Catawba diversity their
| crops to greater extent than probably
| any other county III the state, and if you
| remain i'll Hickory (Which j. their principal
| place of trade) two days you will see wag
| ons drive up loaded with wheat, others
| bringing cotton, others with that bright
| velvety tobacco for which Piedmont Caro-
| lima is so noted, while still others will
| bring to market wagon loads of fine fruit
and all kind Of country produce. They
are a go easy class of people, not i'll any
hurry to get rich but yet they live at home
and board at the same place and in conse-
| qucnce are independent and happy. If
| prices are too low they are able to hold
| them until the market advances. And
| this, said a leading business man of
| Hickory, lis one reason that business just
now is dull. Our people, said he, make
their own provisions, make very few debts
and hei ce are independent, and whenever
cotton, tobacco and their other products
are too low they hold them until prices
| get better"
IickOry's Business Interests.
Hickory doesn't have to depend alone on
| its merchantile interests, nor on its manu-
| featuring establishments, but it fosters
them both together and one so helps the
other that the natural result of profit and
| foil bJ,ci
| here are not near 50 antagOnistc as at
| many places; of course there is a spirit
OF business rivalry, but it is pleasant
and friendly and each of them stand
| ready to aid the other in every legti-
| mate effort looking to the upbuilding of
| the town or its business interests. TO oillus-
trate, Mr. J. G. Hall, who is the leading
genius in Hickorys progressive affairs, a
man of means and of considerable bust
ness, consents for the people to elect him
| Mayor, and for a nominal salary gives one
hour of his valuable time every day to the
| faithful discharge of his official duties
Another, Mr. A. A. Shuford, one of the
most successful merchants in Western
| Carolina, consents to being appointed
| Street Commissioner and for no salary at
| all superintendS all the street improve
| ments. If one merchant at any time needs
| a little assistance and another is able to
assist him he does it and does it cheerfully
The town is rapidly going ahead. With
| in the past year four handsome brick
stores have been completed, while planning
mills, sash and blind factory and several
other manufacturing enterprises have been
established. Unlike many even larger
| towns Hickory has we'll classified trade
| In the grocery line, Messrs. Hall Bros
and Messrs. Latta d Beard, each occupy
| ing large brick buildings carry every
thing in the grocery line. In dry goods,
| the stores of Messrs A. A. Shuford Il Co..
and of Messrs. Field Bros would be orna-
ments to any town. The clothing empo-
rum Of Messrs. Hill & Hill is the popular
headquarters for all Piedmont gents who
wish to don nobby and stylish suits. Mr..
j. 7. Moore, a former Raleighite, presides
over large furniture store and his trade
reaches out to all the adjacent towns.
! Messrs. Link, McComb & Co., are among
| the successful and popular young business
men, and their recently established bust
ness is growing as Hickory grows The
drug trade has a worthy representative in
| Mr.. 0. NJ. ROySter. Two well established
newspapers are published in the town, the
| Piedmont Press and the Caroinian. The
Press is ably conducted by Messrs. Bryan
& Tomlinson, and Bro. Murrill, of the
Carolinian, has made his paper an advo-
cate of temperance and don't hesitate to
''speak out in meetin,' if he finds the
boys imbibing too much of the ardent
Schools and Colleges.
Until recently Hickory's educational in
terests had not kept apace with its other
advancement. Now, however, it can
boast of a number of notable and worthy
educational institutions. Chief among
them is the Catholic Convent, a slightly
and commodious building, accommodating
several hundred pupils and here you find
young ladies ftoul ne5rly every State in
the South, who receive learning from a
number of sisters who have consecrated
themselves to the training of the young.
In beautiful grove on the suburbs of the
town, commanding view that inspires
the young mind as it dives down into the
mysteries of rhetoric and science, stands
Claremont College. Not a very large
building, but one of the handsomest in the
State. This excellent school is presided
over by Mrs. Bonney, from New York.
who is assisted by her young daughter. a
graduate of Wellesley College. Miss Conk-
lin and Miss Howard, of New York, alse
graduates of Wellesley, and Miss Cobb
the accomplished sister of Prof Collier
Cobb, Of Wilson. This school is well man
aged and has promising future. The
Hickory High School for young men ha:
been recently established and starts of
with bright prospects.
Manufactories.
hn iaIn = :.