Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1888-03-13
Aailn gress unit 9akotaiaa
TENNESSEE M0ukTAinEERs.

TENNESSEE M0ukTAiNEERs.
People Wine Live I'm WindowIess
Cabins but Have Black walnut
Fences.
81 always had al idea that the stories
we read about the ignorance OF the peo-
pie living IN the mountain regions OF
Tennessee were exaggerations," said a
Chicago man who lately made q visit to
the southeastern part OF that state. But
nov | know better. These reports are
not only true, but the facts have not
been half told. I am not easily aston
ished, but / confess / was astonished
by what / saw in Tennessee. Why,
there are lots Of men down there who
have grown old and have raised families
who can neither read nor write, and
have eve in their lives been far
enough away from their homes TO lose
sight OF the smoke that curled ont of
their chimneys. I know there was d
time when people lived in houses that
he'd no windows in them but / never
dreamed that such o state OF af AIRS ex-
listed in this enlightened age. Yet
there are plenty OF such habitations in
Tennessee. And the people who live In
them sre quite as much representatives
of civilization as their dwellings,. They
have DO knowledge whatever of the ex-
~istence of a world that extends beyond
the range of their vision On q clear day,
I will say, however, that with them
ignorance is decidedly blissful. To
possess o rife or q shot gun end O lug
OF whisky is the limit Of eheir ambition.
They know nothing of the value OF
money except az regards it's power to
purchase liquor and ammunition.
"One day q man whom / met had o0-
caston TO go from his home to the coun-
~ seat. He was o man OF more intelli-
gepce than most of his fellows, but he
had never in his life been away from
home before. He had never seen q town.
The nearest approach to one he had sect
WAS the collection OF houses about the
store where he sold his truck and bought
his bacon. When he got back from the
county seat l asked him what he thought
OF what he Jaw. WELL he said all I got
to say is this: If this world is as big on
the right nv us as is is on the left she
must be q regular whale,'
II was once riding up the Cumberland
mountains, )" continued the Chicago man
when ] saw a bearded m~ountaineer
splitting o big tree he had felled. IL
was d huge black walnut. I said to him.
My friend, what are you doing? 2 sIm
q maxim fenc rails was his reply. well
| said, you don't mean to tell me yoR
are making fence rails OF that piece OF
timber ? Why sartin. That's agood
log, ain,t itp 1t was az fine o black
walnut log as eyer saw, and IL my
friend had known. enough to get some
body with o few oxen or mules to drag
the log to the railroad he could have sold
it for $500, for it was worth more than
that.
"But il was not only the mountaineers
whose density OF ignorance liz astonjsk-
ing. / observed o case notable as show
Ing in o striking manner why the south
is so far behind the rest OF the country
in the matter Of progress. The lumber
used In Tennessee for building purposes
is poplar; as the mountains are FULL OF
10 and pine is scarce. Saw mills are
established in the 'coves,' snd
the mill man cuts up logs hauled
TO his saws by the mountain
GERS, He pays a q certain sum for
logs, and then, figuring compensation
for his work Of saving, sets o price on
his product. 10 happened that at the
time ! WA in Tennessee the price oil
lumber was SIS per thousand feet. a
man OF my acquaintance was having q
house built, and determined 90 have the
interior finished with hardwood and red
ceds., which abounded in that region,
Accordingly he asked the sawmill mar
what he would charge for lumber of the
Kind wanted. My friend wal greatly
as:onished OF being told thst the price
wculd be jest the same as for poplar
1918 per thouEand. That sRwmili man
will probably never get rich. Had he
taken his hardwood or cedar lumber to
the railroad and shipped it to Chat
tanooga or Nashville IL would have
bought him $50 OF $50 per thousand.
"One more yarn" added the Chicago
man. "A big Swapping boy came into
the grocery store while I was there and
offered q bag OF h~iekory-nuts for sale.
BE wanted o quarter for them.
To affsrd me . little amusement the
storokeeper threw down o SIS gold piece
and asked the boy If he would sell them
for that. No, street, he said, you can
cheat me. I want q quarter The store
keeper afterward told me that the boy
didn't know what the gold piece wal
He said the boy, like most people in
that region, had no conception whateves
OF any amount OF money exceeding q
dollar. That was his limit, beyond
which his fancy declined to carry him.