The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1888-11-24
Primitive Life of the MossbackS,

mountains and the country thew
bisect shows a surface covered in
Western Maryland, Pennsylvania
and Virginia and Eastern Ohio with
a cobweb of railroads, and the north.
ern and middle parts of West Vir-
ginia, the centre of the view, still
comparatively without railroad facil-
tiles. The State is plentifully pro-
yided with the lumber and stone for
their construction, but the high
mountains, the deep rayines, the i'm.
penetrable forests of hardwood trees.
and the thick underground of laurel.
have for years repulsed the advance
of the engineer and his compass.
eager as was his employer, the capi-
talist, to fell the trees and dig for the
rich deposits of coal and iron in the
mountains.
Ex-senator Henry G. Davis. of
West Virginia, and his brother, Col.
Thomas B. Davis, ten years ago led
the advance guard of capitalists into
this West Virginia wilderness. Their
footpaths were the beds of the count.
less streams, which in summer are
sluggish currents or altOgetherr5Xed
up, but which are transformed Nv
winters rains into rushing torr'e'
Secretary Bayard, who was thu the
Delaware Senator, and See'ary
Window, accompanied by ththeSsrs
Davis, pushed their waynrough
these forests about six yeardgo' anu
the result of their journey tine west
Virginia Central Railwaywhlch the
Messrs. Davis and othe capitalists
have extended sixty ortYenty miles
into country aboutVhlch less Is
known to-day than othe forests OF
the Rocky mountais. rms roau'
however, only bringa small portion
of the unknown ad undeyeloped
land into COMMUNICATION with the
outside world.
The advance COPS of engineers OF
the West Virgini Central found a
primitive people. whose lack OF the
conveniences and comforts of civili-
cation and geneal ignorance of the
outside world increased as they
pushed their way through the forest
Elsewhere in West Virginia the
population has been blessed with all
the facilities of steam and water
transportation. and the intelligence.
culture. retirement and progressive
spirit are unsurpassed. The "moss'
backs" of the section, as the first SET
tiers are called, are ignorant because,
shut in by the mountains. They'll have
been unable to communicated with
the world around them, ARID he
world has encountered the say |ne frt
riers in trying to communicaSteT hI
them. While their ignoranfS IL" -
eral, some can read and writAshAI'
are sharp as the proverbial Yh-
kee in driving a bargain. The MIR
riage relations are not always strictly
observed, and there are authenticated
cases OF man being a fatherand a
grandfather of the same child. Their
only contact with civilization before
the railroad came was an occasional
visit to the general merchandise
stores, sometimes so and 100 miles
distant, where they exchanged deer
and bear skins and ginseng for pow
der, shot. coffee and tobacco. These
visits are epOches in their lives.
Many of them actually do not know
the use of coal, and regard its re-
moval from the mountain sides as
WasteleSs expenditure of labor. They
do not know what a watch is. Only
one ancient clock has eyer been found
in their habitati0ns. They do not
know that newspapers are printed,
and at the late election old Simmy
Roy, whose age is S. years, who had
trrmped along the mountain paths
for miles to the polls. wanted to vote
for Garfield. A woman has lived
near Cheat river, in Tucker county,
who has never been twenty miles
from her home.
Scant as is the average mossback' 8
supply of the comforts of civilization,
he is happy fellow. not much given
to musing upon the why's and where
fors which disturb his more cultured
brother; nor does the question as to
what he will eat tomorrow disturb
him to day. He never saves and is
never miser, but he will perform
prodigious feats of labor for a silver
dollar. One will satisfy his avarice.
His hut is made of logs, and Col.
Thomas B. Davis tells of one in the
construction of which not a single
nail was used. The crevices between
the logs are filled with clay. Some.
times there is "A chimnav Sopoa,;,a