The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1889-02-07
Good words for CarOlTna.

Acorrespondent from Elizabeth city
the Boston Pilot, in referring to a former
article in that paper concerning clay
eaters in North Carolina, makes some
vigorous strokes for our good old state.
W e quote few sentences:
Now I'm not going to say never heard
Of such a thing. Q, mol have heard Of it,
and in many places as well as North
Carolina. The very first Instance | ever
heard of it was a child in Boston--a child
of cultivated and wealthy parents who
developed an abnormal appetite for eat
ing clay. | have seen men. women and
children affected with this disease, for it
is that. and that only. There IS class
of white people here who sadly need a
helping hand. They are very ignorant
more ignorant than poor-though
poor white was once their general
name This term meant only in those
times that they did not own slaves. But
none OF them are ever so poor as to be
ohl;g ed to eat clay to live. That is say
ing too much.
In the vicinity Of Asheville, n. c.,
among the 81 Ridge mountains, cXi It
a class Of white Americans. undeSclibed
BY the pen of the roYe'iit or historian.
They are spoken of contemporary by all,
even by the "colorcd person" Their
lives are lowly and obscure, as the an
cient people of Nazareth, or the more
modern Connaught ranger. They have,
indeed, those vices which spring from
ignorance and isolation; thousands OF
them cannot read or write. and their
spiritual condition is Undesirable. These
people are generous, high-minded and
sincere. Their virtues and Their intelli-
gence are worthy of the consideration
and philanthropy of their Northern
brothers.
Capital should not fear to invest in
North Carolina. A climate having q
a mean tcmpature of % degrees the ex-
tremeS beiog IS degrees and 81 degrees.
Land free from stones. that trial Of every
New England farmer, yelling from
fifty to sixty bushels of corn per acre,
from year to year, without the use Of
.cr'ilizers. This soil produces almost
every variety of grass, grain, cotton, rice,
potatoes and tobacco Here, too, is
found the 10y of the lumberman, a luX>
u'i mt growth OF timber, pine, cypress,
juniper, white cedar, gum, poplar, holly.
walnut, maple and hickory. Agricul-
tural implements can be obtained in this
city on as good terms as 10 the North.
Land sufficient for a good sized-colony
can be purchased from eight to ten dol
lars an acre.
Return, Q gentle stranger. Your influ-
ence may be potent here. Your indlvid-
uality. lost amid the throngs of Northern
people. will be acknowledged for its full
value here. Have petienc with the lg-
norapce you see before you. These ears
. are only sealed, they are not deaf.
Educate this pco.le, foster their k;ngly
nature 10y religious training ana give
som ethlnE to do.VhiS the cry Of the new
South to it's brothers of the North. Fine
cultivated classes have been impOye1iSh-
ed:thev could not 90 this work at preSenr
even if tyey would. | do not forget that
the North owe; dent of care to tht
Freedman. but the debt will be bctt0I
paid by helping the Southern white man
| 10 whom. after all, the cO.ored person
turns Cor help in time Of every day tron-
/ bic And when the North Carolnan is a
educated as the average New E0g'an4eI
/ | predict that nobody will say that h
eats cIay--or hay. either A. NJ, +. NJ