St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-12-12
Gbe Californian.
FROM NORTH CAROLINA.

The following letter from Miss Luz
cha NJ Alvord of this place, who has
gone South for her health, though
d probably not intended for publica-
ton, will be read here with interest :
After we left Washington things
assumed a very unfamiliar look. The
4 plantations of the story books are
very unlike the ones that we have
seen. Desolation was written on
everything. Nowhere have l seen a
cornfeld that had more than one
stalk in a hill. The cotton crop
seems very light and we overheard
one man say that cotton which sold
during the war for seventy-hve cents
a pound would sell now for only nine
cents. The peanuts are being har-
vested now and are stacked as beans
are with us Ground peas the south
ernerS call them. We Staid at Wei
don over night and as our train did
not leave until eleven O'Clock we had
time for a stroll about the town.
Some one told us that it was a town
of fifteen hundred inhabitants. Ne
] groes are in the majority | think.
s The variety of animals used is great
er than in the North. Horses, mules,
oxen, and even cows are haTneSSed to
carts One OK is enough, no need to
have two. The thills of the carts are
made of sufficient strength to last
for generations. We saw more bri-
dies and reins of rope than of leather.
We started out to buy a thermOme-
ter and i'll two drug stores were offer
ed fever thermometers, but we were
told that we probably could not buy
an ordinary thermometer in town.
We finally found one store that kept
them to sell to tobacco growers
Lack of care and thrift was evident
everywhere If board of health is
needed anywhere it certainly is in a
Southern town. All refuse is thrown
into the streets. Hogs roam about
at their own sweet will and are called
North Carolina rooters. Black ones
are very numerous.
North Carolina seems to be more
advanced in civilization than Virgin
ia, Judging from the parts that we
i saw on our journey here After we
s left Raleigh, which by the way was
4 the most muddy city that ever saw,
we began to look anxiously at the
towns that we passed as we had
some mlsglvlngs about our winter
home. We saw nothing that was re-
assuring and when Southern Pines
was announced as the next stopping
place our expectations of comfort
were very small. 1t was dark and
we followed the negro porter to the
Prospect House. When he opened
the door of the sitting room we found
ourselves in what we might have
fancied Northern house if we could
have forgotten that the month was
November while the mercury indicat
ed seventy-two degrees Of heat. We
have found here every comfort for the
body that we could ask. The mind
will fare less comfortably ina CINE.
We are in clearing of pine forest.
Cottages have been erected in every
direction. Probably there are about
seventy-fve in number Some of
them are shabbily built, but a good
many are quite hOmelike. There is
now only one Southern family in the
settlement proper. If any one comes
here for business purposes he will
probably be disappointed Moore
county is said to be the poorest coun-
ty in the state, but the healthiest. 1t
is situated in the belt of pines that
extends to Florida. Southern Pines
IS about midway of this belt, east
and west, has twenty miles each side
of it of the health-giving pine. Won
derful stories are told of cures accom-
plished by the china te alone. We are
every day shown men who we are
told have but one lung, part of one,
a large cavity i'll one and so on.
These are the business men of the
place. OF course some come here too
late and go home to die, or OCCASION
ally die here.
The soil is very porous, a white
sand resembling beach sand is the
top layer. A lady who has spent
two winters here told us that after a
rain lasting from Sunday until Thurs
day noon they went out at three
O'Clock Thursday afternoon without
rubbers as the water had disappear
ed. Rain is the exception, not the
rule here. The water is good and the
air bracing. 1t is of course too soon
to tell how the climate will effect us.
We hope for the best and try to be
out of doors as much as possible. We
find good many New Hampshire
people and one man from South Dan
vile; also a man from Bradford.
Asthma is unknown here. Every
one who comes here with it is better
at once.