The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1889-04-25

best climate Oh the face of the globe.
Every vegetable or agricultural prod
uct to be found i'll the temperate zone
grows luXuriantly liz her soil; her
wheat is unexcelled her cotton takes
rank with the best. eXcept-perhaps. the
Sea Island; no State OF the Union can
surpass or even compare with her numer-
GUS and valuable and beautiful minerals :;
zircOn deposits mined and used for the
incandescent gas-light burners. which
promise to rival the electric in brilliancy,
and the lovely Hiddenite stone. rarer,
richer and more beautiful than the most
costly emerald. are found no where on
earth. but in the bOsoms of her hills
and mountains. Her several species of
woods, equal in quality and eXcelin num-
Der those of any other State her tobacco
surpasses any in tire Union and is equal
if not superior to any in the world.
She possesses rich stores of gold, silver,
copper. and iron. of as good quality as
any in Alabama or Pennsylvania she
has sufficient water power to run every
loom in England and America. Her
pasture lands of the east and west.
are as good for raising sheep and cat
tie as the richest plains of Texas or
Australia
And to all these blessings she adds a
splendid system of steamboats,, tele-
graph lines and rail roads one of the
most important and valuable railroads
in the State being the Durham and
Northern, recently built by the Sea-
board Airline system, which road con-
meets the tobacco empOriums Durham
and Henderson. to the mutual delight
and profit of of the citizens of both towns.
and the convenience and financial i'm
provement Of the people throughout
the country, through which it passes.
For the building of this excellent road
the citizens of Henderson thank the
SeabOard system, represented here
to-day by that genial gentleman-that
friend to Durham and Henderson and
one of the greatest public benefactors
in North Carolina John Winder ;
thank the citizens of Durham, and
most cordially congratulates themselves.
Truly it may be said of us, as of Is
rael of old:
The Lord, thy God, hath brought
thee into a good land a land of brooks
of waters, of fountains and depths that
spring out of valleys and hills, land
of barley and vines and fig trees and
pOMegranates, a land wherein we may
eat bread without scarceness, land
whose stones are iron, and out OF
whose hills we may dig BRASS"
My travelling companion then asked
me, why is it that North Carolina has
no thriving, energetic towns - Until
that moment 1 had never fully realized
how proud 1 was, how proud every
North Carolinian ought to be, of the
young cities of Durham and Henderson
No thriving. energetic towns in North
Carolina Why, sir, look at Durham
and Henderson. Buta few years since
they were mere hamlets. mere railway
stations to-day look at them, with theil
broad eXpanse, their magnificent blocks
of pressed brick buildings with iron
ering acres in extent, their efficient fire
departments, their excellent municipal
governments, their splendid electric
systems, and in the case of Durham hel
street cars, her water works, and espe.
cially, her mammoth manufactures
whose reputation extends to every lane
and cline; aye accompany the SUI
around the globe,'' which may also be
said of Henderson in the near future
we trust.
Lord Byron in his immortal poem
Childe Harold says,
81 stood in Venice on the Bridge of Signs
And saw from out the aoGue her struct
ureS rise
AS from the stroke of an enchanter
| wand
One visiting Durham and Henderson
now, after an absence of ten or ever
five years, might also exclaim, Il saw
from out the earth her structures rise
as from the stroke of a magician:
wand"
Athens, because of her reputation fo
learning, for military valor, for polished
elegance in art, as expressed in he
Areopagus, where St. Paul himsel
stood, and preached unto the Athenians
her lofty Acropolis crowned with it
marble temples. her Gymnasium O
Ptolemy, her Temple of Olympian Jove
and her Parthenon, the grandest tri
umph of architectural skill the worl'
has ever seen, was called Lone of tn,
eyes of Greece
Look! on the Egean shore city stands
Built nObly, pure the air and light the soil
Athens, the eye Of Greece and mother O
arts
If Athens, because of her learning
art and military renOwn was called ION,
of the eyes of Greece why should NO
Durham and Henderson because of thei
energy, vim, pluck, progress and sue
cess be called The Eyes of North Car
DINA -
The life of Durham and Henderson il
Progress. We see it in their steps
we hear it in their voices, we see i
upon their faces, upon all things abou
them. 'Tis this that distinguishes then
from the most Of their sister towns
Progress, Progress, Progress.
They have realized that this is thu
age for action, that to sit still, is to be
run over, that not to push forward is tt
be carried backwards by the onrushins
waves of this the swiftest of all thu
ages.
They have each raised aloft the Ban.
ner Of Progress, they have shouted il
thunder tones,
Heaven Mnfu speed the standard'so gallant,
10 furnish and accommodate a world'-