News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1890-05-01
A SOUTHERN LETTER.
SOUTHERN PINES, n. ca
April. 10, 1890. T
MEssRs. EDITORS

AND CITIZEN who will be interested t,
hear of this health resort. So man,
in our rigorous climatelong for mild
er air than our winters afford that
would gladly assure them that {
Floridian climate awaits them thi.
side of Florida. The land of orange,
seems so far away that many are de
tered by the uncertainty of receiving
benefit from making any change al
all. Here is a place, attainable at {
cost of $500 and 21 hours rid,
from New York, where the most deli
cate will certainly be benefited an(
many go away permantly relieved.
Southern Pines, the highest eleva
tion from the sea-coast to the noun
tains, $40 feet above the sea-level, is
situated in Moore county, a little
east of the centaSl=st-the State, and
SO miles from R51eigh, in the very
center of a belt of the long-leaf pine
It's miles long, and varying from &C
to so miles wide. But eight years
old, it is not yet widely known and
by no means q fashionable resort
DuU iUS ItCOlu IOI U1G u
health has rarely been eXcelled.
About rs northern families have
settled here more or less permanent.
ly, almost every one of which con
tains a member who has derived
health and healing from the pines
Those who live here the year round
are those who came here so reduced
by disease that in their cases, life
seems to have been given anew, not
to be imperilled by a return north
The average temperature, dividing
the year into two seasons, is At de,
grees in winter and "a degrees in sum.
mer; the lowest ever recorded 1C
degree above zero. Twenty-Five de
grees above is called "right cold,'
and makes the darkeys saw wood
with one hand in pocket, if they feel
it safe to saw at all.
The soil is very porous and two or
three hours after the hardest rains
known here, one can safely go out
without rubbers. A layer of beach
sand, coarse and white, from so to
100 feet deep covers this elevation.
The water in various parts of the
town was tested last year by the
chemist of the Board of Health oil
New York City, who, with his family,
spent the winter here. He said it was
the most nearly pure of any water he
ever analyzed. Wells are dug from
40 to so feet deep, and the water is
cold and very soft. Fuel can be had
for the cutting and the open fires
found in all southern houses send out
abundantly the fragrant, healing
breath of the pine.
The chief disadvantage in living
here is the distance from markets.
To live as we are accustomed to do
in the North one must bring all pos
sible supplies from New York or Bos-
ton. Milk is chalk-white and not ex-
tremely rich. Butter of course is cor
respondingly colorless, and much
that is offered here is absolutely un-
palatable. Good butter comes from
Raleigh, 1ruit from Wilmington, and ii
one has a more refined taste than
can be satisfied by the North Carolina
rooter, he must send away for meat
even to Richmond for Il satisfactory
article The impracticability of keep,
ing ice makes that a troublesome
question. No wonder fowls are sc
much relied upon in darkey-land.
Houses are not built for northern
winters, and if this season is a fail
sample they are not needed; but con
tractors are recognizing the needs OF
those who seek homes here, and are
plastering all new houses, for the Sc
curing of GOODNESS in summer as wei
as warmth in winter. UnfurnisheC
houses rent for So or $40 a month
with plain furnishings, $12, $l5 OF
$40, according to desirability. Two
hotels furnish ample and entirely sat
isfactory accommodations for guests
So much for the possibilities of al
existence here.
The scenery is monOtOnOus In the
extreme, as anyone who has been il
the South will testify. Pines, pines
everywhere, with thick underground
of black,acks, in turn half choked by
a tall, thin grass, now sere and dry
Almost every year fires run among
these trees, licking up greedily tht
turpentine and resin, the manufac
ture of which forms the chief indus
try of this section. Weakened by re
peated boxing and by fires, the trees
are constantly falling, and as th'
roads are not well cared for, it fre
quently happens that the distance il
largely increased by turning out tt
avoid some obstruction which {
hatchet and ten minutes labor woulC
easily remove. OF course sand
stumps, roots and neglect conspire tt
render the roads wretched, and strong
men count aride of thirty miles equiv
alent to one of sixty in Vermont
Indeed there they would be called i'm
passable, and | do not know of Sc
poor a road as all here are. Horses
in these parts must look with infinit
gratitude on the mules which reliev
them of the heaviest work. The on
means of conveyance which SEEM
really in keeping with the country i
that of the negro. consisting of ;
steer, wearing I the paraphernali;
usually reserved for horses, trOttins
cheerfully along before two-wheelet
cart, his owner holding the twin
reins with an unmistakable air O
pride and satisfaction.
Plantation houses, surrounded evel
vet bylog cabins, which once swarme,
with negroes, are often seen. Blu
where is the foundation for the sto
ries of unbounded hospitality an,
entertainment which they are said t,
have furnished forth? A rathe
small, two-storied, unpainted, bat
tered-looking house is the best q
them about here. Negroes, the poor
est and dirtiest, rejoice in freedom
Christmas is great day with them
and miserable indeed is the cabil
which on that day does not know tn
odor of baked chicken. They do tai
Just as we read it in books. hav
sometimes doubted the genuinenes
of some of their sayings, but it is a.
quite true. They "'spect" and "dis
remember" have misery" in th
side when we should have pain. ar
"peart" or "porely," and once in
while "cxpicion' a thing outside c
books. Moore county is the poores
in the State, and the negro is uneC
ucated, though in that matter the
are not behind many whites. Mos
of them own their cabin, few fowls
and little land. But they need ia
more than they can ever do for then
selves in the way of schools.
This section is attracting the al