Asheville daily citizen. [volume] (Asheville, N.C.) 1890-1900, 1891-07-06
A SKYLARK AT SKYLANDy
BARRELS OF FUN AT BILL
NYE'S HOME.
Several Hundred People 40 Vp
TO skSiand Oh the Fourth and
Have IA Glorious Time-rhe Hu.
InOriSt Talks.

~
to skSland OH the Fourth ant
Have "a Glorious Time-rhe E4u
mOrist Talks.
Saturday, July +, was a red letter da,
I. III the history of Skyland, the youn.
town on the Ashcvilc and Spartanbur,
railroad, about eight miles from Ashc
~ vile.
J" 1t was "Bill Nyc" day.
is For weeks past huge posters have pro
o claimed the fact i'll great 1O-linc-pica let
: ters that Bill Nyc, the great humorist
now proprietor OF the Skyland Thought
works and cottage near that town
would give 1.-THE boys" short talk or
the Fourth of July, and that in addition
to this great attraction there would be
sack races, pig races, and various Other
d amuscmcnts which might amusc the
= rural heart.
}. When this announcement was ma4e ii
. created wave Of astonshmcnt as well
as pleasure and anxiety that stretched
from Big Ivy to Fiat Rock. Astonish.
incnt at the idea of a stellar attraction of
Mr. Nyc's magnitude deigning to cease
work on his new play long enough to
talk to the villagers; pleasure at the
prospect OF hearing from his own Inns
some OF those expressions which have
made millions laugh; and anxiety lest
something should transpire which
should cause the humorist to change his
mind
This feeling also took hold of the pco-
ple OF Ashcvillc, and accordingly a large
crowd assembled at the depot last Sat,lr-
hay about noon. and the purchasing of
tickets to Skyland began. The ticket
agent was kept busy handing ont the
llttlc cards; and in order to accommo.
date the people Trainmastcr Foster at
tachcd an extra coach to the regular
tram. But even with that many were
iorccd to stand i'll the aislcs. TIE CIrl-
ZEN stood up, but being Il holiday moth |
ing was thought of the hardship. On
the tram, among tht several hundred
who went were Maj. II. {. Hunt, Cant |
Matt Atkinson and =. A. Cummings, esq.
When the train reached SkNland the |
crowd piled out to the inspiring tune of
Mary and the Lamb" as cnchantiurh
rendered by combination OF the SKY
land and lIcndcrsonviIle brass bands.
The Ashcvllc delegation acknowledged
the courtesy, aud immediately made ,u
inspection OF the surroundings. They
found everything in apple pic order, seats
Tor the audience already erected, and in
i'ct all things were but waiting for the
non OF the occasion, Edgar William
Nyc, esq.
After the bands had discourscd several
charming mcdlcvs, MIR. Otis A. Miller,
who may be called the father Of SKY
land, as he was the first to make n
move toward the building of the town,
mounted table and proclaimed that
MIR. Nye would speak at 4 O'Clock, and
that the crowd was at liberty to cnioy
itself as it wished until that hour
by this time the AshcvIlc contingent,
at least, showed signs of hunger, and
started tor the hotels, of which there are
Two, wcll-kept houses, which would do
credit to towns many times larger than
Skyland. Notwithstanding The large
crowd the hotels attended to all who ,
applied, and from the comments, all were ,
highly pleased with their treatment.
THE CITIZEN "ird" with Can't. Banks. nt
the Bonnycrest Inn, and is sure the Cap. {
tam mas lost none OF his oldtmc skill as
caterer. [
Dinner over, the crowd repaired to the {
grove, where tho time was pleasantly I
whlled away i'll games of almost every S
variety, among them bucking the ice
cream, putting the ham sandwich, Cheese '
race, catching the lemonade, and many i
other innocent amuscments. \
Finally there was huttcr in the t
crowd and every eye was turned toward a
the road by which the story teller of the t
occasion would enter the grove. But it t
was only the departure of the band.
winch went down to Ashcvic street to
MIR. Nyc and tow him to port, Il
Shortly after this Mr., Nvc's carriage
drove up to the hotel. and Mrs. Nyc and \
two other ladies alightcd. Then Karl. {
seen, MIR. Nyc's Swedish driver, turned {
I he horses and dashed back toward Mr., Y
Nyc summer VILLA not far away. Then V
tue crowd knew what was coming. And
it came soon. Far down the road a t
cloud ot dust was seen and the carriage G
soon dashed up To where the band was 7
stationed. The band hcclcd into line d
III front OF the carriage two-by-two, and \
TO the spirited strains OF See the Con- O
lucrlng Hero Comes" the procession
moved to the grove. f
Arriving there, the funny man spraup q
,ut, and after word or two with Mr. II
Miller and Maj. Hunt was conducted to S
he platform OF the depot, which was a
made TO- answer the purpose of stage. L
MIR. Miller, i'll a very short speech, intro.
luccd the speaker. L.
The great humorist was attircd in con.
lderablc adiposc tissue, a handsome II
ray suit, with sack coat, patent leather
hoes and the insupprcss,blc spect aclcs.
,aking his crush hat in his hand and get ,
ing out OF the focus OF the sun, Mr.. Nye d'
'egan his talk by saying that he had nj
onSehted TO say few words in cncour- to
cement OF the excellent band of which the ~
title town was the proud posscssor. lie nj
tated that this was the first Fourth of ~
ulv celebration he had ever attended w,
outh of Mason and Dixons line. ~ ~
II will first tell YOU" continued Bill in ~ ~,
is peculiar, comical way, "a story ex. -;
ect YOU have all heard As matter OF a'
act the story is of the vintage of 1854 II
about a rare and peculiar insect which a.,
ourishes in the state of Georgia. refer at at
. The razor back hog. was travelling %' v
trough that state once ON the rail nv
Dad, and had chance to thoroughly in ~
estigate this peculiar animal, as he kept ~
longsidc the train for fifteen or twenty "
'iles. But finally lost sight of it, as ~ ~
lc train gradually fell behind. | turned ~
, a companion and remarked that there VI
Idnt seem to be any money in cultiva.
ng such a hog as that, and asked him
hy they didn't try to cultivate the A,
orthcrn hog, the fat wheezy variety.
he man looked at me steadily for a
mute and then replied that it don't pay i
raise hog that can't run faster than Al
.nigpcr.' So you see the race problem Sh
not yet settled in that part of the I'm
,untry." ".' .,'
Nye also related his early experience ON ,,' ~,
lie lecture platform. In starting out he ''
Id hired trainer. He had spoken on
lc race course, at county fairs, across
mile and half of country. at was ;,
lggested," he said, that set my lcct- br
C to music and hire brass brand to mt