The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1892-09-08
NATIONAL PARK.
THE WINSTON SENTINEL Is
WORKING FDRIT.
WANTS IT IN NORTH CAROLINA.
Brooklyn Times.)

stood that the highest land east oil
the Rockies is on the Appalachian
range in our Southern States, nota
bly, along the divide between Ten.
nessee and North Carolius. Unfa
miiiar as It may be, it is fact none
the less that there Is a cloudland
down there which overtops even
Mount Washington and maintains
a level plateau surface OF consider.
able extent at very nearly the altl.
tude Of that peak.
The history OF the Adirondacks
in our own State, of the Alleghanies
In Pennsylvania, of ali the timber.
clad ranges In the vicinity OF set
tlement everywhere, Is now repeat
| ing itself IN this Roam Mountain
country of North Carolina. The
saw mill is steadily creeping up the
sides of the mountains and leaving
desert behind it. it is prudent to
take the alarm now when the
mischief is not beyond remedy, and
not to wait until not even time and
nature can heal the ruin of the
land. Such question ls never
merely local, 1t Is far-reacbing. the
unre.trained axe and mill OF to-da,
mean inevitably ruined country
side few years hence. The rub
respects not the innocent farmstead,
miles, it may be, from the despoied
mountain slopes. When the trees
are gone the rain often passes over
the heights without letting fall It's
freight OF moisture. When 1t doe
come the timber covering overhead
and the rotting sponge OF mold be.
meath are absent and the rain, And
ing no longer It's natural containing
reservoir, runs in torrents to the
valleys, brlnglug now a flood aud
now a drought. The successive
steps of disafforestatlon are beyond
dispute: UNHAPPY experience OF many
communities has proved them be-
yond a uoubt. 1t is this condition
which confronts all those of whom
the Roam Mountain highlands act
as climatic modulus, being lmme-
diateIy the whole OF that quicken
ed and energetic territory which We
have learned to admire as the "new
Sohth," for it. lies all within sharp
sight of Roam Mountain, and sec.
ondarlly of the whole of Tennessee
aud Kentucky and the valley
States down to the Gulf on one side
and Virginia aud the two Carolinas
to the sea on the other.
The menaced territory has been
aroused to a sense Of the danger
which impends, and, with the new
blood working down there. to
awake means to 20 tt work. With
attestlng uniformity til press of the
region Is demanding instant relief
and future peotectl0n That 1t Is
held an important, even a vital,
matter is seen from the fact that it
Is allowed discussion in the clatter
OF political times.
The most rational measure OF re
lief seems to be that strenuosly ad-
vocated by the Sentinel, of WINS
ton, n. G. This town lies we'll at
the edge of the zone of the imme-
diate disastrous results Of whole
sale timber cutting on the Roam
Mountains and at distance OF
nearly 100 miles. But the editor
has taken tho matter up with vigor
and Is zealously pressing his sug-
gestion, which Is indeed good
one. He appears to have studied
carefully the conditions OF the
national parks, with particular
reference to those in california,
where lively interest is manifested
in the question. He offers as the
solution OF the problem the sugges-
tion that tbs, National Government
park the watersheds of the Roam
Mountain plateau as it has parked
the Yellow stoue, the Yosemite and
the Big Trees.
The suggestion is on many ac-
counts a good one and should =. bear
fruit. We are protecting distant
1 and scarcely accessible parts OF the
country; why should We neglect
hat which lies close at hand and is
certainly OF at least equal impor.
tance 7 1t ls worthy object to
preserve the few remnants of the
herds of bison; it surely should be
equally important to preserve the
deer with which the Appalachian
chain once suarmed II viewed
solely on climatic grounds there