The Big Stone Gap post. [volume] (Big Stone Gap, Wise County, Va.) 1892-1928, 1892-12-22

unsightly display of tobacco it was eve
the fortune OF the writer to behold. l
I was cured i'm all sorts Of colors except tht
right color, 1t WAS tied up in all sorts o
WAYS, somc tied with shucks, some witt
calico strings, some with willow bark ant
willow twigs, and some with the devils
/ shoe strings! in bundles all the way from
4 the size OF ones tbumb TO an ordinary
bundle Of fodder, and just as green as the
said fodder. This was the beginning oil
the tobacco industry in Southwest Vir-
sinia and East Tennessee.
/ Gradually the production increased year
by year, until it became u staple crop in
many sections of tlre country tributary to
Bristol. a complete revolution has been
made in the character Of The tobacco as
compared with the first crop already de-
scrbcd. Go to the warehouses iii Bristol
now, and hat do you sec? None Of the
old red and black leaf Of 1S16-but long
rows of beautiful bright tobacco, soft and
silky, and some Of it almost as white as
the paper am writing upon. The Eastern
markets have ridiculed our tobacco under
the cnntenptuOus name Of Tennessee
sprouts. But at the great tobacco fair
held in Richmond, Va, in the year 1888,
these despised Tennessee. sprouts took all
| tile first premiums, amounting to SLIGO
ont of a total of $500, offered by the
association. This tobacco was bought
aud put up in Bristol by my son, Frank
Winston. at that time n partner with A.
D. Reynolds in the leaf trade. First pre-
miums were also awarded to these same
Tennessee sprouts exhibited by Reynolds
& Winston at the New Orleans Exhibition.
And nj the Worlds Fair at Paris honor
able mention was made Of the samples ex-
hibited, though tho samples were not
offered for any premiums, being ruled out
as not being in large enough packages.
Now we challenge North Carolina. East
Virginia, aye, the whole world to show
such record!
The vision Of wealth spoken Of in the
beginning Of this article have not been
altogether unrcalized. Many Of our plan
tiers who had the pluck and ambition to
perseyerc, have made q success oftolacco,
and have achieved independence from its
cultivation. Many do / know who arc
ready and willing to testify to the bless
ings it has brought to them as money
crop. When the writer first started his
warehouse, hc made drumming expedition
through the tobacco region of S. W. Fir-
yinia, East Tennessee, and Western North
,CarollE, What did he see in he knobs
and irollows those mountainous rcglonsY
Most generally dilapidated log cabins with
pne:room in which the whole family cooked,
ate and slept, dressed in shabby clothes.
No fence around the yard. No stable for
the horse or OK except pen Of rails COW
cred with leaves or straw. All The SUR
roundings bctokencd the utmost discom
fort and poverty. Abont five or six years
ago, the writer made Il tour of this came
region. What did he see? No old dilapi-.
dated log house now but i'll their stead
beautiful frame cottage painted white
with green blinds with neat pulling
fence around it. And how about he fam
lily? Why, no more blue jeans and latter
ed linsey but all neatly dressed in store
clothes. And what beautiful country
houses, and country churches! The
whole country has been changed. And
what did il? Tobacco. And what of
their lands! Why they have gone
IN in value from 50 cents per acre
to $40 and $50. Yes, tobacco has changed
the whole face of the earth. for thesc peo-
pie and made them happy and content.
Until the art of making this bright tobac-
co was acquired, all this mountain coun-
fry that | have mentioned was in a hope
less state Of poverty. They were living rs
thcir fathers lived before them, in AFFECT
poverty with no ray of hope to point them
TO the dawn af 4 better day. Geese lealh-
ers, dried berries, eggs and chickens,
and few calves constituted their chief
means of support, while all the enterpriS-
ing Young men were going west. chat is
all stopped now. Don't tell me, that in
the economy of nature, tobacco is not
great civiiizinG agent.
Bristol now stands in the cepter of the
finest undeyeloped Except to :. LIMITED
cx,cntl tobpeca region III the United
States Tor the production OF bright to-
bucco, as we'll as the finest chewing leaf.
This region includes a boundary extend
ing 100 miles east, south and west-and
80 miles north III this extended bounda-
nv there are vast tracts of virgin lands
suited to the production Of the highest
type of bright and manufacturing tobacco.
In view Of the railroads recently built
from Bristol through this fine tobacco re-
zion. new impulse will he given to this
industry. As market for this bright
tobacco, Bristol stands in The front rank.
Her fine cutters and wrappers are eagcrlJ
sought after by the trade, and at very re-
numeratiye prices.
There is u fine opening here for more
plug factories.
Wien Maj. a. D. Reynelds opened his
factory here, he was laughed ut by his to-
bacco friends in the cast. From very
small beginning. his factory now ranks
among he largest in the south, doing a
business Of over IL halt milllun dollars
wear 1T is q mammoth establishment
employing 300 hands annually. His trade
is very large and grows larger every year.
Owing to its natural sweetness, the tohac-
co nut up in Bristol takes precedence
wherever it is introduced and becomes
known.
Messrs. Critz and Reynolds are also
running their factory to its utmost capac-
ity. They find ready sale. for al they
can manufacture.
There are two large warehouses, one
conducted by Messrs. Graves aud Owen
and the other by tho writer Of this article.
These warehouses present II lively scene
during the heurs OF sale, being crowded
with buyers and sellers. While this is u
low year in prices, yet the latter are no.
near so low as hear they are represent
ed. Fine crops are bringing 10, Is and
20 cents average. We have planters who
never get LET less than these prices, no
matter how low tobacco is. When tobac-
co is low, planters are disposed to fall out
with the market and think they can do
better by shipping to other markets, on
~. ,,,;,,o;rlo tLof SsIictouca lands on