Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1893-02-22
MOUNTAIN MISSIONS.
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE POOR
WHITES" OF THE HILL COUNTRY.


A Southern Clergyman Refutes the Charge
That ignorance and Squalor Are Preva.
lent to Amy Remarkable Degree In the
Mountain Districts.
Sectionahsts who desire to create for
themselves a field of operations and an
income in charming and healthful
southern climate not infrequently write
very touching articles for the northern
press on the deplorable condition of the
mountain whites" of the south and the
need of mission work" among them.
Such persons. in descriptions of life
among the mountains OF western North
Carolina and east Tennessee, 'pile on
the agony" in 4 marvellous manner. Some
times they DO it with IN utter disregard
for the truth They represent the excep,
ton to be the rule. and picture scenes
and conditions common enough in parts
of the north and west perhaps, large
cities as well as country places, bat very
rare among the people of the Appalachian
region of the south One would think
from their accounts that the southern
mountains were swar1ning with cave
jewellers. The aim seems to be to per,
petuate the ideas of that class of philan.
thropists who lind peculiar pleasure in
contemplating poverty, ignorance and
,iegratlatioE III the south since the civil
war
Not long ,1nt2 The S1n noticed an ap,
peal Of this S.i't for all to mission WORK
rui n.,a1nta.n whites showing that il
was Ia eiiect Il libel upon the people il
professed to describe. Any person ia
nlilar with the Appalachian region Of
the south would see at a glance how alb
surd the whole thing was. The Christian
Union for Dec. 81, 1892, contains letter
from Rev. D Atkins, a Methodist minis
ter OF Hendersonville, N. c., which COM
pletely demoIishes the mountain white"
myth. Mr.. Atkins will be conceded to
know what he is writing about. He was
born and reared in the alleged God for
saken region of poverty, ignorance, vice
and degradation. He entered college
there entered the ministry there and
spent II years there as minister and
teacher.
AS a Methodist minister, he says, Il
nave gone into the most out of the way
places and mingled freely with all sorts
of people in 90 counties of North Caro-
lima and Virginia and in nearly all the
worst parts of east Tennessee. have
visited these people at their homes, have
eaten with them, slept in their houses
and seen them in every condition" Yet
Mr. Atkins has not once beheld the slum
scenes Mrs. Paddock described in re-
cent number of The Christian Union.
Your correspondent" he says, must
nave found some secluded spot never
saw, for in all my travels never saw
the things she writes of, and it seems
strange that | should not even have
heard of such things in all these years
There is poverty here and ignorance, too,
but neither is in that prevalent form yor:
would suppose from the article of Mrs.
Paddock. You might live here an age
and never hear of such savage and weird
funeral customs as Professor Bemis, an
other correspondent writing from the
south, told your readers about.
The situation is not such as was de-
scribed by The Unions correspondents.
Putting it in nutshell, Mr.. Atkins says
of Mrs. Paddock's picture: ''She has pre-
sented the very worst possible case that
could be found in the remotest part and
made it sample of all the 100000 here,
SO that if any one should receive an i'm
preston from such writing he would sup
pose no other kind of people could be
found here.
AS a matter Of fact, the mountain
whites" are not distinct class. Their
ancestors. says Mr.. Atkins, were not out
laws, but pioneers from the coast coun-
try They generally own their farms and
make comfortable living To say they
hunt for living is absurd. There is lit
tie wealth and not as much luxury as
might be, but the people live decently.
There are some log houses, threefourths
of which have windows. None are plas-
tered with mud, as alleged, or without
wooden floors But few have only one
room. Generally the houses are quite
comfortable All have good open fire
places. Fuel is abundant and costs moth
ing, so that the correspondents story of
children covering their limbs with warm
ashes to keep from freezing" is specially
absurd. The people, Mr.. Atkins afirms,
are already religious and moral. They OBJ
serve Sunday and attend Sunday school.
There is scarcely a district where there is
not school for at least three months in
the year Few persons are unable to read
and write, and such cases are so rare as
to excite surprise among the neighbors.
AS respects the girls who were de-
scribed as overworked and vicious, Mr..
Atkins says not one in hundred would
know herself by that description. 'The
common virtues" he says-"chastity,
honesty truthfulness, etc.-are rather
more prevalent than in other sections
have seen The girls are healthy, strong
and full of spirit They marry at good
age, make excellent wives and mothers,
and do much less hard work than their
sisters of the north and west" and Mr..
Atkins spent four years in the west.
They do not work in the field. "It is by
no means, says the writer, 1.-The custom
of the country Home life is as pure as
1t is anywhere have been" In a word,
the mountain white, with his abysmal
degradation, is myth and needs no
mission Baltimore Sun
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