The Lake Charles echo., 1893-08-25

FINCAsTLE, Tenn.
But this country nothing like il
h4s been told of since Will Allen
Dromgo0le wrote her "Way down IN
Poor Valley" l only wlsh that you
could have the experience | have bad
with these peupIr; | AIN sure ''Btrbara"
@ouId be treeted 10 some rich, rare and
lacy letters from Olive Otis. TIE
wonder is that E tgar Wakeman has
not discovered this unbearen byway,
rustead of rushing of to Span or the
Andes TO write such charming bits OF
! folk lore.
I What would you say in this latter
/ day of the nineteenth century 10 the
women who weave their own cloth,
make their own carpets aud boil their
avn soap? Who never attended
mutinee, hurse their own babies aud
never even "hearn telr' of wumeus
rights.
What Of the men who raise their own
,obacco, wear home made j-ans, ami
never saw railroad traln, much less H
l"i~phun yet such exist right around
o., born and "raiscd" 10 this valley,
along whose rock ribbed ridges the
,muk" Of battle has sea ceiy yet lifted
Is funeral pail. In truth, to these the
~arlr jlst Over-lhe past three decades
have bruughr nothing more startling
than lh- surrender OF Lee. SomeUm
stumble upon some mrmrnto Of thai
'~fu' time that ''T~d m"n's souia, as
Rben the other day / discovered The
ark aud balI-reU cavalry sword
# s"mr immortal rebel lead~E, with
Is trlIIaie INITIAL &c. S. A." within
the grasp of braWny black ksmrth,
aho had degraded 1t irom It's hugh and
, " ofior to that Of pokng the f"rgp
, in. Truly, the word nf the scripture
,, ,rv.. been yerf~d: And the spear
: hall be beaten into the pruning hO"k
: md the sword be tnrned into the
: pillow share" FTthwlth | fell to weav,
, ,"g an imaginary history to suit the
,naglc monaghan &C S. A" that had
Al IF the corrUdrBg tooth of TIM
E these nigh thirty Years, and still stood
d forth upon IT'S back ground, like The
= suse which 1t typIied, which went
II down in darkness and defeat, but still
r. ,hines in undrmmed lusrrr in lhe,,
Ar SonrhrrU hearts of onr, But ala, for
y my lutIe Romance. Questioned 10 IT.
n history the smokr b gr,med Vulcar
Is knew DO more If Its identity than tina
W. w. ''Twan't nolbing but an old souaFd-
d nern hanging in this ere shop eve
.. since twas buiIt-pIeuIy of'em IN thi
~ 'nonntarn kentry."
,l- God has dome everything for Pow
..E ~I's valley; man nothing. Its wsaltI
I'd # natu.a resources, its coal, iron an'
lr marble of varirgated hnes, so plentiful
!" s}r hat the children build play houses O
81 delicate PINK and white blocks, anr
- above al it>grsDd scenery of nlouutai
ed h+lght and sloping valley---alI CON
ru mend II TO the lover Of ''uatare mor
', than man"
c, But the other side of the picture ha
nF is value, too, by way Of cuntras
o. Shut in 10y vast walls of rock, the IN
nd hSbuauts thereof obIiviouS to the gres
z world that lies beyond, have lived an
tyr iabored these many years, uuheeC
M IMor ng the roll of the wheels of progEesl
afs nateIy cOgnlzant Of tue march {
A. vents, and still dating their liitI
e.. 0eigbborhood histories from "befol
IN r since the wal" Surely, the POI
an SSLm aureale must have had tins valley i
nd nd m'Dd when he wrole:
ur Better fifty years of Europe
mo- mo- Than a cycle OF Cathag."
b. What field for the writer Of foil
cir lore and dialect storiesl Material ii
an, Im'ted is here, as plentiful as ii
I'D i~iuuIy streaksd marble that lies
", sar chunks" beneath the feet of the
vrr usties and often aS much in the rong
2 My nearest neighbour is The posse
Lhe'i .,tr of a fl .x-whtsgl: yes. a penuiT