Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1893-03-03
MOUNTAIN MISSIONS.
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE POOR
WHITES" OF THE HILL COUETRY.

That Ignorance and squaIor Are Preva-
Mountain Districts.
Sectionalists who desire to create for
themselves field of operations and an
income in a charming and bsalthful
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 marvellous manner. Some
times they do it with an 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. but very
rare among the people of the Appalachian
region of the south. One would think
from their accounts that the southern
mountains were swarming with cave
jewellers. The aim seems to be to per-
petuate the ideas of that class of philaa-
thropists who find peculiar pleasure in
| contemplating poverty, ignorance and
degradation in the south since the civil
war.
Not long since The Sun noticed an APP
peal of this sort FOR aid to mission work
for mountain whites showing that it
was in effect libel upon the people it
professed to describe. Any person IA
miliar with the Appalachian region of
| the south would see at glance how alb
| surd the whole thing was. The Christian
Union for Dec. 81, 1882, contains letter
from Rev. D. Atkins, 4 Methodist minis
| ter of Hendersonville, n. c., which COM
| pletely demolishes 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 l. years there as minister and
| teacher.
"As Methodist minister" he says, Il
have 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. I have
! visited these people at their homes, have
eaten with them slept in their houses
and seen them in every condition. Ye7
Mr.. Atkins has not once beheld the slum
4 scenes Mrs. Paddock described III re-
/ cent number of The Christian Union
| Your correspondent" he says. must
have found some secluded spot never
saw, for in all my travels l never saw
the things she writes of, and it seems
strange that l 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 you
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 Be1n:s. 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 a nutshell, Mr.. Atkins says
of Mrs. Paddock's picture: "She has pre-
sented the very worst possible case that
could he found IN the remotest part and
made 1t = sample Of all the 2,000,O00 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 matter Of fact, the mountain
whites" are not a 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, three-fourths
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 district where there is
not a 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 III a 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 thei1
sisters of the north and west and Mr.
Atkins spent four years in the west
They do not work in the field. 1T is by
no means" says the writer, the custom