The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1893-03-21
ARP'S REGULAR CHAT.
TIE PHILOSOPHERS VISIT TO THE
OLD NORTH STATE.
Tho Thrifty and Prosperous Carolinians-
Something About the Great Tobacco
Industry, and Other Matters.

,cts of North Carolina 2" and the answer
was, pitch, tar and turpentine. Ihere
was time when the primitive settler, on
being asked what he raised for market
said: Fruit and live stock and lumber,
by which he meant pumkins and possulns
and hooppoles. There was time when the
natives were called ''tar heels and If one
of them emigrated he hardly dared to own
his state, and if he did he tempered the
discredit by saying he was born purity
close to the Nirginny line If these things
were ever true they are not true now. Oiu
North Carolina has long since awakened
from her slumber and is now rapidly forg-
Ing ahead.
Ny recent visit there and the beautiful
handbook sent me by Mr.. Robinson, the
commissioner of agriculture, constrains me
to tell your readers some things they do
not know and will be surprised to learn
This handbook of $50 pages Is published
In the best style of Typography and illus
trative art, and would be good model Tor
other states to initiate and emulate. 1t
has fOrty-tve beautiful full-paged photo
graphic views of notable features that IL
lustrate the mountains. forests, vineyards,
fisheries, farms, factories and railroads of
the state. 1t is book fit for Chicago at
the worlds fair. ! wish that Georgia had
one, and every other southern state, for L
who will be attracted to North Carolina as
Il most wonderful and progressive state.
1t is just 800 miles from Cherokee to Roa-
noke island, and every portion from the
fisheries OF Aibemarle q The land OF the
Sky has something peculiar ana det ira die
10 boast of. We have long hcel Boosting
of our cotton factories in Georgia, but
does Georgia know that there ar one OF
more cotton mills in forty-tl.2e counties
of North Carolina; that there are nineteen
IN ! n1an 81
III Randolph. nine in hlecklenburg, eight in
CataWha. eight in Gulford aai iiO IL the
state, besides Il number III construction.
That in these mills are nearly l0,tC0 icoms
and over ,0D.OD spindleS, and they con
sumcd last year 10000 bales of cotton.
Besides these there are thirteen wooden
mills that are turning oct lie bt st 1uaity
of jeans, kerSeyS CasSimereS anO hanke is,
and there are eight knitting mills. some of
th"m being operated day AMI night, Ind
all declaring good dividends. There ire
hi. -~c.,.t lactOricS that make carriages
and buggies, thirty-two that make wagons.
twenty-five that make furniture, six that
make hubs and SpokcS and tWenty-four that
make sash. doors and blinds. Dne of these
works 125 hands. Then there are hundreds
OF sawmilis and turpcntIne th5u!icrlt~.
There are twenty-eight canning factor es
for vegetables and fourteen for oysters;
there are fourteen cotton seed oil Factories,
iifty-fOur fertilizer factories aud quite
number that make barrels ana cra,es aid
baskets and broOms.
But on the high top of this py-a MD are
the tobacco factories that far exceed i'll
number and capital those of any STATE IN
the union.
There are 10 that make plug tobacco,
nine that make smoking tobacco. Durham
alone sold lINNNW pounds last Year and
paid To the government for sdmpS SOf6-
129; Winston paid more than thai ard
AShevie sold over 3.DtW'ED LDunls OF
leaf tobacco. These are only the principal
tobacco marts, and the aggregate OF the
production increases with eve.E year. Then
there are the rice fields and cranberry
meadows and tls1 immense truck farm, th't
extend all along the coast and find an ea1ly
market in Washington. tll mere aut IlIl-
adelphid. At Newborn 1l,n" 1hrIe were
shipped in one day 23.0Gn barrels Of Irish
potatoes and 1900 boxes of beans, and
This an every day business, and does not III
cilde the peas. tomato :. asparagus ana
cabbage. Indeed, the prOducio1S of this
coast region seem ncre.lbi.. Then there
are tho fisheries that employ 5000 persons
and 5000 boats and ship 30,000.O0O pounds
of fish in q season. Next comes the NE
diCiDa herbs, Of which one firm in States
vile shipped IL ore month 1lS,pOO pounds.
They employ 300 agents to collect these
herbs aud do hy far the largest business
OF any similar firm in the world We have
IN the mountain region of Georgia and
Tennessee the very same botanical pl3nts
but nobody gathers them.
Now. i nave S1iu Holillng OF the mineral
springs or Inc vineyards or the small fruits
nor OF the tubero&eS that are shipped from
eyerE large town to the northern dealers.
This Is n wonderful state and Il thrifty.
induSrrlous people. More great nleO have
been born ~ educated within lnr borders
than any &c he southern states IN the
long ago my father Taught me that Nathan
5ci AIacOn was the greatest of all our states
men. even though he did weatherboard his
house on the inside and had the laps up in
nj tff 81 Th1V Ia MI hsAr
water IN the cracks and kill the hedbugS.
From his day down to Zeb Vance the state
has not lacked for notable men, and il is
safe TO say that 10 one man ever lived in
state who was SO universally esteemed
anI loved as Vance is by his people No
one MAJ was ever such coat of arms,
Guch an ensign, such an emblem of his com
monwealth. Vance is North Carolina and
North Carolina is Vance. This cannot be
said of any other man in any other state.
Now. what will Georgia do when she
considers this record? How much longer
can she claim the honor of being called the
Empire State of the South! We have 4
splendid record for the past. but what are
we doing now? Here Is my own county
that ranks all others i'm the state III mineral
and agricultural wealth. and yet there is
not q cotton or wooden mill in il. and hardly
8 wheel turning any KIND of machinery.
Where are our cotton factories. save those
in Augusta and Columbus and half dozen
more that make up The list? Are there
half dozen canning factories in the state?
What is the matter with our people, eSpec-
tally the farmers. who could put their
moneys together and have little cotton
mill in every fertile valicv--a mill that
Wouid spin their own cotton into yarn or
knit it into hosiery. Eight ten thousand
dollars would build such mil and give
employment 70 ali the poor children in the
neig!lborhood. VIII we never wake up and
get out of the old RUS and learn lesson
from North Carolina?
| am now spending my leisure in writ
ing history of my State-a history for
the young people-if they choose TO read it.
1t is labor Of love with me, and my best
ambition is 10 found it upon the truth
nothing To eXtenuate nor set down aught
in malice" Some things | will write that
have not been written. for my hearts de
sire is to hand down 10 orr children. pure
and untarnished, the honor and integrity
of our fathers. | have been frequently
urged to write such book. and have got
my own consent--not TO compete with others
that have been written, but rather TO say
something that has not been said, but