The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1896-08-06
RICH AND PROSPEROUS.
n Negro From York County WHO
Has Gained Riches and Position

Negro From York County WHO
Has Gained Riches and Position
In Liberia
Twenty-Five years ago Il poor laborcr
In the cotton fields Of York County:
today ~ merchant prince and one OF the
| leading cltlZens Of a llOurishing little
republic. Such in brief is Il romantic
history Of juno Moore, u negro, who,
IN 1871, left this State on account Of the
l>u kluN, went to Liberia, and last
| week came back for the first time to
the scenes of his early life. He called
at the Office Of TIC Yorkvillc Enquirer,
| which was the first paper he over read
ne proved to be very Intelligent
| talKcr, and 1T was not worry many min
utes before the reporter came to tho
conclusion that he could tell some
| stories that would be of COnsid dcrnblc
interest to the people Of this section.
"Ihcrc wore l6G mon, women and
| children IN our party, when we LETT
Clay Hill" he said. I'VE sailed on the
Edith Rose. Two or three dicd on the
voyage, and thirty-six or more bccom-
ing dissatisfied after We got there, re
turned home. or the balance, nearly
all arc doing WE'LL ard not one OF them
would be willing to come back to this
country to live under any considcra-
tion."
swell, you seem to have been quite
prosperous. Tell us how you got your
START. Did you have any money whom
you got there ?"
Yes, sir. bless the Lord, 1 am doing
we'll. No, sir: | did not have much
money. Me and Solomon Hill-Solomon
Is my partner had only u few dollars
between us. The government gave us
W nG l1,, ,,fi
gives twenty-five acres to the heads OF
a family and ten acres to u man who is
not marricd-and we went to work
The irst thing we did was to plant
ginger and coffee. 1t takes coffee live
years to bear after planting, and then
it continues 10 bear on for q lifetime
Ginger comes quicker But we had to
DO something while our crops were
coming oD and we went to work with a
whi psaw, saving out lumber for 80
cents day apiece. We kept at this
for two or three years, until we be-
gan to realize from our gingcr CROPS,
and then later, when our colIco began
| to yield, we did not have any more
| trouble. Now, between us we have
5000 acres OF land and our coffee crop
amounts to Il little over 10000 pounds
Il year. For this we get fifteen cents u
pound, and realize about ten cents Il
pound net profit.
| Here is q sample of our coircc," con
tinucd Moore, producing box of that
| article. Tho reporter was struck with
the unusually large size Of the grains
and suggested that the sample was
| especially selected. "No, sir" said
Moore, that is what they call elephant
coffee. | sold 200 bags Of it in Liver
pool, and it was all just like this. This
was taken out OF a bag that brought
home To my people. 1t is fast bcc0m-
in" KNOWN as the finest favored coffee
In -" '''. n'.! my principal bust
~. .'." - 3 , rrip is to establish an
American MAI Iuj for it. Heretofore
We have been selling it in Germany
and England, ard we want to sell it in
America also" He went on to explain
that in addition to their farming opc-
rations, he and Hill also conducted a
mercantile business at Arthiue ton,
Millsburg and Monrovia. The country
is divided into settlements Of eight
square miles each. TIc lives in Arth-
ington, which was settled in 1869. At
that time no coffee was raised there:
but now the settlement produces about
300 600 pounds annually, and he and
Hill handle about half of it.
Next Moore produced photographs
Of two residences which he said were
those Of himself and Hill. Each resi-
dcncc is two stories high and though
constructed Of boards that appear to
have been sawn rather uncvcnly, they
arc neatly painted and present a very
crcditablo appearance. Hill's house
contains sixteen rooms and that OF
Moore seventeen. He also had photo
graphs Of his own wife and children,
and lIill's wife and children, along
with several Of their grandchildren.
June" tue reporter asked; "is it cf-
| icicnt?'
"ies, sir: we have u good govern
mcnt. Our President. }. j. Cheese
man, is Il son Of an American slave:
but IL native libcriau. He is an able,
just and patriotic executive. The leg
lsiativc department consists Of House
and Senate, just as in this country.
Crime is punished surely and swiftly,
and murders are generally hanged. it
Is not often that they get OF on tho
plea Of sclf-defcncc unless they have
a mighty clear case, and it is not often
thata jury will say manslaughtcr when
1T Is really murder. immortality is
, punished moro strictly than in this
, country. y man il allowed only one
!. witc, and If he lives in single room
/ mousse with moro than one woman, he
: will be prosecuted for lcwdness. I have
2 'oSh VI VIC Slauu Jury IllnC ana again
r anu l know just what I am talking
n about Our educational system is not
4 SO good. 1t is undor the control of the
@ government; but we have not been able
: TO get cilicicnt teachers. All of our
T. business and oil of our education Is in
the English languagc. There are other
tongues spoken; but English is good
anywhere"
u "How about labor? Ia there stn,
Q opportunity for intelligent men with
Q ont means, but willing to work, to make
= hoadway?"
a Tho labor is good and reliable. It.
: is bottcr than the negro labor in this
country. We pay the natives % cents