The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1896-08-04
RICH AND PROSPEROUS.

"A Negro From York County Who
Has Gained Riches and Position
In Liberia.
twenty-five years ago a poor laborer
In the cotton fields Of York County:
today merchant prince and one of the
leading citizens Of lourishiDg little
republic. Such in brief is romantic
history of June Moore, q negro, who,
in 1871, left this State on account of the
ku klux, 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 the Yorkville Enquirer,
which was the first paper he ever read.
He proved to be very intelligent
talker, and it was not very many min
utes before the reporter came to the
conclusion that he could tell some
stories that would be Of considerable
Interest to the people OF this section.
There were l66 men, women and
Clay Hill, he said. "Wo sailed on the
Edith Rose. Two or three died on the
voyage, and thirty-six or more becom-
ing dissatisfied after we got there, re-
turned home. OF the balance, nearly
all are doing WELL and not one of them
would be willing to come back to this
country to live under any considera-
tion.n
"Well, you seem to have been quite
prosperous. Tell us how YOU got vour
start. Did you have any money when
you got there ?n
cs. sir; bless the Lord, [ am doing
we'll No, sir; [ did not have much
money, Me and solomon Hill-Solomon
Is my partner had only few dollars
between US. The government gave us
each twenty-five acres of land--it still
gives twenty-five acres to the heads OF
family and ten acres to a man who is
not married-and we went to work.
The first thing we did was to plant
ginger and coffee. 1t takes coffee five
years to bear after planting, and then
u continues to bear on for "a lifetime.
Ginger comes quicker. But we had to
do something while our crops were
coming on and we went to work with q
whipsaw, saving out lumber for so
cents day apiece. We kept at this
for two or three years, until we be-
gan to realize from our ginger crops,
and then later, when our coffee 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 little over 10000 pounds
year. For this we get fifteen cents
pound, and realize about ten cents a
pound net profit
Here is sample Of our coffee" ICON
tlnucd Moore, producing a box of that
article. The reporter was struck with
the unusually large size of the grains
and suggested that the sample was
especially, selected. mo, 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 bag that | brought
home to my people. 1t is fast becom-
ing known as the finest favored coffee
in the world, and my principal busi-
ness out on this trip is to establish an
American market 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 ope-
rations, he and Hill also conducted
mercantile business at Arthiugton
Millsburg and Monrovia. The country
Is divided into settlements Of eight
square miles each. He lives in Arth-
lngton, which was settled in 1869. At
that time no coffee was raised there:
put put now now the settlement produces about
300, 900 pounds annually, and he and
Next Moore produced photographs
OF two residences which he said were
those of himself and Hill. Each resi-
dence is two stories high, and though
constructed of boards that appear to
have been sawn rather unevenly, they
are neatly painted and present very
credltable appearance. HilPs house
contains sixteen rooms and that Of
Moore seventeen. He also had photo
graphs of his own wife and children,
and HilFs wife and children, along
with several Of their grandchildren.
What about your government,
June" the reporter asked; sis it eff
fcient?"
"Ycs, sir; we have good govern
mcnt. Our President, j. j. Cheese.
man, is a son of an American slave;
but native Liberian. He is an able,
just and patriotic executive. The leg
lslative department. consists of House
and Senate, just as in this country.
Crime Is punished surely and swiftly,
and murders are generally hanged. 1t
Is not often that they get of on the
plea OF sclf-dcfence unless they have
mig hty clear case, and it is not often
that jury will say manslaughtcr when
1t is really murder. immortality is
punished more strictly than in this
country. a man is allowed only one
wife, and ii he lives in single room
house with more than one woman. he
will be prosecuted for lewdness. have
been on the grand jury time and again
and L know just what II am talking
about. Our educational| system is not
so good. 1t is under the control of the
government; but we have not been able
to get efficient teachers. All of our
business and all of ourb Education is in
the English language. Ihere are other
anywhere"
How about laborP Is there still
opportunltyi for intelligent men with
headway ?'i ss W.
"The labor is good and reliable. 1t
= ll,,7 better Z g. the nssa& labor in s,