Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1898-03-07
NORTH CAROLINA.
Al Interesting Description of Portion OF
That state

readers of your valuable paper some
ilea Of a section OF Western North
carolina. The first place l stopped at
Mas Asheyille, the county seat of Bun
combe county. The city is built on
q plateau in the Blue Mountains with
mountains on all sides. To get a good
view Of the place a person has only to
climb one of these mountains and
The whole city lies before you. 1t is
one Of the prettiest places that | ever
had the pleasure OF visiting. The
people are very sociable, more so than
many places that have more social adj
yantages. The city has a population
pI $1,000, over onehalf OF which are
coored The place has reputation as
i health resort, and people from ali
aver The United States come here for
benefit from pulminary troubles. If
uas an average altitude of 2.4OO feet
Many people from different places have
erected some residences here and spend
iheir winters in this city. The attrac-
tons OF the city are many and drives
are laid out through the mountains,
that are frequented every fine day by
all kinds OF conveyances | think [
have seen moro fine horses and
wagons here than at any place | ever
visited.
One Of the sights that is always d
curiosity TO me is to see the mountain
eers come in with their canvas-covered
wagons with the fruits of the soil for
sale Some of them have been three
.
their own cooking and sleep in their
wagons at night. They are very sharp
when it comes to sell their goods, and
always know what the market price
Is They peddle from door to door and
will not sell all to ole person, because
they would not have any excuse to
stay in town longer You can purchase
part Of their goods just as cheap as
though YOU bought the entire load.
The most business that seems to be
done here is running hotels and board
ing houses. About every other house
has sign Private Board" Livery
stables is another business that is
worked here. 1t is a trade all in itself.
4 man registers at hotel, and inside
of a half hour some stable drummer
has him in a corner telling him of the
beautiful drives and wanting him to
engage d rig for the next day
lQu get the finest water here in ,he
world. clear and pure, from the springs
on he mountains.
The educationaI advantages of this
place are equal TO those we enjoy at
home. The city has four public
schools. one of which is for the colOred
children, also a female college that IS
spoken OF very highly. Bingham's
Military Academy is located on the
mountain west of the city. and has
40 students. who are instructed in mill
tarv learning as well as books. The
government furnishes the military in
structor The boys are put on their
honor for good behavior, and is re-
duced 10 the rank if he is not up to the
standard.
II would never do to forget to men
ton George Vanderbilt's estate, visited
bT thousands every year. 1t consists
OF 10000 acres, and its several depart
ments. as horticulture, forestry, agri-
culturals. etc, are in the hands of ex-
perts. lie is claimed that he has spent
between $4,000 900 and $1,000 900 upon
il. Ten thousand acres have been
converted into a magnificent park,
which lies on and between the French
Broad and Swawnanoah rivers. The
centre Of attraction is the palace, de-
signed and erected on a princely and
elaborate scale. The material used is
sandstone, marble, steel and mahog,
any The total length of the building
is 100 feet the width 900 feet from
is stamped upon the whole He has
fine game preserve on the place
stocked with all kinds of native game,
end fine hunting lodge costing in the
neighboThood of $4,000.
From AshyiIle | went to a place call
Ell Old Fort. There | found good quail
hunting and have been very successful,
with my dog. Alto. | have been able
TO find all the birds I could eat, but
have not seen any bear yet, although
While I was there a man came in with
the hide OF che he had killed on the
mountain and said that this was his
fifth bear this winter.
A person finds many poor people in
the mountains around here, an Incl
dent of which came under my obser-
Walton. While on one of our trips
through the hills we stopped at log
house to get a drink of water The
only people at home were a girl and
boy. They were parching field corn.
pom making known our wants it was
furnished us in a tin cup, and before
leaving one of the party gave the boy
Of five years a piece Of money. The
little fellow grasped it in his hand and
then said: Il am going to town now,
lgtt away and get me something to
eau. This is just a sample OF the
way great majority of the people OF
lnls mountain region live.
he principal dring here is corn
whisky. A man not use to it will i'm
agine all sorts Of things after taking
couple OF drinks. One man of my
acquaintance that told it for the first
llme said he had a strong desire to
mug every person he met. The next
day he sad ne thought he had two
heads. and they did not seem to fiji his
hat
his place boasts of eight churches,
While they only have three or four
months of school during the year
tnnk it would be a good plan if they
closed a few of the churches and de-
voted more of their time and money
70 the schools. | had a talk with one
OF The school teachers about the learn
ing Of the colored pupils. She said
PA they learned very easy and made
8Qod progress until they got in love.
AIler that they were no good unless 1t
H.