The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1899-03-29
Sarge Pluukstt.
The Granite OF DeKalb Coming to
the Front.

name of James Wilson came into cur
country from Aberdeen, Scotland
and when be caught sight OF tie
granite along the Georgia railroad he
said, .'here I stop-this is the land!
Tois Scotchman was an expert in
stone cutting and knew the value that
should be placed upon rich fields OF
granite. He settled down in LitEonia
and cut out the first stone now. so
common on the streets OF Atlanta
and other cities. He is buried in the
cemetery at Lithonia and his coun-
trymen have decorated his resting
place in most suitable manner by
the erection in granite Of unique
statutes in the place where he sleeps.
Long before this man of Aberdeen
died be saw a verifcation of his good
Judgment on the coming importance
of this granite. La few short years
be had gathered about Lithonia a
colony of Scotch people so numerous
as to make one feel in strolling there
that they were along the ''banks and
braes of bonny Doon," or listening
to the murmer of "Afson's Sweet
Waters"
Before Wilson's death experiment
had been begun to find something to
take the place of granite but he al
ways told his friends to never mind,
that they might 60 off for a while
but that they would return to the
use of granite, as nothing could take
its place. This prediction has been
fulfilled. For some time the world
has been struggling to find some
thing that would take the place of
this granite, and so successful did
the experiments seem at one time
that the industry was dead and many
people fed the region, and capital
was withdrawn, but a return to
granite has begun, the industry has
taken on life again, capital and peo
pie are returning and DeKalb now
gives promise Of being speedily what
she should be, the richest county in
the world from natural resources.
One has but small conception of
this granite supply who con6ne their
ideas to Stone Mountain and the
region thereabout. Miles away from
Stone Mountain to every point of the
compass stretches great fields OF
granite and hills of granite only
called "hills" because of the great
Stone Mountain itself which over
shadows everything of its kind and
stand as one of the greatest wonders
of the world. Away down on the
line of Clayton from any vantage
ground looking iuto Dekslb, miles
upon miles Of granite can be seen,
sometimes stretching in fat acres
like gray prairies, then rising in
'.hills" like grim sentinels keeping
watch over world that is passing,
to tell the tale when all else has
passed away.
Never touching the great noun
tain, enough granite could be had to
build q Chinese wall around the
world, and then seas of rock, if it be
proper to call them seas, would re-
main unscarred by the hand Of pro-
gress, only waiting to be turned into
channels cf usefulness and to things
of beauty.
Along with the predictions of the
man from Scotland, there is another
story of a man and his faith that
these mountains are to be scattered
to the four winds, but it will be re
membered that in Wilson We had the
judgment of a clear, strong man OF
travel, an expert in rock work, in the
other we have the delusion-if you
30 choose to call is-of an old man
bent with age and smarting under
what he took as a wrong which crept
upon him in the grab CT progress
and opened the eyes Of those whom
he wished to ever keep in the STUN
bling path Of darkness.
Long, long ago, before the hammer
OF the OoOtcn man WAS ever uieaueo
of and before these rocks ha, ever
had a scar, this strange old man
owned land and lived northeast OF
the Stone Mountain. He had raised
family here, as innocent as they
were ignorant in their backwoods
seclusion. The old man himself was
rated an infdel, but his family were
believers and members of little log
church which had been built very
near the foot of the mountaip, on the
steep sida. His family had long
since dispared of ever getting the
old man to enter their little church,
klor~hb of ~ " han