The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-06-11
On The Rail.

| met one of the best posted tobacco
men in the State at hotel in an east
ern town Il few nights ago. He has
been in the business of buying tobacco
long time and knows as much about
it as any man in the State Speaking
of the mammoth trvst which, by its re-
cent purchase of factories i'm Japan, is in
almost undisputed control of the price of
tobacco, he said:
Il have been in the business a long
time. but this is the first time | was
ever in a position where | did not know
what to do. Tobacco buyers are afraid
to buy most grades of tobacco. Former
" we could sell to Japan if we had no
purchaser in this country. Now there IS
only one buyer and the American To
bacco Company can fix its own price
But" | said, they claim that the
trust does not reduce the price of to-
bacco to the farmers, that they have or
ganized to help the farmer, and that it
is you middle men that the trust wants
to choke How about that"
1T is all stuff was the reply. "Num-
Der one cutters sold formerly as high as
So to 40 cents The price has been
hammered down and down until nothing
i'm a cutter brings more than Is cents.
| happened to be in kinston a few days
ago and found that some of the ware
housemen, who had purchased cutters.
could not get an offer of more than II
cents. From 30 to 40 cents for the hes.
down to II or IS cents for the best is
ii reduction of more than one hundred
per cent in the price paid to the farm
ers for their cutters if my arithmetic
is right. If that is the kind of help the
farmers are looking for, may the Lord
have mercy on their souls
| travelled recently over seventeen
miles of Huckleberry country in Samp-
son and Dupiin counties. These fine
berries grow on bushes or trees as tall
as Il man in swampy places; require no
cultivation. and there is no cost to them
except the cost of gathering and ship
ping. As rule anybody can gather
them, but a man may post his land If
he desires. This is seldom done and
there is strong public sentiment
against it. An humble tenant said to
me, "Whenever man posts has rama so
the poor cannot get huckleberries, he is
talked about, he is talked about sure
enough" In some instances where men
have posted their land it has been not
because they We're unwilling for the poor
to get the berries. but for the same rea-
son a man desires to put up a sign,
"I<eeD off the Grass" Huckleberries
sell at from 6 to 10 cents a quart, they
keep we'll, and stand Shipment better
than other berries. And IN pest
makes your mouth water to think about
the luscious huckleberry pies made from
Sampson blues. These berries are Il
considerable source of income at the
time of wear when money is scarce with
farmers.
The buest men you will find in the
State are the men who grow and snip
rawherries The prices did not give
profits last year, but this year 1t has
been so poor that some of the truckers
hrve actually plowed up their straw
berry beds and planted them IN cotton,
Talking with we'll known trucker at
Faisons. he said that the season had
been Il disastrous one. we shipped,
he said. COZ 900 crates from this depot
and they Melted the people not to ex
coed 10 cents per cgate which VIII hard-
ly pay for the fertilizer, picking ana
crates. The rainy weather hurt some
and the trains arriving late at the north
ern markets hurt more. The bean crop
which is only one fourth of crop, IS
paving pretty good prices now. ne
country for miles around Faisons looks
like a garden and in past years the truck
has paid handsomely and the land mas
gone up in price. The people are now
agitating how to get cheaper and quicker
TRANSFORMATION. They say that upon their
success in securing it largely depends
the future of the trucking industry.
At Trinity commencement, when the
Alumni presented Craven Memorial Hall
to the college, it was necessary to ask
the friends to raise money to pay OH the
debt. Among other contributors Capt.
]. Nj. Odell gave $500 This was IN AID
dition to his former generous contrlbu-
ton. The success of Capt. Odell as q
cotton manufacturer has been great,
and has been due to his ability and ca
| pacity, plus an industry and zeal that
have made younger men marvel. The
State needs more such men to make two
spindles make music where one previ-
ously .'hummed'' alone.