The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-03-11

people and make them prosperous.
was Illuminating about this because have
just visited Canton, a small retired vii
fage of 1000 people. / have known Cam
ton for fifty years and have a good rea-
son for remembering it. Soon after L
was married my father-in-law, Judge
Hutchins, asked me to ride over there
and deliver some important legal papers
to the clerk of the court. | was to ride
his saddle horse Lee" and he told me
where to stay all night. So l kissed my
pretty young wife goodby and made an
early start for the thirty-fve mile jour
ney. / was a good rider and Lee was
a free traveller. Up hill and down
and ON the level stretches he never broke
his easy pace, making about seven miles
an hour, and it was just twelve O'Clock
which / reached Canton. While | was
feeding the horse and rubbing him down
l began to think how lonesome it would
be to stay there all night and how lone
some my young and pretty wife would be
all solitary and alone by herself and no.
body with her to comfort her. / looked
at Lee and he looked like he, too, would
rather go back to where he came from.
So about l o'clock | remounted and set
his ears toward Lawrenceville. He
seemed all right for many miles, but
Stacked up when few miles from home
and we got there just as the family were
sitting down to supper. | saw my wife 5
smile of pleasure and / saw, too, the
judges look of surprise and displeasure
He rose from the table and went out
to look after his favorite horse. / then
began to realize that seventy miles IN
day was long ride for a horse and that
1 had done wrong. Next morning l was
up by daybreak to look after Lee. lie
was all right and as game as ever. The
judge never said anything hard, but he
looked grieved. He, too went out to
look after his horse and when he came
back said: II reckon l had better give
you that horse or never let you ride him
again, for if you are to kill him 1 would
rather he would be yours than mime"
That is all he said, and it was enough.
Some time after that he did give him to
me, and he was the gamest, proudest and
best horse / ever owned. But 1 never
rode him seventy miles in a day any
more. / never think of Canton now but
the memory of that episode comes
over me. Well, / would ride a hundred
miles in day now to reach my home
and my wife, but it would be on a rail
road.
Canton is the county seat of Cherokee
a large county, that was the home of the
Cherokee Indians until 1886. The name
came from Chera, which means fire, and
the Cherokees We're known among the
tribes as the prophets of divine fire
There We're several Indian towns in this
region, and their chiefs were known as
Stops and Chicken and Laughing Gal.
The region around Canton is rich il
minerals. Gold and copper and iron amt
marble abound in her hills. Some OF
these have enriched many men and tbs
pursuit of them has ruined many more
but lately new processes of mining have
made the results more certain and now
Northern and English capital has given
fresh vigor to the work of digging, crush
ing, quarrying and reducing the ores anC
finishing the marble. Marble work is
especially being extended and new
quarries being opened | was told thai
only few years ago Judge Gober and {
few associates bought a marble quarry
not far away for So 900 and were recent
~ offered So, 900 for it and refused it
The Georgia Marble Finishing Company
have planted near the depot very extern
tive works that employ over 100 hands
all white and all Georgians, and most al
of them young men. Mr.. Brady, very
courteous Boston gentleman, is the man
ager, and said he was pleased to say that
these Georgia boys were just as ready tt
learn the art Of working and finishing
marble and just as quick and skillful a
any he ever controlled. I watched then
at work in the different departments an
was proud to see their progress. This i
large plant, and the marble was seer
In all its stages from the great block
just from the Quarries to the most beau
tiful of finished monuments and column
and building blocks. There were hun
dreds of them and were all to tlll orders
principally from the North and East. 1
takes forty-eight hours to run the gam
saws through one of those huge blocks
The saws are of the hardest Steel bu
have no teeth. They are moved rapldl
by steam power and work Through SAN
and water. Some of the men are work
ing with mallet and chisel and some turf
ing marble in turning lathes and some ar
polishing ON the horizontal planes of in
mense revolving wheels that are foode
with water and sand. Everything Their
is up to date and is a great improvement
on the old methods up to date" is nov
an expression uIldL Is uedru eVefyWleT
concerning machinery. / heard it a
Epsley at the iron and steel plants. AM
/ heard it in the cotton mills of Sout
Carolina. All machinery now must b
up to date or it will be rejected. Th
pay roll to the workmen in this one mai
BILE plant is $500 week, and most of thu
is spent in Canton. just so it is with tn
gold mines not far away. The gold min
ing companies are making money by u
to date processes and Canton gets a goo
share of that. 1t is now certain that
cotton mill is to be built right away, 70
an order has been given for the loom
and spindles, all UP to date, and as 500
as the spring opens the work of building
the mill will begin.
Mining for gold and silver is, 1 reckon
the oldest industry in the world outsd
of agriculture. Moses tells us that in tn
Garden of Eden there was gold, and
was good. Gold and silver very soon be
gan to be a bimetallic currency Abra
ham bought a burying ground with 40
shekels of silver that was current none
with the merchants, and it is Remarkable
that a silver shekel was worth so cent
and q gold shekel was worth $40. Tina