The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1900-02-15

five thousand spindles, and has not yet
| been able, trying both white and black
labos, to make the mill go prolitably
| 1t Was expected that climatic cOndi.
| tions would favor them; that moisture
| in tho atmosphere which Mr.. Atkinson
and some other political economists
had declared to be indispensable to
successful cotton manufacture was to
be found there, and it was feared it
would not bo found in the hill country.
That difficulty was overcome, however,
by modern Ingenuity. In the Poe mill,
at Greenviile, attention was directed
to the humiditiers suspended from the
ceiling over all the spindles The in
| dispensable moisture would have been
lacking but Tor these simple contriv
| anccS.
While the owners and stockholders
are getting rich, they are comforting
permanent blessings upon the people
As in other towns whore new mill.
have demanded increasing numbers Of
operatives, shops have started TO sup
ply the needs Of operatives or those
;Twho wei, Q employed in new industries.
called forth because OF the coming OF
q labOripe population. Stores have
been obliged to carry larger and more
varied stocks. There is more travol
ing by rail. 1t is a matter OF daily oc
currcncc that among the passengers
who ovcrcrowd the trains OF tho South
crn Railway there arc inQuirers arriV
ing at various points to look over the
land with the view Of settling, either
as persons already concerned in cotton
manufacturing or hoping to be, o.
| tradcsmcn seeking new market.
The country is beautiful. 1t il
charming to the eye; it is naturally
hcalthful, and in the towns will bv
more hcnlthful with q little criticism!
and sanitation The summers are long
and the winters brief and usually mild.
But it is not alone in the coming Of
the trolley, the expansion Of the shops,
| the paving e streets in towns, the
sanitation OF all places OF large popul
alton, the sensation Of earning money
with regularity and certainty meyer
before en- joycd in the section, that. &c
casion for rejoicing is found in Soutt
Carolina. Attention WAS directed by
Is thoughtful and 0bscrvant citizen O
Grccnviflc to " sociological phase o!
the Industrial development that il
most satisfactory. and that IL seems q
pity could not be extended in som,
way to the State Of Kentucky.
When Columbia began to build mills,
and the operation Of the mills had
made pcrccptiblc drain upon the
most convenient and willing class OF tn,
population that was fitted to work in
the mills, that drain was felt u little at
points more or less remote from Colum
bia. Men and women who had ycarn-
cd for opportunity to get money with
| out uiEging or hocing for it, move from
the foothills into town, first into places
vacated by tho people who moved
c&rli est, and aftcrward, as the mills
| began To rise nearer to the hills, into
the manufactures Of Spartanburg,
Grccnvlllc, and clscw here in the Pied
mont.
EFFECT or PROSPERITY.
Most OF these people were OF the
real hardy mountaineCr sort, with the
same soft. eliCcratc, courteous addrts,
that Is ch taCtcristic OF all the noun
tainccrs / the Nlrginias, the Carolinas,
IN Tcnncs &c, or Kentucky. They
brought with them stalwart frames,
sim,'lc appctiteS, and ignorance OF let.
tcrs rs dense as mud. But they were
not altogether at fault for that. They
had not been treated as wards OF the
state. Having been withOu. the means
OF learning for generations, they had
acquired the ability 10 ge, along " ith
Out 1T. There was a mOving-dOwn from
the mountain districts into region
where there were scnCO and stores
and churches 0. proud ou. earnest
and ambitious multitude tnat had got.
ten along wlttOl! these tnings simply
because ali their neigh OOrS had done
likewise for years. But the pride that
had been satisfied in the mountains
made them ambitious TO keep up with
the order OF things in the region to
which they had migrated. The child
NJ II hn lnf6 ~
! rem. The wife must not be compelled
TO live In u sunbohnct.
| The public schools we're at once pa.-
ron'Hcd by children who might have
aevclo2ed into iguOramuscs like their
parents II " had not been for tho buHd
ing ol new cotton mills. Now needs
demanded money TO crafty them
Even some adults who codld not read
and write learned those accomplish.
mcnts alyly or from their children
The sun OF civilization WAS rising. The
t"stc for moonshinc whisky, ndulgeC
by only very small proportion @
these mountain people, diminished un
der the discipline Of the mills. The
walking delegate, a constant cause O
trouble In Northern mills, walked no
IN South Carolina, and If he had he
wonld have encountered class Of ware
c"rnnrs not yet so accustomed to earn.
ing ready money that they could be
easily persuaded so strike in order to
Increase their compensation or annoy
their employers.
In many respects this is the very best
result OF tho industrial awakening in
South Carolina. The mill towns are
oound to become centres Of intelligence,
taste, developing appetite Tor necessary
and 4uXurioUs surroundings, and, with
the passing OF years and the accumula-
tlon OF means, groups OF the owned
homes OF thousands who came to the
towns ponnilcss and ignorant, and have
been by industry and thrift converted
into law abiding, temperate, indcpcn
dent and self respecting Americans.
.
1t Is an interesting fact, says the
Now York Commercial, that all the
excessively rich men in tho United
states Senate mado their money in