The gold leaf., 1901-07-25
Special to News and Observer.
HENDERSON. y. c.. July Is

~ To I'VE III JdIudFN.
1886. The tobacco business at that time
had been thoroughly established. The
first tobacco warehouse started here for
the sale of leaf tobacco was established
by DIR. Meadows, now of Louisburg,
but at that time, about 1870 or 1871,
from Oxford. The house was known as
the Side Light.
Mr.. ID. \. Cooper came here from Oxford
in 1872 and as IL awarehouseman and sue
cessful tobacco man needs no lengthy
newspaper article to bring him before the
people. After he opened his house. other
houses We're erected from time to time
and run by hustling men who thoroughly
understood the business. Thus Hender-
sons tobacco market from year to year
has continued to grow and is now so
firmly established that she can count on
a regular solid business each year.
One of the best tobacco men of this sec
ton told me today that he believed they
| would sell at least two million more
pounds the coming season than they did
last on the Henderson market.
THE BIRTH OF HENDERSON.
The town OF Henderson first came into
existence as a little railway station, sur
! rounded by timbered land as far back as
| 1888 or thereabOut. This was when the
! old strap iron snake-head Raleigh 4
CASTOR road reached this point and |
| have no doubt it was considered q big
| achievement in railroad construction at
| that time, when the directors OF the road
reported to the stockholders who were
| holding a meeting in Raleigh that the
| road was completed one and a half miles
| West of Chalk Level and that the road
would soon run over the highest bridge
in the world, about 96 feet high This
was really their report, | am told.
| There is a very amusing circumstance
| connected with securing a town charter
| for Henderson. 1t was intended to be
| 200 yards area from a stone in the
centre and circular in shape, but the
charter sent before the Legislature that
| granted it read 200 miles The mistake
was not noticed until the bill had passed
| both branches of the Legislature, and it
! remained so for two years and SO far us
Il North Carolina Legislature was con
cerned, Henderson had jurisdiction over
Il pretty good scope of these United
| States, and if the census was taken dur
ing that two years, she had a good many
more people then than she has now, but
being u generous people willing for New
| York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta
|
own municipal government, this act was
repealed and the original proposition oi
| 1,2OO yards was adopted and has re-
manned SO up to this time.
| The census of 1890 gave Henderson
about 400 or 500 more people than the
census of 1900; this is doubtless mis-
take for every one knows that the town
| has been steadily growing all the time
| am reliably informed that including the
| factory villages there are at least 6.OOC
people who can truthfully be called citi
zens of Henderson.
| FUTURE FULL OF PROMISE.
Henderson is destined to go forward
more rapidly during the next five years
| than she has for the last ten years, be
cause the business men who have made
money here are not letting their capita
lie idle. They are building factories and
investing in other industries that give
employment to wage earners, and after
all this is what gives a town wide
| spread reputation and builds it up.
There are two pretty good sized cotton
mills here. the Henderson and the Har
riet The former has l., 900 spindles and
! 216lOOms The officers OF the Henderson
mill are: D. Y. Cooper, president: DR.
| +. r. Harris, vice president; }. B. Owen
treasurer: J. d. Rose, secretary; A. c
Allgood, superintendent. The same are
| the officers of the Harriet mill, except
j. p Taylor, who is the vice president
and +. l.. Page, superintendent. The
Harriet mill has 10000 spindles and 67:
cone winders. Both of these mills arr
fitted cut with the very best moder1
machinery and they employ about ,0O(
operatives.
| NEW INDUSTRIES.
The new knitting MILL which has beer
running about a year. is anothe
industry that has come to stay. |
makes mems winter and summer under
wear 1t occupies a large four stOr,
brick building and the capacity is 2O(
dozen per day. The capital is $1,000
paid in. The mill works over 100 hands
L. l.. Strause is president of the com
pany, o. c. Burt, from near Springfield
Mass, is the manager. Mr.. Burt is ;
thorough business man with an eN
perience OF twenty years in the knlttln:
mill business.
| Another new industry started here Jus
about three months ago, and doing
very satisfactory business. is the COrbit
Buggy Company. S. S. Parham is TIL
president; DR.. F. r. Harris, vice president
r. J. Corbitt, secretary and general man
ager Their capacity is sixty buggie
per week. They are now making forty
They make speciality OF rubber tires
They are business men and know how t.
do business They prove this by advei
tising in the Nems and Observer.
A new 20 ton ice plant is being put j
here. and it will be but a short while bt
fore the citizens OF Henderson will hav
ample means for keeping cool.
Henderson. besides being q tirst-clas
tobacco market, is growing each year a
| a cotton market The receipts up to th
time for this year amount to 5000 balet
One buyer said to me: I'VE pay as hig
a price for cotton on this market as
paid at any other in the State.
ROOT AND HERB BUSINESS.
Nr. W. ID. Burwell started about te
years ago the root and herb buslnes
This is a big thing for the people q
, through this section. There are som
times as many as 100 wagon and ca
, | loads brought here in one day. III
best feature about the business is 1t cos
nothing except the digging OF the root
and gathering the plants and herbs. \
work to raise them. nature does that.
is about all profit.
GRADED SCHOOL. SYSTEM.
u Henderson township has a splend
, Graded School system. There are tW
Il Schools one for eachrac In the electic
> to get this system OF schools, the negroe
;. with a few exceptions. voted against