The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-09-17
WHAT TOBACCO HAS DONE
 FOR A CAROLINA COUNTY


 Conway. s. C., Cor of Savannah News. Z STRIKING object lesson illus
 tratlng the value of diversified farming. and tobacco growing especially, Is presented by this town, county and section. From time beyond which the memory of man runneth not. Horny county was designated ''The Inde- pendent Republic" because of it's isola- tion. It's county seat was forty miles from anywhere"-a days journey from the nearest important settlement. Its people were .'poor but honest''-a hate full but much used expresslon-and its farmers were small and of little conse- quence The love of God and justice pre- vailed. but these things alone do not build cities nor make prosperity.
 Horny county fifteen or twenty years ago drew it's sustenance almost entirely from the production of turpentine and ton-timber. Later cotton became the main dependence of the people And poverty reigned throughout the land dur ing all that time. A dollar. either hard or soft, was a rare sight Mortgages and liens plastered the landscape. Men made their crops in debt, and were in debt after the harvest Commerce was sluggish, pursuing ancient channels. en- terprise was merely an academic term and manufacturing industries was un- known and undreamed of. Horny was a back-woods county and Conway the stagnant village at which court was held twice a year, and mortgage foreclosure sales once Q month. No risk Is taken when it is said there WAS no more un- progressive community on the map. Yes- terday, today and forever appeared iden- tical to Conway.
 But eventually there came an awak- ening, which has been followed by revolution; and the genesis of the new order is to be found in the two words railroads and tobacco. Half dozen years or so ago the cultivation of to- bacco was begun in a small way in the upper part of the country, about Mullins, on the Atlantic Coast Line. The weed prospered and waxed great, in quality as well as in size. Attention was drawn to 1t. People began to talk about 1t and to experiment with it. There was a fear that the soil was too light for the plant, but experiments were all successful, and soon the tobacco patches began to be extended in area and tobacco barns be- gan to dot the farms. Turpentine had been worked out' and cotton was un- profitable. Tobacco, therefore came as boon. The people were found in re- oeptive mood, notwithstanding their in- tense conservatism. They were willing RI,1 a tv-ta for the best.
 The frultion of their hopes has been be- yopd their expectations Horrys soil has been found peculiarly adapted to the pro- duction of tobacco of high grade, and in bountiful quantities. In six years the county has tripled it's population, while in half that time the population of Con- way has been doubled and Is still grow ing. From a sleepy old village with pigs as plentiful on the streets as people, Conway has become busy. modern, in- corporated town, redolent of fresh paint and prosperity. Two railroad lines and a steamboat line are kept busy. Bricks and plate glass are taking the places of pine boards and s by panes in the busi- ness houses. The pigs and cows have been chased off the streets and a general air of cleanliness, hustling and health pre- vais. Everybody Is busy; the class of unemployed is so small as to be not in evidence, and in the pockets of all the people ther are juggling dollars. And to- bacco has been the chief agency of the transformation Great is tobacco. and all the people swear by iti
 The marketing of the seasons tobacco harvest is now going forward. There are two large warehouses in the town, where daily sales are held. The business. how ever, has grown too large for the two present warehouses, and third one will