The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1902-11-14

years and years he was forced to
raise chickens. pigs and later on
vegetables for the Austin market,
while he hauled freight to little towns
twenty or thirty miles away. Year
after year he would find himself a
little ahead, and the little he had
made always found ready place of
deposit in the way of buying out
some poor discouraged farmer who
had only been there short time and
had concluded he had better get
away while he could.
The people have been steadily
coming and almost as steadily going
all these many years, and Mr.. Hun
ter has been buying every inch of
land that was for sale at great bar
gain. [ mean he has oaly been
buying land in this famous Hunters
Bend. Land has steadily advanced
in price and he says it is worth more
now per acre than he once thought it
would ever sell for, but still he is
buying at this time whenever he sees
a pickup and ne always knows one
when it is presented. He says he
came there to stay in the first place
was why he made a success but
others attribute his great financial
success to his economy more than
anything else, at any rate from
your correspondence point of view
he made two grand successes, he has
been married three times, his first
two wives having died. He went to
large plantation down the river
where he had heard of a young girl
whom he thought would suit him,
she was picking cotton, he told her
his business and they were soon
married, and it is said she is an ideal
wife, and managed the step children
well, though some of them were old
er than she. MIR. Hunter has six
children, one by his first wife three
by the second and two by the last, all
of whom are married except the two
girls by his last wife. and they are
hardly grown yet. Mr.. Hunter has
FIVE thousand acres of as valuable
land as have seen in Texas-val-
ued at from forty to eighty dollars
per acre, So you dear readers who
have plenty of time can figure out
the exact value. He has three large
ginneries though one was not used
when | saw it. He has more mules
and horses than 1 ever saw in one
drove, and cattle by the thousands,
though the cattle are principally
owned by his son-in law j. N. Lit
tlepage. He has abeut one hundred
and fifty houses on his land and a
beautiful residence for himself and
family as nearly modern as could be
away out in the country. There are
about one thousand negroes on his
farms and about three hundred
white people, also few Mex cans.
The houses for the negroes and poor
white people are nothing more than
we would call shack or shanty and
rarely have more than two rooms
and l saw family of fourteen living
in two very small rooms but three
we're several of them who were
crowns and there was not room for
all of them to lie down on the floor,
so they backed wagon against the
house and and part Of the family
would have to get into the wagon in
order for all to have room to lay
down. The houses are all built of
very light material as lumber is very
high at this place. They get the
cheapest they can and they never
cover house as long as a mad dog
can't jump through the top. The
houses are so light that they rock
like cradle when those heavy south
winds blow and some times they fall
off the sticks they have them set on.
The houses are built in lunches as
they were back in Carolina before the
war, though not in straight lines as
they were back there, but in all di-
rections Of the compass and with
sides to backs and backs to fronts
and every other way imaginable.
The reason of this bunch business is
to only have one well for each bunch
Of houses, you see well out there
has to be about 40 feet deep dug in
sand and a terracotta curbing which
costs about 65 cents per foot. So
you see the economy Of having lot
Of houses in bunch. There are
many houses on this place where the