The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-02-14

MI. John c. Chase Writes Interest
fngly of His Trip to Wnmingfon
and Other ~Citfes-The Growth of
Manufacturing Attracted His At
tention.

(From the Derry. N. H, News. Jan. 31-)
Mr.. John c. Chase. who was in bus
mess in the south many years. bur
whose home has been in Derry for some
years past. is now upon a hasty pill
grimage through the south. The fol-
lowing letter was received from him a
few days ago:
Editor Derry News:
The activity OF the past few
days has prevented an earlier cornpii-
ance with your request for a few notes
by the way. The pleasure OF a brief
southern trip in mid-winter is rnarred
TO some extent by the thought that II
will he only a few days before a return
will have to be made to the rigor Of a
northern winter.
Leaving eight inches OF snow in Derry
on the 18th inst. overshoes were ex-
changed for rubbers in Boston. and the
latter packed away on arrival in New
York city the following morning. Ling
ering a day in the metropolis and
~breakfasting in Richmond the next
morning. Wilmington, n. c., was reach
ed a nightfall, and the hand on the
dial of the season found turned back tn
late October or early November of the
New Hampshire calendar. 1t is hardly
necessary to say that the change was
a delightful one. White frosts in the
morning were the rule and % above
zero about the minimum temperature.
An absence of four years shows the
erection of many fine residences and
business blocks and a Masonic temple
that cannot be excelled in any city OF
several times the size of Wilmington.
Extensive Ctraat iDpnrnuannantS hora
heen and are being made and the pessi-
mistic plant of a few croakers about
the lack of prosperity is worthy of little
attention. But at the present time the
streets are torn up for the introduction
of n sewerage system, but like all acute
attacks of the kind it will be of brief
duration. and the scars will soon BE-
healed.
/, OF the tar that our heels acquired in
a sixteen years residence enough re-
| manned to ensure a hearty welcome.
and the four days Of our stav did not
afford sufficient time for greeting form
er friends and exhaust their hospitality.
The general interest in visiting Char
lesion at this time naturally centers on
the Southern States and West India ex.
position. The general features are
attraC tive. the electrical effects equal
TO anything heretofore seen except at
Chicago and Buffalo. Taken in in con
nection with a trip to Charleston. II
ought to receive a goodly amount of
patronage from residents of the eastern
and middle states.
Passing through Columbia about day
break the brilliantly lighted mills are a
striking object lesson of the increase in
! manufacturing since u Sost visit some
five years ago. One of the mills. the
| Olymnia iS an iromanSa ctrr,cf,,ra MN
tanning 104, 600 spindles and several hun
dred looms, which I am told is the larg-
est number OF spindles under one root
in the country.
Approaching Spartanburg the horizon
seems to be surrounded with a low
ban of smoke which turns out to be
coming from the chimneys of the num-
erous mills in this ection which use soft
coal for fuel.
From this poirt our homeward jour
e begins. Marked improvement is
noticed about the city and the whole
section is in a generally fourishing con-
dition, the only drawback being a poor
crop year which seriously affects the
farmers n tradesmen. Journeying
~northward Charlotte and Greensboro.
N. c., show the same increase in man
ufacturing interests and resulting pros
perity, and the substantial and ornate
business blocks cannot be excelled in
n cities of the same size Of relative
white population. A marked improve
ment in the condition of the streets is
also noticed, n a general extension of
electric car lines throughout the sub
urbs and into the neighboring country.
Much Of possible interest might be
written about the environment of those
manufacturing industries, the laboring
| classes, etc, hut time fOrbidS.
1t is indeed a New South" and one
u~nacquainted with the local conditions
of barely ten years ago cannot ade-
quately realize what has been accom-
plished in that period of time. A brief
stop in Raleigh, the capital brings my
highly enjoyable pilgrimage in this
section regretfully to an end.
JOHN G. CHASE.