The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1903-10-20
HOW THE STATE CAPITOL
AROSE IN ALL ITS GLORY
;. If Why DIR. Charles F. Deems Left North Caro-
lima and the Late Ruffin fuckers Fan'iiy
Left the Methodist Church.

S,4-s House. which the a-chitec: .uTnlsh-
Cd to your paper recently, and, =
thought OF how much material aEd laeo:
would require to place those WING
INTO rosition, ny mind ran back 70 tho-e
Ir,ter days, when the Capitol Square was
covered with stone and the rock cutters
marors and chi-els rang from mornin-
urcu night, every working DAY ioF year
Nv first sight OF the present Cap!t2i
when. "a l remember il, tie walls
v4-e about eight or ten tect high above
FL ground. Having never seen stone
d4e.sI1g, it was indeed q sight 70 me tc
lock en- and see how quickly the skilled
| varEren changed the rough into the
smooth stone, and how easily the gTea-
ihena stones were lifted into p%o-ltlor-
Look any way might thcse We're booths.
underneath which men, with paper caps
OF Their heads. were WITH mai'et an
ch.eeI. making the chips and sparks tly.
Ara that was not ell that tuTnlsAed
I interest TO the country lad. There was
running from t.e rock quarry TO the
Capitol Square 2 tram road, on when
ran a car propelled by a horse. and the
loads OF stone, which that horse pulle..
were simply immense; bat the interest
centered in the fact that that one horse
was doing all the pulling and Wa expect
% 70 Move all the stone II would take
IL build the State House. | have heard
that he did. though I d. not v0uch Tor
the truth Of the matter. i saw 3 colored
nan moving q house some time ago, and
2 small mule was turning the Wlnd.ass
that did the puaing. The negro was brag.
g.ng on the strength OF his mule, AID
seemed to think he was performing a
v o1deriul feat; but when I told him tho
enc horse, tradition said, pulled the State
House about a mile. he dropped his head
and looked at ne from under his tlopped
hat. i said Boss, l gives it up" But
l heard him nouttering to himself as the
mule went around, and the house kept
inching along: Fore God, dat was a
i%pulling horse. for eho' nuff.' Before
LETT. l explained TO him that the horse
pulled the stone OF which the State House
was built. a load al a time, ana thus re
licved his mind Of the strain. when he
sad: Boss, I'm so glad You 'splanifed the
matter, case "a you're a preacher. just
nod it wouldn't dun for me to told
enny body that horse story, a. comm
from YOU
How many times We, carelessly, il may
be, make and leave unexplained. false lri-
u t~ssions. In my young days | used TO
attend camp meetings al Old Buckhorn
Church. in Chatham county, near which
lived a very prominent darkey, then a
slave, named Ben Partridge. Uncle Bon
vas a patriarch as we'll as az apostle, and.
during the camp meetings, i was allotted
to him 10 look after the colored portion
OF the congregation. Unier a vast ar
Dor there was a pulpit in front OF Whicf
vas an altar for the whites. and N the
rear one f7r the colored. Both races
heard the sermon. and when the white
preacher began to call for ~penitents IN
front, Uncle Ben. IN clarion tones, called
for "mourrers'' IN the rear altar; and
the slain Ct the Lord We're always more
numerous in Uncle Ben altar, than n
the white altar, for the reason thar
Uncle Ben's sheep kIt7- j. : voice aid 81
ways came when he called. Uncle Ben
had a son named Dick, and to MIN woa
allotted the most difficult duties. u the
time OF meeting. For instance. # tac.o
was, on the outskirts of the audience. "a
high headed upstart,' as Uncle Ben de
nominated every young buck who SHE'D
oil and looked insolent. you might hear
the old patriarch's voice saying: Dick.
you see dst fool lookin' Niger down dar,
dat's putten' on dem airs: go rite out
dar and bring MIN to de nourner's bench,
II you have TO tie him" And Dick, II
must be said to his credit. always brought
in his niger; when the old man would
say: Well done, good and faithful serv-
art, but you must go out and do 30 again
and what you're gwine TO do, do quick
~" On one occasion q rnourner, instea1
Of coming to the altar had knelt down, Or
rather, laid down fat on his back. out IN
the congregation. and his cries at length
attracted Uncle Ben's attention. y soon
as he saw TIE mourner, he called fer
Dick, and, IN an authoritative tone, said
10 him: Dick, dus you see dat mourner
lying out dar; he's wun OF de slain Of lie
Lord. dat fell among thieves, as il were;
go right out dar, like de good Sa-mary,
ri-tan, and take him on yer shoulder and
fetch him rite up here, and lay his head
on his lockwood root, and get down and
pray fer him. and den you'll know he IS
bin prayed for" And Dick brought him,
according TO Instructions. and It was not
long before Uncle Ben was heard to say:
Bless de Lord, he's comm thru"
I said above We sometimes make AMI
leave unexplained impressions that are
false. We do it thoughtlessly, it may be.
yet harm IS often lone all tie same. At
the time of which l write Rev. P
A.. was the pastor Of the Buckhorn
church and. consequently, the pastor oe
L L4t4t 4pSi 81 anu liz 0-1 y SN'A 4oNt4 O
shepherd more or followed ono nearer
than did Uncle Ben, his pastor, until one
August a storm Of wind swept over the
Buckhorn hills, nightly tearing down
the forests. a few days after brother
e.. the pastor. stopped at Uncle
Ben's cabin to hear his account Of the
distinctions of the recent storm. which
was, to say the least Of it, very highly
ccIored. When brother A ought
Ito have said, Z never heard tho like Of
that he replied by saying; Il was in
a storm once that did verse than that
after the wind quit blowing I saw buh
yearling still UP in the cir at least fifty
feet high, above where stood. Instead
OF explaining that the yearling was alive
and eating grass on the summit Of a
Buckhorn bill, fifty feet high. the preach
!. or left the impression on honest OLD
Ben'S mlnd that the wind took the year
2 / - - 1,-,- ~ -4@~~ .~l >.