The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-05-15


back, carrying a pair of saddle bags, |
went a journey of a hundred miles. |
more or less, to supply a sparsely
settled country with a few letters and
still fewer newspapers. In my young
days my father had a contract for
carrying the mail from Raleigh to
Jacksonville, in Cumberland county,
a post office west of Fayetteville, and
for a few months this writer enjoyed
the privilege and Gor awhile) the
pleasure of being a mail carrier.
To give the reader an idea of the
inSignificance of the mail service Of
that day. as compared with the ad
vantages the people now enjoy, / will
write UP a trip that had to be made
once a week. And to begin, l must
state that my father lived twelve
miles south of Raleigh, and as this
was the starting point we usually
came here ON Thursday evening TO be
ready, as the contract required. TO
start with the mail early FRIDAY
morning. AS we had post once
("Middle Creek,") at our home, the
rider would reach there for pfeah-
fast. Then he would start Tor Hol-
Iy Springs, which place he Wouio
pass about / d. m, Where ne "oulu
give his horse bundle OF fodder
and a few ears of corn, and eat ms
lunch, consisting of biscuits ana Irleu
chicken. or ham.
Leaving Holly Springs he would go
westward, passing the boohers' me
Rooths and the CollinSS he would
finally fall into the Raleigh and Hay
wood road crossing the HaW River,
he would deliver mail to the Hay
wood office. By that it was growing
late in the day. Leaving Haywood
and crossing Deep River on the Hay
wood and Fayetteville road, he would
,In civ -
John McLeod's and spend the night.
lie was the gr lndiatlIeI of Rev. .llhn
T. Pullen, of this city, as we'll as of
Mrs c. IL. Belvin and Mrs. DIR. l.. w.
Crawford Saturday morning bright
and early the rider would be on his
way to Rollins store. IN Moore
county "a few miles east of where
Jonesboro is located. There ne led
and got breakfast. From Rollins
Store he went Il southwest direction,
through the piney woods, most OF the
time travelling a mere trail OF a path,
Gushing, every now and then large
flocks of wild turkeys, and rot un-
frequently jumping a deer). &c Jonn-
sonvil;e 2. o., of which Mr.. John w.
Gamer on was postma Ster. There he
fed and took dinner. Mr.. Cameron. L
remember, was very careful IN ar
ranging his mail matter For IN
stance, / have frequently seen him,
after folding letter and seailhS u
with A wafer, take a flat iron ana
smooth it. Envelopes were not much
used in those days. After dinner the
rider went in a northwest direction 10
Pocket p. o., IN Moore county OIL
which Daniel Macintosh was post
master. There he found good sup
per and a nice bed to sleep on, and
generally felt very much like eating
and sleeping. after making slch
long ride. sunday morning, coming
east he would pass Buffalo PrcSbyte-
rian church and also where Jones'
boro now stands. and take break &St
at John Sheppards, Long Street p. O.
After breakfast he would come on and
cross Cape Fear River ut AVent s
Ferry and coming through tie Buck
horn country, leaving Holly Springs
to the north and Piney Grove to the
south, would reach home that (Sun-
day) evening. Monday morning he
would come to Raleigh ana aeilVef
his mail bag to old Postmaster White,
at the post office which stood some
where near where the Tucker Build
ing stands. What a journey was that
to supply only seven offices. Ana
to think that a pair of saddle bags
would carry all the mail matter that
went into all that country, seems al
most incredible, when we see the
many bags that go out daily on the
trains, filled with papers and letters
into the same territory.
| never saw "gander pulling" but
/ missed seeing one only day. i ar
rived at Mr.. McLeod's one Friday
evening, and not seeing SANDY, ms
son. (who, by the way, was no other
than Mr.. Alexander Mcleod, of Lum-
berton, N Co. l asked his sister, then
young lady, but afterward Mrs.
PuIlen, where he was, / understood
her to say that he had gone to candy
pulling. In a short while he came
home and at the supper L asked nm
about the candy pulling he had at
tended that day. He and all the
family laughed at my question and
was no little embarrassed for mo-
ment, as I knew l must have made a
blunder in some way. 1t was soon eX-
planned to me that it was a "gander
pulling" and not a candy pulling, as
[ understood it to have been. 1 Sald
no more. for 1 did not wish to expose
my ignorance by enquiring what a
gander pulling was. Next morning,
however found out Just before L
reached Rollins Store | passed the
place where the pulling occurred the
day before. / noticed a long slender
sappling that had been trimmed UP
TO the top and bent down so that one
on horseback could almost reach it.
Mr.. Rollins explained to me at the
breakfast that was where the gander
pulling took place the day before
l will describe the pulling as he de-
scribed it to me. To the timber sap
ling, bent down, an old gander is
tied by his feet so he can use his
wings to hutter around. A prize is
offered to the rider who, going under
that pole at full speed, can jerk that
gander's head off. A man on each
side, with whip in hand gives the
horse a lick Just about the time the
rider is reaching for the gander's neck.
So, in the first place it's uncertain
about getting the neck; and in the
next place the neck's so tough, and
the pole is so timber, and the horse
is going at such speed a fellow don
have much time to wiring. 1t takes
hours. sometimes. Mr.. Rollins told
me- it takes half a day, to get the
head. That's a gander pulling as it
used to be in Moore county.
How things have changed since |
used to ride the mail, especially in
the country | then traversed. In the
first place a railroad runs through my
fathers old plantation, where Middle
Greek most office was, and a railroad