The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-09-18

and Generous---Miss Abbott's School
is Closed, Miss Abbott Gone.
Mr.. Mark Squires, editor of the
Lenoir Topic, is in the city. He re-
ports everything quiet in Caldwell
County, after the excitement and fight
ing at Hudson last SUNDAY.
There is great indignation in the
county over the slanders of the people
of that section by Miss Pauline Alb
bott, in the Cincinnati Times Star of
about the first of August. Miss ABB
bott has taught mission school near
Hudson for about six months, closing
about the first of June of this year.
She went to her home in Ohio to
spend the summer, expecting to return
in the fall She had small school
near Hudson, was we'll treated, and
the people of the neighborhood
thought very well of her. and the peo-
pie who read the article in the Times
Star were greatly surprised.
THE article said Mr.. Squires, was
first reprinted in my paper. A travel.
ling salesman from West Virginia, who
was raised in Ashe County, sent it to
me and said: "As L have not been to
North Carolina in twenty years l
would like to know if this correctly
depicts the surroundings of that local
ity." 1t was replied to in my paper
and shown to be absolutely false.
Other papers copied it and made COM
ments even more cauStic. The ed1-
torial leader of the Asheville Citizen,
concerning the same, was headed The
Modern AnaniaS.
"The article that offended our peo-
pie was as follows, printed under
scare head:
PEOPTE WHO NEVER HEARD
OF GEORGE WASHINGTON.
4 (Cincinnati Times-Star)
People who never heard of George
Washington.
People who don't know what Valen-
tines day is.
People who never heard of the
Fourth of July.
People to whom ice cream is Ior-
eign, unknown quantity.
People who never saw a rocking
chair or heard of a piano.
People to whom the arts of clvlll-
Zation are all unknown, and to whom
the history of their own country is
an unknown chapter
Who are they?
They are the mountaineers of North
Carolina, and hearts all over Ohio are
touched by the pitiful story of Miss
Mary Pauline Abbott, who for a year
has been at work among these peo-
pie.
'"This mountain fastness,' says Miss
Abbott, sis located one mile from the
public road, three from Hudson, ana
seven from Lenoir N. c., the largest
place near us, which is but a country
town of 800 at most. The conditions
of this little mountain community are
almost unrealizable to the people OF
civilized country. The people know alb
solutely nothing of the arts of clvllza-
ton and have lived in this little noun
tain community for years ana years
without any communication with CIV
ilization They are proud people. and
only by treating them as equals and
with the respect due them can tney
be reached. These North Carolina
mountaineers live in rude one-story
log cabins. The clothes are woven
and SPUN with wheels by the women
just as was done in primitive times
The food they eat is mainly corn
bread The furniture of the house is
simple ana rude A chair is fashioned
by cutting down a tree and placing
legs On the round side, whereupon the
round side becomes the seat. The
cooking is done by the women over
the open fireplace on which big logs
Sre burned Styles for women's
dresses are unheard of things The
state of morals among the men and
women is rapidly being raised. When
they desire lights the mountaineers
throw a pine torch in the open fire.
The women wash their clothes, not by
the use of a washboard-for they
never saw such an Instrumentation
they pound them in the water to get
the dirt out of them. Invariably the
women wear SunbonnetS all the year
/ around, summertand winter, and they
Rknow no other kind of hat They wear
resses of material that they spun
Rd wove themselves. Their farming
done by hand, and in the most
pitive fashion. To harrow a field
aler cuts down q tree and tying it
kule, drives it over the ground.
marvellous to me how right
this civilized United States,
Iple had lived so long un-
The chief diversion in their
e last winter when / opened
was when struggling politi-
re through the county and
men to vote And the men
dbiicans and Democrats But