The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-07-12
PROGRESS WADE IN COUNTY OF BLOUNT Letter by Visitor Sketching the
 0Iden Times WHEN THE DEER RAN WILD Blount Is Now in the Land Of Modern Progress and Industrial Develop
 ment Is In Evidence.
 Coal Mining.
WHEN THE DEER RAN WILD

The following letter from guest of MT. and Mrs. Toulmin at Lehigh tells of progress in Blount county in the inter val of forty years;
 "A little less than forty years ago the winding mountain roads of Blount county were traversed by private conveyances. vehicles freighted with invalids and pleas ure seekers en route to the springs to rest or be benefited by the famous 4sul- phur waters.
 Then 1t was no uncommon sight to see fine deer cross your path. or hear the notes of wild turkeys in the woods not far distant. The catamount also fre- l quented the rambles and proved a dead | ly foe to the herds of sheep that were then so important a factor in the coun- tvs commerce. for Blount has always been noted for it's excellent mutton. and in those days the natives were clothed almost exclusively in homemade goods and their woolen comforts were woven of wool from the shearings of their sheep. The threads were spun and dyed at home, and made Into cloth on the old loom that had been worn slick and smooth by con tinued use for generations, Few visitors to the springs returned to their homes without at least one of Mrs. Woods com forts.
 In Olden Times.
 "rhe people lived at home, that is to say the farmers produced all the requisi- tes for the table with the exception of | sugar and coffee. A cotton patch was a novelty, and 1t could truly be said a negro was as scarce as hens teeth. for in 1868 there was only one negro family to be found in the neighborhood of Blount Springs.
 Wheat was an important crop and the county was dotted with little water power grist mills, and while the flour was un- bolted it was pure and sweet The sur plus of the farms and the abundance of their orchards supplied the summer guests with all the eatables and thus the country folks lived a typical rural life. with little knowledge of what transpired around them from day to day. Yet when the civil war broke out, and a call was made for volunteers no braver hearts ever. shouloered the muslSet than the soldiers from the mountains of old Blount, and the women characteristic of the women of the land, remained at home and were he roines in their domestic causes. l The Louisville and Nashville,
 When the Louisville and Nashville rail- road was built and brought with if nru- gross and new industries Blonnt county awakened to a new life The railroad traversing the county not only put the citizens in touch with better market. but developed the mineral resources that Tor centuries lay buried in the silence of the mountains, and, thus brought wealth to the homes of many, who had simnlv been hauling their coal from the coal helds' with an OK wagon. In these re- sions now are located mines employing hundreds of men.
 | The Fourth.
 The Fourth of July was spent at I,e- high' mining camp just twenty-six miles rom Birmingham, ten miles from War rior and fourteen miles from Blount Springs, on branch of the Louisville and Nashville. To awake onA the elor,ous Fourth and one unacquainted with the life at mining camp, on the eve of a wage scale hitch just quiver struck the human frame, kind of to be or not to be feeling crept over me and I await ed anxiously for the climax. But good order prevailed and the day was ideal These mines were opened nearly two years ago by the Lehigh Coal company or which MT. Priestly Toulmin Is presi- dent and MT. John A. Rutherford of New York vice president. MT. Rutherford yis- US the mines twice year, spring and fall, MT. Toumin lives at Lehigh and has his home on an elevation just above the mines and convenient to the station. If Is a comfortable house. built of logs. hewn from the native pine. In fact. all the houses. about hundred in number are built from timbers cut on the property. Although the Toulmins have coal to burn they cling to the open fireplace. with blaz- ing logs, and the huge one with it's tall andirons occupies a conspicuous corner in the wide hall which forms the family sit- ting room.
 Union Camp.
 | Lehigh is a union camp and has about 500 The mines are all drift. and no ma chinery Is used in operating them, the danger is much. less to life under these conditions. Only one accident has oc- cured during the period of operation.
 There is a union church here. The pupilt Is filled alternately by Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist and Episcopal min isters. pr. Beard of the Episcopal church holding sermons every fourth Thursday fin the month. It was the writer's good fortune to hear pr. Beard last Thurs day when. on dark night. the people coming for many miles around, filled the church."