The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-04-05

content than he.
Oh course drayage was a great fea-
ture in the business of Fayetteville
at that time, for all the great stocks
Of goods came by the Cape Fear riv-
er from Wilmington, and were to be
conveyed from the steamers over a
mile for storage. In those days the
people of the town could creep out
to the outside world only by a
stage line to Raleigh and another to
Warsaw. Afterwards. for many
years they were enabled to whizz
along at h frightful rate of IL CT
10 miles an hour, over the Western
Coal Fields Railroad to Egypt.
There was one article of trade
brought by the agone about the
disposition of which he always grunt-
ed, no matter how often it was ex-
planned to him. He rebelled against
unloading the rest of his produce, and
being obliged to haul his -four down
to the warehouse on Person street.
This staff of life was under the con-
troll of the town government. and no
bag of flour could be sold until it had
passed through the hands of the in
spector and had been graded. If I
mistake not. this inspector continued
until some time after the civil war.
The wagons were wont to reach the
outskirts Of Fayetteville late of an
evening, and go into camp over night,
one of their favorite encampments
being on Haymount, just beyond the
present location of the waterworks
standpipe. When a boy, I frequent
ly saw as many as Is or Is wagons
gathered there, and nothing was
more delightful than a visit to the
camps after nightfall. There l could
buy of the teamsters apples, chest
nuts and cherries, and 1 would stand
watching with pleased interest the
cooking of the savory ham in the
frying pan and the great pot of strong
coffee steaming on the Goals, while
the men lay about smoking and talk,
ng-an outside the circle of light
the horses munched their corn,
stamped and rolled their chains as
mysterious in h gloom as the fable
horse of Druser.
Studying over the conditions of
that trade I am inclined to believe
that the profits We're small. They
certainly were in the case of barter;
and w where there was no ex-
change OF commodities. the goods
were sold on long time, and the coun-
trymen would brook no high rate of
interest. But the merchant of six
~ years Jack and more was content
to get rich slowly. He was a gener-
Gus but not an ostentatious liver.
quilt his dwelling for comfort, not
show, and kept his horses sleek and
fat, but he would have knocked down
the mar who proposed the ''barbar-
ism" of docking their tails.
However his may be. the time
came when the business men real
| lied that his great up-country trade
was slipping from their grasps with
the building of the North Carolina
Railroad and alas, they temporized.
Instead of meeting steel rail with
steel rail they attempted thanking
their enemy with h plank road, and
laid perhaps the most extensive sys-
tenn In the South, one line running
/ 100 miles to Salem; there was no
Winston then. There were, besides.
the Centre plank road. extending
toward Richmond county, one south
toward Robson county, and two
north on each side of the Cape Fear
river.
Dame Parthington food in the
doorway of her house by the side OF
the sea, armed with mop and broom.
And the Atlantic ocean dashed it's fu-
riouS waves inward, n sent its an
cry tide to lick the sand dunes and
assail the lone woman'S abode. And
the lame Sturdily stood her ground
for a space, and swept n mopped,
as the waters seethed about her
But the Atlantic ocean was tronge1
l than Dame Parthington. The North
J Carolina railroad was stronger than
the plank roads, and today is one OF
the worlds great freight and paSSen-
ger carriers. OF the plank road no
a trace now remains of the money
wasted throughout the great extern
of country then traversed.
The prosperous merchant of six.
J ty years ago differed as widely il
personnel from his successor o,
1904 as he did in his modes of carry.
ing on business he did not 81
the pace" of the present day anC
consequently carried himself with
poise and leisurely dignity which
would ill compare with the bustl,
in which We fume and struggle TO-
He never wore ready-made clothing
in truth, that line of goods was ther
little in vogue. His suit was mad
to order, of superine black broad
cloth, except the waistcoat which wa!
of ribbed black satin. His trouser
were frolted with broad flaps. jim
Cannon made his fine out stout shoe
! and he invariably wore a tall silk ha
|. In bad weather he enveloped himsel
in a long, heavy, black or dark BIN
/. cloak, generally lined with red. Thi
Did merchant was precise, a little ex
, acting, and somewhat timorous, blu
! thoroughly honest. The good oil
. times had their rascals as we'll a
: the bad young times" but this man
: word might be trusted without hi
bond
: He could take care of himself, too
and had a grim sense Of humor. TIL
! story is told of an upper Hay stree
' wholesale merchant who had a pa
tron in a retailer who kept a. sma
shop down on Person street. On
: day the latter came up and Dough-
large Int OF feathers, whic
Q were placed in an immense bag an
! weighed. The wholesale merchant sit
!; ting at his desk and making out tn
hill rafCa1 hiC had in n n1anf0l "a THr
4 1ation and in a mirror above saw hi
: customer partially slip a whole chees
, into the bag of feathers. Quick as
s flash he stepped out into the stor'
"Ah," he said to the CONSERVATION c
: the thievish retailer. Il have forgoi
ten the weight of those feathers" an
he weighed the bag again maxim
2 the scamp who dared not protes
= pay for a cheese worth about tie
cents q pound at the rate of tn