Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-03

~ wild country said cd resi-
dent of Washington to Star
II man the other day. that region
Of eastern Tennessee and west
ern North Carolina is it. l was through
good part of 1t on horseback recently. and
you couldn't get further out of civilization
in darkest Africa. There is timber down
there to burn, and that is all they do with
1t. There is no way of getting it out A
fellow that was with me got some of the
finest timber land l ever saw for dollar
and dollar and a half an acre. But I
don't know what he is ever going to do
with 1t.
Think 1 am drawing on my Imagination
when l tell you 1 saw cherry trees down
there Ave feet in diameter? Well, I don't
blame you. But 1t is SO, and there was
more than one bay that we went through
where the cherry trees averaged three and
a half feet. But there is no way of get
ting the timber out. 1t is a thirty-mile
haul in one direction and thirty-five miles
the other. The country Is all set up on
edge. You can get over 1t on horseback.
but that is about the only way. There are
some places where the trail. such as It Is,
runs down the bed Of a mountain stream
and crosses it six times in a mile. The
rest OF the time it runs in the bed of the
stream ITSELF. and you are lucky II your
horse gets through without breaking his
legs among the boulders.
There is enough water power In the
eastern edge Of the mountains to run the
street cars in half dozen big cities But
there is not a trolley car in any of the
towns until you get down to the big towns
in the lower levels The streams are no
good for logging, or where they have BEEN
the timber Is all cut OF them. and what Is
left is so far back in the hills that you
couldn't get It out except with an airship
1.-THE people down there don't go much CO
clothes What they have in the way OF
raiment seems to be handed down from
father to son. and as far as living is con-
cerned, IL they can get piece of corn pone
and a little fat pork that is quite much
as they bargain for.
But are they shrewd? Well, they m ght
not shine in metropolitan society. but when
II comes to doing the stranger and the
Levite they are right on the spot. One or
Ia that the land laws and the titles are the
worst In the United States. was asking
one of the best lawyers In Knoxville the
other day about the title to piece OF
land, and he said: I don't want to boom
my own stock any, but l guess l know
about as much of the land laws as any
lawyer in this part of the world. And
when II comes to looking UP title for a
man in that mountain country / would
rather lose the fee than take the trouble
to do IT.
THAT Is about right. The land titles
down there start back with grants from
George III. The big proprietors that he
granted land to in large blocks sold. !
awanpel or gave II away in smaller pieces, J
and when the revolution came on half of
the holders were kicked out as tories and |
the other half of the residents took what |
suited them and often three or four OF |
them took the same piece Of land. and |
perhaps all of them sold II three or four |
times. The only real sure way to get i
property down there Is to camp on II with |
= Wtpchester. and be sure your Run Wlll