Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-02-15
DAY IN HICKORY GROVE.

| Hickory Grove, and although the day
was rough and disagreeable one
because Of the slush under foot and the
whistllng- winds overhead, and but few
people were stirring any more than was
absolutely necessary, most Of the bus
iness people were at their respective
| posts, and there was a very good op-
portunity to get general view of the
situation, as well as an idea Of what
was doing and the prevailing impress
| sion Of Things in general.
! The first time this writer remembers
to have been at Hickory Grove was one
day in 1887, when ne rode horseback
from Blacksburg to Yorkville. The
work Of laying the railroad track
was in progress. The rails had been
spiked down to point a few miles
west Of the present thriving little
town, and the crossties had been
spread along to point a mile or two
to the east. The only business house
there then, was that of Mr.. ]. N. Nc
Dill, and that with about three or four
| residences within a radius of half a
| mile was all there was to carry the
name. Since then there has grown up
respectable block Of business houses
| seventy-five or eighty residences and
the population Is somewhere in the
neishborhood of three or four hun
| dred people.
All OF the business houses are lined
along one side of Main street, which
runs parallel with the railroad. They
include the Hickory Pharmacy. the
hickory Supply Co., Bank Of Hickory
Grove, ]. 8. Wilkerson, ]. N. McGiI &
Sons, Whitesides Bros, c. 8. Moorhead
| and j. w. Castles. There are two ho-
tells, one operated by Mrs. ]. w. Leech
| and the other by Mrs. w. T. Slaughter
an efficient little telephone exchange
and livery stable. The postoffice is
In the store Of ]. N. McGill & Sons,
and Is looked after by the members
OF the firm. There Is good public
| school with three teachers, and COM
Portable Associate Reformed, Methodist
and Baptist churches.
The population Of Hickory Grove is
made up principally of York people
few accessions from abroad, and gen.
orally Of the same high standard of
citizenship that is common to York
county towns. Community life has
developed steadily along healthy lines,
and a latent public spirit Is slowly
crystalizing into a force, which In q
few years more, will work more mark
ed transformation of present conditions
than haye been wrought since the COM
Ing Of the railroad up to this time. The
town has the men and women Of the
kind who are capable of the highest
development. These men and women
have an intelligent appreciation Of the
community needs, and there remains
little else than the necessary time ele-
ment to set In motion the forces tilat
will speedily bring the town to its own.
Conversations with the business peo-
pie disclosed about the same condi-
tions that have been prevalent else
where throughout the Piedmont since
the beginning Of the year. Business
has been rather dull. For one thing,
the weather has been bad and the
wage class has not been able to get
much money. For another thing, there
has been more or less uncertainty as
to the manner In which agricultural
operations are to be conducted this
year, just how the slightly changed
credit conditions are going to work
For another thing, there has been more
concern about getting last years bus
mess Strengthened up than there has
been about starting out into new oper-
ations
Several business men mentioned the
fact that the completion Of the new
bridge over Broad river at HowelPs
Ferry, gives promise Of very material
addition to the business Of Hickory
Grove. It Is five miles to the river,
and just across the river in lower Cher
okee county, there is very consider
able scope of country. that is nearer
to Hickory Grove than 1t Is to any
other market, 'by. from ten to fifteen
miles. The people of this section have
been kept away from Hickory Grove,
because Of the inconveniences and un-
certainties Of the ferry. But now they
ar" crossing the bridge and buying their
goods at Hickory Grove at prices that
are just as close and satisfactory as
they were able to obtain from the more
distant markets.
There Is a gold mine at Hickory
Grove. 1t Is operated by Mr.. r. W.
Smith, a miner who has had exper-
fence in the Cripple Creek country,
and throughout the west. The shaft
not more than a quarter of mile from
the centre Of the town in fact. The
owner, so 1t IS said, Is pushing his
operations in an independent, business
like way The writer did not have an
opportunity to talk to Mr.. Smith; but
was told that he, Mr.. Smith, is not
asking assistance Of anybody and Is not
trying to sell stock. He merely claims
that the ore Is there: that 1t Is rich
ore; that he Is getting II out slowly;
that as he becomes able to operate on
a more extensive scale, he will be able
to take 1t out in larger quantities; that
II he fails. he will not be the first
miner to do so. Mr.. Smith Is quoted
as saying that II the gold prospects In
the vicinity Of Hickory Grove existed
in the Cripple Creek country, instead,
1t would not be a great while until mil
lions Of dollars were invested in them,
nor a great while longer before there
would be as many truly rich finds here
as there are out west.
The writer saw two drunk men at
Hickory Grove during the day, and
made some inquiries as to the Illicit
liquor situation. The information he
obtained was to the effect that the IL
quor receipts are anywhere from three
to ten gallons a day, sometimes more.
Practically, all the liquor that comes to
the town, comes by express. Some of
1t Is for personal use," and mucn Of
1t is for blind tiger traffic. There are
a number Of more or less notorious
blind tigers in the immediate vicinity,
who sell to customers they think they
can trust, and who have been giving
more or less trouble; but who have
been made a little more careful re-
Gently on account of the operations Of
Constable Sanders, who has been max
ing trouble for them.
Most of the cotton Is out Of the
country. Mr.. Sellers, a buyer from
Fort Mill, bought one hundred bales
last Saturday at Is cents. 1t is esti-
mated that this sale leaves In the sur
rounding territory about 400 bales, that
will be shipped from Hickory Grove
when 1t is finally sold: but as to when
it will be sold, there is no way Of tell
ing.
One of the things that Hickory Grove
seems to need worse than anything
else, is an experiment in sand and clay
road building along its principal
street. The experiment could be made
for only a few hundred dollars, and 1t
Is betting safe to predict that II 1t were
attempted, the result would be so sat-
In