The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-02-07
A SOUTHERN BOOK
Answer to the ExaggeratIons
That Injure North Carolina
MOuntaineerS

Mitchell county, NOrtn tdiphlo'
desirino TO interest lIberal pe"piS
give to a hospital h wished 10 ere.
in that county, made statements apou
the mountain people of North Saro-
lima that inCeUsed the Mitchell people.
Miss Holman gave the picture Oh Cie
most exceptional m~ountalneerS VINO
were most ignorant, ana heF heaieio
and readers regarded the Epe "
scribed by her as typical Of our noun
tain people. This was IS great a |
wrong, though not 50 intended, as IL
one were TO hold up the most De
PRAYED denizen Of the East Side as the
typical native New Yorker. IN
Fortunately the g~rotesqucness OF Miss
Holman's descriptions gave them
national circulation and some yell
low journal gave new and distorting
colors. There is no effectual way OF
answering these exaggerations, for all
you can say is ''Jhey are exceptional
and Exaggerated and all readers are
invited 70 come to Mitchell county
10 see for themselves" and as lew
can come the impression
made is permanent.
The best antidote fo- the impression
made by Miss Holman and others.
who hold up the worst Of mountain
life as typical, is the new story by
Mrs. f. l. Townsend Meta Folger)
In the Sa~ntahalas." Mrs. Town
send is q native of SurrY county,
and her youth was spent in sight Of
the old Pilot mountain and among
The mountain people. She writes OF
conditions and people known to her
through life and with a Keen sense
OF their limitations, as we'll as their
achievements over obstacles and their
possibilities. She is the wife of q
Methodist circuit rider and has drawn
as true a picture as Mrs. Cora Harris,
in ''The tirrrjt Pijar'S NLifa1 J-au
OF some like conditions. No calling
gives one clearer insight into the real
life Of a people than that Of the rural
preachers wife whose education and
Keen perception is Of the best. Mrs.
Townsend has written serious essays
Tor the best reviews and SIX etches for
papers and magazines Of real merit,
put her novel is her best contribution.
1t IS q Story-Sweet and charming
and refreshing-of life in
North Carolina, the scenes pictured
in the picturesque mountain section
flfst OF all, she has written a story
and a good story Of genuine human
interest, but she has done more than
mat ana has also performed a nobIe
work In cnlightening many people AS
to the much misunderstood noun
talneer. She knows their sterling
qualities Of truth, honesty and sturdy
independence, and these qualities
- SAY q villa
ten.
Among the charming incidents in
h story. she has introduced the IN
surpassed one OF the reunion of the
seldom family and after her descrip-
ton of the exceptional village of
FRANKLIN, 50 cultured and Vet so un-
pretending, one is led to wish for a
simpse Of that nook in the giant
mountains. The story is full Of in
%terest, and through the experience Of
very lovely heroine the reader i
made TO understand the slight differ
ence the unlettered and the
cultured where the vital things of the
heart are at issue.
h In the N~antahalas" will moi
only interest every North Carolinian
nut &c mas even a greater interest foI
those who know the jewellers in The
mountains only through the grotesaue
"xaSgeratlonS OF those who hin il
necessary to make them out as of q
different type from other Americans
TO secure help for schools or hospita
~ their pictures in the yellow ionr-
nails. The story is q refreshing pen
picture OF 9 fine type of native Amer
scans OF most rugged type. Rev. +
stuart French. lately pastor Of the
FIRST Methodist church, atlanta. Al
present pastor Of Mckendree church
Nashville. writes TO the author Of III
the N~antahalaS'':
L nave FtdN with Q1luSua pleas
ure the PROOF sheets. and ] most heart
liS congratulate YOU on your interpre
tation OF the mountain character.
think no one has been So consistent,
misunderstood and unappreciated a.
the people OF Appalachian America
and to find some one who reall7
knows and loves them is a Very grea
pleasure-especially to one who him
sell was born and reared among tn,
ounta of East Tennessee an
Southwest Virginia.
Linda is a true type-I know
many such girls. All she needed wa
an opportunity-and she helped max,
that when it came near enough 70
her to recognize its form.
The story is Well planned and vel
executed. and he who reads it will no
only receive much pleasure, but ais
reap much benefit in the way o
knowledge of conditions in our east
crn mountain sections which h
ought to have
Readers desiring a copy Of thi