The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-09-22
LEE COUNTY CAUGHT WITH THE
GOODS ON, IS CLEARLY GUILTY
Old Sleuth of Progressive Movement Makes Out Perfect
Case and Identifies Culprit By Means of Incontro-
vertible Evidence.
(BION H.

ahead building good roads. and they
are finding out that the gain from n
good road is SO much greater than n
cost that the wonder is now that the
good roads movement Gid not start
long ago.
In Sand Hill Strip.
/ lay considerable stress on this
good roads development because it is
the awakening of the county. Lee is
a new county. 1t is only three or four
years ago that it was cut off from the
older counties adjacent. and a new
county established. 1t was a good
move. for it aroused certain ambi-
tons that are beginning to make the
influence felt. Lee is one of those
peculiarly fortunate counties that are
4 located on the edge OF the Sandhil
strip. 1t has both the light land OF
the sand hills and the heavier land
of the clay. 1t has possibilities of de-
verSificatiOn that a county in one sec
ton alone cannot have. Lee, there
fore. may have a wider range of pro-
ducts than most Of the counties Of the
state, and a wider range Of business.
It's possibilities. are the possibilities
Of North Carolina. The favorable
climate, the abundant rainfall. the
proximity of the vast water power at
Buckhorn falls on the Cape Fear. on
the Yadkin. on the many ~undeve1op-
ed falls on the rivers that are within
the county or form the county line.
Sanford is the one town of the state
that has all four of the big railroad
systems the Seaboard, the Coast Line,
the Southern, and the Norfolk Sou
thern. for while the latter is not yet
into he town, it is but a short dis
lance away, and is planning to come
in shortly.
l have been interested in the de-
cided progress Sanford has made in
| no 1oet 700 ~o~- &c. 6
its size that have so few vacant lots
on the Main street as this one. In a
brief time ave sprung up here a
large number Of handsome business
blocks and all are occupied by sub
%stantial business places that would
be a credit to a city two or three
times as big.
Now do not think that i confuse the
Importance of a town with the num-
Der of its stores. That is not the case.
My conception is that the stores are
. not the makers Of trade. but the in
, deX Of it. Where you find a lot Of
good, modern stores, you have found
i, a community that makes those stores
necessary The stores do not create
j, business, but they satisfy it's needs
q and they are just as accurate a j n as
rain is of wet weather.
A store is the second step. The first
is production Of something. The man
G VIZ pI OuuCCS oilHSS lis StulI " IA
+ store to be converted into what he
q wants The store reflects the condi.
ton OF the community. Nothing could
better register the progress that has
been making in Lee county than tht
n multiplication of good buildings ani
the improved appearance visible al
over Sanford.
d Coco Roads and Good Farming.
s. l do not assume that the goot
a roads have stimulated the increased
h interest in farming in Lee county. /
n is rather likely that the spirit which
d has done the one has done the other
le A certain desire to go ahead is in
is herent in mankind everywhere, an
ye the backwardness Of any people i
D. more the result OF a lack of familiari
ty with what can be done than a lacl
Is Of desire. The reason Sanford ha
electric lights and telephones now i
not because of any more progressive
r ness on the part of the people tha,
1t was characteristic Of people fit
Of years ago. 1t is because those thing
We are available now. The people 9
a Lee county are daily diScOverin
or things they did not know yesterday.
I'd One Of the big discoveries is tn
as possibilities OF h county. A fe'
)u years ago the people of this SectiO
or had no idea what wealth surrounde
q t them. Now they are discovering i
ly 1t is not that the people are any NOR
a progressive. They are simply reali1
re ing that they have the power to MAX
a great future for themselves in the
m county. They are realizing that thel
in is no limit to what they can do if the
ut want to do it.
ay In running about the county tn
alf trip We saw many object lessons. FL
nd instance we passed corn fields tn,
evidently will yield from fifty to
hundred bushels to the acre. 1t
ne unnecessary to go any further tina
that in making up a schedule Of
farm community's assets. Among II
I'm corn raising states of the union Nor,
a Carolina last year and the year befo,
ne ranked thirteenth, Last year the col
cd crop in this state reached q value
rm almost fifty million dollars. Twel,
he other states exceeded this figure.
arS 1890 the whole agricultural product
the state just barely turned Over fiji
ley million Ollar The old state is mo
80 - 1900