The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-02-10
nv BION H. BUTLER-l


,Sew Bern. Feb This section Of
The United States is study and a
mystery 10 me, Now Bern is city
iwo hundred years old. 1t has a pop
nlation OF not over twelve or fifteen
Thousand Du Bois, In Pennsylvania,
ia n city considerably larger, and
5tirtv-five years ago Dubois had on a
xig new saw mill and was called
swamp siding, because the railroad
built a siding along the Beaver Mead
Dw swamp to permit the mill 10 load
ITS cut Of lumber.
or consider Los Angeles, Califor-
MA. In 1880, about the time l first
tuew the place it was hardly as big
as New Bern is now. But three years
ago Los Angeles had grown TO be
bigger than forty cities the size Of
New Bern, and bigger than any other
place south of line down from
Baltimore to st. LOUIS ana from tnefS
10 San Francisco.
san see what made Los Angeles.
Al i the climate But New Bern has
q better climate, has better water Ia
cuities is much nearer the Source
from which Los Angeles drew it's pop
ulation. and as far as l can tell New
4 Bern is just as desirable a place to
siye and TO do business, Why Los
much in forty years as New Bern does
~ singular isn't IT?
New Bern is just as interesting in
It's history as Los Angeles, for while
f.os Angeles had the old Spanish mis-
sions New Bern had the early settle
,ment OF the colony, and certainly the
history made by our own people is
an entertaining as history made by
Ihe Spanish aliens. The people in
.Ehs New Bern section are as affable
aud neighborly as the people OF the
Cos Angeles country. The scenery
Is as romantic. Business opportuni-
aes have always been as promising.
Then why the difference?
Where the Difficulty Lies.
1 can see only reason. Los Angeles
has been persistent In telling the peo
oie of the north and east of the ad
SAnt3geI OF the Pacific coast. New
Bern has overlooked the benefits tt
be derived from broad acquaintance
or at least has not gone into ths
matter as Los Angeles has done.
And what a town New Bern is!
has an atmosphere wholly its own
u is strictly a Southern town. I
IS as typical as Charleston or New
Orleans, yet not SO dilapidated a
charleston. nor SO antiOuated as New
Orleans. 1t Is trim, awake, aggres
sive, and tidy.
IT is "A pleasing sight TO alight from
lie train and take foot journey on
10 hunt the place. You know whel
you reach new town for the nrs
time that the. chances are you hav
not yet arrived when you get to tn
station. You still have to hunt u
somebody to tell you where the tow
IS. The railroad is generally glad t
hump you down somewhere in tn
cabbage patch, and leave you to SET
lie the rest of the journey on SOM
other conveyance. whether it be you
OWL feet or some swifter vehici'
and YOU pick out q course that tn
crowd follows and you start for tn
center Of activity.
Idcal Location For q City.
could love Baron de Graaffef
rcide for his choice In selecting tl
location for this town. Down to tf
last goes the broad Neuse rive
"hteh has widened until it really b'
COMES an estuary OF the sea. On tt
south is the Trent, another broa
sweep of water. enlarged, as is tt
SeuSe, by the proximity of the ocea
aWateI' on two sides, and whitewater
Shat Halt the city Tapped by tt
CONSTANT flow, and boats lodging hel
aud there on all manner of buSine
nr pleasure.
Fine homes line handsome street
bis trees and vines aud Shrubbel
wave grown in the two centuries
De stately and companionable. Stor
md public buildings that tell II
story Of energetic and thriving bus
ness institutions are along the street
~ makes one Of the prettiest tow
~ the United States, one OF the mo
pleasant to live in, and with it's hi
toiN aud it's present industries, o
| az the most interesting.
TIE question that strikes me b
lore ] have prowied around hfte
minutes is why this fine old town
TOT bigger than . lot OF the ne
AOe'nS ihnt haNe rlIn aWax from