Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1914-12-16
MIR. RuTHERFoRD's NEW HOME.
Former OcOneean Writes Of Impress
sions i'm State of Adoption.


my promise l will tell you how
find this State.
| live on the border Of Pine Level,
which is a considerable area of low,
level pine forest, of c.,erai ,nCusand
acres of fine pasture land, with c<t-
ton farms here and there. The for
est is a densoly timbered tract Of
tall, long-leaf pine-certainly a fine
opening for S. w mills. Timber is
cheap and lum yer brings one dollar
at the mill or two dollars at the
railroad, 12 miles distant from the
mill.
| am on the border OF the big cot
ton belt, where can be'seen thousands
of bales Of cotton at farm hou.es and
in warehouses.
Cotton, sugar cane and corr are
sweet potatoes and peanuts, and cat
tie run at large during the winter
months without being fed. We are
in a white community, with a church
anu oChool houoS III IL
yards Of our home. For eight miles
below us, on the Troy road, are
large farms, we'll supplied with ne
| gro tenants, who live in good houses
with fine churches, all painted white.
{ These farms belong to large land
owners, who furnish land, mules,
! guano and rations. These land
owners are quite at loss to know
, how to meet their contracts with g.
cent cotton. At this time / see no
wheat, oats or rye being sown. The
! problem with the big planters is, will
they risk another big cotton crop and
expenses or let the land rest? The
negroes have nothing after settling
! for this year, and they cannot farm
| without aid from merchants or the
landlord.
The land in Montgomery county is
partly prairie, with some timber
belts; sells at $50 to 500 per acre,
and is mostly very level. In Pike
county, near me, part of the land is
similar to land south Of Walhalla,
and is selling at $40 to $50 per
: acre. When this was alabama
| Territory the United States govern
ment had the land surveyed in so,
! 160, 800 and 64O-acre tracts. All
land lines are perfectly straight. The
public roads generally follow the
land lines; consequently the roads
are straight.
Roads.
And speaking of roads: The coun-
! try beirs level, it is absolutely nee
essary rlot they be graded with a
| road he'd 3 to 20 feet high to keep
water on the sides and off the road
! The roads are being macadamized
! and are very hard and solid. Team
sters do not ask chow much can the
! team pull" but chow much can the
wagon bear up" All bridge planks
are sawed by 6 inches and are
placed one inch apart, so that dirt
will not accumulate on the plank
hence no rotting. The Troy road
! crosses the Conecuk river on a very
! fine bridge, with an embankmenL
across the swamp 90 feet hign for
one-fourth Of a mile. This work cost
a large sum. Near this bridge are
three artesian wells, which supply
the city Of Troy with water.
Troy is the county seat of Pike
county and is beautiful city on the
Atlantic Coast Line Railway, which
goes into Florida. On my first trip
to Troy | named it the "City of
| Flowers" The street that | trav-
eled is the principal residence street,
and all the houses for a mile are
cottages with beautiful flower gar.
dens around each.
The Courier finds me promptly.
forgot to invite you to take a "tur-
key dinner" on the 26th with us and
try some Alabama sugar cane syrup.
There are plenty of turkeys and ex-
ira sweet cane syrup.
If you are scare Of water remem-
Der me. My well is running over,
and 1t Is 40 feet deep. I hope to get
moved into our new home before
Christmas.
The bird hunters were out in full
force on Thanksgiving day. 1t ap-
peared like a war zone in my raigil-
borhood I am informed that,Hluir-
rels are plentiful. will invest gate
this report about Christmas.
J. N. Rutherford