French Broad hustler and Western Carolina Democrat. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1915-1916, 1916-02-10
Future Career for Henderson County
and HendersOnYille Citizens.
fRv Thns 7 Rickmanl

4uOS u hlChludu.I
Editor Hustler:
When Henderson County contained
a population of from five to eight
thousand people and the village of
Hendersonville from four hundred to
twelve hundred, did you know that
none of the inhabitants knew any such
thing as poverty suffering or serious
deprivation?
The average rate of wages were in
deed low and such a thing as a union
had v been heard of. From forty
to seventy-ive cents was a day labor
boris wages, while a clerk. or book
keeper in a mercantile establishment
received from $500 to $500 per
month and he made money for his en-
ployer boarded him. Such an express
sion as high cost of living" had not
been written or spoken in these
"diggins." If you had mentioned the
word strike" or boycott lockout
or the like no one would have under
stood what you were talking about.
The only mysterious thing to puzzle
the brain of common folks, that had
been brought about, was the small
County Masonic Blue Lodge, which
had been organized in the town. 1t
was looked upon with great suspicion
by men and women in the common
walks of life. and many rumors as to
its midnight secret workings and do
ings were whispered in every neigh
hood.
The ~unknowing ones, who had no
knowledge, except whispered rumors
about that Masonic Lodge frequently
had it limited to them, in a most con-
fdential way, that some unfortunate
Mason's wife was liable to become a
weeping widow, at almost midnight
meeting on account of her husband
having met an, untimely death, in that
lodge and his body secretly covered
III the sands, never to be heard of
again. Fortunately the past history
of lodge doings, records no such un-
fortunate happening in the good old
Henderson County capital.
Hendersonville was even then q
progressive community for it had a.
school house. with Prof. WOODBURY. as
a teacher, and even others of profess
sional distinction preceding him. II
had no street car lines. no water
works, no electric plant, but it had a
stage line running up and down Main
street, toward Asheville, and Green
vile, s.. C. This stage line stopped at
the Ripley Hotel, and branched U
from there daily and Colonel Ripley
was one of the proprietors and inter
eSted in the enterprise, which meant
as much then, as the railroad does
now. Main street was not paved. but
it was covered over with a kind Of
white gravel and rarely very muddy
the sidewalks were the same anu
studded with Aspen shade trees and a
row of same in the middle of Main
street. Four or five business houses
around and near to the oldscourt house
were all that. was needed. All the
beggars ever seen on the streets than
IL you could call them@such.W would
have been an organ grinder, with a
bear or monkey, surrounded by crow
of surprised children.
The village of Hendersonville lay
in the valley of Och1awaha and was
surrounded by much overf1ow@and un-
drained land-and did you know thai
this land belonged to everybody:
~Everybody's COW, hog, sheep, plow-
horse. p%olled-in patch, everybody get
dead-wood. kindling, fishing ground
for all the kids, buns and some old
ladies, with no one to let, Or hinder.
Unemployment was a thing not
then talked about and the single tax
man now tells US that free access tc
the land will cure all unemployment
troubles( so you see free access 70
Mud Creek lands and swamps cured
and kept down all such troubles as
beggars and unemployment.
The tax collector then collected
something like from $4,000 to $4,000,
annually as public revenue, now for
! city, county and all special revenues.
he must collect something like $780,
900, but do not for a moment think
anybody would want to be put back
into the old situation. When the chill
dren of Israel murmured at Moses and
he sought advice from the Lord, the
answer came backon the bank of the
Red Sea- go forward" So has the
world, so has humanity, so has Hen
derson County, so has H~endersonvil.e.
and so must we all, 60 forward"
In gazing on at beautiful Hende1-
sonville and Henderson county. let us
get for the future such vision as Julian
p. Scott describes
81 knew that / was gazing at the
Heavens,
Not that we should love our coun-
] try less,
But that We should love our whole