Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-10-05

Lynch. Ky. oct. b.-On dark night |
-. ~. train swept along the West
virginia Shore OF Tug Hivcr, the
water boundary between the coal
fields OF West virginia ana eastern
Kentucky. and the scene OK the Ia
NOUS Hatflcld- Mccoy feud OF other
days. a patriarchaI mounta'neer
stood in the bow OF rude John boat
with n spear poised to strike. over
the boats bow was suspended an
iron IRE basket and the bright name
from burning pine knots hared over
the clear shallow water OF the river
revealing the fish to tho man with
tho "fzgig".
Tho train rosred into the dark
ness Of the narrow valley before the
spearnan struck. Tho patriarch
with the poised gig remained n men
tai picture Of the survival OF the old
life of the wilderness In a period In
which mine bosses in khaki, concrete
coal tipples, electric lights in noun
tain shacks. gasoline filling stations
and public garages in villages stray
Cling on mountainsides. silk stock
ings and fashionably cut skirts worn
by wives and daughters Of Italians.
; Croats, Slovenes, and Serbians, work
ing in Kentucky mines. mark the
transition OF this rnyion from Its
former primitive state.
, Throughout the coal and oil fields
,, or Kentucky there are everywhere
striking evidences OF Shange. In
the great coal camps model homes
for miners compare favorably with
the latest modern tenements in pro-
gressive American cities. Within
a few miles OF these trig little cities
|, made by powerful corporations t.
house their armies Of foreign and
native coal diggers. whose language
ia polyglot and whose American
t. slang is as up-to-date as the gowns
G and hats worn by their womenfolk
one alights-"lishts" is the loca
term-from mule before log ca
:. bin. He hears Elizsbethan English
g deteriorated from long use wher'
IS schools are few and poor, spoken b,
men and women OF tho purest Anglo
tai Saxon blood, although this blood ia
suffered deterioration by reason o
81 complete isolation Of clans since tn
Il mountains were settled by pioneer
from Virginia whose wagons brok
=. down in the mountains" Luckfe
travellers reached the Bluegrass wit
/, the result that their defendants I'm
a, herited the land and the fatne.
l., thereof.
A. At Lynch. where the ground foo
10 Of the company hotel Is 1900 fes
r. above sea level and the crest of III
I'd mountains within sight OF the hot,
re vcranda is 1000 feet, n single COS
I'd tipp|e, said 20 be the largest in til
no world. has capacity OF $4,000 tons
OF day.
i; Here until a few years ago wa
a. wilderness and Silercs. Nowaday
y. there 10 a small city Boosting itse
I'd model OF sanitary arrangenen
is The United States Coal and Cox
ly Company. a branch OF the Unite
to States Steel Corporation, lodges m
p ners, and ~ q courtssy transien,
m not engaged IN mining. in q hotel a
es well equipped as a smart summ.
In resort In tho North Carolina rnour
K tains.
The company department sto,
~ compares well with the best estal
dc lishment in any American city
- 100000 IN appearance, fixtures ar
stock. It's basement includes a M
'n del meat market and cold stora,
plant in which miners wives do the
''' table shopping
lct City Merchandising Advantages.
ny In this n,srcautiIe esta blisbu,en,
young miner may sit at a table
: the mezannine floor OF the drug sto
as smart as any on T Street
= Washington eating Ices and cak
-. with his best girl, or go into 4
|, No ,, clothing department and fit himss
- out as well as he could in Loui
vile or Cincinnati. II he is spen
''e err. as miners often are, he can b-
cigars up to $1.00 each, and at tn
price they are sometimes sold. T
miners wife or daughter can pay
much for her silk stockings in Lyn
as she could in New York. The pre-
~, dent Of a great corporation who W
one among several magnates who "
tied Lynch to look over the late g
90 ample Of model mine camp arrans
!
80, wife, in New York. the best pair
silk stockings in the store. VIII
'A" he paid the saleswoman he said
had set his wife a bad example
% the purchase OF expensive womel
oA furnishings.
The chubby atmosphere Of {
company hotel upon whose bro
10 porch easy chairs command a vi
on of skyline high upon Black MOI
ms. t,ir ,ha cncL =, h,,u.-d hau. 49,
ac- .hro,,r, a. a,. ... ---t-,.-
ny the smart cottages in which mine
-, wives use electric irons and toaste
's and the smooth streets appear stran,
~ ly exotic In this part OF the wor
IL Is IL miles across the mounts
" to Big Stone Gap. Va. the home
wig the late John Fox, Jr.. writer Of h
lucky mountain storaes-only
miles across the wilderness OF p
Mountain. yet about 2 days by !
via Middlesboro. and through Gu
berland Gap and back up the '
GINA side Of the range,
Lynch Is a new camp spic 9
span, the highest town in Kentuc
at the end Of a branch OF the Lor
vile & Nashville up Cumberland
YER and the tiny affluent of the Gu
berland. Looney Creek, which ri
on Black Mountain.
McRoberts, at the terminus
- -
n NJ NJ ~