The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1922-09-01
ITALIANS FOR
COUNTIES
PappaEo Proposes To Settle
Italian Truckers Both In
Perquimans and Cur
rituck


an early date. if the plans of
Oreste Pappano, Italian en-
gineer and real estate promot-
er. of Bethlehem. Pa, go thru.
Mr.. Pappano and party who came
to Elizabeth City last week thru the
activities of the Carolina Real Es-
tate Agency of this city. are still in
Elizabeth City. While negotiations
were pending for the acquisition OF
Il large tract of land in Perquimans
County. the PapDanO party took a
look at the lands around MOyOck this
week and their plans were enthusi-
astcally received by the leading citi-
zenS of MOyOck who are not ayerse
to the idea of Il foreign colony in
their midst The MOyockians have
thousands of acres of fertile farm
lands that they are anxious to see
developed.
Options have been secured on sew
cral thousand acres to be taken up
in the event the colonization scheme
goes thru all right. In alloting this
land. it will be laid off into small
farms. houses provided for the set
tiers and implements furnished them
for one year. These holdings will
be sold to the Italians who at the
end of the year will begin making
payments on the principal and in
tcrcSt.
Farmers of Fewer Acres.
1t will not be long perhaps before
Italian farmers and their families
will be singing in the fields near Mo-
yOck. glad of the opportunity to
prosper in a bigger country where
space is not at so great premium
as in their native land. Italy has
an area of only little over $1,000
square miles or something like the
state of New York. yet its pOpula-
tion is nearly 33,O00,000, or more
than one-fourth that of the entire
United States.
This scarcity of land has made it
necessary for the Italian farmer
work overtime for il living for his
familt'. and on a comparatively
small acreage. No wonder he is glad
to get away. But in leaving Italy
there is terrible cost; it is. I'M
prrativC for him to leave aS much
of his Italian money behind as pos
Sible. 50 great loss does he suffer
when he begins to exchange the ltal-
ian Ira for the American dollar. The
Ira WAS formerly worth $1.93 before
the great World War.
Not Spenders or Joy Riders
The class of Italians to be import
ed for the Moy0ck colony are from
the truck growing district near Ma
pies. They are poor meat for store
Keepers and no Governor of North
Carolina will ever have to issue Il
Livc-ar-I Home proclamation and en-
ploy propagandists to tell them how
to live on the farm.
The Italian trucker begins by
planting II small garden for his own
use. He puts in Il grape vine, ber-
ry bushes. fruit trees, bee hives, a
few chickens. turkeys. geese and
pigS. If he is able he has COW.
and if not able to have COW he
has IL goat or two and milks the
goats.
He produces his own vegetables,
fruit. eggs. poultry. meat, milk and
cheese for his own family first He
puts the rest of his acreage into diff
fcrcnt crops: few acres in cotton,
IL few acres in potatoes. few acres
in corn and II few in truck. He knows
how to grow cotton and potatoes
well. having grown them in Italy. He
banks on no one crop. but diversifies
so that if onr crOp goes bad or finds
no market. he has other crops to
fall back upon.
His wife and children work from
morn till night. thinking nothing of
Il sixteen-hour day. They produce
pretty much everything they CON
sumo. buying very little from the
stores. \ barrel of flour. few
bolts of cloth and Il few notions will
be about all Il whole family will pur-
chase in Il year. They bank their
surplus and pay for their home
stead.
But the second generation will be
different. The children coming on
will soon learn the English language
and mix with our own children in
the public school and in the neigh
borhood life. The children will be
very much like native American
and will have to have pat
cnt leather shoes. silk shirts, auto
shower baths, drink Coca
Cola morning. noon and night and
take weekly trips to the city.
The colony at NIoyock will have
its own Roman Catholic chapel and
parochiaI school and their religious
needs probably will be looked after
by All Italian priest from Norfolk,
that being the nearest city where the
Italian Catholics have congrega-
ton.