Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-19
INFLUX OF HILL FOLKS
WORRIES SOUTH'S CITIES
Country People, Puzzled by Urban Ways,
Fall Easy Prey to Propaganda
of Agitators.

| arrow had brought down, supplement-
| ed with trout and other fish from the
mountain streams. But the supply re-
manned undiminished.
From the summit of Mount Mitchell,
| gill feet above sea level and the lofti-
est peak of the Rockies: or from its
close rival, Clingman's Dome: or the
Grandfather, said by biologists to be
the Oldest mountain peak on earth; or
Whiteside Mountain in the far south
western edge of North Carolina: or per-
chance from the bald spot" at tie
apex Of any one of scores of peaks
having an elevation of more than 5000
feet, the settlers gazed upon piano.
rama of beauty.
They made this their home. Years
later new tides of immigrants, travers-
ing trails and roads hewn through the
forests by these pioneers, stopped for
a look at the beauties of what those
of later generation designated as the
Switzerland of America and which
Christian Reid called THE Land of the
Sky" But they halted only for a mo-
ment and pushed on to the plains of
the West.
Not so with the pioneer settler. He
had found home and here he would
| stay The wanderlust did not appeal
| to him. He was satisfied. And here
he remained for generation after gen.
Grafton until more than 200 years had
passed.
Paid Dearly for Isolation.
This immigrant had paid dearly for
his quiet life in the remote coves or
| perched high up on a mountainous
"shelf"-paid in stagnation, in retro
erosion. in physical degeneracy and in
| loss of ambition.
His blood, however was uncontami-
mated. No foreigners from Southern
Europe or anywhere else had come in
to cause a hybridization. North Caro-
lima today boasts that less than / per
cent Of her population is foreign-born.
1t leads the Nation in this respect and
| apparently Is proud of it.
| Hundreds of towns and villages can
boast of being 100 per cent American,
so far as actual blood is concerned. It
is all Anglo-Saxon. Herein, according
to psychologists and philosophers lies the
hope Of eventual regeneration of this
strain OF mountain folk.
Life was hard with this pioneer set
tier. He had to carve his home out Of
the forests as he had to carve his des-
tiny out of nothing. Often his corn
patch was on the side of a mountain
so steep that one might easily fall OUT
OF his farm. There were no roads lead
ing to the outside world. He might as
well have had Chinese wall around
him without gates.
Pioneers Lived in Circle.
There were no markets, so he pro-
duced what he consumed and consumed
what he produced. He lived in circle.
He dressed in clothing made from the
skins Of animals or from the nnsey-
goolSey woven on hand looms from
yarns spun on jimmy wheel by women
Of the family. There are still some
hand looms in operation in the noun
tains.
1t was perhaps several miles to his
nearest neighbor. As yet there were no
post roads and news from the outer
world rarely trickled in. No schools, no
churches, no country store, no gathering
place.
Time wrought changes. Gradually
trails and narrow, rough roads were
carved to the lowlands. The time came
when crude wagons went to Charleston
and Baltimore to buy coffee, sugar, salt
and few bolts of colored dress cloths
brought over from England. With the
closing years of the eighteenth century
there came the circuit rider and the
camp meeting. In 1900 the Jerks" be-
came common manifestation under
the arbor Of the Methodist camp meet
ing.
Arrival Of Bishop Asbury.
Bishop Asbury, bringing the message
OF an awakened religious conscience in
England, came like a brand of fire
through the mountain section Many
spots are still pointed out where the
bishop held meetings. Emotionalism
was rampant. It still manifests itself
In tent revival meetings. Men of the
type OF Peter Cartwright rode through
the mountains preaching the gospel.
Their imitators are still seen occa-
sionally.
rHA L,,il - H.. ~
ing avenues to the lowlands, and con-
Sequently access to markets, worked .
revolution among these mountain pic
| neerS. It made "moonShinerS" of them
They could not haul their corn and
apples out of the mountains the bulk
was too large and the returns too small,
But they transformed those products
Of the soil into liquid form, known as
mountain moonshine." In that shape
they found 1t profitable. They drank ID
| themselves, too, and drunken parties.
resulting often in fights and not infre-
quently in killings, were the order of
the day.
| Made Their Own Laws.
| There was but little law In fact, the
| pioneer Southern mountaineer was not
only an individualist, he was a law
unto himself. He knew no restraint.
The law of might was the law of rignt,
in very large measure Family feuds
developed. He who interfered was q
| target for the bullet from ambush.
| Hundreds of revenue officers sacrificed
| their lives at later stage in mountain
history because they failed to recog-
nize this trait in the mountaineer'z
character.
Years piled upon years, and the en-
pire builder came. He carved passabls
roads across the mountains. He built
railroads. He was the harbinger Of
change, OF industry, Of success Ha
broke up the quiet life of the pioneer
settlers descendants He paved the
way for another migration, one that
has created an industrial empire in tina
South, disturbing the old order of
things; one creating problems that the
present generation of business men and
industrial leaders is striving to solve
In 1880 the old Richmond & Danvilla
Railroad, now part of the great South
ern Railway system, was completed
from Salisbury to Black Mountain, 20
miles east of the mountain metropolis,
ASheville, then an isolated village Tbs
old East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia
Railroad, also part of the same great
system, had been completed from Knox
vile to Hot Springs, 20 miles west Of
Asheville. In 1881 the two lines were
linked and through railroad pene-
palachians. A new era was ushered III
Textile Industry Appears.
About 1890 there began the Develop
ment Of the cotton textile industry il
the Piedmont section of North ans
South Carolina. The region deSignateS
as the Piedmont extends from Danyilu