Evening star., 1935-04-07

Recalling comments oI hlheiiIoiio
abroad when they saw woman WORK
ing in the field, person yoked up
with an OK, a house without WINDOWS
a grapevine growing on an almost per-
pendicular hillside, water wheel 1ur-
nishing the power to grind the corn
or an OK pulling sled in the sum
mer. I can't help but think how much
these travellers have missed IN tnelr
homeland. For America has this, too'
TN MAKING the tour of the park we
motor over a wide highway close
70 hillsides which are banked with
mountain laurel, azalea and rhododen-
dron-in some places the rhododen-
dron is so thick that it Will hold tne
weight of a person standing on top
OF the branches.
Here In the heart of these noun
tains we come upon tribe OF Chero-
kees, who. in 1888. refused to be
transplanted to a new home in Okla
hona by the Government. small
band escaped and took refuge in the
coves of the Great Smokes. NOW
their descendants. numbering about
1000. are comfortably established IN
what is known as the Qualla Reserva-
ton. Here they ply their arts as IN
olden days, using the primitive metn-
DDS of weaving, spinning and pottery
making.
We motor on to New Found Gap
and view in the distance Mount Comte'
the highest peak of the Smokes. Be-
low is the road over which we have
lust climbed. The colors are striking
and perhaps nowhere in the world 90
mountains have such vegetation. The
cornfields on the steep mountain
sides are astonishing. The determlna-
ton of these mountaineers to I'LL the
sloping grounds can best be Illus
trated by the story OF mountaineer'
his wife and his son, who while work
ing in these cornfields. wore ropes fas-
tened around their waists, the other END
fastened around a stump IS feet above
them. Thus they kept themselves
from falling down the mountain While
they worked the field.
The mountaineer's outstanding
trait. like that of the Indian, is his
reserve. He never says word more
than is necessary. and views every one
with suspicion, but when once your
friend, he is always your friend.
These hardy citizens are Of pure Nor
die racial stock and have produced
many famous men, from the days of
Daniel Boone to the World War hero,
Sergt. York.
Their primitive log cabins have no
windows. Many Of them were erected
more than $50 years ago and were put
together with square wood pins.
These people have preserved their
early folk songs and ballads as we'll
as many Of the early mountain
dances. There Is much local color to
be found in the back ranges Of the
Great Smokes.
TRAVELLING on from New Found
Gap. We pass the State line from
North Carolina into Tennessee, to
dine and spend the night at Noun
tain View Inn. Its lobby, made of
the natural wood found in that To-
cality, runs the length Of the build
ing. with an enormous fireplace at the
far end. Here are delicious meals
truly Southern cooking-and every
room has its own private bath. One
may linger in this region and enjoy
sports, then go on into the lake
country.
We travel on through a different
type of scenery-still rough and
rugged-but we find many Of the
waterfalls, which are at every bend
of the highway, gradually decreasing
in number. Instead, we find numer-
Gus lakes and dams. Three enor-
nous dams were built to furnish the
electric power for one of the largest
aluminium plants IL the world. And
here on the edge Of the Smokes, in
little world all its own, a little VIII
lage and factory where 80 pounds
OF aluminium can be extracted every
is seconds.
We have crossed back into the
State Of North Carolina and lunched
STEAMSHIPS