Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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signltur^ |j0xituaur^ ^ ^' r:' ^W ix.?kW'sraii-^**'!*^'" union c. h., south Carolina, august 3,18-7. n 1 | a????????? .- 1 Written expressly for the Times. A TRIP TO TRYOM MOUNTAIN. It was a party of thirtcon highly rospeot:ablc pcoplo, who might have boon seen three weeks ago climbing the stuep ascents of Tryon Mountain. We loft with many assurances from those who stayed behind, that the trip could not be made by tender ladies; while some of us feared that :the delicacy of frame indicated by such 'ooaumui races would not take their fair possessors to so great an altitude. But 'bravo hearts wore there, determined to suc'coed. ...... \bout 8 A. M. we starred; that is to say, * ' tWo mules started, drawing a wagon in which were seated the two Misses H. of Union, ( (Union oomcs first, of courso,) Miss F, of ( Spartanburg, tho two Misses M., Miss K. , and little Miss W. of North Carolina. The ( mules, no doubt, thought that load enough, , but there seamed to be a different opinion ' entertained bj Messrs. IpJ,. and C.. of Spar- t tanburg, H?o, of Virglfcta and H?s and j S. of Union, (last this time) who crowded in, c too. However, pity or discomfort (for mono- c tain roads are rough and rocky) induoed j, the gentlemen to jump out, as we crossed v the North Pacolet, and walk up tho hill j on the other side; while some of them never [, got iu any moco-., T^a?MkaiwA&?alkiog p 3 A iit * ? * ana ironing, canting ana (aligning, an on- y, casional scream in acknowledgment .of a * breakfast-settling jolt, views'of magnlfi cent mountain and valley scenery, and we are at the base of Tryon. Although no e man of our party is longer permitted to ride, g and Miss B. M., the heroine of the expo- ^ ditiou.Tias gone on ahead, the othor ladies keep their discomfortable seats in the wagon, ^ and soften the noise of the wheels rattling Q| over roeks with most musical shrieks, and q greet the commingled echoes on their return ^ down the mountain slopes with hoarty peals j of laughtor. And so on to the farm of ^ Capt. Williamson, whero may be seen a tj Host is wont to relate the wonderrf, as ho aj hospitably welcomes at his gate the weary p travellers on the "new schedule." But al- ^ though Capt. W. is reallj a most clever rj< gentleman, who could ?ot raise good cotton n from land whoro fVost never forms. Hence ? cottou-piokiag in December, tomato blooms gj in -Tnniinrir nnd linfuilinf OrODS of lllSClOUS V. *" " ""~"V I o r u peaches. (Virgil). At this same farm the ladios were order- t od to their feet?tho wagon could go no v farther. The line of march was now taken f up, Gad and Pack bringing up the rear, t with threa lunoh baskets. We oannot de- c scribe that straggling, toiling partjr; to be r appreciated it must be seen. In front marohed the heroine, with her esoort, lead- ? ing tha party easily, and only resting as t guide posts to those behind. Miss ^ would dash frantically at the steep ascent, ^ aud having accomplished it, fall exhausted ( on the first flat rock or grassy tuft, questioning in her mind whether Macbeth's advice was of universal application : "If it ware dona, when 'tis dona, than 'twere wall 1 It ware dona quickly." I Just behind hor would rush up Miss S. i M., who protested hor inability to climb i slowly, tread like a plantigrade, or keep her < lips closed, as she was told to do. The en- ( gineer of the party, tough as a whalebone, asoended readily the slopes, assisting his < fair companion, who seemed exhausted era are had gono far on our way. Miss F. stood it like a woman, tired, no doubt, And glad of every halt, but determined to reach Ike mountain top* Mr. H s, pasted from group to group, now helping here, now eneouraging there; and Mr. I., with a friend, prettier than himself, acted as roar gaard to all, mounting slowly but eurely the oliffs of Tryon. Climbing aud walking, running and halting, sighing and laughing, we hare now pulled our straggling bapd up to the top of the gap ; but misery! the goal looks as far off as when we crossed Paooiet River. The guides Ml, us, however, that it is only a half mile; butoh 1 how steep ! Some* device must be adopted to help those frail ladies, who koep up only from pride?the heroine always exoepted. Mr. I. proves equal to the emergenoy, pressingly felt by his fair companion ; and he invents the means. Look at Mr. 8., marching bravely up with both hands behind his back, holding on to a stick, at the other end of which, resting on a cloud, is Miss II. the younger, weighing ? ever so many pouuds; perhaps on account of the rarefaction of the atmosphere. Mr. II?s was pulling up in like mauuer Miss F., fragile enough on a level, but as heavy now as a like siso of lead. If the reader ever finds himself in like predicament, we advise him to do as we did : hold on to the stick with on: hand, pick whortleberries with the other and nflnr ?K?m 4- ?L- 1 ' - ?...gui iu mo may uchiud. As sho releases her hold to take the berries and put them into her mouth, you will experience a slight relief. This may not be gallant, but it is comfortable.' The halts become more frequent, the talking less animated, the heat nioro intense, the climbing moro perpendicular, the party | more scattered?the desire for water univcr- i ?al. A miserable liltlo spring appears, i which we are told is tho highest on Tryon- I Too shallow for use, we send Pack (gcntlenau of color) up the steep path with ordcra < o greet South Carolina's Governor with a < ihecr, if he finds any more water. The i mgineer gets a switch, which is converted 1 to a miniature trough, and so arranged that t rater may be dripped out below into a cup. } Jut just as it is fixed, we hear Pack bhout- i ag, "Hurrah for Hampton !" So up we c till, nnd w?atfM~a bold mountain spring, 1 rith our heroine sitting complacently by, i rho twits our engineer with his ignorance t f Tryon's topography. 1 Fortunately for our party, (and our read- I r) wo arj very near the top, and with a ' jw long, hard pulls, a few recuperating * alts, we rest our limbs upon the highest 1 oint of this very high mountain. And oh! ^ ow grand 1 Hnxy as it is, wo still seo r aough to compensate us for all our toil.? J Iff to the left lies Columbus, with its real- 11 r film Pnnrl it/...-- !?. ' - uuiiw, ims uncK ja11, nnu its ? earth of otl^er buildings. In front is our ost's farm and dwelling house, visfblo to ic naked eye ; and with our glass wo can T jft f?p?rUmB^"anjl Asttiiaie L i it winds along the mountain sideq on its ^ icending course from Bird Mountain to li 'aces' Gap. With the imagination wc may a istinetly trace the handsome house tops of ? 'ryon City, its fino hotel, and even recogize the features of friends from South t larolinn, as they saunter along the paved a trcets. Back of us, mountain range rises ohiud mountaiu range, as far as the eye 1 an see, while tho brain is bewildered with ^ he names which arc repeated, and located t ipon tho various peaks. Farms spread out i ar bolow in the valloy, and North Pacolet, j rith its silver thread, makes tho landscape j oinplete. Painters or photographers may j cproduce that view; pensmen never ean. t To every romance there is a reality, and 4 nountaiu scenery was now forgotten in tho * cmpting display of a bountiful lunoh.? Tho beaux seemingly most lost to things y errestrial?i. e. in their judgment, for some >f us knew that ladies were terrestrial? < same down sledge-hammerly to that mun lane lunch, and contributed wonderfully | owards emptying those baskets. However, j ill got enough, and felt in good humor, md whiled away an hour with seven-up, 1 numble-the-peg, and other highly dignified , imuscments. But we are called to come lown below to the other side of the mountain ; and we?i. e. all except the laay ones ?hasten to obey. And oh! how magnificent was the view which burst upon us ! Caesar's Head may equal it?it cannot be surpassed. No trees to obstruct the view, we look down over a precipice for a thousand feot, and see the valleys below, like a rich green carpet covering spread out before us, for miles upon miles. Near at hand is tho Poako farm, where Jhe children playing looked likto ants, the father no larger than a beetle, and a dog ran along like a mere dot npon the earth's surfaoo. Nothing was ugly? nothing was plain?nothing was pretty?it was all grand, majestic, magnificent. We have seen the ocean lost on all sides in the dip of the horison ; we have climbed various peaks of the Bluo Ridgo; we have stood on" Maryland Heights and admired tl^e grand soenery for whioh it is noted?mountain ranges spreading oat north and south, with tha valley below, bounded by waters of the Shenandoah and Potomoc visible for * miles, and the blae waters of the latter boiling through the gorge which its own ourrent had worn ; we have enjoyed all the beauties whioh expand before your eye from Mt. Washington; but never have we been I ? ! L . -1 J? ?1 - -1 uiore impressed with the grandeur of nature, t than while sitting on those rocks down the 1 side of Tryon Mountain. Too grand to ' loavo, even now the subject tempts the pen t to stay. j Back to toil, and back to the mountain- a tops. Some had gone ; others awaited us. c New muscles aro now brought into play, ^ and going down we find less fatigue, but a greater strain upon the tendons. Now we 0 walk, now we run, now we stop at the berry a bushes. One couple fell on a steep descent, ^ through the slip of one of them, and tho n top great haste of both ; and U-WajithC'dtriy' ^ thiug worth recording on tho downward trip, except this, that some people are such al slow coaches-sometimes. At- any rate, tliey fu a ?-> * - 6ut< uumi eiuoiy 10 mo wagon, and tlic Wag- 1,1 on, with its contents got safely to its shed, ^ in spite of the screams which outcchoed i,{ the rattling of its wheels. m And do you know, gentle reader, that you fit jan now get to the very base of the moaniains, for less money and iu less time than ^ pou would expend in going to Glenn's or pf Wost. springs, which have always seemed to oh )c at our very doors ! Do you know, that th rou can take tho traiu alter the day's work s over, spend a night in tho mountains, and ve 'ec back in time for the next dnv's work? }, Jut so it is, thanks to the'epartaiTDurg & so Vshcvillc It. It. Wc have to get use to ru hings, aud these ore facts which uccd yet o be realized. The time will soou couie? an terhaps not thia year, but come it will? th< rhcu advantage will be taken of these con- cr< euiences; aud when you have run up to ('c he mountains for a rest and a cool change, ^ ie sure to go to the top of Tryon and to the f0) ocks down its side ; and may there be in coi our party as mauy interesting ladies, as fie lany fascinating bcllos, as there were in ?v' urs?but fewer gum-arabic beaux. * t()j THE STOCK LAW. cr( UJB THEORY OK THE DO PENCE SYSTEM. >tier from ltev. A. Huhson,of North Caro- <r ina, formerly of this County, which gives aIj t length the beucfits derived from the ' **. U??? ihn fonon in n?i t? nf NnrfM rrl ""fc" 1' ( Jaroliua. The letter is well worth reading, ncl we hope the friends and opponents of 801 ho proposed chaugc will give it their calm so< ind candid perusal; ha IIuntersvilee, N. C., July 9, 1877. <>u B. F. Cray ton, Esq.: wc Dear Sir?Your request through my 8U jrothcr, William llunson, for my "obsorvu- cg ions and experience in the matter of fcuc- sa ng up the stock." has boeu duly received. 8,1 Reeling n deep interest in the welfare of ar South Carolina, my nativo State, 1 hasten th ;o reply. This is tho fifth year that I have th lad an opportunity to observe the working of th ,he system, and the third that 1 havcu been 8 1 jxpertpneing its benefit?. They arc, l ^i -WJ fully persuaded, as follows : H 1st. It 6aves a heavy expense. hi 2nd. It brings valuable laud iuto cultiva- si ;ion. ki 3rd. It iinprovos land and enhances its tc jommercial value. tl: 4th. It is favorable to renters. w 5th. It enables uaeu to retain smnll un- f>< timbered farms, and others to obtain farms tl for the first time. w 6th. It promotes tho cultivation of the tl grasses. it 7th. It facilitates tho improvement of ?' stock. bi Now, each of these points I propose to g' illnsfrntn W (1) My interest in land comprises one si hundred and filly acres. It had through w it a long lane and a short one. While we B were canvassing for the stock law, I ofton t( said I would rather have itthftn a present of I five hundred dollars. But now I go up d upon that. Were it possiblo for no one to b be affected by it but myself, I would not go w back to the old system for ono thousand dol- c lan. ! That will sound extravagant to many, & no doubt. But consider this : besides my ? present pasture lot fencing two thousaud Jianels of new fence would be roquired.? J Jut would one thousand dollars build that f and leave a sum whoso interest would be P sufficient to keep it in repair from year to ?* J ear? I reckon not. Then, why should I 1 e willing to go back for the consideration g of one thousand dollars ? Thus, in afiuancial point of view, I regard the change as being practioally worth to me and tny children at r least sovon dollars per acre on our land. 1 In a few weeks we will have finiahfeft-cl 4 neat, substantial and convenient barn, forty t I feet square. Began it a vear ago. Did 1 most of the work ourselves, and worked at < it only when farm work was not needed, or < could not be done. Fifty dollars will oover 1 the whole amount paid out for hired labor, I nails and the sawing of plank. But under < the old system we could not have touohcd I it at all; we would have been kept in a oon- I tinucd strain to renew our fences. And 1 thus, it gives all farmers a better opportaui- i y to make improvements?10 draiu laud, to uake compost heaps, and to give their tons a >cltrr education. (2) On this point I need only remark hut the best land in your 'State is under 'our fences. Now, were they all removed n<Lthc ground they occupy iu wheat and orfl, would it not bread all the people of otr- State ? All through the old fields, too, id many rich spots. Our people have huned up all these, and uro letting the poorest fTtho land they had been cultivating lie nd rest. Besides, it is a nice thing to be id of the briers and brush in the fence covers, and drive out in the clean road to turn. - (B)-Onr most observing people arc now invinccd that the injury they did their slds by pasturing thcui was far greater than 1 the benefit to their stock. If turned iu t only a few days to glean the wheat, oats id corn left, and notr suffered to remain in I ?? ncii me ground is wet, the damage would ; small. But not one in a hundred would s so careful. Forty-five years ago 1 heard en discuss tho question, why is it that a sld cleared now will not produce more than df of what the sauic kind of land iu an ' Ijoining field produced when the country ! is first settled ? Some young in en were dis- * >scd to deny the fact, and hint that the [ i men had forgotten, or had fallen into j c habit of telling big stories. But Mr. ' iuics Hamilton Lowry, of Laurens District, 1 iv) was then an eld man and a close obscr- ^ r'llCnX?t,fti??d,it J loose*that a walking stick could easily bo * n down twelve or eighteen inches. Dorps for hundreds of yearsgruwiug roots had ' en raising the ground, and as they died 6 d rotted they left it very open. It held * c most of the rain, and slowly supplied the J jps as needed. But by the time the cat- * men had destroyed all the pea vines and s ues, the ground was trampled hard, and 8 ised to produce as I know it had done be- n e." I beliovo he was right. And if you 8 aid see tho crop of vegetation on our old 11 Ids, which were formerly clipped bare by erybody's stock, you would think so, too; j1 vegetation growing and dccnying?tho 11 is above and the roots beneath the surface 6 is what enriches laud. But when it is a >pped off, just when starting to grow, and n s crround trnninlnd linpft tlmrrtiunnntionn/. n on it, only to haul out manure, till the ^ id and gather in the crop ; then far less 1 bsoiling will be necessary to maintain the a iineval looseness of the soil. ^ (4) While eanvassiug for the slock law nc asserted that the enclosed region would >n be without laborers; that renters would vc no place for their stock and would move * t. But, as some of us believed, the thing 11 >rk8 just the other way. With us, and I pposc with you, renters had to repair fen- , s to protect their crops. But they soon w that it was much easier to move old rails j d fence a pasture than to repair fences ound all the fields. Nobody has ever ought of refusing them a pasture any more ^ an a house. Nor are the rents any higher an wheu they had fences to repair. Tukc ^ case illustrative of many: Mr. C., a renter, ^ as much opposed to the proposed change, c aud his 60u went to an' election and ' slpcd to defeat it for a time in our townlip. lie boasted that he and his son could { ill the votes of the land-owner and another mant as often as they wished to try that . !>..? .L. I :J.J /?._ !. I !i 1 iiug. Dili me iuw proviuuu ior 11, anu it as convenient to take that and a few other ( irms, where owners were willing, within ic cuclosurc of another township. Mr. C. as furiously mad, and threatened to leave, tough it wns the first of April, Ity inovig about sixty panels of old fence he got [j excellent and convenient pasture, much etter than the land-owner had. Still, he rumbled; ho did not like to bo beat in that ay. Towards tho close of the year it was gnified to him that he might go out to hero he could find things as he liked them. !ut ho made a contract to rent over in the >wnship which had voted for the stock law. [owever, before he moved he aud his man isagroed, but not about a pasture. Then e had to move out on a large old place, rhcre he could repair fences to his heart's ontcnt. Now, guess what he did ! He and n adjoining land-owuer, who had also been pposcd to the change, resolved on having a ittle Jena; law between themselves Accoringly, they put up gates, threw an outside bdco nrouna oom places, ana maae inoin a iaaturc/ A mighty revolution of thoughts nd footings iu one short year wps that.? Jut this year they arc happy in having the ;reutenclosure extended far bcyood them, knd many such eases have we. (6) When moving for the change, nany of us held it as a theory that the stock aw would onablo not a few to hold on to krms from which tho old fenoo law was ibout to drive thorn Now, we are happy to tnow that we were not mistaken. Almost ?very neighborhood furnishes one or more sasoa to the point. Take one as a fair sample. Mr. H. owns about sixty acres. He aad cut his last rail tree to repair his fenjes. His neighbors, the brothers G., had talked the matter over, not verv recently, that he could not "hold the fort" much longer; that the place would be of very little use to auy ono who did not have ad inumjikk 30. joining laud ; that they would take it at lust and divide it between them in a certain manner. Out the stock law cauie to the rescue rf II., and the brothers G., who favored the law, have candidly acknowledged that "that game is spoiled." On the same priuciplc the law facilitates the dividing up of large old farms, now unwieldy and unprofitable to their owecra. Many ot these have scTferal hundred acres of cleared land and all in ouc body; and skirting around this, in one place thirty, iu another forty, iu another fitly, in another seventy, and in another a hundred acres of wtod land. These, with some of the old field, could he readily sold uudcr the no feuce law &ystcui. But the owner cannot do that, because it would render more than half of his land practically worthless. The stoek law. however, has beguu a change alr?!lllv - * j. u?*j uieu who prefer :ni exhausted old field, that is pretty level and clear of stuuips and stones, to the best heavily timbered forest. There they can use the improved implements of culture.? And they claim that with the same outlay sf labor they can pay for their fertilisers, lud lay up uiue money than they could clearing land, rolling and burniug logs for x dozen of year's hitching on roots and hoeng around trees and stumps. Hence, there s arising a class of enterprising farmers vho, if not able to buy a plantation, will >uy a field, or what will make a field. Far hngojrtajjcs. Vroaa rom one place to another. (6) As to the grasses, 1 have this to say: have rode about a little this spring and ummcr, and being one of the pioneers in he grass business, I have noticed carefully he clover, millet and lucerne (which is tho Ksst of all the forage plnnts) that have been own, and I feel that I hazard nothing in aying that for every aero five or six years go there arc twenty now. It is true, the lock law has made it a necessity. Hut hulan nature is a curious thing. It is hard o get up out of old ruts. When our judgment is convinced that it would be to our utcrcst to make some chanire. we still need omcthing to push us a littlo. Ten years go there were very few among us who did iot say that we ought to sow clover, and >cas, and corn, and such like; that we ought ~:JT7r !r- and treat it better. Bufc r,., j:J ?A J- _ low, however, siuncc the change has for<*?d hem out ot it, no ono regrets having made grass lot of any kind. All soy it is the icst investment they have, and many wonIcr why they did not get at it before. (7) As to the improvement of stock, it is oo soon for marked results. But even those rho opposed the change unite with others n the opinion that as the matter is now comiletely uuder control, it will be as easy and ;tr more profitable to have good stock than >ad. There are yet many thiugs which I would ike to say ; hut this communication is ah eady so long that you will never read it, mlcss you arc an enthusiastic stock-law man. [ would say, however, don't be discouraged; fou will be sure to get it, though you may jo defeated the first trial. We were the irst election, and in some of the townahina it tho aecy,ud trial. . I never knew anything to be more unpopular when it was first mentioned ; never anything to make lriends so fast. Were it at all practicable, I would be much pleased to spend a few weeks in the old State, and canvass for this thing. I was identified with the movement here from the first. I studied the subject, and wrote sovcral articles for tho country papers. I think I understand it. If you cannot carry the State, go it by counties ; if you oaunot carry any county, go into it by townships. Take old rails and enclose a single township, if two or more cannot go together. You will never have the fence to repair. Having seen the working of it for one or two years, the adjoining townships will come in. It worked so here. Yours truly, A.'RANSON. Narrow Kscapk.?Wednesday afternoon, the 4th, a party of eighteen or twenty gentlemen went out to Mcndinhall's pond, on Busk Itiver, to swim. Mr. llobert Moorman, in attempting to Bwim across tho pond, become exhausted and sank. Dr. Pope swam to his rescue. When Mr. M. rose he seized the Doctor round the neek, and both sank. Rising to the surface again lie seized him around the waist and they sank again. Dr. P. was scarcely able to reach the bank. Meanwhile Mr. 8toddard was swimming toward Mr. Moorman, hut before he could get to him he sank the third time. Mr. S. dived for him, seized one of his handsand broughthim, up: Mr. John Harmon then caught the other hand, and they swam with him to the bank ? The water was over fifteen feet deep. Mr. William Johnson, who is not much of a swimmer, got into deep water and was pulled out by Mr. Harmon. 80 there came nenr being four drownings on the "Glorious Fourth."?Hewhtrry Herald. It is not known yet where she lives this vcar. but don't let us worrv : she will surelv # ? # ^ / ?r appear in the newspapers within the next three month* We allude to that farmer's daughter of seventeen who plows twenty acres of ground, outs fifteen acres of grain with a reaper and mower, threshes all the wheat, cultivates one acre of oabbages, milks twenty cows every merning before breakfast, and does nearly all the house-work, while hjr father lies abed with inflammatory rhcu.< matism all summer.