The Rugbeian., August 13, 1881, Image 1

About The Rugbeian. (Rugby, Morgan Co., Tenn.) 1881-1882

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BE I AM ..
SHOULDER TO SHOULDER.
No- 7.
RUGBY, MORGAN CO., TENN!, SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 1881.
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FIVE CENTS.
W J&ugfoian.
RUGBY, MORGAN CO., TENN.,
SATURDAY, AUGUST Wi, 1881.
"The Ruobeian" is published weekly at the
Publishing Offices, Central Avenue, Rugby, Morgan
Co., Tcnn. ...,''.
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English-speaking race, but also between the
different sections of this country.
2nd. To let all interested know, from time to time,
how Rugby is getting on ; what the llug
beians are doing and thinking about, and
what they can say as to the prospects of the
settlement and neighbourhood.
3rd. By discussion in a broad spirit to face any
differences of opinion that may arise, affect
ing the welfare of Rugby, and by such
discussion to arrive at any rate at an amic
able agreement to differ.
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Address
-EDITOR RUGBEIArV
centrXl "avenue,"
rugby, tenn.
The cultivation of the grape is a sub
ject that is engrossing the attention of a
large number of practical men in this
section of the United States. As one
travels over the Cumberland Plateau and
sees the strange similarity that some of
the northern hill-side slopes bear to'some
of the best wine-growing districts of
France and Germany, one becomes lm
pressed with the idea that nature must
have specially designed this part of the
country for the wine centre of the
South.
Many people imagine that vine growing
necessitates a large amount of capital
but this is a mistaken idea and there are
many successful vineyard proprietors to
day who started on a very small sum
'indeed. Three or four hundred vines can
be bought for $15 or $20 and though of
course, this is a small sum to start with
still it is sufficient to make a beginning,
and the number can easily be increased
by hereafter growing one's own vines. At
all events a start is everything and we
would urge upon our fellow-townsmen
the great desirability of making that
start. Mr. Blacklock and Messrs. Mil
mow & Virgo have already decided upon
casting in their lot as grape cultivators
and we hope others will follow their
example.
That very admirable little handbook,
"American Grape Growing and Wine
Making, by George Husmann," very ably
points out the advisability of establishing
grape and fruit colonies Mr. Husmann
says :
" Another way to make grape growing
and wine making easy, is to form grape
and fruit colonies. There are locations
enough in all the States of the Union.
where suitable lands for this purpose can
be had cheap. The advantages of such
colonies can easily be seen. If each one
has a small piece of suitable land (and he
does not need a large tract for this busi
ness), they can assist each other in
ploughing and sub-soiling, and will thus
be able to do with fewer animals, bv pre
paring the soil first for one, then for the
other, the ravages of birds and insects
will hardly be felt, the neighbours can
join together in building a cellar, where
all can store their wine, and of which one
can take the management. They can
market their produce easier, obtain better
prices, and lower rates of transportation
;o large cities, than single individuals,
and also make a better and more uniform
product."
With the Cincinnati Southern ready to
freight away all the truck that can be
sent them surely Rugby ought to compete
with the Californian Markets, and it is
well known that the latter yearly ship
vast quantities of grapes for the eastern
cities at remunerative prices. When we
take into consideration the admirable
climate we possess all that is needed is
energy and determination to push this
industry to a success, and we look forward
confidently to seeing Rugby ere many
years are passed one of the grape grow
ing centres of the South.
The letter from Mr. Morton, which
appeared in our issue of the twenty third
of July, is, we are glad to see, meeting
with a considerable amount of criticism
from all sides. Thorough ventilation of
complaints of this kind, is necessary in a
new Colony ; and when practical men take
the matter up the public can soon form a
pretty fair opinion of the "rights of the
case."
: We to-day publish a very interesting
letter from Mr. A. J. Young, the J.P. for
this district. He has been located on a
Farm, situated about three miles from the
present town site, for the last ten years
and his opinion of the soil is therefore an
exceedingly valuable one, as he has had
ample opportunity for thoroughly testing
its capabilities. We now lay this letter
before our readers, and trust that it will
be read with the attention it deserves :
" South Rugby, Tenn.,
August 6th, 1881.
Editor "Rugbeian."
Dear Sir, Your issue of July 23rd
contains a letter from Mr. Morton in
which very grave charges are made
against the Board of Aid, Mr. Hill, and
others, which is tomy opinion very un
just. Mr. Morton says that on coming
here some time last winter he was refered
Jo Mr. Hill, as a successful farmer, for
information in regard to the soil of the
Plateau. Mr. Hill very kindly told him
his experience as a farmer on the Plateau
for a period of nine years. Now Mr.
Morton says he finds every statement Mr.
Hill made to be untrue. But I am glad
to know of many whose statements cor
roborate those of Mr. Hill, when he said
oats, potatoes, and corn grew abundantly,
clover and grasses one to two tons to the
acre. It is a well-known fact that Mr.
Hill did not over-rate things when he
made those statements, and as a success
ful farmer for nine years he had a right
to make such statements. To my certain
knowledge Mr. Hill nine years ago
bought an old, thrown-out waste place
where scarcely anything would grow ex
cept briers and sassafras bushes; and
now on this same farm I have seen
turnips, oats, and potatoes grow success
fully, and reasonable crops of wheat and
corn, and from one to two tons of hay
to the acre. I have also seen here in the
vicinity of Rugby from twenty to thirty
bushels of corn to the acre, and from one
to two two tons of hay to the acre, on
land that has never had any manure what
ever; and can boast that I am well
prepared to prove my assertions.
Now, I would like to know where Mr.
Morton gets his proof in opposition to
those statements seeing he has been here
only a few weeks or months at most ; and
at the same time being one of the most
unfavourable seasons ever witnessed even
by the oldest settlers of this county.
Certainly, he gets no proof in this country.
Then how can his readers have confidence
in what he says, knowing from his state
ments that he has not been here long
enough to see a -whole, crop planted or
harvested. ;
Again, he says the Welsh, the Boston
people, and the Germans have all run
away that could get means. This is some
thing new to me, especially on the part of
the Germans. I have been acquainted
with the Germans' in and round Wartburg
for twenty-five years ; and my experience
is that they are a well-contented, well-to-do
people, having success generally, and
that a smaller per cent, of the German
people leave this country than any other
kind of people. . They are all making
plenty and; to spare.
I remain,
Very truly yours,
.' A. J. Young"
Accounts of the extreme heat of the
present summer season, are pouring in
from all quarters of the globe, and cer
tainly Rugby is na exception to the general
rule. This being the case it behoves all
who are employed in out-door labour, to
take special precautions in order to guard
against the effects of this sudden flood of
suitrihe'ssJ" 'Slieyouiig Ennshmen, who'
are passing their first summer here,
should be particularly cautious in this
respect, for, unacclimatized as they are, it
is of the very greatest importance that
they should mitigate, by every means in
their power, the force of the sun's rays.
Particular care should be taken as to the
head gear that, is worn it is perfectly
absurd to go walking' about in black felt
hats and cloth caps, .and such folly can
only result in sun stroke, or some kindred
malady. A light straw hat, with a cab
bage leaf or wet rag- attached to the
interior is the best covering for the head ;
while puggarees may also be worn with
advantage. Pith helmets also form a
capital protection from the rays of the
sun. .
Still, it is not only necessary to keep
the head protected : all exposure during
the mid day heat should be avoided as
much as possible.
When one takes into consideration the
number of cases the Doctor already has
on his hands, it seems a pity that some
arrangement cannot be made by which
employers of labour would allow their
workmen to commence work earlier ; stay
later ; and thus have the middle of the
day for repose. They might commence
work at 4 a.m., knock off at 10 a.m., and
then recommence at 3 p.m. and continue
till 8 p.m. In tliis way the great noon
day heat would be avoided.
This plan is invariably adopted in
Southern Italy, with the most satisfactory
results. It would at all events be worth
a trial, for, with the delightfully cool
nights we have up here there is no reason
why heat, during, the day, should effect
the constitution unless people wilfully ex
pose themselves to the heat of the sun.
Young men, and particularly English
men, are far too apt to be careless about
their health, and quite forget what an
inestimable blessing health is until they
lose it. Unfortunately this is too often the
the case with many other things and
God's best and brightest gifts are
thanklessly received as something simplv
j our due and night ami morning daily
pass without one thankful word, one ex
pression of gratitude to the " Giver of all
Good " for Jiis daily mercy and loving
kindness to his creatures.
Notes on the Geology'' of East
Tennessee.
By C. H. W1LHON, Geohyist to the Bmnl of Aid.
(CONTINUED.)
At the western foot of the Smoky
range blue Silurian limestones are brought
in by a fault, forming the floor of a chain
of rich upland valleys or " coves " which
have been settled many years.
Outside of these rise the hard quartzite
and jaspery sandstones of the Chilhowee
range, corresponding in dip with the
Smoky beds, and sharply breached by
the river valleys in the same apparently
capricious way. A portion of the yellow
jaspery beds which crest the ridge have a
cellular structure resembling that of the
French " buhr-stone," and may prove a
rival to the latter for mill-stones. In the
Iron Mountains (the northern continua
tion of the Chilhowee range) the quartzites
on the ridge have a clear rhombohedral
cleavage, indication perhaps of the presence
of impregnating calcite.
The range carries at least one belt of
manganese (pyrolusite) of good quality,
and a considerable .amount of brown
hematite ; while gold has been extracted
from the southern end of the mountain.
. ..At-the western base of- the Chilhowee
a heavy faulfbrings trf for ati6fT "dis
tance Lower Carboniferous rocks, the
siliceous beds with a small portion of
mountain limestone.
Westward sets in the true Valley of the
Tennessee, repeating in successive ridges
and folds the limestones, marbles, dolo
mites, shales, and quartzose sandstones of
the American representatives of the
Silurian, with their accompanying red
and brown hematites: the hard sand
stones cresting the ridges, the shales and
limestones lying in. the floor of the
valleys : the whole fractured mass having
a general dip to the S.E. of perhaps
45 degrees.
The iron ores of this valley, present in
the original mass on no sparing scale, are
by this faulted structure presented along
ridge after ridge in long outcrops ready
for quarrying, and hanging in many cases
above wide navigable streams, the Ten
nessee and its tributaries, the Clinch and
Powell's, the Holston and French Broad,
the Ocoee and Hiwassee rivers the un
couth nomenclature of noble streams.
The main ores are the " dyestone," a
fossiliferous red hematite, whose richness
in iron is at present somewhat vailed
by a high content of phosphorus : and
massive brown hematites 'of good quality,
the beds sometimes making twenty feet
in thickness. There is a pure massive
red hematite in some of the northern
counties, but the extent of its develop
ment is not known.
Besides iron, the Silurian beds carry
locally considerable bodies of zinc, and of
pyrites more or less charged with galena.
Marble of every variety and shade abounds,
and has been worked of late at Knoxville,
the capital of the Valley, on a large
scale. '
A line of seventy miles or so from the
foot of the Smoky range in a N.W.
direction touches the eastern face of the
Cumberland Mountains, iiere the suc
ceeding minor faults which have so far
been repeat ing the Silurian and in places the
overlying Devonian strata are terminated
by a great downthrow which brings Coal
measure grits against Silurian limestone,
and places out of sight a,' thickness ' of
Upper Silurian, Devonian, and Lower
Carboniferous measures estimated by Dr.
Safford, the State Geologist, at from three
to four thousand feet.
These sunken beds, moreover, do not
(except in one valley) seo the light again
till fifty'or sixty miles further west, where
they rise from beneath the western Coal
measure escarpment of the Cumberland
Tableland, and spread in broad undulating
benches over the plains of Middle Ten
nessee. -
To bo continued.
Just before going to press, a frantic
looking individual rushed into our head
clerk, and in a loud voice demanded to
see the Editor in Chief. Calling for the
editorial axe, we stepped to the front, and
requested to know the gentleman's busi
ness. In a broken voice he began a long
history of his woes, and on our begging
him to cut the matter as short as possible
he thrust the following letter into our
hands, and with many tears implored us
to publish it. We have had so many let
ters of the same kind lately, that we were
rather loath to do so. On reflection how
ever we came to the conclusion that it
was our duty to publish all complaints of
this kind ; and we therefore lay the fol
lowing letter before our readers and hope
that it will be duly criticised by 6ome
other practical farmer :
Haymarket Farm,
August 12th, 1881.
Editor "Ituaiuci an."
Dear Sir, So many complaints have boon
made as to what tho Board have and havo
a contradictory frame of mind that even tho
insects tell us nightly that Katy did and
Katy didn't that as ii stake holder, 1 mean a
property holder, I feel that in justice to my
self nnd fellow-countrymen abroad who intend
to invest (I use this sentence presuming you
keep it set up), I must give you a few facts
with-holding nothing but tho truth. Having
given up the idea of entering tho Army,
owing to a mistake between myself and my
examiners,: I then served for over eleven years
in one one of the largest bauking houses in
London.
Well fitted for managing a farm from tho
experience I gathered in Camden Town
watering window plants, Ij came '.to Bughy,
and being advised by the Board to " hold on
for a year or two " I purchased at once.
Setting to work with truo Bull-dog obstinacy
I thoroughly manured the dark brown soil,
prior to clearing, with several loads of broken
bottles from (Jlen Mary,' with a top dressing
of empty tin cans, crossod-ploughod with a
harrow. Seo Killobrcw, page 90-95. Pro
curing from tho Smithsonian Institute at
Washington a collecion of seeds embracing
corn, millet, starch, melons, strawberries, and
other winter fodder, I planted some eight
acres when I was iuformcd by Mr. Amos Hill
that it was not customary to plant in this
country before the la d and title were both
cleared. I then took tho advice of tho
Board, and sat down and waited. I am still
at it and hoping liko Micawber that some
thing will turn up.
And now Mr. Hastings' Hughes, in tho
name of the Board, has not only refused to
repurchase my land, but jositivcly declines to
take half share of my crops .in payment for
my original purchase It is true tl.at tho
pain hlet does not oiler these terms to settlers,
but I consider the Board responsible for not
having properly instructed me in agricultural
lore and now that 1 have failed they not only
decline to keep me at the Hotel gratis, but
won't pay my passage money home and I am
compelled to send my dress coat, hunting
outfit and works on " Farming in Sweden," to
the Auction Kootus of Messrs Armstrong and
i Nairn. I presume this letter will le torn to