Those Were the Good Old Days
Rortli Carolina in 1869, as revealed from
one of the early booster booklets put out at
that time. There were more preachers than
lawyers in those days.
WHAT is the connection be¬
tween baby carriages and
lunch baskets? What is a
Rockaway? These questions are
suggested but not answered by the
North Carolina Business Directory
for 1896, which was recently
unearthed in an old attic. From the
introduction, however, we learn
that "there are eighty-nine
counties in this state, over two
hundred mines and forty cotton
factories, employing nearly three
million dollars of capital." Also
that the state at that time had a
population of 992.622.
Listings in the Directory are by
counties, beginning with Alamance
(population
11.852».
where W. A.
Albright was apparently one of the
leading citizens since he held the
offices of Clerk of the Superior
Court and mayor of Graham. In
Alamance County might be found
two hotels, three lawyers, seven
ministers of the gospel, six cotton
factories, one carriage factory,
seventeen merchants, and thirty-
two grist mills. A footnote informs
us that "Water power is good and
abundant."
Raleigh Had 6.200 People
Wake County with its population
of 28.627. and containing the
capital and metropolis of Raleigh
(population
6.200»,
was furnished
more abundantly with hotels and
lawyers than any other county in
the Old North State, having
twenty-four of the former and
twenty-nine of the latter; in ad¬
dition. there were thirteen police¬
men. and a lire department in two
sections a hook-and-ladder com¬
pany and a bucket company. Hon.
W. H. Harrison was mayor of
Raleigh at that time and W. H,
Martin. Chief of Police.
The Directory ends its listing
with Yancey County (population
8.655). and we are moved to
wonder if perhaps the late Ivy Lee
could have come from there. We
find sixteen preachers listed and
only one lawyer. R. D. Wilson, of
Burnsville, and we are informed
that "the climate of Yancey County
is enchanting in summer, the soil
THE STATE. NOVEMBER 5. 1949
By D. II. AVERY
very rich, and the Scenery en¬
rapturing.”
One point about this directory
is peculiarly interesting, and that
is that in practically every in¬
stance. the preachers outnumbered
the lawyers in the various cities
and towns throughout the state.
Agricultural societies; temper¬
ance brotherhoods; nine national
banks and three state banks; news¬
papers; postoffices: members of the
forty-first Congress; a table of
Scale of Depreciation of Confed¬
erate Currency; rates of postage
(six cents the ounce, first class) —
all stand listed in a special section
of this fascinating book, which was
circularized to the end that
"frequent communication may
bring us nearer together, enliven¬
ing trade life and increasing the
socialities of commercial inter¬
course.”
But not the least interesting
portion of this directory is that
devoted to advertising. We find
that superlatives flourished before
the days of the great advertising
agencies and in setting forth the
curative values of their nostrums,
a spade was called a spade and not
Halitosis or Psoriasis, as witness
the "spread” for Livingstone's
Florida Balm: "Cures Rheumatism,
Neuralgia. Croup. Flux. Sore
Throat. Earache. Cramps. Ague,
Scrofula, Headaches. Botts, and
Colic in Horses, kidney disorders,
and is the best remedy for Coughs
ever offered to the Public." That
is what might truly be termed a
universal panacea.
Davenport Female College of
Lenoir advertises in a most modern
manner. "EDUCATE YOUR
DAUGHTERS!" But what does
this new freedom amount to if the
poor young thing has to study
mental and moral philosophy and
mathematics, as set forth in the
curriculum of the Charlotte Female
Institute. Rev. R. Burwell, Princi¬
pal. "this institute is situated in a
pleasant and retired portion of the
city of Charlotte."
The Germania Land Company
gives special attention to "the
Colonization of Foreign Emigra¬
tion" and urges parties having
large tracts of land in western
North Carolina to apply to Louis
Zimmer. Agent. We note, too, that
Mr. Zimmer sold tickets for the
B.&O. Railroad to the Far West,
i.e. to St. Joseph, Missouri, at a
price of $36.00.
The only hint given in the
Directory of the disastrous conflict
so recently terminated is that in
the advertisement of Jarratt’s
Hotel, near Petersburg, Virginia,
where "Relics of the Battle-field
can be easily gathered by our
Guests." And we thought souvenir¬
hunting one of the Newer Vices!
That even in the Tragic Era the
music went 'round and around may
be deduced from a cut on one page
of a brass horn, obtainable from
Wm. A. Pond of New York, and
on another a list of Hitchcock’s
Half-dime Music Series, compris¬
ing such catchy titles as "Captain
Jinks." "Up in a Balloon." "Come
Hither, my Baby my Darling." and
"I do not ask to press that Cheek."
No Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers in
those polka-mazurka days.
Hotel Advertisements
Among hotels advertising, the
Mansion House of Salisbury is
proud of its "Good Stables for the
Stock of those Traveling by Private
Conveyance," while from the Wal¬
ton House in Morganton. "Stages
leave for Asheville on schedule."
A number of railroads advertise
their services, all of them using the
same cut of a dumpy engine and
three cars. The one which struck
our eye was the advertisement of
the W.C.&R.R.R running from
Charlotte to Cherryville. which we
are assured "is in good running
order and will convey Passengers
and Freight safely."
To those who are interested in
liquor, we point out that J. A.
Utley ran the Gem Saloon in
Morganton "in the best style."
Half-doors, brass rails, rose-be¬
decked cuspidors, and everything.
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