Carolina Lee

by Lilian Bell

  CHAPTER XVI.

  A LETTER FROM CAROLINA

  "'THE BATH,' ENTERPRISE, S.C., "January 27, 19--

  "MY DEAR MR. HOWARD:--If only I could drop in on you this evening andmake my report in person, what couldn't I tell! You would laugh if youknew why we call our house The Bath. But first, have I ever told youthat we have a house? Well, Guildford is so far from even Whitehall,which is the nearest place we visited, that I lost too much time incoming and going. I must have been eight hours in the saddle some days,and I didn't get on fast enough to suit my leapingambition,--and--bathrooms are scarce in the country, so Cousin Lois andI decided to build a model cabin or quarters before we started thehouse, and live on the place. There was already a windmill, so I ordereda porcelain tub in Charleston, and built my house around it. CousinLois preempts it most of the time, but I get my full share, and it is aluxury. Did you ever try going without a bathroom? Try it. It willmake you 't'ink ob yo' marcies,' as the negroes say.

  "Oh, we are so happy! Every day some of the dear neighbours who knewGuildford in its prime ride or drive over to tell me little forgottenquirks of the blessed place, and to assure me that I am copying itfaithfully. Cousin Lois calls it curiosity, but I think it is interest.But the primitive methods in vogue in the South--well, you simply wouldnot believe me unless you saw them. For example, at the turpentineplant at Schoville, which I will tell you more of later, my engineerfound them ladling out the crude turpentine by hand, when you know itought to be piped, and half the time this cheap negro labour, which theyhire to save machinery, is drunk or striking, which often shuts down theplant for days at a time,--ten days at Christmas always. Machinery maybe expensive, but, at least, it doesn't get drunk, and by means of it aman may run his business, even in the South, regularly, and so build upa reputation for reliability, which, honestly, Mr. Howard, nobody downhere seems to know the meaning of, as we understand it! Any excuseserves. Just make your excuse--that's all. It not only seems torelieve the conscience of the purveyor, but satisfies the consumer aswell. In Georgia it is a State law not to move freight on Sunday.Imagine that, added to the railroad service as it stands! And in acertain town in Middle Georgia, the fire-engines are drawn by oxen. Ienclose the kodak I took of it, for I know you won't believe me else.One thing the South needs more than anything else is some of ourNorthern Italian labour. Then the negroes will see what it really is towork.

  "But I am running away with myself.

  "I shall skip all I can, and only tell the essentials.

  "After we left Whitehall, nothing would do but we must pay a round ofvisits among the Lees and La Granges, which we did, staying as short atime as possible with each, partly because I could not properly attendto my work, and partly because of the heart-breaking poverty of all mypoor dear relatives. If you could only see their bravery, their pride,and their wholly absurd fury at the bare suggestion that ease andcomfort might come to them from admitting Northern capital! I think ifthey knew that my money comes through you, they would force me to starvewith them rather than be indebted to a ---- Yankee. The ladies don'tuse that word with their lips, but their eyes say it. As it is, theythink I am still selling my jewels. And I don't contradict them, simplybecause there is no use in giving them pain. Their hatred of the Northis something which cannot be eradicated in a day. It is a factor inbusiness which blocks the path of every well-wisher of the South, and isan entity to be reckoned with just as palpably as credit. The man whoignores it makes a mistake which sooner or later will bring him up witha jerk. I dwell upon this, because, if we form the syndicate which youpropose, it must be managed craftily, and I know you will not disregardmy warning.

  "As an example of it, let me tell what has befallen the plant for makingwood turpentine at Schoville, Georgia. It is a fine, modern, up-to-dateplant of the steam process, backed and controlled by Judd Brothers &Morgan, of Brooklyn. Their representative approached my counsel,offering to sell. The Brooklyn firm own fifty-one per cent. of thestock, and the rest is taken by citizens of Schoville. I sent my man,Donohue, down to investigate the process, intending, if I didn't buy, toorganize a similar company and operate under their patents, as I findtheirs, if not the best, is at least a satisfactory process, and turnsout a pure water-white turpentine with a specific gravity of 31.70. AndDonohue asserts that by the use of steam he can eliminate theobjectionable odour. He has been in the employ of both the Schovilleand the Lightning companies and is a valuable man, though not strictlyhonest. Donohue was satisfied that there was something wrong atSchoville, and advised me to hold off. He reported the plant out ofrepair, although the books showed money in plenty supplied by theowners. Donohue then visited the plant at Lightning, Georgia, and foundeverything all right. It has since transpired that the foreman of theplant at Schoville, a cracker named Leakin, had deliberately shippedcrude turpentine, which of course was of rank odour and off colour, tothe factors at Savannah, who shipped it to Germany and South Americawithout giving it a very careful examination. As is usual with thesemen, they were too slack to make the thorough examination before makingshipment which the law requires, and paid over an advance of thirty-fivecents a gallon to Leakin like innocent little lambs. Of course, theinevitable occurred. Buenos Ayres and Berlin not only refused to pay,but returned the consignment, and the Savannah factors now refuse totouch wood turpentine at any price.

  "It seems that, when the Northern owners sent their representative downto investigate, Leakin frankly told him that he did not intend to makemoney for any ---- Yankees. They thereupon swore out a warrant for hisarrest, but he wrecked the plant at night and was hurried out of town byhis relatives.

  "Now, so far from discouraging me, this serves my purpose well. Forwith sixty per cent. profit on the manufacture of wood turpentine onpaper (as per my previous reports), which cuts to between forty andfifty in actual operation, it is one of the future industries of theSouth. Of course the little plant I propose to build at Guildford ornear by will only be a mouthful. I figure that between ten and twelvemillions of dollars would corner the turpentine market, and then put theprice of orchard turpentine so high that it would practically be off themarket. Then we could force the consumers to take wood turpentine inits place, and in this way show them that it will do the same work andbring the same results as the regular orchard turpentine. They areafraid of it now, so they must be reduced by compulsion to giving it afair trial. I bought ten barrels of wood turpentine made by the companyat Lightning, and sent a small sample to every paint and varnishmanufacturer in the United States, with a letter giving them thechemical analysis and asking the recipient to give it a fair trial.About one-third replied that it seemed satisfactory, and sent me ordersfor from five to ten barrels for a trial, but they want it at about tencents per gallon less than the orchard. It seems that no one will paywithin ten cents of the regular market price. I turned these orders overto the Lightning company on a commission, and am making quite a neatlittle sum out of it, though I never thought of that end of theproposition when I sent out the samples. I tried the experiment to seewhat sort of a market I could look for. There is no reason why thiswood turpentine should not be shipped and sold as regular turpentine,and one good strong corner on the market will bring this about.

  "To continue my investigations, I want you to organize a small company,giving me control. I shall erect a twenty-cord plant between Enterpriseand Guildford, within wagon distance of the wood-supply of the estate.Recollect that this process uses only the fallen trees and stumps of thelong-leafed pine, which are reduced to a sawdust, and this is then putinto the retorts. Steam is then injected, which tries out theturpentine, which is then run into the refining still.

  "I can arouse no interest whatever among my relatives. They simplythink I am crazy. I even suggested to my uncle, Judge Fanshaw Lee, ofCharleston, the simple proposition of joining me in the purchase of astump-puller to clear his land for rice and cotton, but he wo
uldn't doit, and continues to plant in fields dotted with old stumps. But he willrent it from me if _I_ buy one! So please order immediately the mostimproved sort, and consign it to me at Enterprise, S.C.

  "Even though I am a Southerner by blood, and anxious to improve thecountry in general, and my relatives in particular, I work underinconceivable difficulties. I sent my lawyer to one of the biggestfactors in Savannah, by the name of James Oldfield, to suggest a combineto corner turpentine, offering to raise nine million dollars, if he andhis friends would raise one million. Legare reported that 'Oldfield'shead hit the ceiling' at the mere suggestion. But, upon being drawnout, Oldfield admitted that twenty years ago he had entertained asimilar idea, although, of course, at that time not for the purpose ofintroducing wood turpentine. But his ideas were on too narrow-gauge aplan to admit the suggestion now. So we shall simply be obliged to doit without him.

  "It seems to me that, with the South in the mental attitude it nowholds, it will need some radical means, such as a turpentine corner, toforce Southern landowners to reinvest money in their own property. Manya man is land poor with thousands of dollars' worth of stumps and fallentrees on his land which are suitable for wood turpentine. In order tosupply the demand, the orchard people are obliged each year to find twomillion acres of virgin forest for their operations. After bleedingthese for three years, the lumber men then enter and cut the timber,thus leaving millions of fallen trees and stumps, all of which aresuitable for our process. Now, it would take years to educate theselandowners in the process of extracting turpentine from this stumpage,while a corner in orchard turpentine would, in three months, turn theattention of half the chemists and inventors in the United States towardbettering present processes and discovering new ones. Every newspaperin the land would give this New Southern Industry millions of dollars'worth of free advertising, and inside of ten years the whole South wouldblossom as a rose.

  "I have hinted at this before, but have not explained it because thetime was not ripe. Now, after six months of untiring investigation bytrustworthy agents, and after bitter personal experience, I find that nohelp whatsoever can be expected from the South. Rather they will fightus at every step, like children compelled to take medicine. Did youever see a health officer try to vaccinate a negro settlement on theoutbreak of a smallpox epidemic?

  "You understand me, do you not? Tell me if I make my point sufficientlyclear. I propose to corner turpentine, not for the purpose of raisingthe price, but to take the orchard stuff completely off the market untilwe have forced the public to give wood turpentine a trial. It has beendemonstrated in every department that the patented product will do thework of the orchard, not only just as well, but in some cases, as thatof paint, it actually holds the colour better.

  "If you are still interested, let me know and I will explain mydeveloped plan. Meanwhile I welcome suggestions from you, or any ofyour interested parties.

  "With devoted love to all in your dear house, I am,

  Always affectionately yours, "CAROLINA LEE."