cuttings of from one to one and one-half
tons per cutting to the acre, making in a
season from four to eight tons per acre.
Timothy, red clover, fruit and all kinds
of vegetables are grown and could be
grown in magnificent quantities. In or
der to show the value of this land, al
falfa cured sells on the farm for $15 Per
ton; from one to one and one-half bales
of cotton (500 pounds to the bale) to
the acre.
Oil Trough is located on White River
and has a wharf where all the steamers
put off and take on freight. It has a
daily mail service, three lines of tele
phone, two large gins, three large gen
eral stores and several other lines of
business. Over 5,000 bales of cotton
were shipped from this point last season.
While most of the planters about Oil
and is found ever ready to lend his in
fluence and money towards the upbuild
ing of his home town. It is largely
through his influence and that of Messrs.
Moore and Wasson that Oil Trough
finds itself upon such a profitable basis.
f*OIL TROUGH MERCANTILE CO. 1
♦ Dealers In General Merchandise and Cotton Buyers ^
The officers of this company are: W.
P. Jones, president; J. C. McGuire, vice
president; J. T. Bracy, secretary; C. W.
Wasson, treasurer and general manager.
Mr. Wasson is a native of this state. He
has been in the mercantile business for
.the past ten years. In November, 1904,
he accepted his present position and has
.wins,.,- '"*1
X L. D. SMITH ♦
♦ DRUGGIST, TUCKERMAN, ARKANSAS J
Mr. Smith is the present mayor of
Tuckerman. He has served his county
as county and probate judge one term
and his township as school director and
justice of the peace. He is a director in
the Bank of Tuckerman.
Mr. Smith has the only drug stock in
the city. He carries a large and well
selected stock of drugs, druggist sun
dries, books and stationery. He does a
good prescription business, being a reg
istered pharmacist. He is among the lib
eral men of the city, always ready to
lend his support to any enterprise that
will be for the upbuilding of Tuckerman.
An Arkansas Orchard.
l OIL TROUGH |
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦»»♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
The Eastern Metropolis of Independence
County.
THIS town is the location of one of
the earliest settlements in this en
tire section of country. The
stranger at once wants to know how it
came by its name, and if oil has been
found. The town got its name back in
the early day when that particular local
ity was thickly inhabited by the black
bears, which have given Arkansas the
name of the Bear State. The hunter
who lived there killed a great many
‘ bears, from which he made many hun
dred gallons of oil. Being a long ways
to market, he set about in his crude way
of finding a means to transport his
precious oil to the nearest trading post.
There were no saw mills in the country,
and no steamers plying the White River,
so he made a dug-out (that is, a skiff
from a log), and filling his dug-out with
bear’s oil, floated down White River to
the nearest town. The entire country
from which he came being very level (in
fact, in the lowlands of the White Riv
er) came to be known as Oil Trough
bottom, and is known by that name to
this dav. From the name given to the
Trough put their largest acreage-in cot
ton, quite a number are each year in
creasing their sowing of alfalfa and that
product bids fair to be an equal rival
of king cotton.
It is only about one and one-half
hour’s drive from Newport on the Iron
Mountain Railroad to Oil Trough and
less than an hour’s drive from Newark
on the White River Branch Railroad. It
is a drive that will pay any one to take
fqr the scenic beauties alone, to say
nothing of the magnificent crops of cot
ton and arlfalfa. A visitor to Newport
should by all means make this drive to
Oil Trough.
Mr. Fisher is a native of Russia. He
came to the United States about nine
years ago and engaged in the mercantile
business. About five years ago he moved
to Oil Trough, where he opened a large
and well selected line of merchandise,
comprising some of almost all kinds of
goods called for in that locality. His
stock of dry goods is made up of some
very choice patterns in dress goods,
ladies’ furnishing goods, millinery and
gents’ furnishing goods. The clothing
department is not large, but well se
lected. The boot and shoe department,
the queensware department, the harness
department and the grocery department
are all well stocked. Mr. Fisher also
carries a stock of drugs, hardware and
enjoyed a splendid business trom tne
start. There are about 2,090 acres of as
good land as can be found in Oil Trough
bottom backing this store by special ar
rangements made with the planters who
have charge of the land. In addition to
a large and complete line of general
merchandise this firm owns a well
equipped gin that turned out 1,000 bales
of cotton last season and is prepared tb
do even a larger business this season.
It requires more than 50 planters, each
with a large force of men, to take care
of the large acreage controlled by this
company. It is safe to say that this firm
will do from $50,000 to $75,000 worth
of business per year. Mr. Wasson, the
manager, is a young business man, alive
to the splendid opportunities of his com
pany and alert to avail himself of the
large business at hand, as a result of the
richness of the vast territory about him.
. —1
land the town received its name, ana
of which it is very proud, as the name is
an indication of the richness of the soil.
The soil of this locality is of an allu
vial formation and is very deep, and
for 35 feet is impregnated with phos
phates from the bluffs of lower White
River. By virtue of its position it has
a never-ending and constant source of
fertilizer that is unsurpassed for strength
and richness. At 35 feet the water from
White River flows through a gravel bed,
at once insuring an inexhaustible supply
of unexcelled water and giving the soil
beneath a constant bath of fresh water
and pure air, thus, in connection with
the influence of the phosphates, explain
ing why Oil Trough bottom has be
come famous as one of the best agricul
tural belts in Arkansas, or for that mat
ter, in the United States. _
While the greatest part of the acreage
of this section is planted in cotton, the
soil will produce anything and every
thing that can be grown in this climate.
Corn yields from 75 to 80 bushels to the
acre; wheat 40 to 45 bushels; oats 75 to
100 bushels; alfalfa from four to six
Oil Trough Mercantile Co.
NEWPORT LODGE NO. 968
B. P. O. E.
Tuesday, May 23, 1905, was made
memorable in the history of Newport by
the institution of Newport Lodge, No.
968, B. P. O. E., being the official recog
nition of our city’s attaining the 5,000
mark. An elegant banquet was ten
dered over 100 visiting Elks by the
new lodge, with an original member
ship of 50. . , , . . (
The following were honored with of
fice: J. M. Berger, Jr., exalted ruler;
W. T. Dunn, esteemed leading knight;
Alcorn Ferguson, esteemed loyal knight;
Jos. • M. Stayton, esteemed lecturing
knight; L. N. Nouss, secretary; L.
Minor, treasurer; Charles Meyer, tyler;
C. G. Henry, J. O. Taylor and S. D.
Campbell, trustees.
O. Fisher’s Store.
farming implements. In fact, everything
that one could call for from a paper of
pins to the most expensive machinery
used in this locality.
While Mr. Fisher is among the new
comers, he is loyal to his adopted home
t W. 0. MOORE . f
^ DEALER IN GENERAL MERCHANDISE . J
Mr. Moore is a native of West Vir
ginia. He came to Arkansas in 1879
and settled at Oil Trough, where he em
barked in the mercantile business about
1889. Until recently Mr. Moore owned
and operated one of the largest cotton
gins in the country, but on account of
W. O. Moore.
the multiplicity of his duties he sold his
gin in order that he might give more at
tention to his mercantile business, which
has steadily grown until now it can be
said that he carries in stock everything
that the planter of that locality would
call for.
Mr. Moore owns a tract of land
located in the midst of the richest spot
in Oil Trough bottom. He is now build
ing near his store a splendid home, from
the windows of which he can look out
over the rich land about him for miles,
and to the north catch a glimpse of the
foothills of the Boston Mountains.
-*
W. O. Moore’s Store.
Mr. Moore is the oldest active mer
chant in Oil Trough. He has an abid
ing faith in his home and stands ever
ready to assist in any public enterprise
to build up the town and community of
Oil Trough.
PENCIL WOOD FACTORY
The location of a pencil-wood factory
at Newport, employing ioo to 150 wage
earners, seems strongly probable if the
proper site can be secured. The cedar
of North Arkansas, which can be rafted
down White, Black and Current Riv
ers to Newport, offers an abundance
of raw material and this city possesses
the two necessary requirements, good
homes for skilled labor and competitive
freight rates for the shipment of the
manufactured product.
To all woodenware and furniture fac
tories are offered these same advantages
by the city a Michigan furniture manu
facturer said should be “the Grand
Rapids of the South,” so immense is the
leverage of her natural advantages.
“It matters little where our geography
falls since our planet is our’ post but
for a century at most, our inn for the
night, yet the heart loves to associate
itself with some spot ancestral and dear,
and call it home.”—A. Bronson Alcott
in “Immortality ”
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