Address by President Pack 



[Following is the address of Charles Lathrop Pack, president of the American Forestry Association, at the Southern Forestry Congress, at 

 Asheville, N. C, recently. Mr. Pack lived for some years at Asheville and his reminiscences of that city and surrounding country, thirty 

 and more years ago, will be of particular interest, not only to the present residents, but to thousands of people throughout the country 

 who know Asheville and love it. — The Editor.] 



I CANNOT tell you how gratified I am to be back here 

 in Asheville. The first time I stood on this spot where 

 I am standing now was in October, 1883. There was 

 no Battery Park Hotel at that time, btit there was this 

 beautiful hill and the grand mountains — old Pisgah and the 

 others were here just as they are now. And Asheville 

 was here with, I think, about fifteen hundred people. 

 There were no pavements on the streets ; there was hardly 

 a bank in town. I recall shortly afterwards, when my 

 family came here to make their home, their life home, and 

 about that time m\- father, George W. Pack, purchased 

 the property which is now known as Aston Park. \'ery 

 few of you ever met that grand old gentleman. Mr. Aston, 

 one of the best assets this town ever had. And when it 

 was found that the owners of the property would take 

 $7,000.00 for it, the question arose as to how to get 

 $7,000.00 to Asheville, and so I was sent North and 

 brought the $7,000.00 to this place in a suitcase, largely 

 in one and two-dollar bills, and the largest bill was $5.00. 

 The money was paid over, and my father and myself had 

 the satisfaction of seeing the money go into circulation 

 down here. And over there on the public square, often 

 towards noon-day we would stand together and question 

 each other as to wdiether Colonel So and So, or Major 

 So and So, had received any of the money yet, and I 

 assure you we could tell how fast it circulated — see it 

 circulate — because the men with the money stood up 

 straighter and walked faster. The land was later 

 presented to the City of Asheville by my father and 

 named Aston Park. 



I could tell you many interesting things in regard to 

 those early days in Asheville. Our family were the first 

 Northern people to come here. The grandest hotel in 

 town w-as the Hotel Swannanoa, and when I came here 

 they charged a dollar a day and changed the table-cloths 

 once a week. And Mr. Ruben R. Rawls, who is still living, 

 was astounded when he was ofl:'ered $2.00 a day for fi\e 

 people if he would re-paper the bedrooms and have a 

 little better food. And about as soon as he got the house 

 re-papered, other visitors from the North began to arrive. 



I became greatly interested in these mountains, where 

 nature has done so much for man. I recall about 1885 or 

 1886 going up the Pigeon River (some of you have been 

 up there, perhaps, fishing in the Smoky Mountain region ) 

 and staying with a moonshiner. Theoretically, of course, 

 there is no moonshining in North Carolina ; practically — 

 well, we don't talk about it. But I stayed with this 

 moon.shiner. We arrived about noon and he invited my 

 friends and me to dinner. We had roast suckling pig and 

 broiled guinea fowl and fine corn-bread and good sweet- 

 550 



potatoes — the table fairly groaned with the good things 

 of North Carolina, and there is no state where there are 

 more good things than right here. And after dinner we 

 were taken out, down the gallery at the side of the house, 

 and he opened a little door and wheeled out a keg on to 

 the veranda. He then passed around little baby gourds, 

 and said, "' Gentlemen, help yourselves." \\'ell, that was 

 corn whiskey, abotit as clear as water and nearly all alco- 

 hol. Well, I w-as doubtful about the results, and when 

 nobody was watching me, I tossed the gourd full of 

 whiskey on the ground behind a veranda post with a 

 clinging hop-vine. I thought I was unobserved, but a 

 little fellow, about four years old, in a yellow slip of 

 homespun, came pattering along the veranda, and ran 

 through the gangway calling out, " Grandma, the little 

 fellow can't drink as much as Mama." 



IT is a great pleasure to me to bring to you the greetings 

 of the American Forestry Association. Some of you, 

 perhaps, do not know about the American Forestry 

 .\ssociation. It has members in every state and territory in 

 the L'nion, including Hawaii and Porto Rico and Alaska. 

 It has thousands and thousands of members. Perhaps you 

 will {)ermit me right now to tell you that in the last five and 

 a half months over 2500 people have joined, paying $3.00 

 to $100.00 apiece. It is an American association that 

 stands for all that is best in forestry, and I bring you the 

 hearty greetings of the Directors of the American For- 

 estry Association, wishing you God-speed in the splendid 

 work you are doing. 



I think, as Forester Graves told you, that there is no 

 part of the country that needs scientific forestry more 

 than the Southeast, and I do not know of any part of the 

 United States where forestry, properly conducted, can do 

 more for its people than it can in this region. And you 

 will do well to organize in every Southern State a forestry 

 association, or at least a fire protection association, so 

 that you can get your equitable share of the money for 

 fighting forest fires, and preventing them, that is appro- 

 ])riated annually by the United States Government for 

 that heliiful work which the Government tmdertakes in 

 cooperation w^ith the states. Many of the Southern 

 states have received none of that money, and therefore 

 have none of the benefits, simply because they are behind 

 the times. I have lived for the last fifteen years in New 

 Jersey. I know some of yoti, who live in a part of the 

 country where you have more blessings, don't think that 

 New Jersey is even a part of the United States, but be 

 that as it may, we are a great State in many ways. Forty 

 per cent of the area of New Jersey is in forest. Some 



