Oreste Pappano, Italian capitalist, engineer, city builder and promoter of colonization projects thinks a million acres of farm and in this section could be colonized with Italian farmers and he is negotiating for the purchase of one tract of 1,300 acres on which to start a colony.
Mr. Pappano’s home is in Fremanburg, Pa. He was interested in Elizabeth City thru the Carolina Real Estate Agency. The Carolina Agency found him thru their Pennsylvania agents, Garis & Shimer of Bethlehem, Pa. W.E. Garis of the latter firm is here with Mr. Pappano. And to make sure that their prospects would not be lead astray, the Carolina Real Estate Agency sent their own representative, H.A. Brownley to Bethlehem to bring the gentleman to Elizabeth City.
Mr. Pappano says he is delighted with the Elizabeth City territory and has found the South, as he has discovered it here, entirely different from what it has been represented within the North. Being a practical engineer he is particularly pleased with the superiority of the climate of this section. In Pennsylvania the soil is full of rocks and expensive machinery is required for cultivation. Then too, the growing season is months shorter than in Eastern North Carolina. The climate of Eastern North Carolina will appeal to the Italians as the rigorous winters of Pennsylvania do not.
The one discouraging condition in Eastern North Carolina—that of inadequate drainage—doesn’t discourage Mr. Pappano at all; being an engineer he sees the practibility of draining all of our lands inexpensively. The matter of drainage would be (word obscured) for his colonists. His idea would be to sell the colonist so many acres in fee simple, to be paid for on the installment plan. He would furnish all machinery for their farming operations, providing ditching machines, tractors and other heavy machinery that is too expensive tor the individual but entirely practicable and economical when used cooperatively by a colony or group of 15 to 20 families. In Bethlehem Steel City, a colony developed by Mr. Pappao near Bethlehem, Pa., he has put in all modern improvements, including a school house for his colonists.
Mr. Pappano is particularly pleased with the J.J. Fleetwood estate of 1,200 acres in Harveys Neck, a few miles below Hertford. He is on a deal with Mr. Fleetwood for his entire tract and says he will close if he can get the right sort of terms. The terms required have not been made known.
From the front page of The Independent, Elizabeth City, N.C., Aug. 25, 1922
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