Richmond daily Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1842-1861, 1846-09-24
RambIc. i'm western virginia.
WIScnksrER. FRKpEkick Co, Va.
September lith, 1916.

Tend on for a while, at leas, BY putting questions to a Meth.
odist Clergyman about the Church North" and the "Church
South" He belongs to the Pittsburgh Conference. though
itineranng in Virginia. He seems to think that both par
tics are TO blame, and l think he 10 right. I am not a be-
never In, or l might say an admiret OF some OF the doctrines
and poliy Of thishighly respectable and useful body Of Chris
uans-snll their zeal has won my applause. and | wish them
success. l am a strong believer in the doctrine, that Chris.
nsniiy is essential in the preservation Of our liberty and Of
the Union, which was the fruit Of it. Mr.. Grimes declares
upon his honor, that he 10 no relation TO
Old Grimes that's dead-that good old man,
Whom we shall sec no more,
Who used to wear n long black coat
AL buuoned down BEFORE
but he thinks some Of his ancestors may have been.
Finding that all the inhabitants of the house, EXCEPT my.
self. were Right OF Way" men and women. | knew |
could no; stave off debate, and so att, we went. One gen.
ueman, who is largely interested in land. took the lead, and
declared that II the East did not yield the Right of WAY,
we (he wesD will disown her. How will you do thati |
asked. "Rsiuse TO elect members Of tho Legislature, )" he
replied. That will be oOl-hsrdlness said l: you will not
get either your Right Of Way or a division of the State by
such a course. "wel. we will do something, said he
viii you nulliiyi l enquired. "No; but we will have our
rights" said he. The people arc exssporated here about
something they do not exactly know what. They want
their country opened, and l hope they will no, be disap-
pOinted-but a railroad will not be for forty years Of any
more value TO them, or as much, as good ~turnpikes. They
cannot carry their cattle, sheep. horses and hog. to market
on a railroad, and this is the main product OF the people OF
these counties who are tfCtting about this Right of Way-
The railroad. gentlemen, will not go through half OF the
counties promised. Some OF you must be deceived by th,
company. Should the road pass through any Of the towns
II will Kill them-andt that stone dead. / warn you ali. As
| now tell the people OF the State, that this hullaballoo Is
the work OF men personally interested. and OF noisy poll
tcians who arc looking for promotion, by hook or by crook.
The railroad to Wheeling would benefit these counties
every whit as much, in my Judgment, as the one TO Par
k%ersburc. except Wood county. They would in many
places have in,ersecung roads 10 the railroad going to Wheel.
ing as conveniently as to Parkersburg. The Baltimore &
Ohio railroad do not Gaze a penny about your products to
freight their cars with. They want the freight OF tho West
and South Vest. They will not stop at ParkersburR as n
terminus-ihey will go still farther south, if they once
reash that point.
On The Convention question they are not quite so furious.
My belief Is that the people are fast settling down upon
the pEopnety OF ceHsi.g agitation on this subject unil the
census Of 1850. desire. with them. TO see a change in
our Constitution. | believe It is defective, aud men OF all
parts and parties of The State should bring to bear calm con.
sideratOn aud cool patriotic reflection upon a matter IN
volving 80 much that Is vital 10 every person in the Com
monwealth. The people Of tue West rs well rs the East
seem TO have no settled purpose in desiring n Convention.
IL we are TO have a Convenuon-what fort State your
grievances. and your desired amendments to the Constitu-
uon. Is the white or mixed basis all that Is involved |
think there are mightier matters than these. Our sup
per table was a place OF warm discussion. | insisted
that while there were grievances 10 be redTessed, by a re-
vision o; the Constitution, there was another evil rife in the
land more TO be deprecated than those against which thew
were now fighting. what is that ?" was the cry. "Lo-
coFocoisN,' was the reply. This led 10 Il cross fire among
The parties, which kept US At the table until half past 3
O'Clock. / tried TO convince them that they were in the
Immediate vicinity OF coal and iron, which might. if brought
into proper play, give work aud support TO n population
five tunes as great as they now have. The county Of Bar
bour, adjoining Preston, has iron ore in vast bodies. and IL
Is said to be the best in America. There is coal likewise
in great abundance. Yet, some Of tho people Of this coun-
~ reiase, by their votes, 10 have this coal and iron turned
TO their adNantage-neVer work their roads--and are yet
crazy alter a rail road Kali Roads will be Of no adyan-
tage TO such people. Where such rabid Locofocoism pre-
walls, nothing but a regular 'burH our will do any good.
We here bet the ladies' that we would have stewed
chicken for supper and sure enough the hrst thing that
greeted US on the table was this yentable dish. We had il
all along the road. l do not note this TO complain OF IT,
Tor our supper was a good one, and we were all well treat
ed-buts SIMPLY 10 say, that ! have noticed il, as a fixed
rule, the moment a traveller rides up 10 u house OF enter
iainment TO refresh himself. that moment a chickens head
goes of, and invariably comes on the table a steto. BroI-
ing, boiling, or frying, is out Of date.
In the morning, we rose early and breakfasied, and start
ed on our route. over what before we had not seem a good
road. The principal towns in this county (Preston), are
kingsword, Evansville, and Brandonville. Three or four
miles from Mr.. G's we entered the Rlades, 4 region of
country much like the Pnines of the far West. II lies
Principally IN the state OF Maryland, IN Allegheny county,
through which the Turnpike runs nine miles. No one
pretends, / believe, 10 cultivate the soil in these glades-
Nothing but grass will pay for the trouble. The lands, as
a general thing, arc rich. but the climate is unsuitable TO
the production OF all kinds OF agricultural crops. Although
we had not any very high mountains to climb, such as we
had all aioag, still, every mile or SO, we could see
Hills peep DER hills, and Alps on Alps arise"
The roads were constantly crowded with emigrants, in wa
gons, carriages, on horseback and on foot, moving 10
Western Virginia. Western people at tho rate at which
you are progressing, you will Qf the East do no more than
they are now dolng) have the State in your own hands in
4 few years. We saw nothing worth noting oil this day
on our route, although we had passed through a part Of
Preston, Allegheny Nd and Hardy counties, and pitched
our tent for the night at n Mr.. Hartman's. in Hampshire.
Our fare here was not the best in the world, and our bill
higher Inan we mad paid yet. Very well we will not stop
here again. Bright and early we were off. Six miles from
here we passed through Claysvlle, named after the great
Statesman OF the West. Few mon like this hlustTious
Commoner have ~lived-perhaps " his like we meier shall
look upon ogain." His 10
"onc Of the few immortal names
That were not born TO die"
The next place was RidgeVilo. another small town. Some
distance On we halted at a Mrs. Arnold's, to feed our horses
and selves. The old lady Is quite an original character
She said she was no relation to Benedict Arnold or any
other Arnold who hadn't a good character. "There is one
Billy Arnold down on the creek, but he 10 u poor con.
rivance and one John on the mountain. and he is
mighty shackely and one Jimmy on tother side.
and ho Is more nckey than all; but none Of them
arc kin to me-so they amt" They were boiling apple
butter here, and the old lady gave Is a faithful ac-
count Of MS manufacture, aud now the people who diI'nt
make the proper kind behaved rOguish to the merchants.
Three miles from here we passed through Mechanics
burg, another email town. Hampshire county Is full of
towns. IL IL a good omen. / wish che had a dozen more,
and ell twice o. large as any / have or shall note. Two
miles from here, VIC crossed the South Branch Of tho Pc
tOmac. Over This river there Is a bridge. Having paid
enormous tolls all along, they wanted to charge us 37g cts.
TO pass over this bridge, 10 which We demunod and cross