The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1853-08-23
THE DAILY DISPATCH.
LETTERS FROM TIE NORTH.
IRVING House., New York,
Aupusf ath IS53

August 18th, 1853.
:. Lei no unsophisticated gentleman, from
virginia, believe that good accommodations
at any of the principal hotels in This v,s, c;tv
can DC obtained without difficulty or trouble.
aiter vainiy seeking for admission into the
metropolitan, the St. Nicholas. the stor and
tne Prescott, have succeeded i, sae,r;,,.
comfortable lodgings at the Irving Honse
ana although it is now FIVE oc,ocL =, a.
evening, and registered at twalya ga
that there have been nearly eighty arrival,
since that time. All of the large hotels ON
Broadway, some of them covering nearly .
square, are filed from basement to attic .na
in some of the most popular, every sofa anJ a,,,
cot is occupied at night by weary traveller
Indeed there are rumOrs ahoat that there arc
long lines of lank, thin SOutherners buno nm
every night by the collars of their coats IN IN
unfrequented passages. This crowd is not
confined to the principal hotels. On a short
walk in one or two of the inferior streets, l
find all the small eating houses and little tay
erns, redolent of tripe and onions, and filed
with unwashed, bearded and beer drinking
foreigners and natives. Looking down Broad
way, from the windows of my room, at the
striking panorama of street, four miles long,
crowded with every description of vehicle,
and with the side walks packed with human
beings, we can form some estimate of the
number that now throng New York. The re-
markable circumstance at once strikes you
that nine-tenths of the people whom you
meet in the hotels and the streets and ON the
great railroad routes, are Southerners; walk
down to the main entrance of this hotel, and
look among that crowd of hundred or two,
oil, 20 tba Mi
and every face has been turned by the ardent
sun of the South. The yellow fever in New
Orleans, and the high price of sugar and cot
ton, have almost depopulated the South
If You desire to meet with friend from Ala
bama, Louisiana, or Georgia, your best plan
is to visit New York.
A day amid the curiosities of the CRYSTAL
Palace, and you will inevitably want time
| shall hasten off tomorrow, and i'll Septem-
Der give to New York and its attractions
few weeks.
AS | have seen nothing of interest as yet
and heard nothing more important or enter
tanning than the eternal din of Broadway,
fear that your readers will charge me with a
species of swindling in dating my letter from
New York, and telling them nothing of con
sequence about it. | shall devote this letter
to something in which they are more deeply
interested l mean those noble steamers, the
jamestown and Roanoke, which merit the
encouragement of every Nirginian. | left
Richmond in the jamestown, on Tuesday, at
o clock, Z. NJ, and reached this place this
morning, after most agreeable and comfor-
table voyage.
There were many passengers from Rich
mond-merchants, professional men, plea
sure-seeker5 and sight seers from all portions
OF the State, besides the usual steerage as
sortment OF ragged philosophers and emf
grants.
The arrangements upon the boat for the
comfort of cabin and steerage passengers sur
prised me. Accustomed to the wretched
cooking, sloyenly berths, and rough doings
of some of our primitive craft, the splendor
and comparative luxury of many of the ar
rangements on board the Jamestown almost
persuaded me that was not III Eirginia-but
somewhere else. [ certainly advise gentle
men who have suffered the horrors of the ca
nal packet boat system of slow torture from
Lynchburg 10 Richmond, not to rush heed
lessly from the one extreme to the other
The shock might be attended with serious
consequences. Above the falls Of James ri
Yer he is immersed in what seems a cross be-
tween aheatcd coffin and regular oven is
packed away at night like Smyrna fig or
Scotch herring; dips the water for washing
out of the canal, ,and help dozen friends to
a number of unshaved gentlemen had tested
its virtues; and then sits down breakfast
about which we have not the moral courage
to speak in detail.
Below the falls, if he takes passage on
the JAMESTOWN, he finds every comfort and
luxury. He is given a beautiful state room
with comfortable chairs, marbletop wash
stand and every kind of chamber china and
necessary furniture. Clean linen sheets CO.
yer his ample BERTH and he keeps the key of
his otate-room as if it was that of his chamber
The long and well ventilated saloon is equal
in decorations and luxury to that of first
class hotel-sofas, lounges and chairs give
comfort, whilst mahogany, marble, cut glass
silver plate and magnificent china add lustre
to the assortment. Beautiful vases filled with
flowers please the eve OF the passenger as he
surveys the long tables covered with hand
some table linen and appropriate decorations
A vast accession to our company, at Nor
folk, filled up every state-room and berth
and not q few inexperienced gentlemen, who
notwithstanding better atthe
captains Office, were found at an early hour
OF the next morning tossing about the saloon
with dishevelled hair and clothing. Enough
vegetables, melons and other fruit were taken
on board the steamer at this place to drive
away the scurvy from every whaler IN the
Pacific Wagon loads, cart loads, barrels
and baskets full of peaches, potatoes, melons,
apples, cantelopeS, green corn ana caDDages
were emptied into the huge and Unsuitable
stomach of the steamer until all thoughtful
andhumane look ers- on regarded 1t as an es-
pecial blessing that such enormous steam
monsters as the jamestown are not subject
to coIics or the throes and agonies of SEA
sickness, else their sufferings would be enor-
nous when they clear the capes and get into
the surge and ron OF the broad Atlantic.
In addition to the miscellaneous articles
which have Just been slowed away, there
Joined us, fresh from the church and eeremo-
ny of marriage, two sweet and lovely brides,
attended by a troop of friends TO wish them
all the happiness that matrimony and a
Northern tour could afford. They make the
gay saloon of the steamer merry with the
hum of cheerful conversation, and sweet with
the perfume of bridal flowers and bouquets.
1t filed my old heart with pleasure to witness
their happiness, as it recalled the recoliec-
tions of the events of early manhood and the
budding hopes of life: and the passengers,
Young and old. from the acid virgin OF fifty
to the bushing miss of sixteen, gazed at them
as If brides were az rare as black swans,
when, thanks to a kind Providence, every
census demonstrates that marriages are not
unfrequent in this country. The superb bf1-.
dal chambers, with their beautiful furniture
and heavy rich satin danasS curtains, which
almost tempt a grabbed bachelor OF flffy ike
myself, to get married, were OF course occa-
GO tt,, -.,st ia sea WAS