The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1855-06-16
SOUTH WESTERN VIRGINIA

Gmaemsn Os, s. or Journey performed By party of
wsms'n pirginia Some Notes Of its fytSi.y '1u nna
~ .asyaI hes0uree,-ond Of thas great Inprorsmena
u am about to undertake q sketch ef n
Journey performed within few days. by a
party OF gentlemen, through one of the fs;r-
est and most highly favored regions of onr
oeloyed Firginia-a journey the object of
wnicn was practical, and the Incidents of
wnicn were full of satisfaction and delipbt
! ieei now utterly incapable am to convey
10 my readers an idea of what was seen and
enjoyed by this party; for this land Of rar. nn.
ouious hills and meadows and sweet waters
aithougb full of delight to the passenger he.
| comes to the sketcher a Jordan of the hard.
| est klnd 10 travel, since its beauties are in.
| aescrlbable, and in the language of the tonr.
| Isl, must De seen to be appreciated" ~
| Cn the 9th inst, by invitation of the Yir.
glnia and Tennessee Railroad Comnanv !.
pat'y s. composed of the following gentlemen.
| ieit richmond to travel over the worL of
tnat company and to see the country 70
"nich It Is to afford an outlet to mark kef:
Menoers Of the Board of Trade-Horace
y. Aent, Presadeat; r. B. Haxall, LIST Vice
PRESIDENT; IRE H.W. Fry, I'd Vice President.
WIN D isaacs, Secretary; VIM. Bell. Treos.
| Trer: ana samuel Mordecai, Thos. r. Price
i1e LEWIS Us Weoo, - Bentley John Purcell
w. w. n. Haxali, A. ). Lee, and VIM F. Butler.
DR.. Charles s. Mills, Presiden. of the Citv
samuel Ayres, member of the Council.
y. johnson Barbour, of Orange. and
b. w. Haxall, of Richmond.
| The writer of this accompanied this biohlv
| respectable party of gentlemen, as q onss;y.
Journalist and member ofthe Board f Trade.
| In his Slip account of what tr ,nsnired
| and what he saw in the route, of q, iurse he
speaks not officialy-but for himsel and on
| his own hook.
Leaving Richmond at O'Clock by the
| Danvllle Cars, we reached the iu ctiou of
the Petersburg and Southside Road 1t o fair
breakfast hour, and break tasted " b Capt.
| Burr e who keeps an excellent | ause at
| that lace, Whers ths traveller VIII thinks S
half sst five toe early las we do 1ill find
good Iare.
| Aft ,r breakfast we took the uthsida
train ior Lynchburs. / am happyi record
| the + ct. that in doing SO We did leave
the G rin which We started from Rio mond--
that lar being run on to the Souths le Road
and ltaohed to the train of that Re d. We
were informed that it was the first Il ne such
an in exchange of passenger car between
the Jads had taken place, and it y Is quite
graft ying to the party that it happt led with
| the Gar In which they were travelH 9. The
hope was expressed that the event was the
precursor of an amicable interct !nge of
cars that will be just to all parties a I'd to the
trade of Richmond
Without any incident worthy of note we
were transported to Lynchburg at highly
| satisfactory railroad speed-passing in our
route over that remarkably High Bridge, on
brick pillars, over the Appomattox, to avoid
which friend of ours, to this day, takes the
canal route! For nearly two years the South
| side Company have been engaged in raising
| an embankment at each end of the bridge to
take the place of the tall and ticklish tressle
work which was kept steady by iron chains
from posts in the ground to the top rails on
| either side. The traveller used to feel some
| what uncomfortable at seeing these fasten
ings swagging and Tightening as the tall tim
bers swayed under the weight of the train,
and he will be glad to learn that the clay
embankment has buried the greater part of
the very long stits on which the bridge for
merly danced not at all to his amusement
| When last visited Lynchburg the South
side Road was not completed. 1 was mueh
interested with the work, near Lynchburg,
which crosses the James twice and encoun
| ters some considerable difficulties Its
location in this part of it is highly credita BILE
| to the Engineer, Mr. SANFORD, and it ap-
| pears to be very well built. 1t passes along
| the centre of the fertile island, known as
| PercivaPs, and striking the Southern bank,
not far below the depot of the Tennessee
| Road, continues up the river until it forms a
junction with that road.
At Lynehburg, we remained half an honr
| for dinner. Undertaking to write a letter
while there, missed dinner as did another
| gentleman of our party; but there was one
who thought of us, and who, when l wss
1 10 NJ ho in bod. 20 A.
| starting cry of "All aboardr' discovered
| bearing along wrapped up in many newspa-
pers, enough meat and bread for dozen men!
His timely arrival and bis grateful bud eft,
saved us from the dire exigency of crossing
| the Allegheny hungry; and while unfolding
| his newspapers-which contained material so
much more valuable than newspapers gene
rally do we mentally passed high eulogy
upon the benevolent friend who had thus civ
| en-, in small way, striking proof of the
| true gentleman, whose pleasure ever is to
promote the comfort and enjoyment of 9TH
erS. .'f~
| At AtLynchburg we were Joined by delega.
tion of public men and citizens of that place,
| among whom was only one editor Mr.. PAX
TON, Of the Republican, who accompanied
us to Wytheville, and who added largely to
the pleasures of the journey, while they laid
| our party under obligations by their kind at
l tentlOnS. COi 0AhNETI, CBleI Eu Rln66f and
E. e. GILL, Esq, General Superintendent of
| the Va and Tenn. Road, were among those
| who Joined us. We hailed them with plea.
sure as they we're to take charge of US and
we resigned ourselves with alacrity to their
direction.
Leaving Lyuchburg we found ourselves
penetrating further into the dark redlands,
which wo had struck just below the town. and
4 which grew richer as we advanced, until we
reached the heart of Bedford county. These
lands produce finely, and though neglected
4 in years by gone, they are now receiving the
1 benefit of more careful husbandry and are
i rewarding the farmer richly for his la.
i bors. The construction of the Virginia and
Tennessee Road through this country has
/ doubled, and in many instances quadrupled
| the value of the lands. In this respect
does the Railroad soon return to the pockets
| of people, the cost of its construction. II
| is a surprising fact, however, to find the
holders of real estate sometimes refusing to
extend any aid to improvements from which
/ they derive SO much benefit. This was es
peoially the case in the rich and fertile coun-
4 ty of Roanoke, whose teeming lands are ira.
| versed by the Virgins and Tennessee road,
and which did not subscribe enough money
l 70 the work to pay the land damages which