Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-12-24

NIRGISIA.-The New York Journal of Conn
HoJcs recently contained letter from Norfolk,
Va. giving an account of the present condition
lIndustriaD of Virginia, which must necessarily
find its way into hundreds if not thousands Of
newspapers in all quarters Of the Union for,
throwing out of the estimate its glowing ac-
count Of the past of the Old Dominion, its de-
scription of her present condition-agricultu-
raj, mining, territorial, manufacturing, and as
10 her internal improvements already con-
structed-embTaces fund Of useful informa-
tion rarely before condensed in so many lines.
We regret our inability at this time to find
room for the whole Of it. However, We cannot
forego the pleasure Of publishing the following
extract. which bears out our oft-repeated deela-
ration that, indus;rially, the prospects of Vir-
ginia's future are as bright as those of any
other territory of the same extent the sun
chimes on anywhere.
What a Prineely territory has the Old Do
minIOn. so miles long and 2tO broad at its great
eSt width, containing 81 600 square miles, or
ll,D6,UO AcTcs-enOugh for an European King
dom- With every variety Of climate between the
sea-bOdrd and the Ohio river; with generally
rsh soil, which only careless husbandry can
exhaust, and often not that; with all the
varieties Of agricultural productions which the
Moth, the West, and the south can supply,
bfs des neXhaustible stores OF mineral wealth
while the rivers and bavs abound with fish.
clans, and oysters, and the sydmps and noun
tains In deer and other game, and the marshes
and <ea-cOaEt IN ineX hau>tibe quantities Of wild
duck, geese, and other fowl, nothing il wanting
in natural appliances To make Virginia the
richest, fairest and haPPiest portion Of the Uni
ted States
The following public works show that the
NITginianS are cAtching the general spirit of en-
terpTise, and already have accomplished what Il
highly honorable to the state and far above w bat
j generally believed at the North James river
and kdnawh1 canal 2O1 miles. at an expense of
- Uu,usO% Dismal swamp canal, - miles, 81 -
ll2,OO; NO-folk and North Carolina Railroad
- miles, ~ .Ji00O; Petersburg and North Car
olina Railroad. 63 miles, 81 .OJ0,OO0; Petersburg
aud Richmond Railroad, - miles, 81 $50 600 (;
Pete sbuTg and Lynchburg Railroad, l23 miles,
-R9'J,OOJ; Richmond and Roanoke Railroad
ItS miles, st,UO,UO; Richmond and Tennessee
Railroad, 2Ui miles, 50 .5Ol 100; Richmond and
Frederic ksburg road. - miles. 81 rs .O0; Cen
Wal road, lSO miles, al ,2jOO0; York River road
> miles, 81 600 90; road ffom n ichmond 20 The
coal mines, 81 miles, 81, ,UO.nO; AIexandria and
Orange road, Ss miles. AZ .755 go, and thence to
I.ynchburg, ~ miles, 81 200 GO; AIe1andris and
hArrlSonburg road, l39 miles Sj.JiO ,Oo: Wheel
az and Baltimore road, 3e2 miles, S23 90 go ;
1LfkerSburgh branch road, IO3 milss, ~ 500. .OO0
lhus Virginia has an aggregate Of 2l3 miles n
canal and $40 miles OF Tdil:Ofd at total cost
q nearly serenity millions of dO!!dTS' The yr. al
S"iect before the public miHd at present Is the
'"h"rction Of thc Ohio river with the Atlantic
~ canal To do this, the back bone Of the
@'atr must be travsrsed, di>tan ,e b~t1een lOI
ahd 30 mikes fr0m the foot of the Blue Ridge
'he Ohio, while summit level must be over