Evening star., 1865-10-19
TRIP OF YE COUNCILMEN TO RICH.
MOND,

TRIP OF YE COUNCILMEN TO RICH.
MOND,
Ye Senior Loseth his Clean Shirt-Ye yen
cradle Father hath his Life Insured-Ye
Desolate Country-Ye Nurses of Bull un
and DIR. Boyle-Ye Central Train Stop.
peth to Wood Up-Ye Councilmen at We
Spotsw ood.
Editorial Correspondence of the Star.l
SPoTswooD HOUSE, RICHMOND, VA. Oct
IL, 1s65.-The Corporation Excursion party to
Richmond, via Gordonsville, left MARYLAND
avenue station at o'clock this morning. in a
special car. Aldermen Thomas E. Lloyd, Cam
field, Gulick, Turton, and Noyes; Councilmen
Wright, Edmonston, Hamilton, and Anderson.
Mayors Clerk klopfer; Mr. Hepburn, of the
Collectors Office; Mr. Proctor, of the Chroa;eE,
Charles Wilson, Esq; Mr. Barbour, of the
firm Of Barbour & Semmes, and a few others.
were of the party. Messrs. A. LLOYD and Fer
guson, Of the city's delegation, OVERSIGHT them.
selves, and arrived just too late for the train;
warning against late rising. The special car
was a handsome one, and had been freshly
painted for the occasion. The platform rods
We're painted black. If any of the crowd 90
home with black paint on their hands, their
wives will know how it happened. Lit was
distinctly understood that no Ieyity should he
mdulgeo in on that special car; consequently.
none N>-s. A strict search was instituted for
any Ii lU1r TASKS that might have been smus-
gled ..fa'--d inducing hilarity. To the credit
of the party not a drop was found; but in
the vigilance with which the search was
pushed some mistakes unavoidably happened.
Mr.. Edmonston lost his clean shirt Indulginp
in harmless desire to appear well in the ewes
cfsah snifI viii hfi seis a WI T. e.. naa brought
newspaper. Elijah looked high and low for
his clean shirt, but it was not to be found
Much sympathy was expressed for Mr.. T. in
the loss of his clean shirt. Apples were show
cred upon him and he was piled with sand
witches. When the runner for the asProyidence
Life Insurance Company came through the
cars the company made up ten cent subscrip-
lion TO insure Elijahs life for twelve hours in
the sum of 5000 if killed and SIS per week IL
permanently disabled by railway accident
This was felt to be due to the venerable father
of two tender babes, and who had lost his clean
shirt Those who had left no such pledges to
fortune behind felt that they could be gener-
ous; Tom Lloyd headed the subscription.
BY the time all these preliminaries had been
arranged the train had sped on across sui
len Bull Run and was climbing the heavy
grade TO the plains of Manassas. Nature has
been busy covering up the traces of war and
has already obliterated almest every sign of
conflict upon this renowned field. The forti-
fcatlons at Manassas Junction have cru nbled
already TO the merest semblance of defined
outline; the myriad graves at Bristow, where
the rebel dead were buried in their tracks, are
now level with the sod; the thickets OF Catlett's
Station, the haunts of guerrillas and the secure
hiding place of rebel fianking armies are now
cleaned up root and branch; and the timbers of
the long line of block houses and stockades
from Burke's Station to the Rapidan have been
converted-not exactly into pruning hooks and
plough -shares-but into as peaceful an equiya
lent-railroad ties
The country from Alexandria to Culpeper
Court House may be designated as a desert
houseless, fenceless, treeless, and with scarce a
sign of life or useful vegetation Ii is one
wide waste of chocolate -coIored soil and scrub
growth. From the railroad near Culpeper
may be seen the ruins of the pleasantly situated
Culpeper residence of Mr.. w. D. waIlach. Not
only is every vestige of house and farm build
ing upon this property swept away, bur alse
the fine old trees, the growth Of centuries Pas
sing on towards Orange Court House we get
more out of the track OF wars desolations:
houses, forests, and fences have suffered less
and new houses and new fences fill the places
Of those destroyed. We reached GordonsyIlle
at I215 p. m, or in little over five hours from
Washington .. '-'. ~
At GordonsviIle our special car was attached
to the Richmond train going down the yir.
ginia Central road, while the train to which we
were lately attached went on to Lynchburg
Quite force Of men are at work upon the
Orange and Alexandria road, endeayorng tn
get it into fair condition before the frosts of
winter set in. The work Of relaying it was
rather hastily done by Government, and the
company will be obliged to mainly rebuild it,
1t has been well ballasted for considerable
portion OF the way. "a
While waiting at Gordonsville some Of our
party encountered DIR. Cornelius Boyle, for
merly Of Washington. He expressed strong
desire to visit Washington, and said the con-
dition Of his parole was thathe should not pass
beyond Gordonsville.,i He was told by our
party that even If the Government mad not in
terdicted his going to Washington he would
not find it pleasant place to visit from the
strong feeling against him there on ac
count of his harsh treatment of the yolun.
feer nurses who were captured by the
Confederates on Bull RIM battlefield.
Boyle said in reply that he had been
misrepresented in regard TO his treatment
Of the Washington nurses He had been in. 7
formed that gang were coming out from !
Washington TO rob the dead and wounded ON
the battle field, and when he found such men !
as Bob Cross and Wrangy Jones amongst the
crowd who were taken prisoners, he thought