Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1868-09-01
Correspondence of the Spectator.

Correspondence of the Spectator.
RICHMOND, VA, Aug. 18th, 1868.
For Virginian to visit this city without
feeling proud of his native State would be an
avowal of deficiency in that spirit which every
true son of the sacred soil possesses. This is
the great centre of our development as peo-
pie; and the history of Richmond is the record
of the fate and fortunes of the great Common
wealth. Its success is our success, and by rev
garding her interests we enhance our own
prosperity. Then how callous must be any
heart in Augusta if it inactively beholds a for
eign Hercules bearing off the trade of any
portion Of the State to the great rival city of
Baltimore Yet he who refuses to aid in the
construction of the Chesapeake and Ohio Rail
road, tacitly submits to the grasp of parties
who regard the cold Dominion in mere
business point of view.
Of the many places of interest here, that
which claims the highest rank is our State Cap
ital Yet so familiar is it to the many intell-
gent readers of the Spectator, that any allusion
to its structure, or the associations with which
it is indissolubly linked, or its beautiful grounds
with its unsurpassed works of art, is wholly
unnecessary. Dastardly hands have mutilated
the life-like statue of ssAshland Harry" exc
cuted by Hart and erected in SO by the ladies
of the State. Trophies, illustrating the career
of each of the six heroes who surround the
| monument Immediately below the equestrian
statue of Washington, are being erected in
front of them. These trophies, like the
statues, were modelled in Rome and cast at
Munich, and are being put up at cost of
| S., 900 each, in gold. The many works of art
| which adorn the Capitol not only give beauty
and attractiveness to the city and link the pres
ent with the glorious past, but will also per-
MUS, Henry Exall, whose artistic daring and
scientific skill have been tower of strength"
to the city of Richmond.
The people OF this city are at present en-
| riching their memories and realizing mental
pleasure from a series of articles now being
published in the Whg from the never-grow-
| feeble pen of DR.. Thos P. Atkinson, of Dan
vile, Va, on the past history of Richmond
Surely gentleman who is doing the public so
good service deserves brief sketch. DIR. A.
| is native of Dinwiddie, and at an early age
N. Caroline line Before the adoption of the
| Constitution of '29 and 80, he represented
Halifax co., in the State Legislature. For
many years subsequent to that event, he was a
member of the State Senate from Pittsylvania,
| Henry, and Patrick counties He was long
editor and proprietor of the Danville Register,
and exchanged his journalistic life for the Pres
idency of the Branch Bank of Virginia at Dan
vile, which position he held, as near as your
informant can recollect, for the space of TWEEN
| ty-Gve years. Possessing great energy and
| orce of character he continues to lead an ac-
tive life, and now, in his old age, is correspond
ing Secretary of the Border Agricultural So
ciety-a live institution of that locality, of
which Mai. w. Y. Sutherland, the leading
spirit of the White Sulphur Springs, is the
President.
Whilst obtaining at the Wing Office the ar
ticles of DR.. Atkinson already published, be-
longing to the series mentioned, the morning s
mail was brought in and we were shown by our
| talented and esteemed friend, Col. j. G.
Shields, letter from Burwell Nelson Carter of
Williamstown, KY, (who left Virginia in 1919
at the age of eleven,) expressing an ardent
wish that our old citizens in different parts of
the State would follow the example of Dr. At
kinson. 1t is too often that our old men feel
that they are regarded as ''fogies'' by the
rising generation and seem wholly oblivious to
the entertainment it is in their power to give
by unraveling their memories and telling the
youth of Virginia of the days of yore. Let
the example Of DR.. Atkinson be but followed
and through the genial columns of wide spread
journals like the Wing and Spectator, we
would be RECALLED with .Staunton in the Olden
Time" Early Recollections Of Williams.
burg - ''Lynchburg Sixty Years Ago." and
many others, all teeming with interest.
| Under its new leadership, the Wing is man
fully stemming the tide, as in aud lang syne
Directly opposite the Wing building is the bat
terry of Hunnicutt and Co., but from the gen.
eral quiet of those parts one would suppose
that it never fired shot Surely it has done
no damage to the Wing Office Everybody
there wears the smile Of sweet security and
prosperity. Even the portrait of Gen. Ham
lin Peasants, the founder and great editor of
the Whig which hangs in the business room
fine portrait of Richard H. Toler, the sue
cessor of Gen. Peasants. Mr.. r. was for
twenty two years editor of the Lynchburg Vir-
ginian before his connection with the Wing,
and it is fact worthy to be noted that in 1924
Mr. Toler succeeded Mr. Peasants as editor of
the Virginian, and in 1916 succeeded the same
gentleman as editor of the Wing Mr.. A.
Moseley who was long connected with the
Wing in these periods, has become proprietor
and is in charge of the editorial department of
the paper. Col Shields continues as hereto
fore, to give force to the journal by his fine
| business tact and great Intellectual capacity.
can not close without making mention of
the Tredagar Works, the company Of which
Gen. J. r. Anderson is President. Since the
war it has been engaged mainly in Railroad
and bridge work Before the war it was large
| " engaged in the manufacture of heavy ord
nance for the Government And it is worthy
of mention that prior to the war the largest
brass casting made in the U. S. was cast at
these works The casting was screw propel
Ter for government vessels, the contract Of
which was filled by Gen. Anderson.
The Young Mems Christian Association, L.
R. Baker, President, numbers about seven
| hundred members, has good rooms and a fine
library. Adieu, AUGUSTA.
| POLITICAL REVOLUTION IN MAINE-DEsERT-
ING THE RADICAL RANKs.-Augusta, August
26.-Further investigation in the interior Of the
L l. A. d. o,1