New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-08-13

the yalue of $40 900 and eof the ofncers VoU
down from high shelf into the hands Oh ano'iioi
officer as if 1t were a small ream Oh "'app'"s
paDer a package about six inches Squ"io ""u
weighing several pounds, composed Vi .n s"i
sand-dollar bills, and amounting 10 SfoV,oVO'
asked to take 1t in my hands thinking II nisnC uO
me some good and did take 1T, but no dement, mas
vet been perceived. was shown great many oaes,
which held 100000 IN gold. which were captured
with jeff Davis The shelves all around were loau-
cd With ,,orev dead loads TO those present and
think they said there were 500 00OOOO; perhaps there
was a little more or even less, but took no pains
In remember since could soc no way in which was
likely to be Interested. unless lhueeu ~ "o'iN " w
help make the sum larger, .ho
OBe delightng contrast and who remembers sG
Washington slavepen and the days OF oiaYeIS, t
not fail to visit the Howard University on the ~. oue
skirts of the city report has gone ABROAD lheG o
buildings are unsound, having been ellV VI Po ,oa
material concrete brick, but io3keu ~ ni h;it of
anv evidence of impeFfection One house was Dultoh
this material somewhere IN the cltY Oeloiet ILo n
ment had set and it gave way; wei,y ~ a G
the various class rooms and the business and Of the
neCted with the educational department anu "a
Freedmen's Bureau, and saw cOlored tehchels anu
accountants as competent and eXpert,ts can DO IIuu
among white Young men III New YORK OF ebeWht ~
I tSre fbot they have had opportunities; and 1t IL
this question of opportunity which Is ueih ;I ~
hearing. In connection IS Jaw sGnIo mI01 &c tbe
markablv promising. Perhaps the lawyers ol ino
Sonth fear nothing more than oolored mon entering
into connection with them. The prospect Is GER
'''''ii' - CLASSIFICATION OF SOIL .
Tho tnrritorv winch this series of letters has now
described includes Virginia North and South Caro-
lima Georgia and Tennessee, and Will CLASSIFY 10
nreoabIv 10 what have termed Agricultural Cecil
oSv attempted TO get some assistance from bhe
Agricultural Department, bnt, except In an lncoth,
nlete man showing some general features, l COuiu
ot find that any attention had been paid to the SUD
Iect and certainly none in the nature OF an appitG
ton of scientific knowledge to the capacity Oh inc
soil in an agricultural view. The su9ect 10
entirely new i would say, then, that the uueII
water region may DO considered as an alIutIn
formation and that IL IS mingled Win Ih9 Coi
tisry i'm which are found she'll and green sand mari
and DhOsphatic fossils. Generally inc sou 10 Pp
ductive and in the valeysot all the rivers
So Next comes the tertiary, according 70 te " ASH
ington man but it seemed to me TO belong 10 the
legendary containing sandstone and immense guam.
titles of cacareOus grit of tinty character ana OF
gravel This gravel and grit afford no 1erunty on
Accommodation and to them is to be ascribed
fbe washing of the soil, for they cut and
wash deep channels when the mold disappears,
The soil for the greater part is gray put on inc
west side IL ia cOloTed red with iron and in no case
except when recently rescued from the Forest Is III
rich. Still, it is quick. and takes manure kihay,
and in the region visited is more devoted 70 cotton
than any other CROP This section Is at least lOO
miles wide and it's general character is unchanged
Blue limestone is never seen nor any OF tne PHI
mept of the country to have been oak gum, poplar,
chestnut and the like, but the second growth IS
almost exclusively pine, a tree always indicating
moor land; and il is known to have been the first
forest tree grown the earth, and upon the lorna
ton of the first layer of rock and soil cohslder-
able portion of Northern Georgia, although seeming
TO come under this description has decidedly supe-
rior soil; the timber is magnificent ana IN great va
refy 1t is known as the rotten limestone Iegl0n.
and it is probably the most productive ana az the
same time beautiful section in the Southern states
sonth of Virginia. Whether the cacareous grit and
flint characterzing so much OF the south extend 70
the foot of the mountains an North ana south TaIo-
lima and in Georgia, or whether they zap upon shae,
as in Virginia cannot say, and could ma no one
From Atlantic TO Knoxville the blue limestone
frequently appears giving rich SOIL but this whole
! section seems about equally divided between the
blue limestone and the calcaTeOus grit here called
| spurious limestone. In Hawkins County. some so
miles from Knoxville, first saw shale; found u
extending all the way TO the Manassas battle
| long distance; STILL must say that from Bristol
the passage made in the night. and dld not ac-
tualy see the shale until past LynchbuTR In len.
nessee it seemed connected with the lower spurs OF
| tbc Cumberland Mountains but il must disappear
between Hawkins County and Cumberland County,
| for in going from Knoxville TO the Table DAD not
cross it. Now if this shale is an extension OF the
shale of the Piedmont of Virginia IL must cross and
leave the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge and ex-
hibit itself along the Cumberland Mountains, which
NAV he for in passing from Charlottesville to Saun-
ton in the Valley of Virginia, shale was everywhere,
and it appeared for several miles on the eastern
side Of the Valley and joined upon the blue
| limestone What may be the real fact with
reference to the boundary and course of tins outcTOp
of shale cannot determine; but it is important 10
be known because by its constant decomposition 1t
furnishes the elements of lasting fertility and Tor
the production of wheat and all kinds OF fruit It IL
as know 1t forms the largest body OF shale IN the
United States and that the OutcrQps ia Northern
Ohio and n Central and Western New-foTk are, In
| comparison, Insignificant. When We consider It's
value for the crops named and when we consider IN
connection the healthfulness of the country the
water-power, and the adjacent minerals tins whole
| manufactures and for the support and development
of the human race,
Every one has heard Of Norfolk, of its grand har-
bor and of ITS prospects for being great city but
LITTLE impression Is made, because, having iailed 10
improve those great advantages it Is suspected that
there must be great disadvantages. Sull when one
goes thitheT and sees two grand rivers pouring into
its fine harbor sees how beautifully 1t is located, and
what fine lands lie between il and the ocean, while
1 nayigable creeks and bays penetrate all the sur
rounding country the idea at once arises that Nor
folk was as much intended for great city as New
York. There are striking cOrrespOndences too, for
| Elizabeth River and Portsmouth are like the East
River and Bsooklyni the James FLYER i've Ike the
Even the streets in the lower part of the city
| look almost exactly like Pearl. Beaver, Wash
| ingtOn, and Greenwich-sts. With shipping at the
wharves and 10000 inhabitants, il is easy to fancy
that such was New-York in the time Of the RevOln-
| ton. And yet the question arises.what is the
to New-England or New-YOrk; the gentry and no.
bility brought their families and retaners and
pied the adjoining and up-river country, where they
lived the European life over and perhaps something
more their ladies being state!ieT, richer, and, of
course handsOmeT and Whittier than any other ladies
IN America nor can we DENY that they became inc
to mankind; but alas little of their glory remains
and there is no sadder in this new land than
the ruins Of river mansion before which ship
once cast anchor, and where hearts beat high. and
eyes shOne bright; for the forest grows where the
flower garden Stood birds of prey bnild their nests
in fragments of wall and tower, and tho fox has
pathway through the hall. Why their energy and
vigor have hoated backward / cannot tell the ex-
istence Of Slavery ought not to explain all mala
rOus influences, for Slavery existed in New-York
the Piedmont region the upper waters of the
James. the Roanoke, the RappahannOck, and the
Rapidan is as healthful as New England, and it is
richer, and the sun shines brighter; but do know