Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1869-12-17
For the Journal
OUR GOLDsBORo' CORRESPONDENCE

Neutrality-suspicious. Pros
| pects-Fretght from Wilmington fes
Points in Interior of State-The Colds
boro' Press &C., tSe.s< -
GoLDsBoRo, n. c., Dec. 10, 1869
Dear Journal: A pleasant ride of few
hours on the Wilmington & Weldon Rail-
road brought me to this thriving and now
quiet little town, the greatest railroad CEN
tire in the State. AS has always been the
case, you are greeted on your arrival here
porters-more or less-all of them anxious
to do you service in the way of taking
charge of your baggage-for slight con
Grafton, and as eager to press upon your
attention the merits of their respective no.
tels-Gregory and the Exchange-both
of which seem to be doing good business.
The rivalry between them is very strong,
and it is only fair to say that they are both
well kept. and do their duty faithfully to
the travelling public. [ believe, though,
as far as nay own observation extends, that
Gregory's is superior to the other. Free
man, the Junior member of the firm, is
''hard to beat" at his business, and I no
tice that nearly all of the Whining tonians
who pass through here generally stop ct
Gregorys.
One of the greatest nuisances to which
the travelling public are compelled to sub
nit, is the detention here for four and
one half mortal hours, if the said traveller
is going in any other direction than up or
down the straight line of the Wilmington
and Weldon Railroad. This fact can be
due to but one cause-a jealousy of the
present prosperity of cur own road, show
ing thereby an utter disregard of the con
venience of the travelling public. No
thing better than this could be expected
of such a man as William A. Smith, but Of
the management Of the Atlantic Railroad
better arrangement should have been
looked for. { wish that President Bridgers,
of the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad,
would run up here some fine day and buy
lup the little scraps Of iron between this
place and Releigh, or the one side, and
Newbern on the other. A little of his own
energy and that of his worthy Superinten
dent, Col. Fremont, would soor impose
some life into these fast fossilizing things
yclepted, in modern parianoe, railroads.
Goldsboro' is much larger place than
those who merely ses it from the cars rs
they pass through would think, and Il
good deal OF produce is brought in from
the surrounding country and sold here Or
shipped from here. The commercial vital
| ity of the place received g. severe blow,
though, from the effects Of the disastroug
destroying, as it did, nearly one half of the
business portion, aud entailing u severe
Iuss on the people at large. Bot il will
not be long before eli of this s'burnt dis.
trict'' will be rebuilt, and even now. some
progress has been made in that direction.
Messrs. We'll & Bros. have already erected
G handsome brick building and Me6sr3.
r.. J. Gregory and William Robinson are
each laying the foundations for others.
And why is it. by the way, that 50 little
of the trade of this town and o: the sur
rounding country reaches Wilmington, the
natural outlet, one would think, for all of
it's wealth. of products Instead, Negbern
AMI Norioik-more especially the latter
are tapping it up, while our own city is fast
falling behind in the game. The trade OF
this place is worth great deal-enough,
at all events, to contoni for--and yet our
people sit quietly down ans see it pass in
to other hands.
l.
Smith to the contrary, Wilmington, if
she does not receive the products of ruid-
die and western North Carolina for expor-
tation, is yet sGetern4 ned to do something
for the benefit Of the people of these Sec
TONS This is done through the combin-
ed efforts Of your steamship lines and the
Wilmington < Weldon Railroad, and is
evidenced By the heavy freights which are
continually arriving from your port and
being seut forward to points along the
line on Ihe North Carolina Railroad 4
few days since the combined mail and
freight train between this place and Ral-
eigh was so heavily laden, with train
made up almost entirely from the Viii
mington &c Weldon Railroad, that after
vainly struggling to get along with it, aud
running On hour behind time in the fruit
less attempt, it was compelled to leave
some Of it behind at station this side OF
Raleigh. And yet, President Smith thinks
that one train per day is enough for pas
sengers, mail and freight.
AS far as newspapers are concerned,
Goldsboro is lively place. There are
five newspapers published here, three of
which are issued by our energetic friend
Bonitz, OF the Messenger. Whitaker, the
scallawag, publishes the other two. Il
might add that neither Of these latter is
worth continental, but L won't.
will write again, shortly, -for the pre-
sent, good bye. Yours, SOMETIMES.
EDGEooMBE AFFAIRS. the Tar
boro' Soutberaser we learn that in the Crit
fin murder case, Simmons, the principa.
actor in this tragedy, was found guilty of