Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1869-12-07
BALr1MnrE. December 2, 1s69.

Dear !CPhrit:-The beautiful snow has
been falling since noon, and now as the eve
ming is throwing its shadow athwart the earth,
the scene of life and hustle, of hurrying peo>
Pile and ianglipg teams, moving swiftly to and
fro through the scudding fakes, grows in pic
turesq1e interest before the eye. n snow
storm in the city is always an incident of dra-
matte import, both in what 1t seems and what
it suggests, what it does and what 1t may do
The charm of poetry floats with the flakes in
the air and sleeps with them on the tufted
chimney tops, the whiteDed roofs, and muf-
fed window -sills. There is colder CLEAN
in the struggling lnmplght in the streets,
and as night steals on apace it is no longer
the blazing beacon of belated danes and
plodding men, but glenn like that of the
stars when the sky is clicked with bars"
and the "ring is around the MOON" serving
to show Just how cold and dark and still it is.
1t is then that We think of the glory and
shame, the luxury and Distress the sport and
the disaster that the snow wreaths crown,
and we laugh or cry as the humor suggests.
A strange, weird scene indeed is a snow storm
in the city, stranger and weiTder still at nj ht.
The storms of hundred years ago swept
over scarcely aught else Q! Baltimore than
hill and dale, forest and bog. Twenty or
, thirty houses, mostly rude and ill-fashioned,
!
aud they were occupied by less than two hun
dred people, big and little, old and young
it does not seem so long since though. The
grand children of some of the gallant two
hundred" are doubtless in town to. day, ming
ling in the busy crowds proud perhaps of
their traditions, and yet marveling not at the
4 changes of time The times change and we
change with them" is one of those wise old
saws that does not succumb itself to the NOR
al it incucatcs. Its pith and point are per-
reunial. Memories may live. but landmarks
must perish Progress has need of none of
the realities of the past, save to cover them
up with the record of its achievements.
There are now fifty thousand houses, most
of them models of comfort and elegance. upon
the once wild and jungled hills of Baltimore,
and the population is estimated at three hun
bred and fifty thousand Over three thou-
sand new buildings, public and private, have
been erected within the past year alone -
/ The real and personal property of the city,
once estimated by lew paltry thousands. is
now valued by millions. and s350000,OG0 is
the figure And all within a hundred years
Memories of Manhattan are overshadowed.-
New York has never known such progress.
and now that tho Monumental City has leoprd
so bravcly forward in the race for commercial
supremacy, never will.
l Tie Improvements tnat nave taken place
within the past twelve months are perhaps
the most magnificent that have been made
during any previous year. They comprise
many superb marble iron and brick ware
houses of mammoth dimensions and beauti-
full designs, besides very large number of
palata residences. TIE march of improve
ment is not confined to any particular section
or district, hut on all sides, everywhere, the
hammer and the trowel are busy. 1t seems
that they are never at rest and that they
never will be. Wealth accumulates the city
grows, her influence extends from ocean to
D5A4-e $3.50 sentiment, and to day
baltimore is power on land and sea.
In science and art the city occupies already
. 4 very enviablc place. In manufactures es>
pecially. as we'll as in commerce, she has be-
come brilliantly distinguished. 1t is not
merely III her WOODEN and cotton fabrics, her
carpet factories, her milling and refsipg es
adjustments that hshe is great She has
I achieved a victory in manufactures of far
higher significance to the refined and cults
waited people of the South The triumph of
her pianos-a triumph felt wherever music is
appreciated, and where in the South is it not
/ has despoiled New York Of one of its most
precious gems, and thrown a damper upon
the pretcnsions of the greatest musical capi>
tails Of the Old World. 1t seems almost like
dream that the skill and energy of single
/ firm could have succeeded, in SO brief a time
as has elapsed since the close of the war. in
securing for itself, in such field, amidst such
competition, position so far in advance of
that occupied by any other house of the kind
in the United States The splendid estab-
lishment Of Charles NJ. Stieff is one of the
most commanding monuments of Baltimore
! enterprise and art.success.
The Stieff pianos of which the Spirit has
recently had occasion to speak, have become
famous as the sweetest, grandest, most de-
lightful Instruments that have ever been man
ufactured introduced in America This
Is no mere idle Vaunt, suggested by sectional
pride or designed to benefit name or a To-
cally. but fact which has been more grace
fully recognized by such eminent persons as
Generals Robert L. Lee, d. II. Hill, Robert
hanson, Governor John Letcher Right Rev
Bishop Whittle, of Alexandria, Bishop Will
mer OF New Orleans, and hosts of professional
+ musicians and critics throughout the Union.
Such testimony is " confirmation strong as
holy writ" and can scarcely be enhanced by
even the further exceedingly gratifying fact
that gold prizes have been awarded this dis
unGuIshed manufacturer at the fairs at Staun-
ton. Lynchburg, Wytheville, Wilmington,
Raleigh Rome, at various places in the West
aud at the Maryland Institute Fair in Balti
more. Since the close of the war seven hun
dred of these pianos have been sold in the
South, four hundred of which number have
been purchased by Virginians and the es-
tablishment is turning out ten pianos every
week. The house already mpIoys over a
hundred men, and has recently erected an
additional extensive factory but the increas-
ing demand in the South has necessitated the
erection of still another which will soon be
under Uav The beautiFnl new x,ra roo,,s
No. Q, North Liberty street. are among the
most attractive in the city. full and proper
description Of which would occupy at least
column of the Spirit. Five stately iron
stories. white as the snow itself rise into the