The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-11-25
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| Lxxrsuros, VA, Mr. y, 1870. {
The ytrarinp canawI, isstO be- put into
toperasion again Stthe earliest possible day.
| After the supervisors Of Rockbrfdg e voted
the canal company q loan Of go, 600 worth
Of its bonds the energetic President, Col.
Darlington, went to work at Once !, and Id
still busily engaged letting out the work on
North river. The gentlemen who have
taken contracts are men who mean work,
and the names of s.F. Jordan & Sons and
other contractors afford abundant assurance
that at no distant day We shall hear the
sweet music Of the canal boats horn.
Meantime Our people have been under OBJ
legations to that prince of freight agents, N.
ri. Hotchkiss, Esq. by which train Of
wagons ply. regularly between here and
staunton, and carry freight with aagood de-
gree OF promptness, and at rates as reason
able as could be expected under present
circumstances. 8;t;, .lt'3Gala@E g ~
, Our railroad prospects brighten. The
corps of engineers are bustlv at work in
this county locating the Valley railroad;
and it is understood that the new President
(Mr. Robert Garrett) is the son of bis
father, ,.sa, ;4@,. }*@..,:
Ouripeople have been accused Of an old
fogy desire to keep to themselves and be let
alone by "outside barbarians," but the
voted four hundred ana thirty thousand
dollars to the railroad, and now gives fifty
thousand dollars to repair the canal, shows:
that our people at least desire to give the,
world the benefit of their wisdom and vir-
tues-their corn, wheat, and potatoes.
Arrangements are being rapidly made to
remove the library and the offices from the
basement of the University chapel, which
will be devoted exclusively to the tomb of
Lee, and memorials of him. His old office
is to remain as nearly as possible just as he
Faculty is to be for the deposit of relics of
the great chieftain, while the room in which
is the vault containing the remains. is to be
committed to our Memorial Association,
who, under direction of the family, are al
ready concentrating their plans. In this
room also will be placed such appropriate
paintings, busts, statues, &C., as, we may be
able to procure.
Already some gentlemen in New York
have signified their purpose of placing in
this room a fine bust of Lee in bronze, and
some admirers in New. Orleans have pur-
chased splendid portrait Of Lee and Jack.
son on horseback, painted by Julio, and
have written to bespeak place for it IN
the memorial room.
Other such offerings will be made, and
when our Association are able to consl1m-'
mate the plans they are now pushing for
ward, visitors to the tomb Of Lee must be
struck with the appropriateness OF his rest
ing place and its surroundings. Even now
ali who have visited the tomb have gone
away highly pleased with the arrangements.
The ladies of Lexington keep fresh flowers
on the tomb, and floral offerings are sent
from distant States. Your correspondent
has noticed beautiful wreath woven by
fair hands, in Mississippi, and bearing on
q card the simple inscription: FLOWERS
monrn for yirginia's Lee" And some ladies
from Lexington, Ky., have sent an elegant
cross, covered with white immortelIes and
encircled at its base with evergreen.
But to me the most touching respect
shown the mighty dead is the guard of stu
dents who keep constant viglls at the
tomb. A detail Is made every week, and
these young men who loved and honored
him when living, esteem it a sacred privi-
lege to watch by the hero's tomb, and po-
litely usher in all visitors.
So he is 'buried among the boys mot
among the noble boys who followed him in
the shock OF battle Though many of these
slccp Will CuC 1uLlol SOohS"oa
the cemetery hard byebut the boys who
followed him in the grander victories OF
peace in bis later years. tits fitting that those
who alone had the right have decided that
he shall continue to rest "among the boys"
who IN coming years shall flock to this
noble temple of learning. which he reared,
to catch inspiration from. the example of
his great life. And If there be "degrees In
glory" we cannot doubt that on the resur-
rection morn his grand figure will loom out
so clearly-will stand so near the Saviour,
whom he loved SO well and served so faith
f,llly-that his F.boys who wore the gray"
shall have no difficulty in "seeing with
their opening eyes their loved and honored
chieftain," whether they sleep in Holly
wood, or at Gettysburg, or in the hundred
other " bivouacks of the dead" which are
scattered over our fair land.
The Faculty of Washington and Lee Uni
versity have appointed Mr.. NJ. Ammen,
late Of Fincastle, now residing in North
Carolina, Principal of the Business School.
This is an admirable appointment. And
besides his other qualifications, Mr.. Ammen
is an artist of no mean pretensions.
The services at the College Chapel are
much better attended now than during any
previous session. General lee, just before
his fatal illness, was making special efforts
t5 induce the students to attend this yolun-
tary service, and they seem now to hold his
wishes as sacredly binding upon them.
Some ladies in Texas are preparing to
present:to the chapel a fine organ.
Z@ LEXINGTON.