The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-05-20
VIRGINIA NEWS.


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Danviltc and Kss Traeie-The. Town
During the war and N0w-Whenee
IL Derives I,s Trade-Inseresssnu
Facts About the Tobacco Crop
opufasiorn and improvements.
Y Correspondence OF the Richmond Dispatch
,DANvILLE, May Is. 1871.
Once before your correspondent was in
Danville. Then war was raging through
ont the land. The town was full of army
officers and refugee citizens. I could get
no bed nor meals in all the place, and was
glad to accept the invitation Of Colonel
Dodamead, then superintendent OF the
DanViiie railroad, to sleep in his office.
fortunately had taken some .shard tack''
with me, or might have starved. There
have been great changes here since that
time. Many houses have been built, among
them i've tobacco warehouses. Business
has increased, and two hotels are open to
travellers, the Paxton Rouse, late TIM
stall, where / stopped, being all that the
traveller can desire. Only few mementoes.
in the form of earthworks GROWING the adj
jacent hills, remain to remind one of the
g late onpleasantness." Under the influ.
ence of time and the seasons these, too, will
soon disappear, and "the places which now
hope "toreyer."
Danville is situated in a southwestern
direction, 14l miles from Richmond, and
is the trade-centre Of 4 large and fertile re-
gion of country. Produce is drawn here
from the counties of Patrick, Henry, Pitt
| sylyania, Halifax, and Campbell, in Vir-
gina, and from the rich and productive
counties of Stokes, Caswcll, Rockingham,
Guilford, Granville, Alamance, Person,
| Orange, and Forsyth, in North CaI olina.
Now, take your map, and By examination
| of this large district of country you will at
once see what Danville should be, and
what she aciH be if her citizens properly
| appreciate and improve her opportunities.
| Tobacco is the great staple OF this region,
| and is brought by every conceivable man.
ner OF conveyance. Much of it comes down
| the Dan river in batteauX, they receiving
| their cargo in some instances as far as Dan
bury, in Stokes county, n. G. A good lead,
| for the majority of them, is from 5000 to
1000 pounds. A good deal of this tobacco
| Is brought from distance of 100 miles or
even more. I saw one package day or
| two since which had just completed jour-
| ney Of $50 miles. l.5s
Formerly there were only two ware.
houses here where tobacco was sold now
there are seven, and they are all kept busy
I
The mode Of preparation for sale is diff
| ferent fl ON that in Richmond. Tobacco is
brought here loose-that is, Impressed, and
is arranged and sold in parcels. The specu-
lator, or he who buys on orders, buys these
parcels Of the quality he desires, and then
packs it ready for shipment to his con-
signee. go
You may form some idea of the magni.
tude of the business here and the number
of men employed when I state that over
1,0l0, 900 tpounds were sold here last week.
Immediately alter the sale the warehouse
| man gives the farmer an account Of sale and
! check for the money, thereby saving much
Of the delay to the planter which formerly
prevailed here.
The quantity and the prices realized have
placed the planters in comparatively easy
circumstances. To give one case as an IL
! lustration: a gentleman living near by,
with his SOMA mere lad--and by the aid
of one mule, raised crop which netted
| him 81 600. In the SINE proportion other
crops have been sold with like results. But
| in order to do this the farmer has to neglect
other crops, and consequently is buyer Of
the grain which is grown in adjacent coun-
| ties on lands unsuited to the culture Of TO.
bacco. This, however, is not an inyariable
rule for many Of the farmers, having lands
1 SocoSSo
sufficient quantity of the grain crops to
supply their own wants, and sometimes
have it to spare.
| The prospects in this immediate neigh
borhood for as large a crop of tobacco this
year as last are not good, on account of the
scarcity of plants. The long dry and cold
spell in April, by retarding the growth OF
the plants, gave its enemy, the fly, an OPP
portunity to destroy q large number OF
them. Some of the planters are putting
corn in lands intended for tobacco.
! DanYille has now a population Of about
1000 Inhabitants, nearly equally divided
between the two races (white ana colored),
the Conservatives having a majority at the
last town election of only thirty. There
are five churches here-one Presbyterian,
one Baptist, one Methodist, one Episco-
pal, and one cofored. There is to be anoth-
| er Methodist church built soon, the mo-
ney having been subscribed and suitable
| lot purchased. The town also boasts of
two public halls, one belonging to the Ma.
| sonic fraternity and the other to the colored
societies. .sa HENRY.