The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-05-18
rug VIRGINIA SPRINGS.


.,roI waters whose virtues are so great
ND 50 varied. Nowhere else on earth' we
,n,;cyc. are there SO many springs OF such
a;f,rcnt characteristics found IN so smah
circumference.
And vet these springs are not now SO
.,,.h distinguished and so much putfcd as
,nors further north which are inferior to
'" ., y, v;rtue. The North has its large
,;,,cs and its influential media Of the press,
,,;,vays. and excessive wealth, which
,,arns wealth and adds the charms and
,,,,.,,r;cs Of art to swell the fame Of locali-
,,cs our Virginia springs are devoid IN
,.,c,, degree of these auXiliaries, and de-
neud chiefly upon their own virtues and
,hr native loveliness and grandeur OF
r,.,r yicinities. They were better known,
,,,nnarcd with the northern summer re-
wis before the war, than they are now.
While war stopped all springs-going with
-. in the North the individual wealth
which the war enabled mon to accumulate
.ye,lcd the fashion and display at the wa
,.rinc-nlaceS. People suddenly endowed
with wealth were lavish i'll their expendi-
,,rc and parade. and never before on shis
.,r,;ncnt was there such excessive public
,r,av Of personal decoration, glittering
harness. gay SteedS, and gilded coaches.
Here, then. was unrelieved poverty and dis
trc,>. and society, reduced to a rustic,
s;iCted, and threadbare earb, made no
show outside Of its diSconsolate home, and
the walks Of pleasure, the summer resorts
for health and rest, were deserted.
Between the war and that governmental
policy which has restrained the prosperity
and rcprc>sed the hope of the South, we
have recruited slowly from the low condi-
ton we had reached. A generation has
come upon the stage since the beginning OF
the political earthquake which divided the
nation. and whose succeeding tremors have
repclled the recuperation of confidence,
harmony, and prosperity. What was before
the war is unknown to the new generation
and to those wealthy persons who have fat
tened upon the national mi>eries.
20, less is known at the North now of the
Virginia watering places than was known
before the war.
But it is impossible that this can long be
The case. Each year curiosity brings large
thronc Of strangers 10 survey the Virginia
mountains and try their waters. The
Chesapeake and Ohio road is about to pour
current of travel from the West and
Northwest into the very centre Of the mine
ral-water region Of Virginia, and it will be
far more profitable 10 have the custom of
that part Of the Union than that from the
North. But each section will pour in its
volume Of visitors.
As no country affords more beautiful
scenery, as no land offers to man q more
charming temperature, purer atmosphere,
or more brig ut and finely-tinctured skies,
these mountains and springs Of Virginia
must in time become famous, and the villas
OF the wealthy will be nestled in the noun
tain covc>, and their ornamental groves and
gardens will adorn the views from every
elevation.
For the last few years each year has
brought perceptible Improvement, and
rapidly Is the day foreshadowed when peo-
PIE from all sections will meet at the Viz
GINA springs as u kind of National Mecca,
where shall be softened the sectional pre-
JUDGES, and where all will imblbe more
liberal feelings and Il more comprehensive
patriotism.
The season of the present year is just
about being opened, and the springs people
have made such preparations as they could
t.v th,ir "a
them:
THE WHITE SULPHUR SPR1SGs.-The
Greenbrier White Sulphur Springs, the
Queen Of the Fountains, is understood to
be under partly-changed management,
and is TO be conducted with some moditica-
lions of rates and rules that will obyiate
some complaints Of the past years. Ger.
'aiUly the most charming place we ever
saw, We doubt whether, for bewitchine
scenery and delicious temperature, there is
the equal of the White Sulphur in the
Union, while for curative powers the spring
has no superior.
The Chesapeake and Ohio railroad is in
rapid process OF completion, and will this
year have gap of only some seventy miles
incomplete. From the east it is finished to
the White Sulphur. From the west the
road will be laid by midsummer from the
Ohio TO the falls Of kanawha from that
point passengers will be conveyed to the
White by splendid line Of stages, making
the trip possibly in ten hours. That route
would be the one just suited to the wearied
and enleeGled patient. Nothing recruits q
man who has lost health and strength by
oyerwork and confinement so much as q
stirring up by journey through noun
tain land in fine stage with gay team.
Approaching the White from the east the
temporary tracks will ere many months be
altogether dispensed with. At Jerry's run,
where the trestle-work last summer occa.
stoned some uneasiness to passengers, the
track now crosses the gorge upon solid
earth, and the traveller feels secure.
We expect to see the saloons of the
White crowded this season with a gay COM
pany. The lessees are making better pre-
paration than at any previous. season since
the war.
The SWEET SPRINas.-The Old Sweet, Of
Monroe county, Va, famed for its beauty
and its refined society in other days, is early
IN the field, and shows signs Of energy and
spirit that are worthy of it. The Old
Sweet has the neatest and most orderly ar
ranGement Of buildings of all the springs
IN The mountains, and its bath is the
most celebrating and bright of all
the tonic baths Of this continent. None
other is 50 charged with the stimu-