The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1871-12-21

WITHOUT A HOrEL.-Before many days
we VIII have no hotel in Winchester.
such q one as We have now Is by no means
a credit to the place. Not that cur market
does not AFFORD an abundance for the table,
and not that Mr.. Felix Renfro, who now
has the hotel in charge, does not furnish
good, substantial food, or Is wanting In
the kindest d attention to his guests. But
the building is dilapidated and devoid OF
conveniences. 1t has stood the storms Of
many years, has been altered u thousand
times for the worse In Its internal ar
rangements, and Is now in fine condition
for delivery In fee simple to the rats and
mice, c0ckroaches, and the whole genus
of insects. 1t has been patched up occa-
sionally, but decay has fastened upon II,
and carpentry now would be about as sue
cessful in restoring 1t to health and beau
ty rs an old maids efforts to bring back
youth and plumpness by the use Of rouge
and powder. We might as well expect
peace and prosperity to fill our land under
the rule of US Grant, or tropical fruits
to spring and reach maturity beneath the
ice of the Arctic pole. And Mr.. Renfro
intends to leave it alone in its departed
glory. We don't blame him, but we do
regret that Winchester will have no house
accommodation. and that strangers must
avoid us and spend their money elsewhere.
True, there are private houses where prom
inent men will be taken, and cared for.
But If we had a good hotel, many men who
now are glad to be invited to private
houses would prefer the more independent
course of stopping at the hotel and pay ing
a fair price for entertainment. And
maybe, then, the hotel keeper would not
see his guests button-holed and carried off
to private houses.
And he would not be troubled with
drunken men, who seem to think u house
of entertainment in Winchester is for their
special benefit, particularly when their
drunkenness fits them only tor the Jail.
There lisa sort of antipathy which hogs feel
tor parlors, and Il horse seems by instinct
to know q stable. Worthless vagabonds
and besotted men are slow to push them
selves into places of refinement where ev-
erything appears elegant.
But, the poet said when things get to
the worst they sometimes mend. Perhaps
some man will see the terrible necessity
for = goodhotel here, and will take advan-
tage Of that necessity by investing his
means in the erection of one. The corpo-
ton could well afford to relieve him of
taxes for ten years. The people would I'LL
make by it. We are sure that the want of
hotel accommodations has kept visitors
from our town, and caused men in search
Of a pleasant country home to 60 else
where. And their money goes with them,
and they tell their reasons for leaving,
anil deter others from coming. And yet
Winchester is town Of nearly 1000 inhab-
itants! Shocking!
Now, for the encouragement Of some
e%nterprising person we will say that who
ever puts up a good hotel in Winchester
can rest satisfied of $1,000, from our mer-
chants and other citizens, and exemption
from taxes for ten years, as a gut, not as
stock. We wish our exchanges would mo-
ticc that this offer Is made Ia any one who
will erect such a building IN Winchester.