The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-10-16

| and take the newspapers. By .curio,,
chance. the State Normal School of Wes
| Virginia Is placed here. It was formerl,
Marshall College, one of the old collegiatt
schools Of Virginia. Wost Virginia bo,lch
the buildings, and turned 1t into a. norma
school for. the State; and in the mode
school, which is part Of its system OF in
structioD, the children Of the new towr
have provided for them what / hear Is or
| excellent tree school.
At Huntington we took horse for Coles
l mouth. which lies days ride distant. The
9uyandotte Is crossed by fine suspension
| bridge, which is surprise to the traveller
who has seen something of: the peoplc
thereabouts. 1t was built by the State oil
| Virginia, which bad the habit, before the
war, Of Furnishing for Its people, in the
Sparsely-settled regions, three. fifths Of the
| money required for an expensive public
Improvement like this bridge, on condition
that the region. to be benefited subscribed
for the remainder. The Guyandotte is
| crossed also by railroad bridge over
which the cars rnn for the first time to-
| day; and the whole line between Hunting
ton and ColcsInouth, and indeed to tho
mouth OF the New river. of the falls of the
hunawha is graded, the ties arc LAID, or
| ready to be laid, and tho road is ready for
the iron, which has been delayed by low
water on tho Ohio 1t came up to Coles
mouth TINS morning, and n force is ready
hero strong enough to luy three miles day
on the line OF lc3 miles which is ready for
the iron.
The Guyaudolte Is mountain stream,
| running now between deep banks, and
sometimes rising forty feet in night. 1t is
navigated in the summer by fats, which
are called push-boats," and which are
propelled up stream by poles. | saw a
small feet Of these puSh.boats, with their
eareoes Of tobacco, dried apples. aud other
country produce, and their rough crews.
They carry back various articles of mcr-
chandisc, but chiefly coffee, which, as Il
man who knows the upper country re-
marked TO NE, is the only thing the natives
canuot do without. A wholesale dealer in
Guyandotte sold TO one push-boat, during
six months, fifty bags of Rio coffee, aud
only five pounds Of tea ; and this is about
the proportion In which those articles are
used in these PARTS.
Between Huntington and CulcSmouth
lies fine farming country, full of valuable
timber, and with rich and productive
soil; this will now in few weeks have
railroad connection with the Ohio ;SnIiia.
the course Of time probf2ldi'ta take possession.
non arph VIII come come tPe tHPe may hope; for the West
vis ns iiiaan, as rule, seems to be tolerably
useless creature. One would think that
the inhabitants hereabout would have
found their advantage in furnishing sup
plies 10 the railroad company, but | be.
ueve Whiskey is the only commodity
they have sold. At any rate, | was told by
i rullroad contractor that the "nutiyes'
are totally useless as workmon on the
line; and of over 1000, 900 Of ties used for
the road between Huntington and the New
river, not a single tie was supplied by a
West Tirsinian. Wherever l inquired,
whether on the track, in saw-millS, OF any
other department Of industry, l received
the answer that the white natives were use
less. The aXcmcn, the saw-mill mGn, tho
laOorcrs--Skillcd and unskillrd-are all
BROUGHT from Ohio, Pennsylvania, or East
ern Virginia. An eastern man summed up
for me his opinion when lie said, g They
think the lord put them here, and that ac
is bound TO take care Of thCm, and they
won't interfere"
The turnpike. which is very good, runs
all the way III sight OF the railroad and |
noticed, as we rode along, that the men Mt
work on tho line were mostly negroes.
an told that this is the case on the whole
line; and the engineers and contractors,
W lItltNGi !Idtl dIl Dplpi iuiiiN. w tihlulN,
without exception, gave the gleaiest praise
10 these colorcd men as faithful, quiet, and
SooI-.cmprrcd luborcrs, whom they pre-
fcrrcd TO lrishmen, or any other luborcrS
whom tfey had tried.
There are about 5,0nD men now at work
on the unfinished line between Huntington
and the Whit. sulphur Springs. The
greater part Of these arc cpl5rcd mcn ANA
So iar as nave had opportunity t"r in
uuirc. they are cauGtcd irst.vltSs laDurert.
They come mostly across the mountains,
from Eastern Virginia : many Of them from
tia tiLc-water region; they do not drink
they work as wei! IN the tunnels anu on the
rouShcr parts OF the liue Ms the best class OF
Irish railway laborers; they do not give
trouble, are quiet, aud do not shlrk Work !;
and the only complaint against them Is that
II harvest time. and at Christmas. they aciH
break off and 90 home to see their wives,
and have q fro!ic. So far aS | have seen,
thus far on my journey, they are very
kindly treated have heard no swearing
or " driving"
Tho region through which we are travel
ling, or ut least part Of it, was first sur
vcycd by General Washington, and some
of his cid marks, or monuments" rs sur
veyors call them, still stand. On the map
of The coal region / met with tie name
"Gcorgc Washington" several times.
Same OF his family, and even some of his
namr, are still found about here: aud there
is a local tradition which asserts that he
II al Il keen eye for the most valuable tracts
OF land, and That where he had surveyed
the best lands were generally found to stand
in his own name.