The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-05-02
s;a,s, gtrsr and tho ca @. III r.

of New river. He predicts that Tue 'ai'' W"
IN w, no. finished IN less than eigh'ee"
months. All accounts we have ies.a W. -
believe that the road through 10 the ONO
will be in operation before next WINTER se's
IN. n will not be, indeed, complete .heh'
.n,orl;nc TO our information, but will be
s,,p,c;eotly nearly so to be put into opera
ton. For instance, the Lewis tunnel VIII
not be finished, and the temporary aacK over
Il will have to I've used until some time next
wear: but that temporary truck has been been
used for Two years, and it included the tenn
porsry trcstle over Jeiry's Run, when Is
now abolished by the finished embankment'
This is great improvement at ttlat point,
and very much diminiShes the labor OF NOV
ing trains there, while the security OF the
Massage is increased.
we believe still that we shall be able 10
travel by rail to the Ohio before Decenoei,
br, sho,,ld we not be able to do 50, it Is sun
no great matter for people whose hopes nave
been postponed for forty years, to wait until
the close of next year. That would be but n
milestone in the long and lingering way we
have travelled since the first conception Oh
railway from Richmond to the ONO river.
We have been gratitcd in reading the Ell
| thusiastic description Of the scenery OF NE"
river nv Mr.. REDrIELp. The world KNOWS
| li,tl of its grandeur. 1t will become one oi
,ba orcot attractions of travellers from all
1,flI
and freshness, it cannot be surpassed. Inc
high precipices with their fantastlcai rocks
assuming all sorts of forms, from turretea
castles down to animals, are most curious ana
wonderful; and the rich foliage that adornS
the bold shores is perfectly enchanting 10 the
lover OF nature.
The river itself is lovely beyond dcScrlp-
ton. Its course is gracefully mcanderlnS'
and when the curve before you ie'los 'iie
river out of sight, there seems to be It's en'''
and YOU fancy that YOU are upon Ehe' III.
intervals the stream is crossed by lodges OF
rocks. where always occur the iallS' WHICH
are exceedingly rapid and exciting 10 1he DE-
holder. Between these falls the surface II
smooth as glass. and. except J'lst ai'ef
nood the water is so pcllucid that you see
its very bed many feet beneath the surface.
A Mr. REprlELp says, the stream Is III
GREAT degree hcmmed in hy mountainous
hills, and rrlsheS where there are rapids De-
tween shores near to one another, ana amongst
great boulderS. which drive the waters III
that boiling and whirling manner that battles
swimmers and wrecks small boats irretriev-
ably. 1t is Just the stream to I'LL the In
diau'S mind with the superstitious belief
that it had powers peculirto itself, and that,
like a monster. it maliciously swallowed up
all who got into its rapid currents. The
writer of this once navigated canoe from
Central depot. on the Atlantic, Mississippi
and Ohio railroad. to Indian creek-as the
river runs. Il distance of nearly eighty miles.
Tine cannot erase irons his memory the
Of the scenery nor the recollec-
ton of the Joys of descending the bold and
brilliant rapids.
Such scenery will be an attraction for the
Virginia Chesapeake and Ohio route that will
be without parallel in the Atlantic States.
Nor is the country bordering upon this re-
stream poor and uninriting "a
so broken might be supposed to be.
On the contrary. it is rich and lovely. No
finer grass grows anywhere than upon the
llndulating lands bordering for miles upon
the New, the Greenbrer, and the kanawha
rivers. There could be no region more
healthful or more delightful for its tempeTl-
ture than that tlayersed by the Greenbrier
and New rivers.
The letters we have quoted speak OF the
wonderful manner in which the waters have
cut their way through the mountains and
thus opened the passage for the railroad.
This is Il feature that will greatly interest the
enlightened traveller. The course of the
New river has been most singllarly at right
angles with some of the largest mountains.
1t has no respect for the valleys, hut tears
through the mountains until it clears them
all and loses itself in the fanawha.
1t surely is n beneticent consequence Of the
course this river took that it secures to one
of the flirest mountain lands in the world
the advantages of railroad which could
hardly have been constructed had not the
river cleared the way tor it.
In this respect We have q grand example
in the passage of the James river through
the Blue Ridge at Balcony Falls. and vet,
strange to say, the State of Virginia, through
blind legislation, tunnelled the Blue Ridge in
stead of building road through the gap al
ready made to hand 10y the river! 1t is graft
fying, however, to know that road will be
built through this gap, and the day is not
distant when the passenger will be rapidly
transported through it, and will be at the
same time transported by one of the grand
est views ever behcld.
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Com
pany will undoubtedly build branch from
Clifton Forge through Balcony Falls Gap
to this city. The easy grades indispensable
to the transportation of the heavy freightS
from the West cannot be obtained by any
other route. Mr.. HUNTINGTON knows all this,
and has too much of the spirit of enterprise
not to avail himself Of the advantage of this
opening in the mountain by which he can
achieve grade not exceeding twenty feet to
the mile from the Ohio river to Richmond,
except i'll ascending the Allegheny noun
tain, where the grade is thirty.nine feet.
Take the route and the road and all their
advantages into consideration, and the peo-
pie Of Virginia may heartily felicitatc them
selves that they are about to reap the rich
reward of a long-cultivated crop Of bright
eXpectations-a reward abundantly rich in