The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-06-26
rFRoM OUR TRAVELLING CORRESPONDENCE

lFRoM OUR TRAVELLING CORRESPONDENT
AIKEN, June %.
sThe prospects OF our little town are ex'
ceedingly BRIGHT" remarked prominent clti'
zen of Aiken to me this morning; and this
opinion seems to be born of facts. The town
has certainly been greatly improved since the
close of the war. Charming cottages ana eie'
giant villas have sprung up on every hand; and
In no part of the State does real estate COM
mand better prices. A good house with one
to three acres of ground will sell readily for
ten to fifteen thousand dollars. The resi-
dences generally partake of the attractive and
airy cottage style, which has grown so much
Into popular favor OF late years-a style which
admits OF every conceivable shape. The town
is clean and neat, fresh paint being abundant.
It covers a.. area OF about two square miles,
but Is not compactly built. Only very small
point can be seen from any one point; and the
stranger is continually surprised on his raL;-
bles 10 find elegant dwellings hidden behind
clusters OF trees which he supposed were be-
yond the limits.
Probably more boarding houses are to be
found In Aiken than in o.ner towns OF lts
size H. the SoGthern country. Nearly every
family s'takes boarders." Good board is from
two dollars and half to FIVE dollars per day. A
very large proportion of the best residences
are owned by wealthy Northerners. The num-
ber OF visitors Increases every year. All nave
now left for the summer. The visitors DOCK
Of the Aiken reading-room shows within
traction of seventeen hundred entries from
November lst, 1871, to April lst, 1872; q larg-
er number than for any previous year. The
finest building in Aiken is the Highland Park
Hotel; 1t stands on o high hill at the western
end OF the town. The ground plan is I shap-
ed, about four hundred feet front, by two hun
dred deep. It has basement, Two stories
and half, two piazzas extending the entire
length of the front, and neat little cupola on
the centre 1t contains one hundred and
twenty rooms, all told. The panels Of the
doors, walnscot,lng, &C., are of native yel-
low pine, highly polished. The, entire
ture ls, in round numbers, one hundred
thousand dollars. The view from Inc
cupola is magnificent. At the foot OF the nil
on which the hotel stands is the track OF the
South Carolina Railroad, while stretching BE-
yond to the south and west lor twenty 10
thirty miles Is chain of hills covered with
dense forests of pine, which, under the sun
liebt. display eyery shade Of green, from The
liShtest TO the darkest. This institution Is
said to have netted the proprieLors thirty thou
Sand dollars during the past season. nave
ir from good authority, that every room on
thoY first floor has already Deen ensp ,eu tor
the next season. 1t is now closed for the sum
mer. The proprletors are two In number,
citizens OF Connecticut. They advertise by
selling photographs of the building to the
guests, at prices varying according to size,
from twenty-five cents TO two dollars. The
Mayor of Aiken Is Northern man, the former
proprietor of the Aiken Hotel. He lett for
some point North about month since. The
last issue of the sAiken Tribune" contains o
summons for him to appear before trial JUS.
tice and settle gr0cer's bill OF one hundred
dollars and costs. The Aiken Hotel was sold
for taxes last week at Blackvllle.
Between the hours of one and six 2. N. Al
ken is very hot place. but the rest OF the
time it ie as pleasant as one can desire. The
fruit crop around here Is failure; orchards
generally will not give more than One-tourth
the usual yield, and the quality of the fruit
win be Inferior. An exception should, how
ever, be made in regard to grapes, which
promise to toSbesyery abundant, Reports from
the cotton crop are uniformly good. They
represent the cotton in this section as more
promising than 1t has been for some years at
this season. One or two planters have dis
covered lice In the,: fields, but they do not
apprehend any material injury therefrom.
The want of rain was supplied yesterday BY
refreshing shower. SPRlTE.