The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-02-26
letter from an Old F'ogy.
CLIFTON FORGE. ALLEGuANY COUNTY,
February -. 1874
TVUTIIdIS -, 100. }
10 he Editors If The OiSrdtch


TO he Editors IF the Dispatch:
Will you allow au old man who is not in
the habit Of stribbling for newspapers, and
has but one opportunity in each week to post
himself in current events, to drop you j line
from this once remote place in the noun
,aius? 1T is hardly necessary TO tell you
rherc Clifton forge is, but J. hope to be eX-
cused for saying something Of 1chdt it was i'll
years gone by, and what it may become in
The near future. To say nothing of the
grand and romantic scenery of this
mountain pass in by-gone days, it was
The focus of all the news and ira
ding Of the people for miles around. Here
| was the furnace, the forge, the store, and tie
post.ottice, and everybody came here ut least
| once Il week for iron, for s~torc-goods, or for
news; and then it was a great ti%ioroughfire
for travel. BatteauX in numbers glided
swiftly down the rapid current Of the Jack
son river, or "walked the water like things
of lifc," as they were, pushed up stream by
"sablc Mariners with their long-spikcd
poles and wagons, stige-coachcs, lorsemen,
stock, &c, stirred up the dust Of tic turn
pike. Those were pleasant times and pros
porous; but now all is changed. The fur
mace, the forge, and the surrounding build
in.s are Il heap Of ruins. The bridge which
spinned tue river is gone, the dam is gone,
and the stor, house alone shows Il mark
Of renovation and life. Goods are yet
sid there, and Il pOst-otlicc yet dis
tributes mil matter. The iron-lorse
westward or eastward bound, goes carortins
by and scrcciy dciSns to give L snort ut tie
little dcr0t which dots the side Of his patti
way. But the property has lately changed
hands, and we are told that it is again to be-
| come a great place, much greater than ever;
that the railroad is to bring from West Vir-
ginia cheap Goa! to smclt the boundlcss
| masses Of iron ore to be found in this vi
cin;ty; that everything that can be made out
of iron will he made here; that an engine
can draw three times aS much freight to This
point lis it can draw oyer the hills Of Bath,
and that will necesSitate another rail-
road from this point down the valley OF the
James river by y much nearer route to The sea.
board and that Colonel Baldwin says it must
lie doue-and Of course it will be done
and, all taken together, we are told this Is to
be the liappiest and most prosperous region
this side OF Utopia. The great canal is TO be
made to the Ohio river; Uncle Sam Is gong
to pay the State debt railroads will be made
wherever they are wanted, and by anybody
who wants to mike them there will be DC
more ~"squiating" at reputation by ouI
Legislature ; and the money-chanSerS will DC
glad to get six per cent. for any amount OF
money you may choose to borrow. Won
these be glorious times when they come? !
deyoutly pray that it may all ''colne to
pass" but an old fogy like zoe can't forget
the pris inc greatness Of Clifton in it;
halcyon days, nor believe all that is told hin
of the hopeful future. He still feels that tht
foretasCe which he has had Of the "ProSress
OF the Age" does not add to his happiness
that The sound Of the t~rip-hammer and tue
busy hum of "Bustleburs" were moro
| pleasant sounds to him than tue ncighof tht
iroil-horse. His memory iondIy fingers Over
the trout-tsbings, %dcer-hunts, cuttings, anl
| weddings which he has attended in The
i" Rich Patch !" and, 1 think, sir, il you llat
ever danced upon u puncheon floor ant
rested your fair partner on your knee be
tween sets, and had apple-butter and tree
molas>es for supper, you, too, would some
times feel that S progress and Improvement
add but little to the happiness OF the noun
taineer. II.
P. SIN my next, if your patience vii
allow you to listen to the pratings of q gar
rulous old man, l. may say something of th'
topography Of this region, its mineral ant
| other resources /; and however dear the re
membrane of our youthful days, we bow Il
| that popular opinion which has been influ
enced by general causes, and are disposed tt
| add our mite towards sustaining that polio.
| which has been marked out. Il.
#grSs24-- ~"