Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1875-05-21
Press Impressions.

Press ASSOCIATION, who was with y.
last week and participated in tho
joyments of the occasion. writ.
follows in the Neaos of the fest;.;.:
he attended:
To go into particulars of the w..
dents of the visit to Wilmington ~
task hardly to be embraced in -.
compass Of a newspaper article '
There Is an e3n60rr0ss ou rjcbo.
which IS overwhelming. For there !.
the geDer )us hospitality OF the ci,;zoaMa
Of Wilmington to be noticed. us
novelty and variety of the means no
entertainment offered: the hearty =; W
terest with which the whole nonra.
ton entered into the care Of tba;-
guests, the liberality, profusion ana
good taste which marked the nv
gramme, and last but of more perm
nenlt Importance the subjects of thoncIt
presented by the situation of Wim;oa'
ton itself in connection with it's futnsc
destiny.
Passing over the first days proceed
ings devoted TO business excluselv ~.
come 10 the lecture Of Gov. Vance o.
the Opera House on Tuesday Mon.
before the Jewish residents. GIN e.
Scattered Nation" The house w.
flied with the elite Of the city. Tho
address itself was magnificent NJ
one otter hearing it could doubt that
Z. B. Vance was genius.
IL connection with this, We will
mention that on the night succeedina
the address, Vance was entertained =.
the house of MIR. Kahnweiler. a Law
! ish merchant, and while there was tho
recipient of a handsome and costlu
gold-headed cane, the gift of ths
young Jews Of Wilmington.
On Wednesday morning the party
| took passage on board the fine steam,
ship EaLrjyh, munificently placed At
! the disposal Of the committee Of a.,
engagements by the Baltimore and Wi.
mington Steamship Company. We
viii have something to say of the Ral.
cigh at another time.
The trip down the river was one ~
! unabated and intending interest, and
| we were fortunate Ia having such in.
teiiigent aid Interesting illustrators of
the history of the Cape Fear river.
both In its past and III its present. as
Henry Mutt, Esq, CO.. 4. NJ. Wad-
dell, Col. W. L. DeRosset and 9th.
ers, whose kind attentions meyer fac
| ged for one moment.
The classic dram tree" was the
first object commented upon, and was
the signal for the observance of a
time-honored custom, observed prob
ably without van atlon for a hundred
I
tracted much melancholy reflection,
The seats of the earliest settlements
on the Cape Fear, for more than
hundred years they We're the foun-
tains Of wealth, and that wealth, with
its accompanying leisure WAS the
basis of the most elegant and intel
! ectual soc iety known to the South.
The results of war have converted
these fields into morasses, and the
proDrietOrs, ruined and Impoverished,
have abandoned their magnificent do
mains, or been compelled to engage in
that arduous struggle for subsistence,
So utterly at variance with their pre-
vious opulence and the traditionary
refinement of their class.
Upon crossing the bar far out from
the land was discovered the smoke Of
steamer. Upon approaching this. it
proved to be the dredge boat, employ
ed in deepening the channel by the in
geuinus process of drawing up the
sand from the bottom by suction
This process, slow as it is has been is
efficient, for vessels drawing over
eighteen feet water, and compelled to
complete their cargoes outside of the
bar, now do it at Smithville, at great
saving OF labor and expense. Two OF
three wrecks. whose skeleton masts
projected above the water, showed
the dangers of the bar. And not q
light house at present marks the en-.
trance Of this important channel.
The sea was provokingiy smooth,
ard but one editor paid his tribute to
! Neptune. After q run outside Of
about ten miles, the steamer was
headed III again for the river, and
reached Wilmington about six in the
evening, after day Of unmixed en-
iogment. ,
The Merchants Exchange received
the party at l O'Clock, on Thursday,
and entertained it handsomely, the
usual pleasant speeches being made,
AID the usual number of toasts being
drank. After dinner a special train.
provided 10y Col. Fremont, conveyed
the party to the Navassa Guano
Works, situated on the ''North West
Cape Fear river, about four miles
above Wilmington. A pleasant run OF
twenty minutes, part of it across belt
of once magnificent rice-fields, now
sunken and abandoned, brought us to
this important point of Wilmington
energy. We have'no room to dilate
upon its operations. 1t will be sufii-
cient here to say that it is SO far suc'
cessfui, as to be worked up to its high
est capacity to supply the constantly
increasing demand. We will speak OF
il hereafter. Here, as elsewhere, the
party was most elegantly entertained,
and they left with high appreciation
of the hospitalities of Mr.. Graffiln,
Superintendent, Mr.. d. McRae, Secre-
tary, and Mr.. T. W. Kerchner. one OF the
Directors, who here, as everywhere
else in the progress of the entertain
ments, was foremost in though rfulness,
attention and consideration for the en-
tertainment of the guests Of the clsy.
The party returned to the city
about 5 p. M, and after a night ses-
sion at which the new officers were
duly in tailed repaired to the Opera
House. where probably the most bril-
liant ball in the annals % the city was
given-a ball IN honor of the Press OF
North Carolina. A false floor laid
over the seats in the PARACHUTE made q
I most beautiful dancing room, extena'
! lug to the rear of the stage. The GAL
/ leries were crowded witt, spectators
an the floor filed with danccrs-hil,,
ed but not crowded, i'll which the Oio
| aud the young, the married ana Inc
unmarried, alike participated: WIZ
miDgtOn, always famed for the beauty
the grace and the charms OF Its 10,
males, fully sustained is fame, ana
editors. long disused to such amuse-
ments, were drawn irresistlbly ln'o
the mazes of the dance. Youth was
renewed, and the lapse of time almost
forgotten in the reproduction OF scenes
and feelings long out of view, or sup
| pressed.
Charles Lamb, Essayist,