The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1876-09-21
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INDIANAPOLIS, IND, Sep. s &c.
Editors Faiyinian
! Thinking that a short letter from the cap
i itat of lIoosierdom woutdnot be entirely de
void OF Interest to yonr many readers |
| propose jOtting down few observations as
they occur. indianapolis is certainly 4 re-
marketable city, in two respects. First, for.
| It's business activity; second for its remark
able beauty. 1t owes great deal of its
| business success to the fact that no less than
nine railroads converge at this point. Being.
a railroad centre OF such magnitude, would
| OF itself create u large amount of business in
and around the grand union depot. But it
/ does not stop there, throughout the entire
| city the same spirit of active, go-aiead bllsl-
| ness is noticeable | have visited many OF
| the larger establishments. mary OF which
are wholesale houses, and q personal exam
nation surprised me greatly, in developing
| the fact that in the vast variety Of their re-
| sources many Of them far surpass those Of
other houses OF more pretentions in the East
ern cities. There is no merchantable article
| that cannot be purchased by the wholesale
in this city. In conversation with q number
| oil wholesale dealers was astonished to learn
| the immensely of their annual trade. The
beauty of Indianapolis strikes the visitor
with remarkable force The streets are very
wide and we'll paved, running due north and
south, and east and west. The buildings are
Of the most substantial kind, highly orna-
| mented. This is particularly noticeable i'll
the public buildings. The private residences
| are rs q rule models Of architectural beauty,
located well in from the street usually near
| the centre of the lots. and ornamented in
| front and sides OF building by numerous and
beautiful specimens of slirnbbery and flow
ers. The pavements on either side, of near
| ly every street in the city, are shaded by
trees, and when one stands ut the end of a
| street and casts his eye along it, it has the
appearance of dense grove. No wonder
the HOLSTERS are proud OF their capital city,
| they have-a right to be.
| AS you may imagine, the now rapidly ap-
preaching day to hold the State election is
| causing the political pot to boil terribly
| You have no idea. neither can / convey on
paper the Intensity of feeling which is mani
tested in this State. The business man will
stop in the midst of q business transaction to
| speak good word for, or refute Il charge
brought against his favolitc candidate. The
question here is ''who is to be Govcrnor?''
! Harrison or Williams? Your readers know
that Harrison is the candidate of the Repub-
lican party, and Williams, or, as they have
nicknamed him sold blue .jeans,'' OF the
| Democratic party. The fact, or rather the
idea, has become prevalent, that as Indiana
| goes in the State contest so goes the Presi-
| dental election. [ have been in this city
! about ten days, and | do not believe l have
heard Tilden or Hayes name mentioned,
| save incidentally, one dozen times. 1t is all
Harrison and ssB,ue Jeans.'' 10 relieve the
| reader from asking the question, why he is
called sBlue Jeans,''. 1 will anticipate it.
Mr.. Williams is remarkably Democratic in
his idea OF dress, and prefers wearing blue
jeans to a more expensive Or drcssy material |
When l met him a few days ago in Rich
mond, Ind, he was, however, clad in first |
class suit Of broad cloth, but he did not APP
pear at home in that kind of clothes
L witnessed q scene last Saturday night. |
which | doubt very much could have occllrr-
ed in Harrisonburg Or Staunton as peaceably. |
A large procession of Democrats were mov |
ing from the norshWard ON Prairie street,and |
at the same time an equally large procession
of Republicans was moving from the South. |
AS the heads OF the professions neared each
other, became somewhat apprehensivc of |
my personal safety, and as [ was not in that |
fight, sought safety, as | supposed, in the
parlor of the Grand Hotel. On they came.
four horsemen abreast ahead of each process
sion. Thinks l, now for the tug of war.
Who will be the Grant CT Mcpherson to lie
down and elbow the other to pass over his
body? When not more than ten PAGES dis
tant, the chief Marsals of each procession,
almost simultaneously called out the Re-
publican Marshall, .sRiglt obliqte,n the
Democratic Marshal, Fright obliqile.'' The
procession thus marching and collntermarcIl-
ing, as it were, were one hour and ten min
utes in passing the hotel. There were not
less than twenty brass bands. and dare not
compute the drum corps. The pcdestr-
ans marched four abreast, and the horsemen
eight abreast, until ''the cavalry met, when
both parties formed by fours. OF course
there was any, amount of cheering for the
candidatcs and great many good hlpnareas
squibs passed between the contending hosts,
but did not observe, nor did the morning
papers next day report q single collision.
Could such q thing happen in your city?
Being disinterested spectator OIL the 'polit-
ical battle field of Indiana, not caring to
express an opinion either way in theig State
fight, [ had, | believe. an unusually good
opportunity Of feeling the political pulse of
the leaders of both parties. From all could
learn, the election of Harrison as Governor
is a certainty, the only question being, how
mach actU be has majority. Sansuine Repub-
licans claim as high as 5000; from the Her
culean efforts being put. forward by the Dcnl-
ocrats, do not think SO will place my
prediction on record thus: Harrison will be
elected Governor by about seven thousand
majority. Ile democrats are alive to their
interests. Tom Hendricks has not only ia
ken the stump in favor of Williams, but is
making personal campaign of it. He tells
the people s'if Williams IS defeated, [ am
defeated for Vice President He appeals
to their affections, knowing his own most re-
markable power owe the people Of the State
Were he their candidate for Governor, Harr-
son would be defeated. In case the Repub-
licans are defeated, a most improbable sur
mise, Indiana is lost to Hayes, and there can
be no reason assigned for the defeat except
that they did not hare potes enough. just 50
with the Democrats, il they are defeated it
will be for the same reason. Both parties
are doing their utmost, and an unprecedented
large vote may be expected. The Democrats
of the Southern States, or some of them,
have helped the Republicans of thesWest, in
advertently, immensely For instance an
editorial appeared in the Baltimore Gazette
a few days ago headed 10 your tents, OH
Israeli That article has been printed on
slips, and | honestly believe that one has
been distributed in every house in Indiana.
Again; some foolish Democrat made speech
in Mississippi about month ago, and advo-
cated%he doctrine, That if Tilden was elected
the Southern people would NOT Onlv he re-