Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1876-03-17
On the Ohio.

EA-CAPITAL OF WEST VIRGINIA-HuN-
TIN CT ON-CINCINNATI SUSPENSION
Bird GE--cINCINNATI sIGHTs-THE
MARDI GRAs-RUNAwAY ELEPHANT
TRAIN-CINCINNATI WOMEN AND SUM-
DAY EvENINGs-COvINGTON KY, AND
STANTON PEOPLE, THERE-INDIANA
SHEEP LANDs-INDIANA PENIrENTIARY
-LOUIsvILLE-THE t'COURIER-JOUR-
MALI BUILDINGS,
&C., &C., sc.
Correspondence of the Sraunton VINDlCAToR.l
Below LOUISVILLE, KY,
March I'd, 1876
AS we steam rapidly down the turbid
Ohio, to night, on board the good boat,
Fawn, am reminded of my promise, made
you on the eve of my departure from
Staunton, to send you some notes of travel,
should l meet with anything worthy to be
noted.
| Leaving on the evening train and expect
| ing to be in Charleston, w. Va, to break
fast, the first bit of news which impressed
| me was the announcement of the con
| ductor that there would be no sleeping
car, and, consequently, no chance for sleep,
except such illegitimate repose as might be
| tilched from the night on the straight
| backed seats of a jolting car. Having suf-
| fc;ently experimental in that direction by
the time we reached Covington, 1 con-
cluded to lay by for the morning train. 1
| give this bit of experience for the benz
fit of my fellow citizens coming West.
| The next morning i resumed my journey
in the direction Of civilization. 1 have
been hearing all my life that it moved
| Westward, and to find it is the object OF
my present tour. Pausing at the White
long enough to observe that our energetic
townsman, Maj. Shumate, was just putting
the finishing touches on his part of that
big job there-the new hotel-which is now
under cover, and in a fair way for its COM
pletion by the commencement of the season,
we were soon rushing through that pic
turesque country On Greenbrier River, and
then burrowing the mountains and SKIM
ming along the dizzy cliffs OF the New
River s'Reach." Don't be alarmed, MI.
Editor, 1 am not going to attempt a des-
cription of the Sublime grandeur of
Natures handiwork," &C., &C., that has
passed into history, and it remains only
for the painter to do his work there.
4
rushing waters, we glided down into the
broad alluvial bottoms of the great Ka-
nawha; pass through the smoke and steam
OF the salt works and draw up in front OF
the ex-capital of West Virginia-little
Charleston and her big hotel, built for the
accommodation of a capricions legislature,
now departed, and whose empty rooms and
echoing corridors seem ever to sigh
Ichabod! Ichabod! 1t is now kept on the
| yfr ~ q
traveller gets room there, and his meals
wherever he can. My stay in Charleston
was, however, long enough to convince me
that though the legislature had carried
with it the hopes of many of the despond
ing citizens, there is life in the old town
yet. Some large and costly business houses
have Just been built and many Others are
building or under contract. Trade is brisk,
and things look lively generally, but-the
hotel is too big.
The writer's stay in Huntington was
short, only admitting of little attention
to business and brief call on Mayor
Burke, an old Stauntonian. His honor is
| becoming weary of the cares of office, ten
dered his resignation recently, and it was
returned to him. He will, however,
earnestly protest against reelection.
Leaving Huntington on an evening boat,
and travelling all night, morning found us
at Cincinnati, moored under that magni-
ticent suspension bridge-the finest in the
world and the pride and glory OF Cincinnati
which | afterwards ascertained was
| built at cost of nearly So, 900 900. 1t hangs
between two towers, over 200 feet high,
| and is suspended 102 feet above the water,
and 2,200 feet from one approach to the
other. The income from tolls is about
$500. 900 per annum You will have some
idea of the travel when tell you that three
cents a head is all the charge for crossing.
To save you the trouble ofreferring to your
geography, 1 will state that this bridge
connects Cincinnati with Covington, KY,
snug town something larger than our
Norfolk. Here I found several ex-Vir-
ginians, among whom Was Mr. Joseph
Ransom, a near relative of our popular
| townsman, Capt. Thos. D. Ransom, and
| Just about such another choice fell
low. He is d lawyer and also holds
| the office of City Collector, is doing
well and enjoys the confidence of his fellow
citizens also an old citizen of Augusta,
| Nh I'll. L. Opie, brother OF our friend Cap
| tain John Opie. He is practicing law here
and dong well, tho not enjoying very good
health, and when [ was there had his back
doors and windows barred against the
small pox, which was fin the next house.
| This disease is SO common out here that it
| has in great measure lost it's terror for
| the people, though there are a great many
deaths yearly from it and the number of
pockmarked people one meets is astonish-
! ing to an eastern man, more stringent laws
are needed to check its progress. If
man has the disease in his own house,
nothing can be done with him, tho he may
be living in crowded locality. His house
| is his castle and he can't be taken out Of
it, only kept in it; the consequences is the
| disease continues TO spread and there is
nova great deal of it both in CovingtoD
and Cincinnati and one never knows when
he is exposing himself to the contagion.
| Your correspondent spent OF days in
Cincinnati. 1t is a larger place than Staun-
ton and there is a good deal to see if one
had time to look. Every thing is on
large scale, except female pulchritude
which is decidedly and distressingly in the
vocative. You will see more pretty women
any fine evening in Staunton by standing
| 10 minutes on Haines' corner than you
will meet in a days walk over the city of
Cincinnati. Remarking Oh this since I
| left Cincinnati, find that [ am not pecu-
liar in the conclusion arrived at. But
on the other hand [ must say that one
rarely sees more fine looking men in one
place, nor so many thorough gning bust
ness men. Nearly every one has a bust
ness and is busy at it, luafing is rare and
this thoroughly practical community could
bring itself to devote half day and thous-
ands of money to the fun and frolic of the
Mardi Gras, which carnival [ witnessed
there on Tuesday. Though a highly en-
pertaining exhibition, will not attempt
description of the gay procession and the
wonderful masque ball, except to say that
at the latter which was given in the main
Hall of the Exposition Building the atten-
dance was beyond all expectation, the adj
mittance being ST., about $4,000 was taken
in at the entrance, to say nothing of the
thousands spent inside at the supper table