The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1876-01-06

The New YEAR.-With this first issue Ct
1876, we wish our patrons all the compi-
ments of the season. To most Of us the year
just past, has brought its quota OF sweet ard
bitter and to all it las added to the stock OF ex-
perience and we hope that this centennial OF
our national existence will bring to each house.
hold in the commonwealth some welcome gift,
which, III after days. will serve as pleasant
remembrance Of the year upon which we are
now entering.
Dickens says, that this is the season of Fancy,
and, perhaps, he was right, for as we sit aio:e
with our thoughts, involuntarily they 60 wan
dering off into that vague, misty dreamland OF
the future, their busy shuttle weaving a ribbon
of golden colors, in which there appears no
shading of warp or wool, no sombre skein OF
sorrow, no thread of care, but as they reach
farther and farther from us, seem to catch a
SUMNER sheen, until blended with the rounded
year. they leave the circle jewel-claspe0, bright,
beautiful and sparkling. All Fancy, could
your fragile sails unreEded ride the storm of
circumstance, how blithe would most lives be.
Few do not send their little banks from port,
no matter how the darkening clouds may low
err, or nearing tempest threaten; no matter il
the waves are lashed to foam, q: wrecker's leer
bid prudence hold the moorngs. 'Iis all the
same. Their git-edged logbook has no page
for ought but iottings of those sunny isles that
stud the sea of promise, their gauzy sails will
catch no breeze save those Of perfumed zeph-
yrs, and as the bark gldes smoothly DER the
puseless waters, the Tyres Of gold will strike no
cord of sorrow, no narrowing note of pain, but
tuning to the softer lays OF hope and love,
will rival SIRENS song and blend their music
with the harmony of Oceans cadence. Out
from the ship the white winged messengers are
sent, that swft-returning, bear the floral tokens
of land bedecked in many a beauteous hue, to
which the helmsman steers, and cen the needle
turns from Polar SHOWS, forgetful of its office.
, There are no dead-reckenings to be noted down,
no record of the course is asked, and in the
health-book where the blackened edge would
tell tale of tears, the page is blank. Those
sable clouds that stretched athwart the face of
smiling Skies when first the anchor weighed.
have vanished now, and through the gossamer
veil there CLEANS the covenant of eternal calm
"a promise sure of haven near and anchorage
thoughts
, Like ships that sailed for sunny isles,
+ But never to shore 2"
Each newborn year starts forth its little fleet
sswith all her bravery ON and tackle trim, sails
filed and streamers waving" but, ali! how
soon it's wild careerng strcws the strand with
hopeless wrecks that tell of seas too rough for
those frail shells, Of waves that sported for a
while in play, then dashed them back in fury
to the shore, unmindful of the hopes they
' crushed-heedess alike of ship or cargo. As
days and months 60 on, for Time stays not 10
touch with kindly hand. or shade with sorrowing
brow, those pictures which we fan would hang
in memory cloister where we might visit them
in secret, unsneered at by the world. the tide
bears from the beach the ruins scattered there,
and every vestige of the cherished dreams that
peopled many an hour of solitude with forms
4 of heavenly likeness, fades out from view. and
leaves the watcher standing lone, the only
e mourner DER the vanished wreck. And, by
and By, when life's realities are thrust, with all
their stern demands, upon him, and in the
rough attrition of the world he finds how leger,
Y poor, inadequate all the plans he laid, he
v wonders why that harsh old master had not
S written truer text from which to copy, and yet
he knows that had experience been his guide,
:, how widely different would have been the
lines.
a A BABY SHOW-What Staunton needs is
s periodical baby exhibition. Every ether
s. branch Of human industry has its fitting modes
of expression and the appropriate stimulus
It applied to increased skill and activity in its pro-
J. duction, by a system of fairs and competing
: exhibitions, save this, and wo are surprised
It that a town which has been SO prompt in
e adopting al reasonable means of self improve
IS nlent, and of forwarding the growth OF every
material element Of prosperity, should have SC
n long neglected this. Numerous indirect, bu
y noticeable suggestions, looking to this, have
, been time and again thrown out by the judi
" cious matrons of the town, but men-folks witt
their habitual carelessness or characteristic OBJ
,e tuseness, have failed to discern them. How
r. many times during the last summer, or in The
bright and sunny days OF the autumn past
II have we seen the long and interesting line O
-. baby carriages traverse our streets to the de
- location and enjoyment of many admirins
eyes, and who can dispute that this is but TIN
way the sighted mothers have hit upon to ex
hbt the matches contents OF their respec
tive nurseries. No one feels like boldly com
,, ing out in her own proper person or over he
genuine signature, and advocating the es
Enlistment OF an annual baby exhibit, fol
=. this might, and doubtless would engender the
h idea among her jealous contemporaries tina
G. she certainly must think she has the baby 0
TO the town" and SO heart-burnings and enyie
re innumerable would crop out and plant he
ID pathway to the reputation of public spirited
ID woman with many thorn. They feel thi
es and hesitate to advance in the movement. 81
ID they equip the little darling in his Or her bes
TX embroidered suit, place the whitest of lacet
is pillows in the carriage, and with the inevita
,e BILE milk bottle with the washer ON the neck tt
as keep it from being swallowed, they start tt
ut the general rendezvous, and when sufficien
ne number, say forty or fifty carriages, are as
o. sembled they move merrily off and the cara
b. van of infantile perfections is on exhibition
q This don't answer. however. 1t il too PIANO
ramic, too much after the fashion of dissolv
Of ing views to be satisfactory, and doesn't affort
n tima for critical examination or deliberate