The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-10-22
pENDLETON COUNTY. w. VA.
FRANKLIN, October ID, 1877.

Editors DiSDdtCh: OuT county paper NAV
ing departed this life, or, more properly
speaking, this county, beg place in your
columns for communing with your readers,
among whom are some-and ought to be
many-of the people OF Pendleton. SuSp.-
ria de Cnbicuto cannot vie with Suspirtd de
ProfundiS, inspired by the genius OF DE
Quincy. But they cansot fail to procure for
ME the pleasure which man finds in telling
his sorrows to his fellow-man. a.
1t was sunless, cherries, the other day.
Dark and dense the clouds hung in the
northern sky. Only few CLEANS OF the
forenoon sun. through the cloud-rifts, passed
quickly over the earth. The gust walled Mt
fully around the house. 1t was time
When at tho easement IS 4 moan
Like some aerial nourncr's tone:
When sounds Of siahnc oft we hear
The cadence Of departing year.
1t was 4 time when one who must stay
within doors prefers doing so. To-day the
sun casts mellow, autumn light on noun
tain and valley, and l long for outdoor life:
Pendlcton was not visited by lrosl until
late in September, and only within the last
week the impress OF its icy hand has been
plainly left on our scenery. The green Of
summer is faded on the mountains. Their
prevailing color Is light yellow, dappled
sparseiy with orange and red. The hues
are daily changing on the leafy host, which
is fast putting on its gorgeous garb OF au-
tumnal glory. The plateaus along the South
Branch preserve uniaded vcrdurc. and are
adorned with grand trccs-somc in yellow
dress, most OF them still in green. The
sheen of the river is hidden from my view.
The hills at the base OF the mountain are
dotted with crimson sumac-shrubs. East
ward, the Erick Gap, winding hollow,
asccnds the face OF the mountain between
ridges, the ends OF which interlock. On
one side Of the gap gray cliff towers like
q castle; dark-Sreen pines are around the
cliff, and patches OF them are scattered over
the mountain-sidc, which mostly wears the
yellow robe OF oak foliage richer than any
loom could weave.
Toward the northeast look up the Buf-
ialo Gap, in which, three miles distant,
rises the Buffalo Spring. pouring out cur
rent OF crystal water sufficient to move a
large mill, and forming the Buffalo run,
one OF the haunts OF the mountain trout.
Through this gap lies the road to the valley
OF the South Fork and the fields o. Pied
mont. There is the grave'of my father, or
whom I may be allowed to say that he L.
characterized in these lines OF Horace:
.Justuln ct tenaccm propositi rlrum,
Non civium ardor prava Jubcntuln'
Non vultus instautiS tyranni,
Mcnte qualis sohda.
He was, rinder popajH jurum, and firm
believer in their being the rishtful deposit
tory and custodian OF sovereign power.
There. too, was buried. in the morning
OF manhood's day, brother OF noble prom
isc, with all the earthly hopes that clustered
around him. But, ali! could we then have
foreseen the evil to come, from which he
was taken. we would have refused less than
we did to be comforted! Oh, vale OF Pied
mont thou bringeSt back memories " sweet
and mournful to the soul "-mcmories Of
those who sleep beneath thy soil OF in
graves in far-off' lands! How soon were
they cut down as a fower-how soon did
they fee as shadow! Shades OF the de-
parted! In the language of Goethe, would
eXciam:
Iilr naht t,ch wcider. ihr Schwankcnde Cessation
Ihr briupt nit ouch, die Bidder frOher Tagc,
Ind mancke licbc Schattcn stcigcn nuf:
Glelch elmer alien. habvcrklungevcn Sage.
Ko!nmt cret Lieb' und FIcupdschnft init heranl.
Oh, quiet vale How soon were thy rural
pleasures and contcntment swept away by
the storm Of civil war! Oh, scene OF happy
days! May peace bring back thy joys OF
the oldcn time; may morning ana evening
sun cast the shadows of thy mountains on
happy laborers in thy fields for many gene
rations to come!
On one OF the mountain ranges bordering
the Buffalo Gap will be locatcd-before
MANY wears, / hope-a turnpike-road to
Harrisonburg. although at present it seems
to be little thought Of in Pendleton. From
Franklin to Rawley Springs twenty-five
miles, the road is in many places almost I'M
pasSable for loaded wagon. Yet Harrison
burg is twenty miles nearer to us than any
other railroad point, and over this road,
however bad, the trade and travel OF Pen
dlcton must force its way.
4 road across our county from eastern
TO western line would be continued by
Rockingham to HarIisonburg, and by Ran.
dolph to Beverly. Twenty thousand dol
lars, and more probably fifteen thousand,
would make this road within the limits OF
Pendlcton. OF this sum several thousand
can be raised by private subscription, and q
tax OF twenty cents on the hundred dollars
value OF property in the county would raise
the remainder in three or four years. on,
that could arouse the people OF Pendleton
to this work! No other public enterprise
is so pressing, so vitality important to them.
The County Court Ought at an early day TO
appoint committee to confer with citizens
Of Rockingham and Randolph, and an en-
report estimates. Upon these the peo-
ple could found their judgment, and I
would confidently expect their favorable
action.
Lately We had night and forenoon OF
continuous heavy rain, and q few days after
another rain OF some hours. Drought I'D
August cut short the pastures. but they are
improving now. Most crops are over an
average-scarcely any under. Corn not as
good as last season.
Judge Armstrong, who resides IN Rom
ney, arrived at midday the 18th. and that
evening disposed Of two criminal cases.
Campbell, youth in our Jail for some
months, and previously in Rockingham
Jail. for stealing horse i'll Pendleton, plead
guilty. The jury, after short speech by
J. Ed. Pennybacker, Esq, and afew words
by Prosecuting-Attorn Z. A. Cunning
ham, instructed by the Judge that the short
est term in the penitentiary in such case
was two years, quickly returned YER
dict OF confinement for that term. An
aged man, living near here, confess
ed to stealing wheat, and was merci-
fully punished by the Judge with but
eight days imprisonment in the county
jail. The trial Of prisoner named Baker,
confined lately on charge OF murder, was
postponed to the April term. He will pro-
badly be bailed out. The evidence against
him is said to be very weak, rumor having
it that the attending physician will swear
that the woman charged to have been
murdered died Of typhoid-fever. A lu-
natic woman, who, for want OF room in
the State asylum, has been many months
in the county Jail, will then be the only in
mate OF its grated cells.
Aftor session of seven DAYS court was