Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1877-01-12

GOOD ADVICE FROM A CoLORED MAN
To CoLoRED MEN.-The following letter
is written by young colored man, twenty
five years of age, to his former owner, Mr..
Jno. Ballard Smith of Waynesboro. Young
Peasants was carried from Virginia IN
1865, by an Ohio soldier, who on getting
home had the boy, then aged IA. bound to
him for seven years, giving him IN the
meantime four months schooling in a year:
H1LLsBoRoUGH, Ohio,
Jan. 9th, 1877. 5
MR.. SMITH-Dear Sir:-I drop you "a
few lines to inform you that L am well, and
doing well, and hope when they reach your
! hand they will find you and your family
well. [ write you through the respect [
have for u Notwithstanding things have
changed some, as you know, since l lived
with You; but when [ was there it was
my home, and l have respect for any man
who gave me a home in his house, and
think every one should have.
Let US not look at the past but at the
present. l hope there will be a national
change soon for the gopd of our country
and / think we can all see already that it
brought about in d mild way. l am thank
full that | can make a man Of myself if l
willard not only me but every other
young man who will try, both white and
colored. One thing makes hard on the
colored race they aim to gather at some
town, which they should not for you know
it costs less to live in the country. Ii the
coIored people would go West they would
do better than they can if they all stay III
Virginia. There are too many Of them
there and it makes wages low and they
an vtnt ~ II rot yvnYIz II lD,1-1 70 mr. lilo =,
blind NAL might see that it would be best
for them to move around where they could
find more work if they want to live like
people. When a man is turned out to do
for himself he should Try to do we'll.
Dear Sir suppose you want to know
what [ am doing: l am teaching at very
good wages. [ had q six months school
at $45 per month. [ can ave some money
at that. l have seven weeks and then I go
back to my school. Write soon.
Yours Most Respectfully,
J. s. PLEASANT.
The writer was in Augusta some two
years ago and was annoyed at the thick
assemblage OF people of color around the
small towns in Virginia.
The QUESTION OF CHANGE OF DIvI-
sIoNs ON THE G. & O. RoAD.-A good
deal of anxiety and real distress has been
caused by the announcement that the g.
& o. road is about to change its working
divisions SO as to leave Staunton out as a
terminus, many Of the employees of the
company having secured homes here,
which they are nov paying for by degrees,
and from which a removal would be equi-
valent to almost total loss. Chief En-
gineer and Superintendent W. M. S. Dunn
wasin the city Monday evening, and with
regard to the proposed change said that it
is the intention to run local freight and
passenger trains to this place, as the LIST
division; coal trains will stop at Char
lottesville and Williamson's, but the men
on those trains who live in Staunton will
be allowed to change here and run between
this place and Williamson's and Char
lottesville. and the mechanics now here
will remain, as all the repairs to engines
will be done here, besides which an ad-
ditIonal force Of mechanics will be placed
here for repairing the cars of the division,
which is now done in Richmond. He
thinks Staunton will not lose a man by |
the change.
e-