The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1878-02-14
A TRIP THROUGH VIRGINIA.

A TRIP THROUGH VIRGINIA.
I THE CITY OF LYNCHBURG--ITS HOTELS,
MANUFACTURES AND NEWSPAPERS
GENT NoRTHERNER-wHAT Will RE-
TARD AND WHAT PROMOTE IT'S PROS
PERI1Y.
Editors Of Vauey Vngimian:
Southern hotels do not rank high IN the
estimation of the travelling public, and, un-
til within II couple OF years, Iynchburg,
with all its wealth and trade, had no hotel
ranking much above country inn. The
Norvell House, which stood first, was over
| run by rats, filthy, ranldy 0doreus and lll-
kept, the charges alone being first. class.
The Washington House, though cleaner, was
no better, while the smaller hotels and most
of the numerous boarding houses were dark,
ugly, contrivcd, dirty, ill-smclling and
ill-kept, and made the travellers stay as
brief as possible. The Washington has been
succeeded by tile Arlington, under the same
+ management as the Arlington Of Danville,
and is highly creditable to the city. Well
and handsomely furnished. scrupqlously
clean, with a good cuisine and good attend.
ance, it is delightful contrast to the Lynch
burg hotel Of the past, while the Norvell
House, not to be ont-donc by its new rival.
rcfitted and refurnished itself, and is be-
Heved now to be ahostelry at which the travss
eller can sojo,un with some degree of salts
faction. Yet, with many recoilecti0ns of
the past and of numerous trips through the
Southern country, let me say here that the
| dyspeptic victim of the future, who shall
endow a chair Of cookery in the female semi
! naries and universities of the South, will be
no less public benefactor than Peabody,
Vanderbilt or Corcoran, and future genera
tons will rise up and call him blessed. The
raw material is ample and in many Sosath-
ern homes are found true artists of the kEch-
en-, but the traveller finds them but rarely
and recalls with intense indignation the
| everlasting sameness, the inevitable fry, the
superabundant grease. the tough mea Is
| cooked to death, and the ill-service and waLt
of cleanliness he has generally encountered
| For such hotels as the Arlington and Nor
veil House, though yet very far from ideal
perfection, he thanks God and man, and
notes them down in his pocket book with
| satisfaction. m
After supper the New Yorker and 1 lit
our cigars and stroled about the city. Wis
| iting the Post office, my companion was
| pleased to observe the excellence of arrange
ment and numerous conveniences afforded
| to the public, and, when he learned that all
| these improvements had been made by the
present postmaster, he was curious to in
quire into the revenues and business Of the
Office, and quick to remark how both had
rapidly grown with the increased facilities
given. "And giyeE proper facilities he
remarked, 'the statistics and business OF the
Post-office, the newspapers and the book
trade, are good indices to the intelligence
and business activity Of a community" Act
ing upon this hint after Mr.. Work, the post
masters busy and energetic deputy, had
shown us the workings OF the office and sat'
isfed the curiosity of my companion, took
! him to the offices of the News and the FIR
ginian, edited respectively by Hon. Thomas
Whitehead, formerly member OF Congress
from this district, and Charles w. Button,
also veteran Journalist Of marked ability.
Looking over their files we observed that a
| good deal OF attention was paid 70 the to.
bacco trade, with more appreciation Of the
value of manufactures than seems to be ex-
hibited by the citizens. Little desire for i'm
migration was shown in their co]nmns, and
| this important subject, with the introduc-
| ton OF capital and the development OF the
natural resources of the State, upon which,
| in large measure, its future hangs, did not
appear to receive the treatment it deserves.
| But politics, the chief mental pabulum Of
fered to the Southern people, was there in
! abundance, spirited and virulent.-
Turning back to the files during the recent
campaign, when Button was an Independent
candidate for the Legislature, it did not
seem that the Republicans, who put for
ward no ticket, were much missed. Read
justers and funders, regular conservatives
and independents carried on a free fight
| with great bitterness, to the amusement, we
| Judged, of the disinterested republican on
lockers who must have hugely enjoyed the
civil ~ war of their adversarics.
On Main street we dropped into the hall
dozen bookstores, looked over their shelves,
chatted about business with the proprletors
and returned to our hotel, my companion
declaring the PERCEPTIONS streets OF Lynch
burg unsafe by night to the stranger, how
ever moral and temperate he might be. INT
night was not cold one, yet the air wa
chilly enough to make us enjoy the cheer
ful fire in the cozy parlors of the Arlington
81 am particularly pleased with the book
! stores,' said my companion, settling him
self in his comfortable arm chair. ''Th'
Post Office is we'll managed and its business
I shows an intelligent, reading and letter
writing community, particularly when yo'
take into account the negro population
which suppose has the great bulk OF Tilt
eracy as well as poverty. The character
| the newspapers corroberates this idea. They
are wei! conducted and ably edited, sharp
active, and politically bitter. Most Of TIL
ability and knowledge, however, is politica
and chiefly expended upon local and ephem
era. issues In the North, intelligent, cul
tivated, able men as a class, do not pay sui
ficient attention to politics, and, 10 the grea
cities particularly, too often shirk the activ
duties and responsibilities of citizenship. Il
the South, politics engrosses the attentio
and stimulates the passions of all classes to
much for the public welfare. Before tn
war it was the especial pursuit and caree
of thu (; educated. patrician caste, and il
scope has since been widely extended. Pr
litical differences are characterized by BIZ
terne IS and carried to an extreme M
drear ned of in the North. Here-and m
oplni OH is based on what / have read
Soutt fern Democratic papers,-a mans bus
ness, personal character and social relation
are q u affected by his political opinions.
is not; confined III its application to mig
| 10 hi