Morning journal and courier., 1880-07-30

HiI-TObacco-On the Bead to T2r;stoI
 Tenn.-Watering Places and Other ob
 jects of Interest-BristoI.
 SELMA, Alabama, July 24 l To the Editor of the JOURNAL COURIER:
 If any reader of the JOURNAL AND COURIER
 thinks he or she would like to spend the sum-
 mer travelling through the Sunny South, I
 am inclined to think they would get enough 1 of it in about one week. It is 900 in the | shade as l sit in my room writing and for the
 last four weeks it has been at 3 D. m.. from 90 Q to 96 Q wherever I have been. with A
 few exceptions. What with the heat, riding | on trains all night, a part of the night l working all day like beaver to get as many | Northern goods into the stocks of Southern
 merchants as possible, drinking different
 waters at each town, and eating sometimes | wien I can snatch time to eat, have lost
 about ten pounds in weight and find myself
 looking forward to September and cooler days with an exceedingly great anticipation. am at. present what is called ssdrum | mer, more properly commercial tray | eler, or some might term me @ commercial | missionary, and my ''feld'' lies in Alabama ! Georgia and Tennessee, these three great 1 States containing at least twelve times the
 territory of my own dear Connecticut Any | | will keep his eyes and ears open can hear and 1 see much to interest him and his friends, 1 and, calling all the readers of the JOURNAL
 AND COURIER my friends, I propose to try l and induce them to some things in the l South as I see them trusting may add my 1 mite to 8 better knowledge of the people and | customs of the South.
 Leaving Baltimore, my commercial head quarters, at p. m. Thursday July Sth (via l Virginia Midland railroad from Washington | find oIf fof@ 1 Lynchburg the central depot of the tobacco | trade of Virginia. It has a population of | 16,000. This is my first stopping point At | the depot some dozen porters struggle for the l honor of conducting me to the best hotel in 1 the city. Catching the eye of the gray-haired ! veteran of the Lynch House I give him the drummers' sign of '|help," and am in an in- stant relieved of my dusty gripsack tLe i'm l portunities of the porters, and am on my | way, not to be lynched, but provided with a l good bath and excellent breakfast. What ever l possessed the founders of Lynchburg to build l city on the side of a steep hill is past my comprehension. The streets on which the 1 business of the city is done are so steep that 1 to prevent them being washed away they ] are paved entirely with round cobble I stones and present very rough appearance. | You see tobacco everywhere. Every other 1 dray has on it either great terees packed full, l just in from some storehouse or being sent to New York or elsewhere; or large, square, 1 fattish baskets filled with the weed, being hauled to some factory to be made up into 'tJackson's Best," or '.Pride of the South" or fragrant Durham, or some one of the hun dred other brands.
 At 2:5O p. m. I am ready to take the train for Bristol Tennessee The depot is just at l the foot of the hill on which Lynchburg is built, and of course nothing in the way of @ breeze can reach 1t on these hot summer days. 1 When board the train from Richmond at 3 p. m. find myself among crowd of men, women and children, all bound for the noun tains and springs, trying to get away from the torrid heat of the lowlands and cities. I The train waits nearly half an hour, and meantime the sun beats down hotter than furnace. Every seat is occupied and some are standing. so great is the rush to get to the cooling hillsides and mountains My seat companion is a young lady from Chatham, Va, near Danvile, a fiery little rebel, al- though not born till during the war; and chatty and pleasant. We get started about 3:30, and the movement of the train through the air affords immense relief to all, and those who are well wilted down brace up and show interest in the beautiful scenery we fly | past.
 l Liberty is the first watering place we pass, 1 947 feet above the level of the sea. Near here are the two peaks of Otter standing out from the surrounding hills grand and sublime. It is related of President Jefferson, who was skeptic, that he once camped all night on the higher of the two peaks, having only his colored servant with him, his purpose be- ing to witness sunrise. When Old Sol ap- peared the next morning, clothing the earth and hills with beauty far surpassing any or dinary view the old slave turned to his mas ter and upbraided him for his lack of faith in divine creator. From this time until dark we are going up, up, up, dartlng through short tunnels and around the brows of hills, l through some of the grandest scenery the shines upon, until at GAO we reach Christianburg, the highest point this route, the summit of the Alleghanies, 2,550 feet above the level of the sea. We have passed some ten popular watering places, and our car full has dwindled down to about ten passengers. The country between Lynch burg and this point, and in fact to Bristol, Tennessee, is principally grazing and wheat growing section, and as I look out and the herds feeding am made to think of the cattle upon thousand hills. Every few minutes pass threshiRg- ! machines at work, sending up clouds of dust and chaff, out in the fields where the crop is grown, and we see great stacks of straw from which the grain has been taken. Again some stretch of hill and vale, beautiful enough for painters brush, only to be succeeded by some view of mountain l or stream still more beautiful. As we stop at the watering places-Blue Ridge, Big Lick, Salem, Big Spring, Summit, etc. crowds of children and ladies come troCp1ng out to welcome friends and new corners. l The hotels look cool, and the coaches and omnibuses gay with youth and laughter Truly it IS not necessary for people here to go to Saratoga, Long Branch or Newport to l find comfort in these hot days. Virginiu end Tennessee have right within their own bor- ders scores of sulphur and chalybeate springs to heal the sick and render life worth living in the comfort they bring Up among these mountains, with their springs and&healthy forests and drives among the clouds, the Virginians flock and after two three months return to their homes refreshed and ready again for the worlds warfare and turmoil
 At Big Lick which we pass at 5 o'clock, are several large tobacco factories. Between Lynchburg and the summit of the Alleghanies are to be found over twenty popular springs with waters classified as Sweet Chalybeate Salt Sulphur, Red Sulphur, White Sulphur, Yel- low Sulphur, Warm Springs, Bath Alum Springs, Hot Sulphur Springs, Healing Springs Cold Sulphur and Blue Sulphur. Some of these are yet undeveloped. The minerals are iron, copper, coal and zinc and we pass at our left several iron furnaces and zinc works. After leaving Christianburg, where we take supper, at which the inevitable fried chicken is had, with hot biscuit, we be- gin to descend again, Bristol, Tennessee3 where we are due at 12 midnight, being 1,60O feet above the sea. About 10 o'clock, when I well settled for nap, and wishing my self well at Bristol and between sheets once more, we are brought to a sudden stop by our
 
 and quarter. A pair of drummers not hay
 ing before their eyes the fear of the god of slumber, regale the rest of their travelling companions with "reminiscences, and every few minutes tired woman or man wants the rest of the car to inform her or him if there will be failure to make connections at Bris tol. Reassured, they subside into their cor ners again and drop into restless series of cat-naps. We finally arrive at my next stop ping place, Bristol, Tennessee, just over the half of fha hQ ing on Virginia soil and at a. m. am sound asleep, the first time for nearly sixty hours have had my clothes off or good sleep.
 Bristol is town of about 4, GOO inhabitants. It is flat, struggling town, full of life, sup
 plying merchandise to the people for twenty miles in each direction. It is a good speci-
 men of large Tennessee town, without any
 fine buildings, having one long principal
 street, upon which are located nearly all the
 business houses of the place. The street
 crossings are made of standing stones or
 steps raised six inches above the street and