The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-08-28

1
NY, AND SATISFACTORY sPEED-NorEs OF
TmE TRIP AND OF THE HISTORIC JAMES.
That our "sbip,s besuty" was the con-
clusion n not the exclamation OF all who saw
the CITY Of Richmond "drop into the
streamv Yesterday morning, aud, with her
goodly company Of excursionists and pas
sepgers. steam of for Norfolk. Supern.
tendent l.. B. Tatum was along, making
himself agreeable TO everybody. She passed
the Chesa peake and Ohio wharves at $3.50.
the steamer beginning then 10 show speed,
and sending the water dancing from
her PROV, beating Its yellow muddiness
into snowy spray. Richmond looked
lovely in the soft morning sunlight.
Her size-the territory she occupes-indI-
Gates city OF hundred thousand inhabi-
tants, and is a monumental remOnstrance
against the census OF 1880, so far as she Is
concerned. ChimboraZo Is now assuming
somewhat the shape and appearance OF q
park. Coienel Cutshaw Is changing it from
an eyesore TO thing OF beauty-to be Joy
forever, In particular to those who approach
Richmond by water. From its promi-
nence-toweriDg high above all other hills
It deserves to be handsomely improved.
First appearances are everything with the
traveller. II he is Disguised with a city
upon entering il, afterwards it is difficult to
make him see any good in it.
With the plans for Chimborazo and Lib
by Hill are carried out fully, Richmond will
present to the stranger who enters her
gates by James river a face OF unusual
charms.
AS for
THE JAMES,
there Is no other such historic stream in
America. Since Captain John Smith and
his associate adventures first broke the
New-World stiffness with the rustlng OF
| their sails and the plash Of their oars, now
some 30 years agOne, its name has been
continuously present in battle stories, poe
try and romance, political and social annals.
| Ours is an old place. The landing here ante
dates that OF the Pilgrim fathers on Ply
mouth Rock; and il we have been long
cause we preferred not to hurry than that
we could get along no faster.
| AS the boat speeds
AWAY FROM RICHMOND,
and before we have lost sight OF the Capt.
tol and the church.steeples, we are abreast
OF Warwick, and see iutting out the water
the piles used in the wharves OF that long
lost town. In colonial days the petty ves-
sells which for the most part piled these
waters could not get up to Richmond. [It
wasn't much OF town to come TO anyway
Hence the necessity for this shipping point
below Richmond. Well, British raiders
burnt Warwick; Richmond became place
OF more importance. Little by little the
river has been deepened until now such
steamers as the City OF Richmond aud those
OF the Old Dominion Company, which
would do credit to any port in the land,
float at our wharves, ready to carry our
commerce 10 the seabOard and distant lands.
From Richmond TO City Point the river
Is a series OF crooks, bends, and turns,
which make it delightfully."- picturesque and
give great fertility TO the soil, but are inn
mensely troublesome to navigators. There
are several places where ii5 windlngs almost
outline the letter S, and poor pilot would
run aground upon the bluff side and then
pull out OF that and stick in the mud on the
llow-oroundS ahead. But with Captain Gif-
ford at the wheel we feel no fear. He has
sailed these waters over in storm and sun
shine, night and day, for perhaps hall a
century, and every outline OF the river is as
familiar to him as a baby's loyeliness Is 10
the fond mothers eyes. The Captain, too,
carries in his head treasury OF informa'
ton about James-river people. estates, and
incidents, which, poured INTO virginia MS
tory, would make several
BRIGHT AND PLEASANT CHAPTERS.
But let's proceed. In less than half an
hour we pass Drewry's Bluff and note how
fast the young pines and volunteer peach
trees are roofing out all the memorials OF the
war. Only little patch Of breastworks i;
to be seen; not a chick or child is near
Solemn stiffness reigns here where was oul
stronghold and sure defence when the gun
boats came booming towards Richmond ~
1862. AS for Chafiin's Bluff, 1t takes an ole
solJier's eve to discover where once the Con
iederate batteries stood. The pines have
made q secure Judgment there too. Many
Of the company were at breakfast when
DUTCH GAP
was reached, but they dropped spoons anC
knives and forks. and rushed to the win
dows. This is one OF the great sights OF The
river. Everybody wants glimpse OF It
Ben. Butter invested it with Il historic i
not a romantic interest. His picture should
be painted on the lighthouse with bis star
board eve cooked on the canal. He opened
J it, or rather started 20 open 1.-THE canal
not his eye-sO that the Federal gunboat'
might pass through, and thus flank oul
Howlett-HOuse distractions and batterie!
: Bluff. But when he got ready to blow th'
bulkhead out. as he himself writes, the ma
val authorities stopped him. The door wa
about 10 be opened TO let the dogs in upor
, the wolf, when the thought struck then
, that the wolf might eat up the dogs-tha
, Is, that the Confederate gunboats nigh
: come down through the canal and clear OIL
= the Federal gunboats. For that reason th,
work WAS stopDed. Ben's plan has, how
7 ever, been fully carried out by others. Yea
2 by year the canal is being widened an'
deepened by Colonel Whilcomb. Thougl
: the boat shoots through 1t In minute, be
! tween five and six miles OF distance Is saye'
! by the little "ditch" " through the land.
We pass many fine farms, now In thei
e deepest tint OF green. Fields and forest
alike show that plenty OF rain has fallen
Shirley, Bermuda Hundreds, City Point
: Berkeley, aud the iron-clad feet are passed
and we get opposite jamestown. The ruin
= OF The old church.tower still stands lin
e between the ong-buried past and the pre-:
I ent. Where was once city" Jane
e Cutie u-there are now peach orchard:
t fields OF corn, potatoes, aud grass. Th
Y PROPRIETOR Of this precious piece OF historl
: ground in materializing corn and potatoe
from .the sacred soil" ought to send theI
/ into market labelled "For the use OF sti
5 dents OF Virginia history"
t At BurwelPs bay, below Jamestown, th
river is five and half miles wide. lit
later and further on we pass
. NEWPORT NEWS,
b and look out for the silvery ripples Whic
g mark the wrecks OF the war-vessels SCI
| Tor - nEar II