The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1881-07-08

beer displayed ~ VIII pfeysnt tsc'n nvns
becoming "a scar upon beauty's eneek, as
Colonel pcyfon characterized the ola pau.
room building lately removed from .us
White Sulphur lawn. h'tIe pa'ns snn
snse siressy woodwork will cost but trine
snd vel nreye ALMOST priceless boon 10
sse traveller whose ewes have been wearied
.sI, : the sight az whgtewasbed and stability
built stations and platforms and side-trscks,
that seem TO concentrate The hottest rays OF
the sun.
e 70 be balIasted with crushed granite, to
be had at dozens OF pieces upon the edge OF
the canal. The rail Is declared by experts
70 he excellent. This Is land OF railroad
tIes-tje.getting Is great industry and the
cofnpsuy have had the pick. With these ana
their rock ballast, and their firm road-bed'
they will have a road upon which uains
NAV be run with ease and safety ut the rate
Of thirty.fye or forty miles an hour.
The time will come when the route OF TIE
Richmond and Allegheny railroad between
Richmond and Lynchburg will be lined
with summer residences and boarding
houses for Richmond people. There are
hundreds OF eligible sites. l had the OPP
portuuity OF examining one near Howards-
Vile. The mountains were IN plain view
for six or seven miles the valley stretches
out. and the river winding at the foot OF
the red.clay hills and along by the forests OF
green make up picture OF loneliness wor-
thy an artists pencil and OF untiring inter-
est to true lovers OF nature. The AR Is de-
Iiciously sweet, there Is good fishing IN the
river, honest milk In abundance at the
farm. houses, aud the gardens aud orchards
yield In rich variety and quality.
4 M 80 ~
has nearly all been laid, but ten or twelve
miles below Lyncbburg lat Joshua creek)
the road Is to cross James river for the first
| time. and the bridge-a fine iron one, on
solid granite piers-will not be finished
until somewhere ABOUT the first OF August.
| For the present the Richmond train stops
| at Joshua.Cr dam, and the passengers
are transferred to the packet boat, when
takes them on to Lynchburg. From Lynch
burg to North river Qhirty.one miIes) the
route is By packet, and there rail transpor-
taiion begins again and continues onward
by Buchanan to Williamson's, on the Ches-
apeake end Ohio railway.
LYNCuBURG
| is a prosperous city, and ought to be a
happy one. There every businessman
stands a good chance OF becoming rich and
every public man Is pretty certain to be-
come famous. Tobacco and iron (and poll
tics) engage the attention of most OF its in
babitants, but there are smaller Industries
spriuging up, giving great promise. Gene
rally speaking, the streets are not smooth
quite the centrary-but the energy OF the
| Lynchburgers will remedy this natural
obstacle as matters improve with them.
Their Main street Is paved with Belgian
blocks, brought from Richmond and LAID
| by Mr., Rick. Their street-car line extends
away out to the FAIRGROUNDS, and seems TO
be we'll conducted and literally patronized.
With hotels they are sufficiently supplied.
Lynchburg Is at all times worth visiting.
| It's people are intelligent, hospitable, and
enterprising. They have good opinion OF
their place and like TO speak OF 1t as the
most prosperous city in the State; about Its
| future they seem to entertain no shadow OF
dstrust. If there were no other attrac-
tons for the visitor, sufficient would be the
prospect OF talking with Major John w.
Daniel; of hearing Rev. Ed. S. Gregory
preach at bis lovely little chapel; OF meet
ing with General Jubal A. Early and that
sagacious Journalist Major X. II. Glass and
the noble and good fellows Of the newspa'
per fraternity generally.
Being
after spending Sunday and greater part Of
Monday in Lynchburg, l took the packet
for North river. There were about dozen
whites and about fifty blacks on board-all
of the latter laboIeTs engaged for the con.
tractors on the Richmond and Allegheny
and the Shenandoah Valley railroads. Hun
dreds of men were seen at work making the
road-bed for the Allegheny railroad just
above Lyucbburg. The work Is aborious
and costly one, but when finished the track
will stand upon rock foundation, to form
which the high cliffs have in many places
been blown down by dynamite or black
powder. After the boat had passed certain
working parties we could hear the explo-
sions OF the blasts following one another in
quick succession, and uttering such volume
OF sound as reminded old soldiers of can
nonading from heavy guns.
The question is often asked il the canal
banks could not withstand the rage OF vio-
lent freshets how can the railroad do SO!
The question is answered along here. The
road-Ded is, as / have indicated, OF blasted
rock, and is raised, it seems to me, from
six TO ten feet above the level Of the old
tow-path. The waters cannot wash away
IFS sides, and suppose will rarely reach its
top.
The progress of the railroad work has
been such as 10 interfere seriously with
navigation. At many places hardly enough
OF the old tow-path has been left to afford
room for the horses 10 move along in eau.
tious walk. At other places the path
has been wholly destroyed, and the horses
have to be unhitched and sent around the
bills, while men take the rope and pull the
boat until the horses can again be put In
position. At best
THE SPEED OF A CANAL-B0AT
is not sufficient to make mans head swim
now it Is slower than the thoughts Of the
worst old fogy In any Legislature or City
Council Of the land. But OF course it can
not be helped. IL is indeed a matter OF
surprise, as it is OF adventurous enterprise,
that the canal can be now nayigated at all.
Very shortly the railroad trains will run
some six or seven miles nearer to Lynch
burg, and as the work OF railroad building
proceeds take it for granted that the boats
will have TO be Observation-Disclosures for
ever-retired to the honorable obscurity
into which they drove the stage coaches on
this route "many years ago." The loco
motive which, on the occasion of my trip,
drew the train connecting at North river
with the packet is very appropriately named
MonacaD.
From LyLchburg to the Natural Bridge
(Gilmore's Milts) the scenery is bold and
picturesque. You miss the breadth OF field
and expanse OF foreground Of the country
between Richmond and Lynchburg, but you
have instead mountains upon mountains
and river views charmiog in color aud COM
pass.
At Balcony Falls the James breaks the
barrier OF the Blue Ridge and comes down