Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1882-09-20
The Knoxville Excursion.
Ashville Citizen.

Ashville Citizen.
The idea of the Knoxville excursion wa
the wise suggestion of sagacious men
prompt to seize an opportunity and ener
! getc to push every advantage The fttin,
III OF the long missing link between West
| ern North Carolina and East Tennessee CAV
additional extension to the enterprisin,
arms of Knoxville, already outstretchet
North South and West, and pointed out t,
| them the now attainable prize of Nortl
Carolina business as worthy of addition t.
their conquest.
There was much of wisdom in the pla1
! of the excursion, as there has been ex
haustless patience and liberality in carrying
| out its objects. 1t was determined to give
/ to the business men of North Carolina de
liberate opportunity to inspect the new field
| TO which their interest was invited; to sur
vey at leisure any object that might attract
them, and balance every new advantage
| offered with the results of their past txpe
rience. They came at any time convenience
might suggest within the thirty days
| limited under the term of the ex-
cursion; they remained three days
the guests of the intelligent and courteous
committee who took them in charge; and
by those committees hey were enabled tc
inspect leisurely every place devoted to
business, or visit every spot made attractive
by the master hand of nature or adorned
by the magic touch of wealth and taste.
The result is hardly doubtful Knoxville
proved a revelation to most of the visitors.
The old metropolis of East Tennessee was
indeed a familiar, almost a house
hold word, as a historical or as a
social suggestion. But its COM
mo
had not been impressed upon the minds of
those whom habit and custom had long
drawn to opposite directions. 1t required
personal observation to enforce the fact that
the little city of eighteen or, twenty Thousand
inhabitants was able to sustain its claim to
be equal In Its capacity as a distributing
centre to any place south of Baltimore
equal to that city in the inducements Of
fered to buyers-only inferior to it
because of inferiority i'll population
and variety of business in
terests. In extent of stocks, we question
whether Baltimore or any city Southrof it
exceeds the wholesale houses of Knoxville.
10 purchasers, we ascertain that no adj
vantage IN relation to cost is found with
Baltimore. We name this city 81 uply as a
type of the cities north of us, to whom the
eyes of our merchants have been heretofore
directed. The truth is, that though new to
our business life, Knoxville has, through
three-quarters of a century, been grow
ing to its present strength, main
tanning always, though in lesser de-
gree, Its metropolitan relation to a large
surrounding area, the center of social, po
htlcal and commercial consequence,
rengthenlng its ready hands by the exer-
else of its enterprise, stretching out its
arms to points that promised to reward its
grasp; drawing to Itself all the plenty of
agricultural wealth, gathering in its folds
all the stores of mineral treasure, buidI z
up the strength of commercial power. ana
comblnIng In one great aggregation all Its
varied d..d Immense reso.rceS, presenting
now CITY, not large, but powerfui; not tine
outgrowth of spasmodIc stimulus, but vel
knitted aud indurated by time and natural
expansion, solid substant al and permanent
The situation of Knoxville Is a command
ing one, III Its social, political aud CONNER
clal relations 1t is easy to see
that, with the command of the iron mines
close at hand, coal exhaustless in quantity
and superior III quality, aud with lime and
marble and mluer lis of other kinds in
boundless profusion lying all around, the
great siren, tn of Knoxville must be in its
manufactures. Already these are sufficient
ly extensive to give the city marked
charac seristic
AS mercantile centre, Knoxville. in con-
nection with the excursion, commands
present attention. At present we must
confine ourselves briefly to mention of the
fact, that after visit to every house of
business in the place, and every manufac-
turing establishment, we are convinced of
the. strength of the claim set forth by the
Knoxville merchants in their invitation to
the men of Western North Carolinl, that
they can do all the promise to do. They
profess their inability to dupi-
cate sat the same prices any New
York or Baltimore orders. We believe
they can do it. The business houses are of
huge capacity, Stocks are as large, as full,
and as varied as can be found at thesvery
fountain head of supplies The business
men are of as enlarged views and of as
thorough business training as any in the
country, as well they may be with an
amount of Wholesale business greater even
than Atlanta, larger than any in Tennessee,
except Nashville, possibly greater than any
in Alabama, equal to any III Virginia, push
ing its way into Georgia, making large
part of Alabama its tributary, and embrac-
ing large portion of Tennessee, and now
ready to add to it the western half of North
Carolina.