The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1883-05-17
The Lesson of the Cyclone.

The Lesson of the Cyclone.
Our Kansas excmsionists will be able to
appreciate the advantages afforded by the
Valley of Virginia, when they travel, on
their way home, across the track of the
cyclone which blighted a portion of Mis-
souri, Oh Monday last. The lands may be
rougher here and less fertile, and the
process of money-making not so rapid, but
the accommodations of a lifetime are not
swept away by the breath of the hurricane.
and that which man treasures most and
holds dearest, his loved ones. are i'm no
danger of being torn limb from limb by
the savagery of the wild blast. The rocks,
roots and trees may retard cultivation and
at times discourage the farmer, las he thinks
of the broad rich prairies stretching fol
miles and miles in unbroken regularity
but those same rocks and trees are his
refuge against the SimoonS that deSolate
the plains. They are the great mountain
builders, and the Notifications they rear
defy the rage of the elements and bid the
Valley rest in peace and quietness under
their sheltering care. If this terrible cy-
clone was to be, it was well it occurred
while so many of our Valley farmers were
travelling in Kansas. twill go far towards
convincing them that the rose-tinted pic
lures of the West do not represent nature
in all its varied phases. If the advantages
there are more alluring to the husbandman
in some respects, there are disadvantages
which far more than counterbalance. Viz
ginia, to-day, is fairer field for the in
vestment of capital, than the Younger
States. Beyond the gifts which nature
has bestowed, her settled society, her near
ness to market, her churches and schools
offer inducements to men of families which,
the fertility of the West cannot offset,
Had her lands been talked up and written
up us have those of the West, and were the
same amount of energy and enterprise put
forth here that is demanded there, the peo-
pie would be justas prosperous, progressive
and full of life and vim, and the prosperity
would be far more permanent and secure.
1t would be subject to no such visitations
us that OF Monday last, but with each sue
ceeding year would bring richer and richer
returns for the labor expended, and with
it sense of security which the West can
not afford. Virginia is almost a terra IN
cOglitd. Less is known of her to-day.
though she reckons her age by centuries,
than OF those States whose years can be
counted on the fingers Of your hand. We
have grasped for the prize held out at the
distance, and never dreamed of the treas
ures that lay at our feet. We have sent
our young men to people other lands, and
left the virgin soil to grow up in wilder
ness. The Valley has been regarded as
the most progressive portion of the State,
and yet no man can compute the unde-
veloped wealth within the area of IL single
county. An illustration is suggested as
we write. Several years ago a tract of
land not far from this city was bought for
a few hundred dollars. Men of enterprise
became the proprietors and explorations
were made. Less than twelve months
oliiCc tilc property Was Soltf lOI |ZU,UuU-
and to-day ten times that amount would
not purchase it. We know of another
property which was bought for $4,000 and
an offer of a quarter of a million would be
scarcely Il temptation to its owners now.
And these are not rare instances others
almost as striking occur to u.s. Nor are
the opportunities for investment in prop
critics of the character we have alluded to
mineral property-few and far between.
There are thousands and tens of thousands
of acres in Virginia which can be bought
for almost a song and which are rs valuable
as a gold mine. In comparison with them,
the inducements of the West are insignifi-
cant. Let those who have capital to invest
place it here. Let them eXpend one-half
of the time and money required for trip
to the West in endeayoring to gain a knowl-
edge of the section they were raised in and
the return in cash and information will
astonish them. The experiment is worth
trying.