The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1883-08-02

height Of fashion according to the plates
of Demorest, as it partook more of the
appearance of a nocturnal attire, when
tired nature seeks repose, than the flash
and tinsel and flounces and furbelow of the
tickle Goddess. There is something very
innocent and subduing in the ileecy white
even when it comes in the traditional ha-
biliments of the tomb, but when it merely
expresses the miniature death of sleep-a
partial suspension of animate nature, lit
blends the elements of the grave with the
FRESHNESS and inspiration of jocund youth.
The graceful looseness Of the garments, on
this occasion, however and the elastic and
methodical movement of the figures, dis
PEELED all gloomy reflections and enwrapt
the imagination as if contemplating abevy
of Seraphs sporting in primitive bowers
and reveling in paradisiacal past-times.
Merry merry, merry we sail from the east
| -Half-tippled at II rainbow feast.
In the bright inoonshine, while winds whistle
loud,
| Tivy, tivy tivy, we mount and we fly,
All racking along in a downy white cloud;
| And lest our leap from the sky prove too far,
| We slide on the back of falling star,
And drop from above,
| IN a jelly of love-.
Dryden's fairies were not exactly in
carnated Oh this occasion, but the graceful
forms and snowy white apparel suggested
something of ethereal beings on Il recre-
alton from theirelysian haunts and slipping
the sweets of this terrestrial sphere.
While modest attraction is the predomi-
nant characteristic of the young ladies who
lend light and beauty to the associations
here, there are several of the naughty type,
to outward appearances, who would de-
light to win. to tantalize, to sway and then
reject. 1t is strange how the strong man
bends in conquered submission to the
power of bewitching smile OF Il tender
pression-yielding slavishlyto the charm
of beauty, or cringing beneath the mag
netism of a flashing eye. 1t is the dupli-
cation of the story of Ariment, the gov
ernor of Agra, who falls in love with his
prisoner Indamara. She scOrnfully rejects
his suit. He threatens. She answers
coolly:
"Do not your anger like your love is vain
Wiener please, you must be pleased again.
Knowing what power have your will to bend.
I'll use it, for need just such friend
And thus the captive is led on by a re-
sistless influence, until he awakens to his
folly and realization Of golden chains
which have bound his manhood.
The Victoria Furnace is located about
one mile from Goshen on the road to this
place. Its capacity is for two hundred
tons of iron per day. 1t is said to be the
finest and most complete structure OF its
kind in the United States. Mr.. Page is
the manager, who seems equal to the vast
grasp and labor of the immense establish
ment At present it's output is not more
than eighty tons per day, attributable to
the inferior quality of the ores. / paid a
| hasty visit to the mine, about nine miles
from the furnace, reached by well con-
structed narrow gauge railroad. There
are now about 10 hands employed at the
mines, getting out ore, as carpenters, &c.
The amount of work done in tunnels,
drifts, shafts, &C., is enormous. The ore
seems to be abundant enough, but found
in huge pockets in the side of the noun
tain, and too much impregnated with sand
to suit. the purposes of the furnace
They are now shafting in the valley be-
tween the mountains in the hope of finding
regular strata and of better quality. 1t is
reasonable to suppose that the experiment
will be successful and that it has been
found that the strata has dipped beneath
the valley. The formation appears to be
similar to that at Lowmoor mines, where
the best quality of ore has been found in
the valley, at q depth Of $50 or 200 feet
between immense iron expenses on either
side.
Should the company fail to find a better
quality in the shaft experiment, they will
have to look to the clay hematites Of the
Blue Ridge which are entirely free from
sand, and are richer in metallic ore. These
can be reached by an extension of the
present narrow gauge road of the COM
pany a distance of about IA miles to Lex
ington, through Hull's Gap-a feasible
route, according to the opinion of Mr..
j. w. Barclay, an intelligent farmer of
Rockbridge, who is now here. At Lexington
communication would be effected with the
Buena Vista ores-rich and abundant also
with Vesuvius and Kennedy, where the clay
hematite is the peculiar formation. The
Victoria company would then have in
reach ample ores of suitable qualityt to run
their furnace to it's fullest capacity, ac-
cessible by their own road, the greater
portion Of the distance, passing through
the best of limestone regions, and finding
connections with the coking coal of the Flat
Top region in Giles county. These ad-
vantages could be secured by the con-
struction of fourteen miles of narrow
gauge road, and at the same time secure
an outlet to the South, Southwest and
East by the Shenandoah Valley, the Val
ley, and the Richmond and Allegheny
roads.
The vast outlay of money-said to be at
least 81 500 000-Which the Victoria Com
pany has incurred in its splendid plant
and the incidental work to reach and open
it's mines. would soon justify an addi-
tional expenditure, sufficient to open to a
never-falling supply of the ores and cox
ing coal essential to the successful oper-
alton Of this magnificent furnace. OF
course, if the company is successful in
finding the regular strata of ore in their
shafting experiment, they may prove ade-
quate to the demand. Otherwise the com
pany will have to look elsewhere for suit
able ores, for it requires no expert to tell
that the pocket ores they are now getting
from the mountain sides, are not such as
to2meet the capacity Of the Furnace either
in the quantity OF quality of the output.
hope to be able to visit the furnace
before | leave the Springs ,sin which event
| will have something more to say about
this important and stupendous industry,
SO useful not only to this immediate sec
ton but to that portion of the Valley of
i Virginia, where is destined to be located
extensive, if.not the controlling iron man
ufactures Of the country.
The TELEPHONE EXCHANGE.-Th
is feeling of indignation against the Bell
Telephone Co., on the part Of it's patrons
I