The Livingston enterprise. [volume] (Livingston, Mont.) 1883-1914, 1885-02-07
Away Down in Virginia.

Readers from Helena to Billings will
remember E. L. Gilboy, long conduct
or on the Montana division, who left
here last autumn for southern trip.
He is now at Warrington, Marion coun-
ty, West Virginia, and private letter
from him dated there contains so many
interesting points that we take the lib
erty OF making extracts from it for pub
lication. He says: "Since left Mon
tana l have been in most of the leading
cities of the east. was in Chicago two
weeks and from there went to Wheeling,
West Virginia, where l have friends.
While there was greatly surprised to
meet William Lutz whom you knew In
Billings, where he was in the employ of
jim Russell and who managed the lat
ter's business after he was shot. He
has a first-class steam laundry in Wheel
ing, is doing a tlourishing business and
making money. He was very kind to
me while l was there and assisted to
make my visit a pleasant one. do not
like the weather here; though it Is not
cold there are too many changes and
too much moisture. 1t seems odd to me
to be in a country where the rivers are
open all winter and steamers making
regular trips. This place (Mannington)
is SO miles east of Wheeling. l have
many relatives here. Here I spent my
childhood days, but havelnot been here
before for nearly 20 years. You can
imagine the changes that have occurred
in that time. OF all my little school
mates some are dead. some married with
families Of their own, while others like
myself have made homes elsewhere.
SO changed does everything seem that l
can scarcely realize that I am here
among the old scenes. This county Is
so very rough and mountainous that it
reminds one somewhat of Montana.
The mountains, or hills as they call
them here, are more abrupt than In
Montana with no valleys, only little
plots Of level ground scarcely large
enough to build upon. 1t is astonishing
how much work farmers here do to
grow their crops. The farms are MAIN
ly upon steep hillsides-so steep that it
seems impossible to to drive horse on
them; yet they cultivate such ground
and grow crops of corn and small grain.
If these people could see some of our
Montana valley lands they would sure
]y move west. / wish you could see
some Of the hard woods that grow In
this country. The farmers burn up
countless cords of beech every year In
clearing up their lands to fit them for
cultivation. Here you can see hickory
trees over hundred feet high with not
a limb to assist the venturous climber
if he has an ambition to reach that
hight. Then the red oak! such trees
never thought grew in any country. If
a good-sized one were cut into wood it
would supply Montana stove with
fuel for whole year. The sugar maple
is preserved for it's sap which is boiled
into sugar as is that of the maple in
more northern climes. Then there are
poplar, ash, birch-in fact every kind of
hard wood that grows in temperate
zone. Why, they have walnut enough
on some farms in this vicinity to fence
their farms. My cousin has a large
farm in this county fenced with walnut
and he told me to-day that there are
farms in the back counties near here
whose chief advertisement is that there
is walnut enough upon them to fence
them eight rails high with plenty to
spare. 1t really seems too bad to waste
such good timber but there Is no de-
mand for it in this country. Ihaveseen
piles of chestnuts spelling on the ground
about here. l wish we had some of
them in Montana. Send me some pa
pers. go from here to BALTIMORE