Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1885-11-13
The Merchants and Manufacturers
Association.

The Merchants and Manufacturers AS
ISOLATION held its monthly meetiag Mon
day night, Isaac Witt, Esq presiding. in
the absence of the President.
LOCAL TRAVEL AND STANTON
TRADE.
Mai. Alex. Hart-dry goods, showed
the necessity of an effort to procure from
the two railroads entering Staunton, some
arrangement for local travel, which
would benefit our trade. The local trade
of Stanton might be said to reach from
the White Sulphur to Alton on the 9. q
o. road, and from Lexington to Harrison
burg on the B. s. o. road. The schedule
OF the B. & .. both North and South was
greatly to our advantage, and the schsd-
ule of the G. & o. for trains coming from
the West was equally to our advantage,
though the same could not be said for the
trains coming from the East. With
those satisfactory schedules it would.
Nal. Hart said, be unquestionably to the
advantage Of the roads, and to Staunton,
for the lines to adopt one fare ticket
good for twenty-four hours from all points
distant fifty miles from our city. 1t
would repay the railroad companies not
only by present travel, but by creating an
appetite for travel which would increase.
Mr.. Lynn, of Lynn & Co., agricultural
implements. thought the idea was good
one and hoped the effort would be made.
Mr.. Hutchinson, of Gooch, Hoge q Co.,
thought the idea would be of great bene-
fit to Staunton. If the one fare was not
granted, then reasonable rebate would
serve the purpose.
A committee consisting of Messrs. Hart.
Hutchinson, Shields and Tinsley. was ap-
pointed to correspond with the railroad au-
thorities on the subject.
LOST OPPORTUNITIES.
A conversational hour was then passed.
in which good many views were inter-
changed on matters of great Importance
to Stanton on the line of making her a
manufacturing town. Two cases were
cited which showed how short sighted our
people have been in the recent past. One
was when the patentee of the American
Fruit Dryer came here to find a location
for manufacturing his invention and to
raise company for it. He offered to
take large part of the stock himself,
but our citizens took no interest in 1t, and
he went off to Waynesboro, Pa. Every
year," said Col. Shields, TAT my place in
Rockbridge, see several cars week 60
ing by on the Shenandoah Valley Rail
road to the South, having on the outside
the label, American Fruit Dryer And
in the counties adjoining Augusta large
numbers of them are sold"
Another case where SIaunton missed it.,
was in the ''Wonderful Churn." The pat
entee came here to raise company and
manufacture 1t. He offered to take two
ffths of the stock. the whole capital stock
would not have been $4,000, and yet our
citizens let 1t go. The proprietor went up
into Pennsylvania, and established fac
tory and is manufacturing thousands.
And ,as If to make the failure more plainly
marked for our people, a StauntOn firm
here. Frank Alexander & Co.. is selling to
the country people large numbers of these
very churns which, but for our oversight.
might have been made in our own town.
MIR. Lynn said that from his recent
experience here be thought that there was
better feeling in Stanton about taking
hold of manufacturing enterprises. He
personally knew this fact from an enter
prise of which he had charge, and in which
several gentleman had expressed willing
ness to take stock.
Several of the members in attendance
thought they could say that trade generally
showed a marked improvement. Major
Hart said that since election day, be
thought, the retail trade had much i'm
proved.