The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1885-10-03
WEST VIRGINIA.


What A Correspondents Saw I'm
and About MOrgamtown.
correspondence of the Latrobe pa Advanee
Morgantown, W. Va, is situated
on a gradual rise from the Mononga-
bella River. The last slack water
extends about two miles above the
town. Standing at a window in one
of the University buildings-which
buildings are located on short bend
in the river-and looking either west
or north no more grand view has it
ever been the fortune of the writer to
have beheld
Westward, to the left and few
hundred yards distant, is the town,
the one hundredth anniversary of
which is to be celebrated on October
2Sth. More directly west is seen
about one mile Of as beautiful sheet
of water as can be seen anywhere;
crossed by a suspension bridge Clio
feet long, the hills on the left bank
rolling and seeming to fold in and
within each other as far as the eve
can reach, the visitor beholds grand
and picturesque scene.
The writer, short time ago, spent
several days on Cheat River. What
majestic grandeur one sees there
Looking at the matter from a more
practical and pecuniary point of
view, those hills contain almost in
exhaustib.e stores of wealth in tim
Der and minerals. Already has the
Government made an appropriation
for the purpose Of removing obstruc-
tons from the river so that the tim
Der may be RATED down to the Mo
nongahela and find a market in Pitts
burgh. The distractions mentioned
are immense boulders, large as
houses and weighing hundreds of
tons, which have some time become
loosened from their mornings on the
hills and came crashing downward
some of them having course nearly
a mile in length, an avalanche in
themselves which have shaken the
country for miles and crushed the
largest oaks as so many straws-at
last found a resting place and pre-
sent truly majestic appearance in
the bed of the river
Sitting in skiff on the bosom of
the river and looking at the hills ris-
ing hundreds of feet high on either
side-their ponderous magnitude
making the occupants of the skiff
fade into insignificance; and though
with this impression, looking at the
dark leaf-stained water, the towering
oaks on either side, the dense laurel
underground, the huge bare rocks
towering upward as so many denud-
ed mountains-one is overwhelmed
with a tremor of delight, admiration,
and wonder; and here we received
our first faint conception of how great
must be the Creator
Time forbids me from giving YOU a
description of Quarry Run and the
climb | had up the gulch through
which it flows; the natural wells, one
of which, filled with water of icy
GOODNESS, measures at least six feet
in depth in hard flint like rock as
completely rounded and smooth as
man ever fashioned.
Hospitality among the people is a
pleasure Monongalia county es-
pecially, but West Virginia in gen
eral, has long held the reputation of
Astounding in hospitality, and l must
say that my experience of one year
fully sustains their reputation. 1t
seems the better part of human ma
ture to take every man for a gentle
man, at least until you have posi-
tive knowledge to the contrary, and
| know the first part of this princi-
pie has been fully demonstrated dur
ing my stay here.
Referring again more directly to
the financial part of the matter, it is
my belief that West Virginia ten
years hence will be the State of the
Union to attract strangers. 1t can
not be otherwise. It's hills are full
of riches. The farming lands are
good. To those of your readers who
have always lived in Westmorland
county, l could scarcely convey any
idea of the immense amount of timber
there is here.
From an educational standpoint,
though in its infancy the State has
gained creditable reputation.
Though we acknowledge superiors n
magnitude, we have no superior in
quality.
immigration is already commence
ing, and five or ten years from now
will be pouring in as fast as ever it
did to Kansas or any part of the
West in proportion to its size.
The american griculturist few
months ago contained an article emu
merating some of the many advan-
tages to be gained by farmers and
others by coming to West Virginia,
which might have been thought over
drawn. l do not think it was.
This State, neglected portion of
Old Virginia, is the dividing line be-
tween the North and South. The
effect of the war was a hindrance to
its advancement. Not NORTH and
not "South" the informed reader can
easily see that the condition of things
in West Virginia could not be other
wise than / have intimated. But
now the bone of contention has about
moulderad into dust; more init
mate fraterpal feeling is springing
up; the North is fast losing its for
mer opinion of the South, and the
effect will be the advancement of the
country of which / have given a brief
but faithful description.
Respectfully, *x*
THE SILVER SHIPS ARRIVE.
The Swatara and Yamtic at
washington with Tons of
Dollars.
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