Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-03-10
PETERSBURG AND VICINITY.

About the River improvement rhe Pnpea
Murder I'iAI.
(Correspondence orr Richmond Dispatch
PETERSBURG. March 9, lSSG.
1t is understood that special meet
ing OF the Common Council is to be held
within the next day or two to hear GER
tain alleged important evidence and
statements relative TO the Virginia and
Carolina railroad, said now to he IN
course Of preparation, to be submitted
as soon as completed. The report IS
that the developments to he made will
be Of an interesting character, the ma
tufe Of which, however. will not be
made public until laid before the Coun-
ell. 1t is possible that this road, in
which the city stakes so much, will yet
be built, if not by the original cor
porators, by some one else.
The delegation appointed by the
Common Council to visit Washington in
the interests of the AppOmattox-river
improvement has been heard from,
The gentlemen appeared before the
House committee on Monday and advo-
Gated a liberal appropriation for our
river and harbor, and backed their ap.
peal with statistics that added strength
10 it. They write that the prospect IS
good for large appropriation. Hon.
George ID. Wise is said TO be working
in behalf of such an appropriation.
The great trouble heretofore has been
that the annual appropriations made by
Congress have been so small as to serve
only TO keep the river clear of obstruc-
tons, and not to deepen the channel to
any permanent extent.
The officers Of the law here and in
Dinwiddie county have about finished
summoning the witnesses in the case Of
the Commonw ealth rS. Holmes Il. Pur-
year. charged with the murder of his
wife. whose trial for bis lie is to be
commenced before Judge Is. A. Han
cock at Dinwiddie Courthouse next
Tuesday. Every person who knows or
is supposed TO know anything about the
case has been summoned as a.witneSs
either for OF against the prisoner, and
in view of this fact the number
Of witnesses is large. and the
trial will be long and probably
most interesting one. The defence will
endeayor TO develop the fact that the
woman committed suicide. 1t is said
that evidence. both oral and written.
will be produced to show that the wife
threatened on different occasions to
commit suicide, and it will be argued
that she finally carried these threats
into execution. 1t IS furthermore
stated that one of the most valuable
VT. -sses for the Commonwealth, an
ola r..r,. man who saw the
woman little while -, "'oie sue uieu' ana
to whom she is said to ma inauc
alleged important statements in refer
ence to her poisoning, has since died.
But it is declared that the prosecution
has strong evidence to corrobo-
old mans statements 'rate the
NlbhsHatS SAlll'
Mayor l. -oned from TINS c''y Is
: ,arratt the chief of police, and
several policemen and citizens.
From what can be learned about 1t,
the music festival to be held in this
city in May next will far surpass either
Of its predecessors in point Of brilliance
and merit. The oratorio Of the " Crea-
ton " is TO be presented in full with
eminent artists in the principal parts--a
superb chorus of $50 voices from Lynch
burg. Farmville, Norfolk, Petersburg,
and other points, and splendid
orchestra to furnish the instrumental
music.
The sales OF tobacco at the ware
houses in this city last month aggre-
gated over 100000 pounds.
ROBIN ADAIR.