The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1888-09-27

M. +. Gilkeson's Nelly Bly, t premium
Sweepstakes, all gats. She is a beauty
1-
Bowers sketches.
Nearly all that section of Southwest
Virginia along the n. & w railroad is set
IN cabbage, and such fields Of this sweet
and succulent vegetable. it has never been
our fortune to see. You travel miles upon
miles without seeing any other crop, and
at this particular time the station plat
forms are piled high with crates holding
ffom.2s to 80 fine VIII teaheads.
+ By the way, a number of Augusta farm
ers have raised large crops OF cabbage, and
several of them have requested Rover to
hunt them up a market. 10 all such he
will say II they will drop line to 4. Shaw
commission merchant, Atlanta, Ga, they
eau get all information necessary to assist
them in the marketing of their crops.
We are quite sorry That our trip TO Ten
nesste was so crowded with work aud our
time SO limited as to prevent the taking
of q satisfactory lock over the county as
we should have liked. but as it was, We
saw enough to be- able TO predict a bright
future for that highly favored section.
Knoxville, in the brief space of seven
years, has increased her population from
$1,000 to over A0,00O. And that with but
one railroad to assist her. Now she IS
about finishing three others. What lnay
not be expected when these additional en-.
terprises are in her reach? In this city
are located the largest marble works oil
earth. AT many places On the line OF the
E. I. Va. q Ga. are to be seen stone and
marble Quarrles. from WHICH are taken the
most valuable building material. 4 great
deal OF the law material is put into market
able shape at the quarries. but in Knox
vile millions of tons of different kinds of
Tennessee marble are dressed and polished
before shipment to all quarters of the
American continent. From these quar-
rles can be taken blocks of the finest varie-
gated marble of such enormous size that
the ingenuity of man cannot find the
means for transportation or handling.
If am not very greatly mistaken the
mammoth pillars used in the construction
of the State house at indianapolis were
taken from the Tennessee quarrles. These
pillars are, many OF them, over sixty feet
in height and six feet in diameter.
Knoxville enjoys a large wholesale trade
and the establishments devoted to this
branch are St cond to no others in the
country.
There are factories of many different
kinds located in and about the city, and
everything presents the air OF the liyellest
kind OF business,
We regret exceedingly that we could
take no more time to look around KNOX
vile.
while in the city we had the pleasure
OF meeting with an Augusta boy, George
Loyal. George occupies tie highly re-
sponsble and honorable position Of chief
dispatcher in the Knoxville office CT the
E. T. Va. & Ga road and he fills it with
honor to himself and satisfaction to the
company. His brother Thomas occupies
a similar position on this Southern exten,
sion or the same road. His headq uarters,
if we remember rightly, are in Chatta-
nooga Both these young men are held in
as high esteem in Tennessee as they were
in Virginia, and there are not to be found
two more highly honorable CT strictly
moral young men'in any section.
We had also the pleasure OF spending
the night in the same hotel in Bristol with
their father. Mr.. John Loyal. He, like
his sons, has prominent place on the
railroad. Mr.. Loyal has been engaged in
railroading nearly all his life. For many
years he was a division superintendent on
the L. & o., but change of officials here
some years ago caused him to resign and
accept similar place on the Tennessee
road. He mas been promoted recently and
is now busy ID his new position. Mr..
Loyall's family was and are yet greatly be-
loved by our people. and when the time
came for them to remove from our midst
the nelghbornood sustained a loss that has
been sd lily felt Their old friends will tie
more than glad to know that they are
amongst such pleasant surroundings, and
that they are prospecting.
Thomas, the eldest son. is married to
one OF Tennessee IS fairest daughters, while
Miss Florence, who run the gauntlet in
Virginia, and barely escaped with hand
and heart has been captured at last and
now graces the wigwam of one of the most
popular aid we'll TO do of the Tennessee
tribe. Rover believes that it was Miss
Florence who long since gave mas
cnllne friend such 3 cutting answer (and
withal q truthful one( when he said: Well
MISS T. you have been some time on the
hunt fer an angel, | hope you have found
one at last. Quicker than thought came
the reply: You are certainly mistaken,
for had ever started On such a hunt d
never have sought an angel among those
OF the masculine gender, So there was
another case of the calf and hoy.
Patrons of the G. q o. are wont to re-
gard Fitz, Lynn, Caison and Smith as the
very best conductors anywhere to be met:
but without the slightest wrong to these
gentlemen for the world can't beat them
be it said that the Norfolk & Western and
the E. t. Va. & Ga. can furnish few
thai rank among the first IN their calling
in all the broad land.
1t was Rovers good fortune to fall into
the hands of Capt. S. D. Haun. of the last
named road while on this trip, and truly
tWould be hard to ind q more polite, at
tentive. prompt and companionabie gen.
tieman. Nothing that lies in his power
for the comfort and convenience of his
passengers does he leave undone. He
seems to make their comfort his chief
study, and it was with regret that we bad
tc part with him on reaching Bristol on
the homeward journey.
But our COED luck held Oh to us, for on
taxing the n. 81 w. next morning We fel
into the hands of no less considerable and
genial conductor in the person of Cart
g. Childress. We had not Teen aboard the
tr"in five II inutes before We had to ask i
favor of Capt. Childress which was granted
VITA readiness that won us on the sp0'
Capt. Z. having learned that Rover was Il
reporter, exerted himself to show us the
points of interest along his route. He is /;
most Intelligent and we'll informed gen
tleMan, and highly entertaining in eonver
sation. Like Capt. Haun, he has always
an eye to the Interests of those who are
so fortunate as to be in his charge, an(
with such conductor in charge. travelling
becomes a great pleasure rather than
otherwise.
/ The value of such conductors as Capts
Haun and Childress to a company is meal
culable: for it quite frequently occurs that
travellers are induced to seek the road
that employ them in preference to routes
chat would lie more direct; thus they serv'
in two fold sense.
We return many thanks to Captains
Chiidress and Haun, and hope that i
called South again we may be so fortunate
as to fall into their hands.
Unless the Valley of Virginia bestir
b rself the Southwest will outstrip her
Beginning north of Roanoke some twent,
miles and extending through to the Zen
nessee line the people seen to be in th'
bigge st kind of hurry. The whole countr,
is astir. The readers of this paper vii
bear us out when we say that fifteen year.
ago Rover exhorted the farmers of thi
fer5ie region to step out of the old rut
and different methods. He said that
unless farmers changed their methods the,
would farm at loss or else ha barely abl'
to make ends meet. He GALE d the If after
tion to the proximity of the eastern cite