The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1888-11-08
Mt. Crawford Station.

Vl0rates to those days of which the Jaadi
Gator speaks. Ard | would have givel
you an article had the time, but unde
The circumstances. / VII give you a few
FACTS which yat can cut to suit yourself,
admit that there were all the mechanic
enterprises of which the Vindcdtor speaks
Some OF them come under my own knoWl
edge. They, many Of them, were mere
shops bearing the name of of such oeeupa
lions, McComb's hat factory for instance
little log house Up in gallowstown max
Ing perhaps two dezen hats per month
Fuler's great silver ware factory small
room standing above what was then
Brandeburg's corner. And SO on in com
parison the factories OF. those days wou!f
range. AS to Fuller's factory [ meyer
knew him to do any work except to clear
and repair watches ano that he abandoned
before 1860. So also had Ruff and McComl
abandoned their bat factory in 1860. There
were very few of these enterprises Of
which the Yind'cator speaks, They were
things OF the past, enterprises that haf
started up under the tariff of AZ and fin
ished under free trade. There was no pot
terry in Stanton in those days. There was
one in Buchanan, Botetourt County opera
ted by FulWiler; one at Cedar Grove Rock
bride County, by FieTbaugh; one in Au
gusta County, above stanton. by Grim
and one below Staunton by Lootz Oul
mothers will remember well that in those
days, with these potteries in our midst,
that a one gallon clay crock cost from nine
pence to shilling, q stone crock of same
size costing eighteen pence (25cts.) These
prices ran thus until after the close of the
war when pottery came to us protected. t
was then made an enterprise demanding
attention, large establishments were started
north and west, better stone crock than
that sold for 2octs. then, can be bought
for l0cts. now, and thus it is with all en-.
terprises OF which the VndGcator speaks.
Home industries being protected, gun
could be bought, manufactured elsewhere
in our country fQf less than Sheets could
put lock on gun, but Sheets gun factory
had played ont long before 1860. The shoe
factory. the only one ever in Stanton de-
serving the name of factory. was started
by a joint company soon after the John
Brown raid, the cry then was to bring fac
tories iD the south, buy nothing from The
north and bring them to terms by starva-
tion. 1t was in operation during the war
and destroyed by the federal army near the
close, it did not live to enjoy the blessings
OF protection. The tannery was run by
Mays as you know, for 70 OF perhaps 20
years before the war. After his death, by
Slower, until his health failed and he was
compelled to abandon it, at which time it
was accidently burnt down with eonla of
the stock in it, Protection did not drive
il out, if so, why the large tannery estah
ishment erected in Harrisonburg So with
the wo3len factory; it was burned by the
federal army, and Witt & Co., mills now
stands on the site, not driven off by pro
lection If so, why the Rankins & Bridge
water factories fourishingin the neigh
borhood +?
| have net the gas9dseasQr before ne and
will not pretend to notice all the factories,
as he terms them, that hourished between
80 and so. / have q distinct recollection
of Stanton from 1890, though never a
resident OF the place, and would say that
many of the enterprises of which he speaks
must have been Of avery diminutive char
acter, for never heard of them before the
Valdicator eXhumed them. That protec-
tion did indirectly drive some enterprises
from some localities will not be denied
A duty on foreign iron resuscitated the
enterprise ia that direction. and TO reach
the great iron ore fields in the Valley of
Virginia. two railroads running parallel in
the Valley are now in operation, thus
opening facilities for the machinery of the
Union to be brought to our towns and
cities at trifling cost. Tt has not been
the tariff on foreign goods that has closed
a few shops in our city and community,
but cheap transportation which, has
brought the articles from the factory
where they are manufactured On q large
SCALE ana with freight added. can he
sold cheaper than anysman could afford to
make them by the facilities in operation
in Stanton at the date of which the Van-
dicator speaks. AS to the wagon making
establishment in Stanton, would the Pin
dicator please say what good four horse
wagon cost fully rugged in those days ? The
price was from $12o upward. Now they
are shipped here from Michigan, Ohio. and
other points as far away as Springfield
Missouri. and sold for from $50 to $55.
This is not foreign trade but an advantage
in trade brought about by the advantage
of cheap inland transportation. let
Staunton has shop that completes with
them, but not as the shops of ante bellum
days. He buys his iron shaped and fitted
almost in every particular ready for the
wagon, SO donein American foundries and
machine shops.
l remember these halcyon days when
Fuller fixed watches, Ruff and McComb
made hats, SC, &C., that the farmer got
from to sc per dozen for eggs. g. to Sc
for butter, about the same for chickens, sc
cents for the largest Christmas gobler, Nc
no market, no transportation. Let the
farmer make the calculation. How many
dozen of eggs it would take to buy q
wagon and so On with his calico and al
wears, then ask himself how those times
compares with these.
AS to the tailors. In 1849 there was {
ready-made clothing store established ii
the basement of the Virginia Hotel by {
dutchman by the name of Block, and thu
tailoring business has been on the wan,
from that day to the present It wa
found that clothing could be manufactured
in large establishments for less than tn
goods would cost in our markets. The SUI
of the Staunton tallors glory had gon
down long before 1860.
| have hastily put together these few
thoughts and facts as they have occurre,
to me from observation. Time forbid
me saying more, and the care of school ha
forbidden me saying it better. set GU
to give causes for the situation as it exist
and the way in which the farming com
munity will Or ought to view it.
E. l.. HoUFF.
ut is all over the town, said the Aral
WHAT asked the old man. his eyebrow