The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-10-17
battles Of modern warfare was fought on her

PROSTATE.
-Four years OF wsr had stripped her; be-
labor was metemorphased into an INCUBUS
her institutions were oyerthrown; her debts
and burdens were increased; her property
and taxable values were annihi' atedi hel
energies we're paralyzed; her very existence
was suspended.
This was twenty.three years ago. During
a large part of this period the problem o.
existence. the paramount question OF si1npi'
being engrossed all her powers. Misunder
stood and Stunned by all without, threat
ened and burdened by many within, Sd hao
10 devote all her facilities to the imperative
demand of the hour, the preservation Of bel
being as a State and people
At last she stands upright again in th'
yigor of renewed strength, in the JOY OF re
stored health, in the full power of a sovereign
State and the pride Of a hale and prosperous
people. .
AS such her Capital City, her beautful
Richmond on the james now sets DEL
house IN order, prepares her feasts' SETS ou'
her wares and stretching out her hands unto
her sister cities, gays to them
GONE AND SEE ME.
Richmond, the Capital Of Virginia IS the
Oueen ofthe South enthroned upon her tree
clad hills. and crowned with the diadem OF
beauty and health.
Situated on the elevated plateau at the
Falls Of James River once the Powhatan' she
stands at the gateway between the upianus
NJ the Redmond and the lowlaDds Of lne
'Tidewater. The breath of the mountain
fans her brow, the tides Of the Ocean WASH
her feet.
Old William Byrd Of Westover, whose
historic mansion not many miles telow Is
one Of the landmarks Of the continent, and
ono of the heirooms Of American history
gentleman of Virginia. member OF the hlng
Council. Representative Of the Colony bur
,,ess &c his County. was entrusted 10 run the
much questioned line between Virginia ana
her sister North Carolina. Thus occupied,
living awake one night in the juniper recesses
y
oftbe Dismal Swamp, came to him Thoughts
Of his home. and with them one OF those IN
spirations which may be the whisper Oh
nassirg angel, and may be the emanatlon OF
Genius He would found city, nay be
uould found.wo: one should be on the APP
norpattox. but the other should be on yet
ea;,er sno, on uueenlier river, his own
majestic james.
He knew the spot for il. There Nature
herselfhad laid the site-a more skiliini en-
rineer than he had drawn the plan-s owner
architect had laid the foundations.
It was already a city and wanted but the
buildings and the people. These must IN
eyitably come IN time. Indeed that most
rash but most brilliant and farseeing young
man who had been once his fathers nelgh-
bor. had chosen the spot with his rare Wis
dom and had there plantation or quarter
and when the Indians had come down and
killed his oyerseer and cattle, had he not
clamored for revenge until he had started a
revolution which came deuced near upsetung
His Maiesty's Government and played the
devil generally. II would be the chief city
in Virginia, the largest in the Southern
colonies if not on the continent, if the peo-
ple would but recognize its advantages and
build it up. What spot It wasl
An elevated plateau right at the falls OF
the river. above malaria and ague, with
the fresh air of the mountains, keeping II
cool in summer. and Incompatible climate
and purest water from unpopuaied
springs; view Of the foaming
waters, glancing and dashing over
immense bouiders for nearly two miles,
made landscape whose beauty was IN
-iyaled as a place ofresidence for a beauty-lov-
ing people. this side of the oak clad reaches OF
he Thames. The river front was easily ac-
cessible. and evenly distributed and at the
same time 50 immense that il would grind
the grain of a continent, and run the factor
les of a nation. Behind il was The rich Pied
mont running up to the Blue Ridge and yet
further back behind the azure mountains an
unexplored region which stretches to the
French territory, Louisiana. Before II was
the
HEAD OF DEEP wArER NAVIGATION
with lis diurnal tides which could float any
vessel that His Majesty's marine could SEND
across the seas.
How could il be otherwise than a city,
Thus must have thought Colonel VIM.
Byrd lying under the stars reading the future
with prophetic vision, for on the completion
If his mission. he laid out the streets and
squares of a city, on the fair spot at the Falls
of the James. and the head of deep water
which had haunted his dreams in that then
far distant shore of the Dismal Swamp, and
as there was no place this side the sea whose
beauty was comparable, he named il after
that incompatible spot upon the loved and
winding Thames,
RICHMOND.
This was in 1887 and from that day to the
present. Richmond has been the Gem City OF
the South.
For beauty. for salubrity. for convenience,
for all the charms and advantages which can
make a home delightful, or place Of bust
ness desirable Richmond stands supreme.
Since il was founded the most momentous
events Of the nation have clustered around II;
focusing il as II were in the focus Of d sun