Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1889-06-28
Impressions of an Exile.

1upItSSlUuS VI jill GAIlGs
Correspondence of the ALEXANDRIA GAZETTE. ]
LYNcFBU.se Va, June 26-Rome, i'm
perious Rome, sits upon her seven hills.
Well, Rome is all right, but Lyncbbrrg cen
knock her clear out of the box. She sits upon
hillss sseven times seven and doesn't put on any
extras about it either Con ing down to
cities less famous and illustrious than Italy g
pride We have here plein, every day kind
of town. This city possesses characteristics
and peculiarities that no other place in the
United States does. 1t is mixture Of the
border, western styl and southern combined;
its business, especially the tobacco industry
is simply marvellous, the very air you
breathe is permeaLed by the smell Of the
wee6; at night your clothes smell of It, and
q stranger fer the first day or two is kept
sneeziDg go hard that at times he ls liable to
disocate the dome of his mead. Here every
day, In different sections of the city, they
have what is termed "breaks," or sale5 of
leaf tobacco; thousands upon thousands of
pounds are sold or change hands, I'll trans
actions being strictly upon cash basis,
where no credit is for moment tolerated
THAT suits me). The consequence is business
here ia grand success. Such warehouses
as they have, great buildings that look like
immense armory barracks, some very hand
some, but the majority very dilapidated
and shabby with whiskers OH them of sever.
al decades growth. What the geople here,
that is the natives, take pride in are its hills;
they are from an angular slope of ten
degrees to that of ninety. You
can have single ''slope" or get them in job
lots. The writer was much amused when
the Alexandria contingent arrived; they
thought they knew it all, and made au effort
to walk down some of these gentle grades
with an Dir of grace and dignity, but soon,
however it became apparent that it was
sad aud lsmentatls failure. Once get fairly
started and unless you have an anchor or a
break chain nothing can stop your mad and
iupetuous flight, but u specG! act of the
legislature or the jim river. Fat people
have to go down on tneir hind legs.
Lynchbnrg is destined to be famous
place everything is progressive and the air
filled with "booms, land booms, iron booms,
cotton booms and building boome Immense
iron furnaces and rolling mi ls are kept 60
ing night and day and soon a large cotton
factory will be in active operation employ
ing hundreds of hands. It s also a great
railroad centre. Three largeirunk lines come
in here with several local lines projecte and
soon to be in working order. There are
some as handsome stores here, both whole
sale and retail, as can be found on Broad
wav. Chestnut street or Hopkins Place. A
fine street car line driven By mule power,
and electric light that tnrns gloomy night
into blazing day puts this place equal II not
superior to any city in the State and a fair
rival for any 10 the south, and yet with
all these attributes of fertilization the streets,
with the exception of one or two, are simply
scandaous You take your life in your own
hands in walking over them. One peculiar
social feature of this place is that after the
hour of noon you never see lady upon the
streets, except she be accompanied by q
gentleman. On Saturday night the town is
entirely, apparently, given over to the
"coons." Main street, the principal thor
ouphfare, teens with them. What pic
ture it would he for Hogarth. Here you see
the negro in all his simplicity-and origl'
nality. They are not impudent or agrees
siye like the city "coons" of more northern
places, but polite and always happy and
good .natured. Groups of these sable deni-
zens will laugh, sing and dance on the
street in sll the abandon OF the pantation
and the sound OF the banjo and hddle is
sweeter music to them than the classic
strains of Gilmore and Thomas would De 10
the more refined and cultivated whites. Inc
most aweipspiring sight here ID the COURT
house. The first impression OF the Denoider
is that Mr.. Noah's ark had not yet come
down from its high and lofty perch on Ara
rat. This judicial monument 10 the nlgnesI
court in the land lin attitude); it can look
down with ariel condescension upon the su'
preme bench, the decisions of the Judge can
often be heard in the Court OF the
New Jerusalem, 30 close 10 ne TO
the skies. On clear day you can, with
the naked eye, see the Washington monn-
ment and with glass almost see into
your future. ,.,o,
residences here, whilst some of the OLD time
ones befo' de wah, style look as if they
would have been antique in tha blooming
period of the centuries past.
met an Alexandran here few days
ago. who is In the railroad service. asked
him how he liked the city by the James, ne
had q kind of 20 down hill LOOK, and said be
wonld rather be block sigma! on the Long
hridge than the mayor of this place. Strange
THAT tastes some people have The people
here are the regular old Virginia STOCK,
kind, hospisable and fs social as they can mI pc e
and q stranger can soon feel at home. The
a;rls are as rule very lady like and pretty
s ss angels. but they have such big feet. some
.h,nc nm the order ofthe Chicago girls. This
ia oansed by the peculiar topography OF the
Mace. n They have three daiies here, but
pnne hone of them come up to the Very age anc
aU hoav of % the times" This isa very healthy
C;tv % I have been here one month and have
never seen a funeral yet; the people i've
forever % and turn to old iron. 1t is singular,
it is 80, for the water you have to drink IL
% uiiIianous, about the color of yellow dog
and hes to be filtered through sand seiVe
before tits fit for drinking; often IN your
pitcher you can find frogs and J. Ilzzaros m ano
things. The situation OF this hill CITY is very