The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-09-13

INTERESTING FIGURES GATHERED
BY OUR MAN-ABOUT-TOWN.

Richmond is growing rapidly,
alike n sweet kcrnel-to set budding. more
And still more. later flowers for the bees"
until 1t will seem after awhile that the
days Of prosperity will over-brim the
mouldy cup of lithargic content, with
bounteous business blessings.
From talks with our leading business
men. men who have struggled through
dark doubling days. when the light of
hope flickefed in It's socket and almost
went out entirely, lmen who have seen
what the progress of the city in in
crease of manufactures and trade has
been there have been CLEANED some
startling facts. that are of a character to
show what Richmond has done within
the past several decades. Ii would not
be dull talk TO take one from house to
house and hear the individual exper-
ierce of observaDt men, who have
watched the growth of events within
the period of time named. They bad
the keenest interest in watching 1t. 1t
was a life and death matter 10 them,
bread and meat business matter. What
ever the result il would effect them
acutely. They were sowing: If the
harvest was heaping they would reap
reward, but If no return came they
would be lost and ruined.
But ii is hardly necessary to 90 back
more than one year TO illustrate what
is heard in trade and merchandise cir
cles. As has been said in Trade
Talk before, it was n little significant
that every man seen by the TINES Man
About-Town was perfectly satisfied
with the location here, ana spoke IN
glowing terms of the facilities presented
to those who desired to invest in manu-
featuring enterprises, or embark IN
trade of any sort. This was enough to
set one thinking and enquiring, and
ns briefly as II can be done the result of
the research will be given. The best
way 10 come down to hard. pan facts is to
ask " hat the shipment of fIeights over
the various lines of transportation lead
ing out from Richmond amounts to,
aud compare that amount with what
was done last year The investigation
among leading iobbers aud men who
keep an eye on their business discloses
the astonishing fact that yitiIin the last
wear the. shipment of freights out of
EichRfond has increased 90 per cent.
For the month Of August alone 1T can
be safely said that one million pounds
more of freight has been moved from
Richmond this year than was the case
during August, 1883. and yet July and
August are the two dullest months that
jobbcrs experience during year.
The reason for this increase in Rich
mond trade is due TO recent changes IN
railroad management that have caused
the city to naturally claim the advaDt-
ages of her geographical position. The
extension of the Richmond and Dan
vile or the associated railways of Nir-
ginia and the Caroliuas and the estab
IishmeDt of u port ut West Point. has
been a powerful motor in this move
mcnt.
West Point makes these reads trunk
line. formidable competitor FOR busi-
ness, North. South, East, and West.
With the Atlantic Coast Line, the Chesa
peakc and Ohio. reaching water at New
port News. and our James river water
way at our doors. Richmond offers a
location uurivalled by any city in the
United States. and it will continue to
grow until IT viii become one of the
largest trade centres ia the country.
While there was big boom III real
estate here last spring, it did not last
long. and property here does not com
mand to-day one cent more than its
actual worth. There has been no noise
of trumpets about trades and mapufac-
lures, yet everybody that has been at
all enterprising in the mercantile world
a
incOntestibly proven in the great stfide.
that have been mace over past years
in the shipments of freight out of the
city. There is still room for improve
ment, and il will be seen in due time.
The only coal elevator in the South is
located in Richmond.
IL was built by the present proprie-
tor. Mr.. Samuel III. HAYES, at a cost of
ten thousand dollars. and is one of the
largest of the kind in any city III the
Union. Ii covers an entire square be-
tween Tweniy.eighth and Twenty
ninth streets. In the enclosure are the
stables. capable Of accommodating
thirty-five horses, and in another por-
ton of the yard is stationary engine.
where wood is sawed any length de-
sired. split and packed away by ma
chinery. Mir. Halves has all
his wood cut by his own
wood-choppers. a great deal of it comes
from along the line of the Richmond
aud Danville Railroad, and great guam
titles from the county OF Powhatan.
The wood is brought right to the yard
by the railroad and prepared for the
market in short order. When the win
ter winds wind up their wrath and let
loose on us their frosty breath. turn
almost any way you choose in Rich
mond aud you will be almost sure to
meet one of ;. II. Halves wood or coal
carts.
But the great thing is the elevator.
VIVA, an Improvement 1t Is upon me
old-time method of the man and the
mule, the block and the tackle. by
the use Of steam for hosting the coal
from the holes of the vessels, that lie at
MIR. HAYES wharf in the dock, and the
further use of Hunts automatic rail
way for unloading, four hundred tons
OF coal per day can he carried from the
ship and stored in assorted bins
in the Elevator. The man and
the mule has e. work mighty
hard TO get away with one hundred
tons. The automatic railway shoots
down grade eighty.fce above ground
aud at the rate of twenty-five miles an
hour, unloads itself in u iiify, and
comes back at the same rate OF speed.
Gracious Ii makes man S head swim
10 stand near 1t and watch the process.
vet no one has ever been in lured in the
slightest since the elevator was built.
Railroad tracks run alongside OF the
elevator. so that cars can be loaded Just
as the coal runs out of the bins. Ex-
petition and saving Of time seems TO
be the watchword OF the place. The
finer pieces Of coal and the dust pass
through the sleeves IN the buns, and is
conveyed TO the ground floor, where It
falls into the dust room, and is taken
hence by hands and piled in ,he yard.
and afterwards sold for engine ana
..fIlr