Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-11-18

stop before he got to Waynesborough,
even at the risk of breaking trace or
spilling his load. He would pull up in
sheer surprise, for he would find that
as if by magic was growing up a city
which is the stopping-place daily for
scores Of iron horses, which have rele-
gated his occupation to the condition OF
Othello's.
THE IRON CROSS.
Basic City has been termed the Getty
of the Iron Cross" 1t may be approprl-
ately termed the City of the Iron Com
pass. The conceit of calling it the City
of the Iron Cross is largely due to the
fact that here the Shenandoah Valley
branch Of the Norfolk and Western rail
road bisects the main line Of the Chesa-
peake and Ohio system, but the connec-
lions Of these two great systems lead to
all points of the compass, and therefore
it has been said that oil roads lead to
Basic City.
SITUATION.
Basic City, as the accompanying map
will show, is situated on the eastern
slope of the Blue Ridge just few miles
| from where the trains of the Chesapeake
and Ohio railway rush under the noun
tains on their way west to the great coal
| fields, and beyond and cast to the ocean.
| Here it is that nature had made way
through the Appalachian chain for traffic
east and west, and here Typographical
conditions conspired to bring about a
junction with the Chesapeake and
Ohio, of IL great highway from the
North to tho great Southwest. Here
and hereabouts one sows with the GER
tainty of reaping and plants with the GER
tainty of gathering flowers and fruit.
! Here the valleys smile almost continu-
ously and the mountains wear their most
beautiful azure tint as they seem almost
to kiss the dome above them. Looking
upon Basic City from any point above it
on the mountain slopes, the scene is one
of enchanting beauty.
MAGNET,
These conditions alone constituted a
magnet that ii was @ foregone conclusion
would draw around it a population and
result in founding a city. But fortune
did not stop here in bestowing favOrs
| While Ceres and Flora and Pomona
were busy above ground Vulcan was Ia
boring and forming great stores of min
erals below ground. Whether be was
at the time counting one or all of these
goddesses know not, but unquestiona-
bly, he did some Of his best work here
both in upheaving the mountains into
picturesque forms and in fusing any loose
| material he found about into ores. II
the goddesses did not look sweetly upon
him it is certain they did not know a
"good catch when they saw it-that is,
Judging from his wealth in minerals as
measured by the modern standard.
PRACTICAL FACTS.
But 10 come closer to practical facts,
Basic City is bound to be an industrial
centre and develop rapidly. Aside
from charming climate, beautiful scene
~, pure water-supply, and the envi-
ronments Of prolific agricultural coun-
try, it has unlimited resources as an
iron-producing place. Iron-ores which
have been pronounced by experts to 10
Of the best quality, and which have been
fully tested under the old charcoal me-
thod of reduction, abound in almost I'M
broken strata for fifty miles north and
south. Its two great railroad systems
give il the advantage of competing
coal, and limestone is plentiful and
easily accessible. 1t was as pa
tent TO enterprising and far-seeing
businessmen rs was the existence OF
its background OF mountains that iron
from Basic City could be placed in New
York for "a per ton less than from the
Alabama plants and at from $40 to 80
per ton less than from the Lake Supo-
nor centres What has been the result
What is always the result when capital
sees such an opportunity2 In May,
1890, there was no Basic City. To-day
the eyes Of men in ali parts OF the coun-
try who are seeking investments and
thinking of locating industries are turn
ed upon the place. Yesterday the
place was known only as q railroad
junction. Now il is listed as one OF the
coming industrial cities Of the awakened
South. Five months ago the mountains
only echoed the whistles of locomo-
tlves. Tomorrow they will also echo
tho whistles OF tho engines Of numerous
factories. shops, nc. among these car
works, paper-mill. hardvare-factory,
an iron-furnace, cigar fectory, coke
and lumber-works, brick plants, school
furniture-works. q knitting factory, sash
blind and door-factories. broom-fac-
tory. q unsatisfactory, q tin-factory, and
other plsnta. All these industries ara