Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-11-19
Editorial Correspondence Of the stanton Vim
dfraf0r1


Future Before It, &C.. &C.. sc.
fTimofal corrOspOadonce Of the stanton VIM
dicator.l
WRsr PoIyT. November 10, 1890.
Looking from the hotel this morning
on the broad oxpansc Of salt water, the
ripping waves OF which loaned over the
beach at the foot Of the piazza. / saw O
British steamer Of about 5000 tons
burden steaming up 10 the wharf IL was
the "Grensholl," tho second largest
ship that has come here. She came 30
take in a cargo OF $500 bales Of cotton,
and as she drew up TO her
wharf she passed n Spanish ocean
steamship. beyond which was lying
another English ocean steamship, both
loading for foreign ports, while OF these
same wharves lay American coastwlso
steamers representing three different
lines. AZ these same wharves any day
in the week you will find ocean steam
ships loading for Liverpool, Hayre,
Genoa, Bremen, Client, Antwerp, no
Janeiro, and the West Indies. II Will
not surprise any one who sees this evil
dcuco of "A coming great con mcrclal
point 20 know that n company has been
formed 10 add more industries TO the
town and develop 10 It's utmost Its mag
nihcent possibilities
COMMODORE MAURY's OPINION AND PRE-
DrCuoN ABOUT WEST POINT.
7 say magnificent adyisodly. No city
on the Atlantic lies moro directly ocross
the path Of prosperity and increase and
must moro inevitably reap both. If you
leave the wharf Of Norfolk you travel
nLout twenty miles out Of the harbor
md across Hampton Ronds to reach the
Chesapeake bay II you leave the
wharf at West Point you travel straight
in direct line over a fortv-foOt deep
waterway and in three hours reach
CLesapcnkc bay. So direct is this route
that Commodore Matthew J.. MHury,
United States navy, who examined this
port thirty-five years ago at the request
a. the Richmond and York River
Railway Company, then Just or
canizcl. said that York river runs
{, the Chesapeake bay by "a course so
"eingularly straight and direct rs TO give
ait the appearance Of a canal with
"boundlcss capacities or the 0dvan-
vautages Of West Pointas n harbOr, Com
mOdore Many also said, "that from
Wet Point there is water enough TO
"pass night ont 10 sea any merchant
"ship i'm the country. Being be-
tween the two rivers which form the
"York, West Point also has the rare nd
"vautqge Of double wharfage. On the
Mattaponi side there ia ample water
"and perfect shelter for coasters,
steamers, and all light crafts; while
con the other side there are good
accommodation for the largest IN
"diamnn" In the same report
Commodore Maury predicted in regard
20 the future Of industrial and trans
uortatlon DEVELOPMENT, that "millions of
"produce will start up from the West
land como 10 the call of the Virginia
"steam-whistlCs seeking through her
"borlors for the cheapest and best ways
"to the sen, and Gin this respect. Us
"wcll o. IN others, West Point is supo-
"rior 10 all Of its competitors. Tie
held further that "whercver the inland
"transportlton ends and the sea trans
"p0rtation begins there is generally 10
be found the principal CnfrCpOt OF the
"rcgion of the country which is the
"hasis Of the trade carried on. In
coincidence 20 this law we see n city built
sat the head OF the Chesapeake (}alti-
"morel and Delaware (Philadelphia)
"hays. not at their mouth. In obedl-
"ence 10 this law in the movement Of
"tounage. New York is at the mouth of
"North river. not nj Staten Island" To
4 go. !. Il
th0rity. NAV be added that on account
az the climate West Point ia harhor Of
refuge, and il is no unusual sight IN
winter for the wharyes 10 be crowded
with shipping from other ports driven
here low necessity. I'm 1879 and during
several winters since that time all the
larbors north of the Potomac were
closed by ice, while the York river was
entirely free.
gHC FIFTH COTTON PORT IN THE UNITED
STATES.
since Commodore Maury wrote these
PREDICTIONS thoy have been verified to
tI. letter. The great railroad managers
vlo are always on tho watch for the
nearest deep water settled on this point.
The great Richmond and Danyille system
took this point 20 which 20 bring for
shipment the products Of the Sonth and
Southwest. IL established its terminus
here. and hero is the point at which It's
three thousand one hundred and twenty
miles Of railroad embark It's freight on
deep water The past year it brought
here of cotton alone. 100000 bales, and
IT. warehouses covering thirty acres, are
filed with cotton, tobacco. and slaves for
shipment abroad, and general merchan-
disc and produce for shipment TO
tho northern cities. In these ware
houses alone there are employed from
500 to 1000 lahOrers who have q yearly
payroll of 5000, 0Oo. confirmation of
Commodore Maury's prophecy there are
now running from tins point steamships
80 London, Liverpool, Havre, Rio
Janeiro. Client, Antwerp, and Genoa,
and the products of the great South and
Southwest that seek the nearest water
way 10 the northern cities have induced
the Old Dominion Steamship Company
70 New York, the Baltimore, Chesa-
peake and Richmond Steamship Com
pany to Baltimore, and tho Merchants and
Miners Transportation Company 20 Bos-
ton and Providence TO establish regular
lines Of steamers from this point. Show
ing how rapidly the shipments OF cotton
ore increasing from this point, give
statement from the official report of Mr..
r. Wilkinson, superintendent Of the
West Point Compress and Warehouse
Company Theamount of cotton handled
by his company alone has increased from
$500 bales in lSSl-'S2 TO 93, 402 bales IN
lSS7-'SS. the average increase each year
being about II, 600 bales You can hard
ly believe it, but the little town of West
Point is TO day the mn cotton port II
the United Statcs--a fact that is better
known in Europe than it is in Virginia,
80 little do we know Of the advantages Of
Our State.
II is not surprising then, as 1 have
said, with this astounding growth of
business done here that company
should be formed 10 develop the natural