Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-03-25

for villas and cottages, and abundant To-
| cations for manufacturing establishments.
ALL ANIMATION.
Salem has long shaken off the air Of an
easy-going country town. The streets are
| all animation. and some of her stores are
surpassed in architectural complete
ness and finish and solidlty by those no.
where in the State except in Richmond.
The hum of industry is heard on all sides,
and the whistle of locomotives is ever re-
minding one of contact with the great
trade centres of the country. The policy
of the Norfolk and Western Railroad Com
pany makes freight rates to and from Sa-
lem as favorable as at any other point in
this section of Virginia.
CHEAP LIVING.
The taxes in Salem are low and living
cheap. The cost of the necessaries of life
and even the Injuries have not increased
with the development of the town by any
means. The rich back country raises
enough in the way of food supply to feed
q population many times as large as that of
Salem. and as Salem is one of it's principal
barteriDg and trading markets. the best
is secured at the lowest figures.
EDUCATION, AGAIN.
Recurring to the educational and re-
ligIous advantages of Salem / would say
these should be an important consldera-
tion with capitalists in locating manu-
features. They are such rs to make new
population contented. The skilled me-
chanic who comes here will have the as
surance that his children will be surround
ed by the best of influences. In addition
TO Roanoke College with its four large
buildings, its corps of professors, who
take personal interest in every student,
and its splendid library facilities. there
are two public and several private schools,
and handsome graded school has just
been completed. Hollins Institute, one
of the leading female seminaries in the
South, is only nine miles off.
All the principal religious denominations
are represented IN Salem and have hand
some church edifices, and the churches in
all their work are heartily supported. The
| new citizen, therefore, comes into an atmos-
! phere of elevation and refinement and reli-
| gious influence and feels directly that he has
| made q permanent home. His every enyi-
ronment is calculated to stimulate desire
to become O property-owner-to own his
! own vine and fig-tree-and every tendency
/ Is towards conservatism and good citizen
| shin. The older citizens of Salem are
noted for their hospitality and their efforts
| to make strangers at home.
MINERAL SPRINGS.
Salem is in the centre of tho mineral
spring section Of the Southwest, and while
| its altitude and temperature render it one
| of the healthiest of places-so healthy aB
| to make it a summer resort in itself-its
proximity to watering places Is most con-
need change. All the resorts along the
Norfolk and Western and and its connec-
tions can be reached at small cost and by
| a few hours travel Some of these, which
are but distant a few miles, afford an en-
tire change of scenery.
The late DR.. j. j. Norman, who was
resident physician at the Greenbrier White
Sulphur Springs for fortyyears and author
Of tho Mineral Springs of North Amer
ica" bears this testimony regarding the
Salem region: Taking tho climate of the
beautiful Roanoke Valley all in all, and with
an average the entire year round, 1t must
be pronounced very good and rarely if ever
exseIled for the comfortable enjoyment Of
life and for the preservation of health"
The town of Salem and its surroundings
| is connected with its elastic and invigo-
rating atmosphere; its abundant supply of
pure, liying-spring water brought to the
! door of every one who desires it; its natu-
raj drainage of ali superhuous water from
the surface of the ground; its freedom
from fogs, low and marshy grounds, stag
! nant pools, and oil generators OF malaria,
| distinctly point it out as an unusually
healthy location and one most desirable
| for lifetime residence"
All this is borne out by the fact that
few people stop in Salem for any length of
time who are not charmed with it and do
not desire to make it their home. Summey
visitors always leave the place with regret,
and even the casual business visitor Is
Frequently tempted to overstay his time.
LIBERAL OFFERS.
Free sites are granted to manufacturing
enterprises and all manufactures are ex-
| empted from municipal taxation for ten
| wears. The promoters of Salem's develop
ment take nothing for granted and find
them very guarded in their statements
about manufacturing plants expected TO
be put in operation here. They are not
working on paper, holding out false hopes.
come down to hard facts and figures and
the colors they put on will wash. The nu-
| merous industries that have been planted
here are not the things Of day-not ex-
periments. Salem does not want such.
From the testimony at hand there does
not seem to be an enterprise IN Salem that
does not promise TO grow and bring other
industries to the place.
Tho land development and improve
ment companies have put aside alarge sum
for encouraging manufacturing plants,
and the recent financial stringency does not
| a.ern TO have affected the progress here in
| the least. Thetown started on the up grade
and has kept on it withou. let or hindrance.
HAS PAID WELL.
Investment in the stock OF the Salem
| companies has paid well, and Is to pay bet
ter in the future. The rentals alone from
houses built by these COMPANIES are a
! steady and large revenue. and this Is not
the least important suggestion TO capital
lists who are considering the outlook at Sa-
lem. The fact cannot be TOO strongly ac-
| centuated that the supply OF houses IN the
place is not equal to the demand. and will
not be for q long time to come. The
regulation in the way Of skilled work
men. who will require neat, modern,
and substantial Dwellings, must con-
stantly increase, and it goes with
ont saving that q rent-roll in one OF the
additions to Salem will be very comfort.
able thing to have. 1t also goes without
saying that an investment IN lots TO hold
would not be bad move. That 1t IS only
a question of time when sill the eligible
residential, business, and manufacturing
sites held by the present companies Will
be built over must be apparent TO any one
who will study the industrial problem not
only OF Salem, but this whole section. The
Aggregate capital of the various land and
Improvement companies here is over
"a OOO. GOO. Salem is little west OF the In.
termediate point between Norfolk and
Bristol. and to it and from it trade flows IN
As far back as 1874 Edward King. in q
series Of papers in The Cenhuy. Magazine,
wrote OF this place: Salem, the seat OF
Roanoke College, is surrounded BY charm.
ing hills and stands in one OF the richest
agricultural regions IN the United States.
The wealth of this region 10 BY no meani
l.deysloped yet Southwest Virginia pro'