Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1891-05-15
A YEAR OLD.
BASIC CITY CELEBRATES ITS
FIRST BIRTH DAY.


WHAT BASIC is AND WHAT IT HAS DOM
IN YEAR-PREsIDENT INGALLS, Oh
THE c. & o. CALLS IT THE ''BANNET
TOWN. OF THE NEW TOWNSHIP Is
SURPRISED AT WHAT HAS BEEN DONE
THE INDUSTRIES THERE-THE OLE
wAYNEsBoROJUNCTI OF A YEAR AGO
&C., &C., &C.
Reported for the stanton VINDIcAToR.]
RAs1C CITY, May 9th.
Basic City, this place that you see with
its acres Of factories, with theil
stacks pouring out smoke, with its solid
brick stores and banks, with it's splendid
Hotel Brandon, with it's belt line Of rail
road, on which are standing cars from lines
in many parts Of the Union, with it's iron
was just one year old yesterday! 1t is hard
to believe our own eyes. This month
wear ago stood on open field where L
stood Yesterday in the hotel verandah and
listened to the joyous blowing of the facto-
~ whistles celebrating the anniversary.
Then there was here but cabin, a stable,
a rude cottage, a little tavern at the depot, a
little shanty at the railroad crossing with
ssSpruce beer for sale here" That was the
"Waynesboro Junction. of year ago.
Before the enterprise of man it has passed
into oblivion, even its name is forgotten.
Last night I walked around the verandah
and gazed through the plate glass windows
into the great ball room of the hotel, with a
ball going Oh in which nearly two hundred
participated The music it was Webers
orchestra-the lights, the assemblage,
brought to my mind with yet sharper
contrast the dull and deserted ''Waynes-
boro Junction. of a year ago. The magic
change amazes me, but not me alone.
PRESIDENT INGALLS, IN BASIC CITY.
It amazes men far more familiar with
the growth of towns than [ am. This
morning 1 rode over Basic City in the fol-
lowing company: M. E. ingalls, of Gin
cinnati, President of the Chesapeake u
Ohio Ry.; &C. H. Coster of N. Y. the rep
resentative of the great banking firm of
Drexel, Morgan Il Co.; Chas. D. Dickey,
Jr., Of N. Y, w. z. Anderson of Cincin-
natl, one of the purchasers OF the Hot
Springs, Decatur Axtell of Richmond,
Vice President Of the Chesapeake & Ohio.
These gentlemen are officers and Direc-
tors of the Chesapeake & Ohio Ry., and the
head of the party, President ingalls,, was
ON his first tour OF the new towns along his
road in Virginia. He had come from
Buchanan the night before. G.. W. Stew
ems, Gen1 Supt. of the G. & o., II. T..
Wickham and VIM. Garstany of Virginia,
were on the tour with the party. AS Mr..
ingalls, stepped from the car to the plat
form and looked around at the scene, he
remarked to Mr.. M. A. Booker OF the Bas-
ic City Company: "You have remarka-
BILE place here" On meeting Judge j. M.
Quarles, the General Manager OF the Com
pany, he said: "Well I have been to all the
new towns and you take the cake Your
place has a solid look that I've seen no
where else.'' Feeling some curiosity to
know about the comparative rapidity be-
tween new Virginia towns and new Wes-
tern towns, asked him: SIN the West do
they build town any quicker than this
one?' "Oh, great deal slower,'' he re-
piled. "They don't get as solid look on
their towns as this one has, in a year or
anything like it, Mr.. ingalls, has the
right idea about one point in town build
ing. General Manager Quarles pointed out
to him the big Opera House now being
erected, when he asked: ''What about your
churches and schools; the best way for a
town to grow up is under the shadow of it's
churches and schools" Being told that
four denominations were preparing to
build houses Of worship here, he said with
emphasis: "Ah, that's good" AS we
drove through the long range of big facto-
ries with their machinery going he ex-
claimed as he looked at them: ''This Is
perfectly marvellous" 1t seemed to strike
him that this could hardly be Virginian's
work and he suddenly turned to Judge
Quarles and demanded: "What State are
you from?" The Judge replied that he was
from Virginia, born and raised here.
SWELL" said Mr.. ingalls,, taking another
glance around: ''You have done wonder
full work, wonderful! Is this your first
work of this sOrt?" The Judge replied
YES. it was his first. ssWonderful'' said
Mr.. Ingalls,, sit is wonderful. He was
very frank and plain in his questions and
seemed to be perfectly familiar with the
operations of incorporated companies III
town building. ''Now," said he, looking
over the range of factories, ''that you have
given all these people money have you got
any left?" The Judge laughed and replied:
@'Oh. yes, we've got some left and add
ed: "Out of our $500 shares of stock we
have retired 5000 and only have 1900
left, - to which Mr.. ingalls, replied with
surprise: "You have! well you are in clo-
yer then !" AS he looked around at the res
licences going up, he remarked: 'That is
a very important thing and l was sorry to
see it neglected In some of the new towns 1
have been in. You can t have an industrl-
al town without you put your residences
up.'' Mr.. Ingalls, seemed strongly i'm
pressed with the country surrounding
Basic City and the location itself and re-
marked: gu have lovely country here,
a beautiful country"
One thing seemed to surprise Mr.. In
gals. He asked about where the capital
for the company S work bad come from and
was told that it came from Virginia. us
that so,' he said, ''wen that's good that
will keep your money at home. That Isl
the best plan after all; you have it all here
among yourselves. Some surprise has been
created by the growth of your new towns
but, go to the bottom of it. and it is pretty
much the way Cincinnati was built up to
its present SICILY it's Building Ass0cia-
tions 1t is the associated capital OF the
people in small and large sums that does