New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-07-22
factory in the State. sub. Making millions Of
| carpet tacks, sub"

carpet tacks. sub
1t was true They have tack factory. lime
works and cracker factory. and that Is ABOUT
all. Front Royal and Riverton. the latter
railway depot at the fork Of the North ana oouth
Branch of the Shenandoah River. were linked to-
gether. and glowing prospectuses and advertise
ments told of what in store for the Twin
Cities of the Shenandoah Valley The TWO
miles of cattle pasture. wild raspberry bushes
and snake weed that interviewed between the
two places were surveyed. plotted and laid out
into residence and factory sections. Now one
secs building probably at intervals of quarter
of q mile or 80 this stretch-sone compieteo.
others just as the carpenters left them wheh ,ne
boom burst. There was one building lntehue9
for n piano factory. but the pianos never were
forthcoming from it. and now they seek to make
q Baptist College OF IL. -
So the story of defunct booms might be told
all the way down side Of the Valley along
the shining rails of " The Town Builder" and up
the other side. twenty miles away. where run
the tracks Of the Valley Branch of the Haltm9re,
the City of the Iron Cross; Buena Vista. Glas-
gov. where Ex-Governor Fitzhugh Lee. as the
head Of the Improvement and development COM
pany, secured the investment of several millions
Of English money: Shendun. Winchester and
score of other places all had the same experience
The history of one is a duplication of the story
of the 9th rs The unfinished work Of the con-
tractors the streets. avenues and bonlevards
laid out through the adjacent wheat and corn
fields. can be seen at all Some OF them grew q
little ard at times waved great in promise OK
furnaces and factories but all now suffer from
the same palsy. and pasurage for cattle furnished
the chief assets OF the local boom companies.
About the first thing nearly all these boom towns
did was to build fine hotel Many OF them
were costly and beautiful structures. Mishaps
Of one sort or another have overtakcn pretty
much every one OF them. So many Of them were
destroyed by fire after being heavily insured that,
il is said the insurance companies became sus-
picious, sent men here 10 investigate and in many
instances had the policies cancelled In Lees
burg. Louaon County: Just east OF the Blue
Ridge, boom hotel, that erected at a cost
Of $4,000. was knocked down at an auction
sal, for 81? 600 Tn Winchester contractors
are Just putting the finishing touches on great
rlc Of brick and mortar that cost 81 90 900.
Now that H. is fuilt the boom company that en-
gineercd things in Winchester il wondering how
it is ever going to get money enough TO furnish
il with beds. washs'ands and water pitchers. A
suggestion 10 turn il into an insane asylum and
| I'LL it full Of boomers has not been kindly re-
ceivcI.
All OF this would be comical. if it were not SO
serious. The number of poor Deople-farmers,
AFRICANS. farm hands. small shopkeepers and dav
laboprs-who induced 10 put their little
savings in these outrageous wildcat schemes Of
disordered brains. reaches far into the thon::
dcluded reoplc living iT the big cities Of New.
York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington
were persuaded by the fiattering reports Of lanf
comranics that were paying % and so per cen.
dividends. 10 invest large sums in the aCgregatA
in IN" stock OF these companies. and millions Of
| English money also secured, tho fact re-
mains that numerically the bulk Of the holders
OF this worthless stock til" poor people Of
The jvall"v Tho white sumangatherer Of the
Blue Ridge and the colored well-digger OF tho
inland town alike bought stock. They invested
on the urging of fhn boomers and the glowing
pictures they Rinted. assured that. no matter
what bcfell. their s. certificate OF stock in the
land company would ALWAYS pass current at the
store for So in money The land company stood
in the relation OF savings bank TO them The
companies sent men on horseback Ia ride through
tho lonely pine hills 10 sell the stock to the
small farmers.
When the booms collanscd. and these poor
people that every dollar they had scraned
together and saved had been swept ont of exist
encc. and their land COMPANY stock not
worth the paper it was printed on. thrv refused
10 pav any more assessments. They realized TINT
they had been uggled with and deceived. and
frantic appcals 70 nav mp and assertions that It
caused by the failure Of the Earrings had passed
away" were Of no avail. Now the boom pro-
motors trying through the courts 10 enforce
payment from these impoverished victims. Test
sni's are pending in all the counties Of the
valley. But the disorder is too deep-roo'cd for
such treatment. Tho lawyer who would push
these farmers aud laborers further the judoe OF
Jury who would decide against them. would nut
the seal forever any political ambitions they
NAV have cherished. and all county lawyers
nurse hOros Of political prcfermcnt at time.
there is little dancer Of the courts making these
swindp1 stockholders feel any than they
DO. Moreover n widespread belief among them
that in each boom there were several men who
made snug little sums ont Of the misfortunes
Of their fellows does rot add materially TO their
sat