The Newtown bee., 1892-07-08
Freezes From the Old Dominion
Written for the BEE. l

l Written for the BEE.
 | For any person desiring absolutely
 complete rest from the hustle of our New England life, l would recommend ar
 ocean voyage, not necessarily across the
 deep sea, possibility beyond the grasp
 of the average mortal, but a trip along
 the coast. To the person anxious to ac-
 complish the most for small sum ot
 money, no excursion is more delightful
 than a voyage from New York to Rich-
 mond via the Old Dominion steamship
 line. The boats of this company are
 comfortable and the service is first class. They are patroniZed by the best people and the table service is equal to any first class hotel. One has little idea of the cost of one of these vessels, which is be- tween S3OO, ,000 and $5OO,0OO.
 Leaving New York on Saturday or
 Wednesday afternoon, sail of 40 hours, including the stops, will land one at Richmond. The trip down is not monot- onous or uninteresting by any means. In fair weather, the ships keep in view of the coast the greater part of the way and 8 glimpse of Long Branch, Seabright, At lantic City and other famous watering resorts is caught. The Old Dominion company has three lines, one touching at Old Point Comfort, Newport News and Richmond, Va; second at Norfolk, Portsmouth and Newport News and the Ghird running direct tt West Point, Va. By the Richmond route, the first point touched at is Old Point Comfort and Fortress Monroe, the main attraction be- ing the great Hygeia hotel. Another mammoth hotel close by is now going up. Fortress Monroe, the largest and one of the most picturesque battlements on this continent, is situated only short distance above the hotels. A sail of a few hours from Old Point Comfort lands one at Newport News. Leaving New York on Saturday afternoon at 3, the boat generally touches the dock at New port News at 4 or 5 o'clock in the after- noon. Newport News has come to be a great shipping point, there being large docks here and also great ship building industry. It is the eastern terminus of the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad, which runs direct to Richmond and Cincinnati. Large quantities of grain and other pro- duce are shipped to European ports. The principal traffic, however, is with New York and other coast line ports. The town has enjoyed in the last few years the biggest boom of any place in Virgin ia. From comparatively small village, it has sprung up within year or two to a population of 5000 or 10000. It is like a great oyergroWn child, a fair sized city with no city accommodations yet to speak of. Stepping from the boat to the wharf, one would naturally think the population was nine tenths negroes, as colored labor is employed entirely on the docks. I am told that they are paid much less than men who do the same work on the docks in New York. Those who are in position to know say that they make as fast workers as their white brethren at the other end of the line :; but to visitors it would seem quite the re- verse. The view at the wharf and rail- road depot gives one rather poor im- pression of the place, there being noth- ing but the docks, swarming with ne- groes and the miserable shanties which they occupy. Up on the bluff, short distance away. however, is the business part of the place. The town is building up some good blocks and has quite thrifty look. There are neat looking