The sun., 1902-10-19

-TranspOrtatIOn bacit'iCs vNcelenl
An Agreeable Place Of Residence.
RICHMOND. Va, Oct. ls-Richmond's
riee OUT Of the asne- of the Civil War has
perhaps been the most remarkable of any
Of the southern cities. In her case they
literally were ashes.
Burned ON the evacuation by the Con.
federate forccs, IN" city around which
q very hell of war had ragged for four years
was in utter ruin and dcsolation. There
was nothing loi,. Commercially the city
was as completely hlotted ont a. though
she no longer existed
All that was l.tt was her superb site and
natural advantages just the raw material.
the bare foundation walls on which 10
erect again the commercial fabric.
!, is marvellous to look al the city a il
Is to-day and recall what n was in that
spring of 1855 when the long war came TO
an end That was only ,hir' y-seven years
ago, a trlfiing ap~, of time in the history
Of CIT y whose beginnings date back nearly
three centuries
One of the most prosperous of all the
cities of the South. Richmond has uisning
before her horizon bright with promise
of wealth and dignity greatly transcend
ing that Of ne days nf her former glory.
when she ranked p, rhipS the most stately
in all the great South ssterhood of cities.
No, a raC,a l. left TO show that les than
forty years ago he city Ca'ne out Of an
ordeal such a. in the history Of tho world
has proved sufficient To transform timer
proud cities for all time into haunts Tor
bats and owls
No' trace Of the d,'solarion is left On
the contrary there ar, Oh all hands the evil
denccs Of buoyant lif. and energy and all
the confident elasticity and hopciulncss
of youth
And with all that. all her old statenoss
her grave conservative dignity remain
with Richmond Sh" is the Boston Of
the South cultivated solidly, wealthy.
rich in intellectual life and moving onward
to her destiny with oven. strong strides
and none of 'hc gddy lppaucy and blus,er
which some times 60 with newly developed
growth and brilan, prospects in thriving
city.
Richmond rests un her eight hills with
the same classic calm with which Boston
rests upon her three, and, PERHAPS. also,
with iu., a touch of the same latent con-
naction of social and aesthetic superiority
In the actual growth of Richmond's
population there has been nothing re-
markabe unless il be in the fact that a
city 80 utterly Frustrated a. wa, Rich
mond should for many years at least have
grown Al all The last census gave the
city something moro than s5W0 popula-
tion. This, ow ing to the season in which
tho enumeration was made. wa, below
the actual mark.
Probably if all the persons living in
Richmond had b,ou counted the population
would have proved to be- clos" to 90 900
And even that iigur" j. hardly fair To
Richmond
Manchester in everything but name is
part and parcel Of Richmond There are
portions Of Manchester that are nearer the
heart OF tn" city Of Richmond than some
portions of Richmond Nsclf Now Man
chester has population of over IO,GO
that by rights should he added TO Rich
mond's 9DGp of 1907
GROWTH or rHE POPULATION.
There are other suburban towns that
might swell the figures 10y several thousand
more. Put OH top OF tins two wears growth,
and il would not bc great cxaggeration
TO say that ~" commercial unit. the Greater
Of from 800 to i20Vn.
Her population AZ the outbreak of tho
war was 37.9lo. Ho" much of this pupula-
ton was loft when the war closed there is
nothing To tell w.. But in 1870 the popu-
lation was 81 .02s and il j. a curious fact that
IN the decade between 1860 and 1870 the
population of Richmond increased moe
bv 3.579 than it did ia the decade between
1880 and 1882
The population in 1870 was 81 .O3s Ia.
tween 1870 and 1870 tho increase was 4 ,50,
or over I, 500 less than the increase bet gceu
1880 and 1870. In other Words with the
exception of tho spurt immediately follow.
ing the war. Richmond's increase in popu-
lation has been of a slow but sure and
steady character
But the increase in population only tells
part oi the story Of the growth of Rich
mond H. compared with that Of hcr sister
cities in the south II is money that talks
and the story told 10y Richmond's money
figures i very impressive
|, II the story of an over swelling tide of
prosperity that can h" matched by hut
few cities in tho country. That tide of
prosperity Is now moving swiftly on 10 a
full Good.
Richmond ia the great financial centre
of the south and all indications point to
her holding that cnsiablo position for manv
years 20 come. The Sun, a. the herald
ana exponent Of prosperity, may give n
bright and particular chapter 10 that feature
- Ricbmonds great development. The
figures for last year are very impressive
in that respect ana when those for this
year are made mp they will pc found to be
even more striking
STORY or THt BANKS
For instance, the two most prosperous
and promising cities of the South are Nor
folk and Atlanta. vet the bank deposits of
Richmond on Jan. Of this year werc more
than s2o00oo in excess Of the bank deposits
Of these two cities combined The total
bank deposits OF Richmond were sis7c
as compared with $s,?eS,3so for Norfolk
and 81 25s,is0 for Atlanta
Tho bank clearinga of Richmond in the
last year were SlSI 332, ,3t5 an excess oF nyer