The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-06-26
And Likewise the Home Of the
Biggest Trunk Factories
OH Earth.
ONE OF THE SOLID
BANKING TOWNS
lCockades City Believes III and
Encourages Small Mai1ufac-
/. turing ngAppotnattox River,
by "Deflection' Scheme,
to Add to City's Com
i1ercial Importance. rs
i %ln.eercial Importance.

- n
Especial from n Staff Correspondent.)
TETERsRURG. VA, June 25 The city
OF Petersburg, located at the head OF u
navigation on the Apponiattox River, ss
twenty-five miles from Richmond. isM M
unique III many respects. There is not q
a city In tho State Of Virginia, or III 81
the United States, as for that matter. 81
that does as little blowing in propor-
ton to amount Of it's solid business as this &
acity Of Petersburg. The people u OF the G
$Cockade City are not given to blowing
'but they are strictly business all the N
time n II 4 h &. N. S x sS iS5 5s s
The time was in the days preceding the
Civil War, and for several years there
after when Petersburg carried In the&
hollow Of It's hand all the trade. going 4
and coming, of all the Virginia coun- a,
ties between It's corpora te limits and tho
North Carolina line, and of at least ones
third Of the counties OF North Carolina.
Its main hold In those day IS was the corn-
mission business, and the wholesale gro
8cery business, the wholesaling OF dry B
goods, boot and shoes hats and caps.
Il and, Iii fact, every hing II tbs !terrt-
tory above utlned zeal ed for This SWas
q business going and coming ~ etersbuTg
I commission merchants handled and sold \
all the products of these rginta and
North Carol lima farms. and In turn they.
and the Wholesale merchants sold all
the groceries, dry goods. shoes and every
thing consumed by the people Of that t5f
territory. ssSfss
CONDITIONS CHANGED.
In the course Of time conditions changed u
and Petersburg lost a large portion q Z sa,s
this valuable commission and ~ olesale siB.
business. It scattered; some Of 1T went fFs
to Norfolk, some to Baltimore, some di-3M
rect to New York and Boston and Sgi
great deal of 1t fell into the lap of Rich
n7and. Petersburg did not sit down and
cry- about this change. but went to hust-
ling along other lines Her wide-awake,
business men realized the fact that con-
dltions We're changed, and Petersburg
must change with them.
Petersburg then looked mainly to man I sS
ufacturing and, commencing III a small 558s
way, it has become one OF the most im-
portant manufacturing centers in Nir-
ginla or in the South, and It has devel-r
oped that the temporary loss of Its com-
mission business was a blessing in dis
euise, In that 1t caused her people and @
her flnanciers to look for other LEGS to
stand upon. The loss OF this commits
SION DuSlIlGSS was
temporary, for In later years, Peters, 81
burg has regained it; not that which she
absolutely lost In the shape in which 1t n
was when lost, but to-day she is hand ~
ling In dollars and cents as much OF
the products of the farm as she did
in the old days, Branching out into #
manufacturing most naturally resulted In S
recovering the lost commission business.
that is to say the handling Of farm pros
ducts. Sg5,
FACTORIES BRING TRADE.
BY tho establishment of cotton fac-ss
tories, peanut factories. tobacco factories.
lumber consuming factories and other
manufacturing Industries, Petersburg
naturally forced farm and forest products AZ
to seek a market upon her streets, and "
thus she not only recovered the value OF IA
tHh old-tlme commission business which n
once made her famous, but In many
ways she has made n net gain III other Vi
lines in the process Of losing 1t and re-
gaining it..
Petersburg did not weep over changed
conditions. but proceeded in her OWN
might to create new conditions, as Well x
as to take advantage OF those that were
created for her. She built up within her n
own limit demand for the farm pro-