The Irish standard., 1904-07-23
Though EightyOne Years of Age He Appears
Not Over Sixty and Active as a
Man Of Fifty.
He Has Led an Exceedingly Active Life and
Has Served Both State and Nation
With Distinction.

If you will imagine green valley
sleeping in the warm sunshine like
a great bowl in the heart of this Won
dcr[ully fertile state, and that valley
dotted with the homes Of 1000 busy,
energetic people. who are essentially
Northern in their temperament and
ideas, you will have picture of the
home region Of ex-senator Henry Gas
saway Davis, the cighty-one- -year-old
Democratic candidate for vice-pres-
dent. 1t is a town that has not vet
Worn off the bloom of newness, a ham
let where the hammer and trowel of
the builder are never silent, says the
New York World
And if you will imagine man with
the vigor of fifty years, the look Of Il
man only sixty, sitting straight as Il
ramrod upon fiery young Kentucky
thoroughbred and galloping through
the town with the speed of Wyoming
cowboy, you will have a picture of the
eighty -year-old man himself
"l've been too busy to grow DID," he
will tell you. "Tve been saving that
luxury for the years after I've retired.
We are building a commercial empire
here in these mountains, and after it
is on it's feet We'll stop to take breath.
Elliins is five hundred miles south
west of New York, 2GS miles west of
Washington. and 1863 miles as the crow
flies west southwest of Philadelphia.
You ride over through picturesque
llarpcr's Ferry and along the red
waters of the Potomac to Cumberland,
Md, and then you plunge into the
wilderness south.
Senator Davis is called the father of
West Virginia, but he is blood-brotlrl
to every inch of this remarkable new
country about IGlkins. There are boys
yet in school who remember when for
hundred miles every way from El-
kils there was an almost impcnctrablc
wilderness, when the vast coal-ficlds
were untouched, the immense forests
of spruce were unknown, and dozen
lamlcts that now bear the names of
famous statesmen and financers who
helped Davis to develop the country,
were the homes of the black bear and
the rattlesnake.
The wilderness of Rich Mountain,
across the valley from the palatial
home of Senator Davis at Elkins, was
made memorable by the battle which
witnessed the death of the first man
killed in the civil war. From Cumbcr.
land, Md, the West Virginia Central
railroad, built by Mr.. Davis, and now
owned by the Gould interests, winds
over and among the coal-ribbcd noun
tains, creeping around the crags above
picturesque Black Fork canyon, once
the most famous trout stream in east
crn Aemrica.
The mountain sides are glorious
just now with the blush of the noun
tain laurel, and the lips of the Black
Water stream are crimson with the
dottings Of rare orchids, for the col
lection of some of which the Washing
ton botanical department has spent
thousands of dollars. The road into
Elkins is lined with coal mines. no
one Of which has been more than
sllpcd on the outside. All are in ac-
tive operation, and everywhere the
thrill of enterprise makes the air
vibrant. At Shaw, Chaffee, Blaine,
Harrison. German, Barritt, Bayard,
Fairfax. William, Davis, Parsons and
kcrcns there is the sound Of constant
and cheerful labor. Everywhere the
name of Davis brings a brightness to
the eye and enthusiasm to the cheek.
In the lively little town of Elkins
the generosity and business energy of
the founder of the town is apparent
on every hand. Mr.. Davis has built n
beautiful stone church for the Pres
byterian faith in memory of his par
ents; a hospital which is up-to-date
and complete in every way in memory
Of his son Harry, who was drowned
off the coast Of Africa years ago;
Baptist church for the fifty coIored