The Newtown bee., 1907-12-20

cured enough to gather. the nuts are
 pulled off for marketing and the tops
 laid by for winter fodder. Passing by
 or through peanut field on moon-
 light night the stacks look like senti-
 nels on duty.
 One of the largest manufacturing en-
 tefprses in this city Is the Seward
 Trunk and Bag Company. ws conclude
 this city Is justly proud of 1t. for it was
 the first thing to which our attention
 was called AS we set foot in the city.
 They manufacture trunks. travelling
 bags. suit cases. telescopes and yalises
 oi every size. description and style.
 The capacity of their works is about
 900 trunks and 1. i.0O0 bags daily and
 i force of 1000 hands are employed in
 the works. IL Is the most extensive
 enterprise of its kind in this country
 so 1t goes without saying it isathe most
 extensive of its kind in the world.
 Four cotton mills with S5.0OO spindles.
 all operated by water power from the
 Appomattox river. use up from % to 30
 bales of cotton daily and employ 300 operatives. The'lumber trade of Pet
 ersburg draws largely from Dinwiddie county. of which it is n portion. but as the supply is on the wane it reaches out into the border coast and gulf states. The long leaf yellow pine of which we saw many fine specimens on drive through thousand acre forest. is in danger of being soon wiped out though we saw.many small sections of twenty years growth on land allowed run wild because of lack of help to keep it under cultivation. which. if al- lowed to grow unmolested for twenty five years more. will cut good growth of marketable lumber. We drove through one such tract. that the owner told me he bought three years ago for one dollar an acre, and could now get | ten per acre if he would sell. He sees the handwriting onlthe wall betoken- ing scarcity of lumber and higher pri- ces. and it is not for sale. Profitable deals can be made with those who must sell and money so invested is better than money in the bank. The school system embraces High school and three grammar and primary schools for white pupils, and four schools for the colored race for whom they have their own instructors. A certificate of graduation from High school, is guar antee for entrance without examina- tion to the highest grade college in the state. There is, too, Normal and Industrial school for manual training of colored youths, supported by the state. St Joseph's College, for the pupils of both sexes, mainly, but not exclusively of the Roman Catholic faith. It is conducted by the Sisters of Mercy. It has eight grades of common school studies and four academic grades. Twenty-Five churches for white people and seventeen for colored people would seem to be sufficient, in number at least, for population of 30, ,OOO. Baptsts and Methodists take the lead numerically. The Y. M. C. Association has we'll equipped build ing whtre all are welcome. A trol- ley line connects Petersburg with Richmond by way of Manchester. Pleasant homes, large plantations, well cultivated fields, growing corn, wheat, sweet potatoes, tobacco, peanuts and hay are seen along the route. Cotton will grow, but not much cultivated. Connection with the outside world is complete. By rail it is 322 miles from New York, 138 miles from Washing ton, 276 miles from Philadelphia, 658 miles from Cincinnati, 800 miles from St Louis, 972 miles from Chicago, 594 miles from Boston, ll20 miles from New Orleans, 658 miles from Atlanta.
 The population at the present time exceeds 3O,OOO, and the assessed value of real estate and personal property exceeds 12,0OO,00O dollars.
 Blandford cemetery, without the city limits, is an interesting place to visit. It dates back to over two hundred years. Quaint inscriptions on the old moss covered head stones tempt the visitor to while away time, until the minutes lengthen into hours, unless one must run to catch train," and that was what we had to do. These grounds enclose an old church of brick, its picturesque ruins partially restored to conform to it's original ar- chitecture. Its form is that of the letter T. It was built in 1735. The old sounding board is still suspended