The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-07-07
!Called+the Chicago Of Wiz.
5 ginia, Being a Wonder
full Railroad Gentle.
PEANUT TRADE;
LUMBER INTERESTS
Richest Bank to Its Inches in
misunderstanding Population.
( Peanut Market for Whole
World-Many Wealth
IL Producing Factories
in Operation.

1891 ~ - SAeLIASAis
TIA Especial From STAFF Correspondent.l
j SUFFOLK, VA, July 6.-There is no
town in Virginia, old Williamsburg
not excepted. that is richer In ancient Z
than Is the goodly town OF
but her ancient history has
been written by others, and can be
read by anybody who loves to delve
into that kind OF literature. To ma
the Suffolk of to-day. the twentieth
century Suffolk. Is much more inter
esting The old times, as we'll as the
old folks, who made Suffolk great Ia
enc old times. are dead, and good +
many of the latter have been forgot-
ten. The men and the women who
are making Suffolk great to-day are
much more interesting
Somebody has said that the Suffolk
of to-day is the Chicago of Virginia.
It is to be supposed that the person
who first put that remark in circula-
ton got his idea from a glance at the
map. which shows the town In the =
centre of network of railways and
on q water front that in a way does
remind one of similar map OF Chi
cago and It's environments. j n another
sense, and. In fact, In number OF
ways, Suffolk reminds one OF Chicago
1t is alive, 1t is progressive 1t Is in
dustrious. and 1t is hustler. along
ginia" Is not an inappropriate name
for Suffolk. Wherein 1t resembles Chi
cago may or may not be shown later
In this review of the town and its
Industries and its business.
Loyal to Nnnsemond.
The town is large enough to be
called city because under the Con-
,stitution OF Virginia any town thai
has 5000 or more inhabitants is. a city,
and as such is entitled to court t. and
city government, II It wants these
things. But Sufroll< is part of Nam
seinond county. and from the eariie
days has been the county seat Of The
grand old county. 1t is loyal to Nam
semond. and would rather be e tow
lin Nansemond than to be a city sepa-A
rated from the good old county. The
population Is largely In excess of that
which, under the Constitution, would
make it city. for within the corpor-
ate limits there are now living not less
than 5000 people, and in the immed-
late environment there are at least
1000 more. Practically then Suffolk
Is town. not a city, mind you. OF
O. 600 inhabitants. This Is in no way
an overestimate.
The Location of the Town.
Il The elevation or tho town is fifty
two feet above sea level. and is the
highest point between the cities OF
Norfolk and Petersburg. The town Is
located on several hills. gradually
sloping to the Nansemond River, Civ
ing excellent surface drainage.
The mean annual temperature is be-
tween so and 65 degrees. and the aver.
age rainfall Is about so inches. The
mortality ratio is 16 to 1000.
The country adjacent to Suffolk
and from which 1t draws Its trade. is
OF rich alluvial soil, extremely pro-
ductlve, two and frequently three crops
OF garden truck being raised on the
same land In one.year. The lands of
Nansemond county are slightly undu-2
lating and we'll watered, the Nanse-.
mond River and the tributaries OF the
Blackwater and Chowan Rivers
traversing them. It Is a gardening
country. every kind of vegetable being
raised for shipment to Northern mar
kets, but the staple crops OF corn. oats.
cotton, potatoes and peanuts are raised
extensively. Tho finest peanut lands
of the United States find Suffolk as
their centre. Farm lands, naturally
have greatly increased in value during
the last few years, but they are still
very cheapto the Northern or Western
man who knows mono but high-priced
| lands.
transportation Facilities.
When it comes to a matter OF trans
portation facilities, Suffolk ranks secs
| ond to no town in tho South, or, for
| that matter, in the United States.
| With six great trunk lines and four
teen feet Of water at mean low tide
to the sea, it stands In tho front rank
as distributing and manufacturing
point. The rates of freight are as
good as those of any city In the South,
| and Its geographical location enables
shippers to save money on account OF
| Its being centrally located. and SO
very convenient to rich markets for
their commodities. The railroads ara
! the Norfolk and Western, Southern,
| Seaboard Air Line. Atlantic Coast Line,
| Norfolk and Southern Railway, and the
new Fidewater, newly named Virgin
| ian Railway, which latter road opens
UP rich new country, Suffolk being
tho only Shipping point OF this last
road OF Importance until Roanoke Is
reached westward.
The coublned mileage of these xix
! lines Is enormous. The Old Dominion
| Steamship Line has excellent passen-
/ ger and freight service from suffolk
to Norfolk transferring freight at Nor
i folk to all water lines. This water
/ line does very largo volume of bust
! ness and the rates are eSceedlngly@at-
tractive In addition to this number
of large sailing craft ply regularly he
i tween Suffolk and all the Northern
\ cities. handling all classes of freight.
4 principally lumber and staple farm
,Eproducts. Che. fact that tlfty-tsur men
arc employed here In the agents
/ offices and freight rooms of 6the1e yarir
Gus lines, goes to show something of
Y tho magnitude Of. business handled.
4 The schedules for passenger trains are
50 convenient that Suffolk can Do
reached or lsft at almost any time OF
!. day or night, thirty-two passenger
! trains passing through the town daily
Textbook Figures.
The tax rate OF the town Is st.7o.
The bonded debt 4ssl7s,25o. The rove