The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-03-20
|BU.SY LYNCHBURG
/ SOUTH S| {: J |: ] CITY
Shoe Emporium Of the
Whole Soulful any
Factories and obbers
VERY SOLID BANKS
! ANDlM'UCH CAPITAL,
shoemakersl Are the Lords Of the.
Hill City in a Commercial Way.
Lynchburg Is the Boston
Brockton Of the South
and the World-Great
Railway Centre.
BY FRANK s. wooDsoN,
Industrial Editor.

kst5f&
BY FRANK s. wooDsoN,
Industrial Editor.
( Lynchburg, Va. March 1as-Away
back yonder--I would not like TO say
how long ago. because it was s;wnen I
was child and eager to listen to
any sort OF a yarn, whether exag-
gerated or mott used to hear old
people tell about the wonderful things
In the way of sbustness and enterprise
they had seen in Lynchburg, and they
used to tell how man named Lynch
owned a ferry and country store
there. and also hotel and a stable.
and how a town grew up around that
layout and took It's name from Mr..
Lynch, and how the town grew first
as tobacco market, then as canal
freight distributing point. then as +
railroad centre then as q Virginia
banking and money centre and all that
Kind OF thing. Lynchburg was much
of town in We olden days. but 1t re-
manned for the twentieth century
hustlers to make 1t the Lynchburg Of
to-day: one among the biggest goods
distributing points In the South. one
OF the finest manufacturing centres In
the South, the biggest shoemaking
town in all the South, ranking in this
line with New England towns, and In 4
some respects. In fact. in many re-
spects. outdoing them: a tobacco SELL
Ing and manufacturing town. a wagon
and buggy-making town. an iron
working town. sewer pipe-making
town. cotton manufacturing town.
a tremendous retailing town, supplying
vast and rich back country, and al
together one of the liycst and most
up-to-date Virginia towns that lives
in this good and prosperous twentieth
century. And 1t is all this because Of
the hustling qualities OF Its 10000 in-,
habitants.
OLD Times and the New.
\ Old m an I.y nch has been dead many,
livery many years; peace toll ashes;
\ the old .'be fore lie war places have
A given way to twentieth century Ideas
1 and modern development Ideas, and II
& Ills this twentieth century Lynchburg3
I III want to talk about. have been here
a sseveral days, and have picked up:
II enough information on the subject In
!. Ehand . Eli up a whole page OF read-
4 Ing matter. and I will find 1t little
4 difficult to tell all know about these
things in the three columns that have
i been allotted me.
The Banks and Their business.
The banking business Of town or
of a city is pretty sure index OF
what Is going on there. a few figures
I and castlsiron facts along this line
will be Of interest right here. There
are SIX banks in Lynchburg, fiye8na-s
! tional and one State bank. the First
| National. the Lynchburg National and
the National Exchange being the
leaders. sss
Some interesting figures are shown.
by these banks. In the first place, all.
of the banks are doing good business,
In the second place, all the people
bank on" the banks: that Is to say.
| they have utmost confidence IN them.
The capital stock OF, the kLynchburg
banks is nearly $4,000 900. The surplus
! held by the banks is close to $2.000.-3
| 900; the deposits vary. of course. but
lsamount at this date to about $S.o00.-!
1000. These accommodating banks have
|smoney loaned out on giltedge security
lftos the amount of about $9,260. 700. An
kexpert at figures who has access to-
= all Of the bank books told me this
!. morning that IL would take the
9trouble to go over the statistics Of
4 1905 II would find that in less than
1.-TWO years the increase In banking
business. that is to say, in deposits as
we'll as In loans and discounts, has
4 been q fraction over z per cent: that
4 is to say deposits have been enlarged
during that time about s750.00o0. land
Il presuma,bly the loans and discounts
i; are In about tile same volume.
:, :, Always Strong.
4 But Lynchburg has always been o
!. great banking city. 1t Sc ems to rne q
have read a statement somewhere that
Il in days gone h., It had more money,
, according to population than any city
,,tiin the'United States save two OF the
f,old Plymouth Rock towns Of New
!, England that never spend anything. j -
have learned to-day that this state-l
, ment Is not only true as to the data
: referred to Tan ante -bellum date & but
Ills also true to-d ay. 81; IA & S
) a very interesting and an estlmablel
.ifeature about tho banking business in
!, I.ynchburg is the fact that all OF the
bankers believe implicitly in lynch
ana the Immediate surrounding
: and a sight OF It. out OF town an n
4 long ways out; way down in the back
Z woods OF fully two dozen Virginia
4 counties, but all6thet same they believe
4 In I.ynohburg, and they leave no stone
!, unturned to advance Its commercial.
!. and Industrial interest. That Is one OF
the reasons why Lynchburg keeps on
manufacturing. shoemaking8 and gem
A eral Industrial centre 81
Great Railway Centre.
4 Another reason for phenolne nalg
/ growth along these lines within the
Il last decade Is the splendid railway and
,iishipping facilities Lynchburg has.
Three lines OF railway centre here
l tho Norfolk and Western. the southern
, and the Chesapeake and Ohio, all trunk
!, lines, from within the city and from.
y nearby points these trunk lines have
. branch lines; for Instance. the Npr-s
.ifolk and Western has a branch line
\ 5sprouting ont from here direct to Dur
\. ham and other North Carolina pc nts
Campbell and Halifax coun--
: lUAs H.. ....A