Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-06-25
TOBACCO INSPECTION
IN OLD DAYS DESCRIBED
three Public Warehouses Were IT'LL
lied in Richmond for That
Purpose.
SILVER FORKS INTRODUCED
Health Conditions Bad, Owing to
Lack of ScwcrS-Few Banks in
State-Only One Private Carriage
in City
ny LEWIS II. HAIR.

ny LEWIS ~. BLAIR.
AS tobacco was the mainstay Of
wealth and employment In our fair
city. IL may not he uninterestinG to re-
call something Of the tobacco trade IN
early DAYS.
Tobacco wag inspected undo. the
authority Of the state, and there were
three public warehouses for that pur-
pose They were The Public on the
canal bank just before entering the
aSin; "Seabrook's." in tho VALLEY. and
'Shockoe. AT the southern end Of
Thirteenth Street as il opens into
sort Of public place. "Shocl;oe" vas
ny far the most important OF the three
warehouses. All tobacco entering Rich
'nond was deposited In one OF these
warehouses. and there marked as to
cate Of arrival name Of owner and
~! other particulars TO identify the
tobacco. Certain days of each week
we're inspection days, when consignees
and all others interested assembled to
watch tho proceedings and, after tho
hossheads were duly inspected, 10 take
out samples. which were the stock-in
'vaae Of the conslgnees. with which
- soil their consignmcnts. the
samples being accurately distributed by
me Inspector, thus leaving no room FOR
dispute
The process OF inspection was this:
Tho envelope itself WAS removed. the
tobacco IN its virgin purity remaining
o7c0 TO genera! inspection. When the
hour arrived. "a striwart nrGro. armed
Nth Formidable broad crowbar
rould thrust j, into the tobacco ~
three places, n as TO discover any
false packing The consicnce OF each
hogsheaG wou!d take his samples. and
me inspector would stencil his verdict
whether passed or refused. upon the
hogsheaG. thus guaranteeing - pur-
rhaseys n" quality thereof
This method becoming. in time. In
convenient, the trade rented comuodi-
Gus quarters. where. ,hencetorth. all
huying and selling was conducted until
the exchange Itself expired. long after
tho war Now the whole tobacco bust
ness is completely changed
MANY PROSPEROUS
TOBACCO MANUFACTURERS
There were many prosperous tobacco
manufacturers with trade extending to
AL parts or the country-even TO Aus
tralia-bu, In later years the Amcri-
can Tobacco Company bought out
nearly all Of them a, fabulous prices.
50 that now few private manufacturers
remain. But, like John Browns soul.
the tobacco trade Of Richmond still
goes marching on"
have heard older people speak
81 tobacco bringing itself 10 market"
Probably YOU Think necessary necrom-
ancy or sle!ght-of- hand was more ad-
vanccd then than now for tobacco TO
perform tina; feat But not SO. Fiav-
HE no vehicle 20 transport his hogs
head, the owner would drive stakes
IN both ends o: the hogshead and at
tach shafts thereto The horse would
De hitched within In. shafts, the driver
would s!t on AN improvised seat. and
of the hogshead would roll itself 10
market where !, would arrive much
besnl!rched ana damaged: bu, dam
aged tobacco in market was much more
desirable than good tobacco lying un-
sold in the barn.
Owing 10 the difficulty of getting
70 Richmond until Mayo bu!lr his
shackl!nE bridge 'washcd away, every
few years, 10y fresh.tS) these rolling
hogsheads generally stopped in Man
chester, which. by the way, was almost
a. good a tobacco market as Richmond
and was quite prosperous hut the
improvement OF Mayos Bridge. and
The terminal of the James River and
Nanawha Canal in Richmond. proved
Nanchesters coup de grace as r to-
racco market
silver forks. which long have been
commonplace on tho tables OF the
''til-to-do. were unknown in Rich
mond until William Mitchell our lead
ing jeweler, introduced them about the
middle OF the forties. This was i'm
pressed upon my mind by the fact that
NY brother. James Blair. on leaving
FOR New Orleans In search Of fortune,
made my mother a present of $500 ,
princeiy sum in those days of general
complaint OF hard times, when wealth
"as not accumulated generally. and IT
vas the best that most could do 10
I've within their incomes. Mother at
once converted all OF this money into
the new luxury, silver forks. so that
'ur family was about the first to In
du!ge therein. Previously, the highest
EXPRESSION of table elegance consisted
or three-pronged. and later four
p!onged. steel forks set In ivory ham
dies. Ere long, these were substituted
by plated forks. cheap. but useful.
Mitchelis jewelry store was en- tho
north side of Main Street, between
Thirteen and Fourteenth. and he was
The first to Introduce plato glass into
Richmond.
William Mitchell was very handsome.
nd his wife was beautiful. Heaven.
therefore,. favored all tho children with
good looks. One son was killed in bat
lie below Richmond. Mr.. Mitchell,
erected handsome residence on tho
southwest corner of Franklin and Sixth
streets, long afterwards owned and
occupied by Colonel Alexander Cam
cron.
LARGE COLONY OF
NEW ESGLANDERs
Mr.. Mitchell was a Northerner (prob-
lilly from Connccticu). and in this
Connection is noted the very large
sprinklinG OF New ErGlanders In Rich
N ond, Among many others we're Isaac
Davenport. senior and junior funcle
and nephew. and Griffin Davenport.
son OF Isaac, senior, wholesale grocers:
samuel Putney and his nephew. stephen