Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-03-18
now FOR WOODEN MILLS
IN GREATER RICHMOND
Baker Dog Law, If RigidIy Enforced,
VIII Revive Lost Industries in
Several Virginia Cities.
RICHMOND MAY BE IN RING
With Cur Dogs Suppressed, Sheep
Raising VIII BE Big Thing, and
Farpcrs and Stock Men VIII Sup.
ply Mills With Wool.


IN q decade from to-day there Will
be not less than half Il dozen wooden
'h'is rating in Richmond, some on
INC north side and some on the south
sioc of James River. SUCH is the pre-
diction of Il Richmond business man
VINO Tor nearly two months watched
mo work of the Legislature. praying
an The while for tho passage u. .n.
Baker dog law. Now that the Baker
piil Is the law OF the land. he has he
come an industrial prophet. enthuai-
as'ichiiy coming forth with the
prophecy as stated above.
IN tho days long gone by wooden
Mills were common in Virginia. Be-
Io!e the War Between the States and
LOT rev years afterwards such mills
were operated in Richmond. Man
chester, Petersburg, Stauuton. Lynch
ourG. Charlottesville and at numerous
points in tho country sections where
wafer power was available. These
mills made oil kinds of wooden cloth,
plankcts. etc. and they were very
profitable industries. and gave employ
meht 70 thousands Cf men and women.
The mills in Virginia got all OF tho
wool they converted into cloth and
blankets from the farmers of the State.
and every tillcr Of the soil in Virginia
OF any Importance WAS "A sheep raiser
and had wool TO sell every year In
Tact, they raised sheep for the wool
ana spring lamb and mutton for The
town markets were simply small side
lines. the farmer Offering lambs and
the grown sheep for that purpose only
when he happened 20 have ii few more
OF tho animals than nc cared 10 look
after.
That war of more than nifty yenrs
ago rcvolutionized things all over the
South. especially here in Virginia and
reTolutionizcd nothing so thoroughly
as IL did sheep husbanGry. and con-
sepuently the wooden mill industry.
In the first place, the cmancipated
negro took to dog culture as one OF
the most delightful of ali of his newly
acquired blessings and privileges under
emancipation. In a few years follow
Ing the war every country darby was
the owner Of from one To half dozen
dogs, and as general rule the dogs
were Of the owgrudc Kind. Sambo's
ambition being merely to be . great
rabbit and possum hunter. he aspircd
to nothing in the canine line higher
than tho cur and the hound.
II must he said that this love OF tho
cur and tho hound was not confined
to the negro. There were. and are. Ia
every community white men who were
lovers or the cur and the hound. and
neithc! they nor the negro regarded
the rules that were followed IN the
old days by the Eentiemanly lover OF
the fox-hunt!nE sport. by Keeping their
hounds UP so that they were not Il
constant menace tn their own and
their neirhhor's shcnpfold. The worth
less hounds and ours. always hungry,
ran ~ large day and night. The fox
hunter, In time, seeing tina, other dogs
were running a, large. relaxed his
rules. and his packs were no longer
~ nc ri
The natural result OF all Of this was
that /: soon became impossible TO
raise sheep in ;his State, that Is, not
on anything like large scale. and
the farmers who did not 20 entirely
GU; OF the bushes kept only 4 few
10 furnish lamb and mutton for his
own table and 20 sell to market men
nearby. OF course. there were cxcep-
tons to tho rule. and here and there
IN some parts OF tho State there We're
and are. men with large focks or
sheep who make a business OF raising
them for the city markets. but FOR
the last forty years the woolproduc-
ing industry has been negligible IN
Virginia.
The wooden mills in Richmond Man
chester and elsewhere in Virginia
found that il did not pay TO make
wooden cloths and blankets when they
had 10 send 10 the West 10 get the
the business There are now but few
mills in this state. The writer knows
OF only one OF any sizc-that a: Char
lottesvillc.
Every dos owner has n vote. and
every dog owner is constitutionally on
posed 10 paying n tax on q dog. Tho
dog owners in amy one county can by
combining. defeat n man for the Leg
islaturc. That fully explains why II
has been impossible In all these ycars
to get law on the statute books cal
culated to protect the great wooden
industry by destroying or controlling
the dogs.
But Delegate Baker. of Cumberland.
came 10 the recent Legislature deter
mined 10 put such "a law through. even.
as he declared. If Il ended his politi-
cal career All Virginia readers arc
familiar with the law. for it has been
thoroughly advertised and discussed
1t is sufficient TO say it is drastic and
X enforced will accomplish the object
for which 1t was intended: enable the
farmers of the State TO resume the
sheep-raising business and the WOODEN
mill industry to come back to Rich
mond and other Virginia cities and
towns. Let Richmond be the first town
to start big wooden mill in opera
ton. The prediction OF the citizen
quoted abLve will doubtless come true.
and there need he no delay about il.