Evening star., 1921-05-29

horses and tractor plOwS were in the
fields. Men in blue overalls. ging-
ham shirts and big straw hats-stal-
wart. well-fed men with brown faces
and proper hands for farmerS-wcrr
! in the picture. Fast-running streams
of clear water flow through the
fields. Red-roofed houses stand in
clumps of trees. and big red barns
and silos make a distinct impression.
Every few miles is "A village. and
many of these are romantic in their
situation and charming because of
their pleaant homes and big gardens.
THE railroad section of Harri SON
burg is not poetic. but Washing
tonians have learned not to form
their whole judgment of a city by
what one sees on entering. Cities
have not learned the art of window
dressing. On coming to Harrison
burg one sees Quarrics, mills, fac
tories. warehouses. grain elevators,
in their impatience to be off and along
their iron trails. You see the little
wooden railroad station, with plank
ing set upright and weatherstripped d.
and its paint faded yellow, which
brings to mind early railroad days in
Virginia. Then you come to the new
union station of brick and stone. am
pie and substantial.
There is "A throng. coming. going or
waiting for other trains and a rumble
of baggage and express trucks over
the brick pavement. flock of auto
buses and Jitneys stand near the sta
ton platform. No hOrsedrawn vehiCee
is in sight. Everything is new and
modern. You choose your hotel bus.
are rushed through busy streets. at
times congested with traffic. pass a
garage section and come to the
the retail shop and business Office dis
trict of the city. 1t is a fine green
square with trees and superb lawn
and the courthouse is noble struc-
ture. 1t is the successor to two court
houses, and was built in 1861. John
w. Wayland. professor of history at
the State Normal School. Harrison
burg, an author of numerous works
on American history. in his History
of Rockingham County" - which
county Harrisonburg is the seat of
justice-tells the full story Of the
earlier court buildings, and of the
present, writes:
On October 13 1896 the corner stone Of the
present splendid COURTEOUS" was laid. the ad
dress Of the occasion being made by Judg" John
Paul. an eminent son Of Rockingham. The lin
ished bnilding was formally opened September
% Of the next year. the address on that occasion
being made by Senator John W. Daniel. Tn"
hoard Of county supervisors. under whose an
thOrity the courthouse was built. was composed
Of the following men W. J.. Dechrr'. J. II.
Shipp Il. W. Carpenter and j. II. Moore. The
building committee were W. l.. Dechert, T.. W.
Carpenter and &. T.. Fahrney. w NJ. Ruch-r
was superintendent. W. f.. Speir was contractor,
T. ]. Collins & Sons were architects. Accord
ing TO the report made to the supervisors in
Juno. sos the cost Of the courthouse was
s>2.l42.77. Including the outlay for ap,
proHchrs. furniture. etc, the grand total was
stated rs 500 Gs2G.24.
And here is a good place in this
narrative to present the names of the
more important county officers
Judge. j. NJ. Haas; commonwealth g
attorney. u. Wampler Earman
/ treasurer. Joseph &. Myers: sheriff
W. l.. billiard; clerk, j. Frank Black =
burn: board of supervisors. W. G.
Myers, c. w. Dove. x. NJ. Burke, J. T.
Helbert and J. NJ. Hilbert; state sena-
tor. Capt. John Paul; delegates. J. y.
Gerber and William II. Rucbuch.
On three corners opposite the court =
| house are three six-story brick and
| stone buildings and each of these is
! a bank building. and here is the ap-
| propriate place to tell of the bank ..
| The population of Rocking ham COun- =
.ty is $1,000 and the population of
! Harrisonburg 5000. There are ten
! banks in the county, thrce of which
are in Harrsonburg. The total re-
| sources of the county banks outside
| of Harrisonburg are, in round num-
| bers. 81 500. 900. and the resources of
} the Harrisonburg banks are $5,100,G00