Year: 1875

CAROLINE COUNTY, VA.


May 18th, 1875.


Ed. Notwithstanding to prom
ise l will give your readers an account
of matters and things in general down
here in the "Old Dominion" and of
things as they appeared on the road.
Leaving Vancleavesville Tuesday NOR
ming at 7 o'clock We took the way
train for Harpers Ferry where We
waited for the fast line until 1854.
Leaving us plenty of time for stroll
around that beautiful, wild old town.
TIE train soon came and we were
whirling away down the Potomac to-
ward Washington and Baltimore, ar
irving a, the latter place about 2.5o T.
M. After short sojourn in the city
we made our way to Light st. Wharf
and amid the wilderness OF vessels and
steamers we found the good steamer
"Wenonah" OF the Rappahannock Line,
and secured passage on her. Leaving
the Wharf at 4 o'clock, we steamed
slowly down the Basin towards the
Bay. And l think if some of your
fastidious Martinsburgers had to live
near this Baltimore cesspool they would
soon be fit subjects for the lunatlc asy-
lum, for of all the filthy, loathsome pla-
ces we ever saw, this Basin is the worst.
After breathing the pure mountain alr
it seemed as if we would be stifed with
the horrible stencil that arose from the
putrid waters of the Basin. But we
soon left all this behind US as we enter
ed the broad and beautiful Chesapeake.
We passed Fort McHenry on our right,
which so many of your Valley boys
remembers as their pleasantly Hotel
in the days of "auld lang syne." Low
er down we saw "Bayview" on our
left, with its beautiful grounds. This
is Baltimore's Hospital and beautiful
place it is. TO the east of Bayview is
.'Holly Grove" famous for its picnics
and excursions in the summer Still
lower down we passed Fort Carroll
which is built up in the middle of the
Bay, but has never been completed.
1t was intended to command the en-
trance of the Harbor and is quite a
formidable looking affair 1t is now
used as lighthouse. Near the mouth
of the Susquehanna river we saw the
celebrated "North Point where the
British landed and were driven back by
the Baltimore Bows in the last war
with England. A tall monument, to
the memory of those who tell in the
battle, marks the hallowcd spot. We
were now far out into the broad Chcsa-
peake almost out of sight of land when
night came on We stood on the up
per deck watching the lights of the
passing steamers until 10 Q clock, when
we sought our state-room, and retired
but not to sleep, for as soon as we
were fairly in the land of dreams, the
unearthly shrek of the whistle as it
saluted some passing steamer, would
startle us almost from our berth.


Early in the morning we were upon
Gaek hs the aaa mSSth %H lo9a s 22aT
We passed our time watching the pass
ing vessels and were much amused at
the gambols of a school Of Porpoises
that followed the steamer some dis
tance. These singular fish would be a
curiosity to some of your mountaineers.
They are four or five feet long and in
stead of swimming like other fish, they
roll over and over like barrel, and ii
is wonderful how fast they travel
through the water in this way. We
saw many other interesting objects on
our way which we will describe in
another letter.


We found the crops looking splen-
didly down here. The wheat and rye
are in full head and the clover in full
bloom. l think if some of your Valley
farmers could see this country now,
they would change their minds about
the Valley being the "garden spot OF
Virginia" And if Messrs. Deck could
see some of our gardens they would
open their eyes in astonishment. BY
the way Bro. D. don't you want to buy
some "ingrens' for your garden3 We
have them as large as teacups. Straw
berries (wild ones) are ripe and cherries
are beginning to swell. Corn has five
or six blades and most farmers have
finished blowing the first time.


Well will finish my description in
my next letter, from


MEMO.