OUR TWIN CITIES
OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY:
NORFOLK AND PORTSMOUTH
THEIR PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE.
Robert W. Lamb, Editor.
Norfolk, VA: Barcroft, Publisher.
1887-8.
Norfolk Landmark Steam Presses.Reproduced by Donna Bluemink.
Continuation.
p. 84 Berkley From Norfolk and Western Railroad.
CHAPTER IV.
Our Harbor: Its Advantages, Natural and Artificial.[85] A DESCRIPTION of our harbor as it appears at the present day naturally involves a description of its approaches.
Coming up from the South, having safely passed the dangerous and treacherous Cape Hatteras, but still taking care to keep well out to sea and watch our soundings, we pass a firm straight beach that stretches from that cape to Cape Henry in Virginia.
This beautiful beach, with its magnificent surf, has been utilized for a watering place—Virginia Beach, connected by a narrow-gauge railroad to the city of Norfolk, which has already been noticed in a previous chapter.
The capes of Virginia have been well-known to mariners since early in the seventeenth century, when, according to historians, the English under Gosnold, Smith and Newport discovered the entrance to Chesapeake Bay, giving the names of the British Princes Charles and Henry to the two capes. The latter, the southernmost, consists of a cluster of sand hills very sparsely clad with wiregrass, having in their rear the tall pine characteristic of our Southern seashore, and extending oceanward in a spit of extraordinarily hard sand resting upon a substratum of clay, which appears to have been specially provided to repel the invading forces of Old Ocean.
Upon the most prominent point of this cape stands a tall lighthouse provided with a fixed white light of intense brilliancy, made specially for observation at a great distance, as there is no light between this and Hatteras.
Across the entrance of Chesapeake Bay, about 12 miles, the land begins in a series of sandy islets, which are the outposts of Cape Charles, and upon the outermost one a flash-light beacon, known as Smith's Island Light, has been erected by the U. S. Government.
Cape Henry rounded, we are now within that beautiful sheet of water Chesapeake Bay, which has cheered and charmed the hearts of navigators from all quarters of the globe for nearly three centuries.
We find a decided bend inward after passing Cape Henry, and this graceful curve contains that beautiful portion of the waters of the Chesapeake to which has been given the title Lynnhaven Bay. Extending into the county of Princess Anne from this Bay is a charming little stream, [86] the Lynnhaven River, whose wonderful beauties of the palate, the oysters that bear its name, have given it a world-wide reputation and made it a "household word," a "joy forever," wherever bon vivants are to be found.
Barcia, the Spanish historian, in his description of the Bay of Santa Maria, joining the Atlantic, seems to indicate very clearly that its entrance was on the 37th parallel; and as the expedition of the Spaniards on a voyage of discovery up the waters of this bay was made in 1566, or over 40 years prior to the arrival of the English visitors, we think the right of priority lies with the Spaniard. However, their expedition was fruitless, for we are informed that the captain, who sailed with the Indian guide to the Bay of Santa Maria, was overcome by his crew, at the instigation of two monks, who much preferred the tested delights of Peru and Spain to the uncertain pleasures of this unknown world, to be obtained only by assured, arduous labor, privations and dangers, before any discoveries had been made. Alas! how many centuries of untold enjoyment of that succulent bivalve were lost to the world by this premature action of these ancient spiritual advisers. We, however, of the present can only be thankful—for if history does not belie them the storage capacity of these gentlemen was simply marvelous, and the crop might have been exhausted as a consequence before our time.
Still passing westwardly over the waters of the Chesapeake, Little Creek Inlet is passed, and on our left, lying close down on the south side of the bay, almost washed by its waters, we note the hotel and buildings of Ocean View, so long and well known as a pleasure resort for the citizens of our sister cities. Maginoses, as the old people called it, was a great resort for picnics and fishing parties, for here, right out of the waters of the bay, the finest fish were, and in fact can now be, caught in almost numberless varieties. Still onward and upward, and we pass the buckrow shore and into the narrowed channel between that once colossal work Fort Monroe, now dwarfed into comparative insignificance by the vast improvements in ordnance and naval architecture of the last few decades, and the artificial island constructed by Uncle Sam and rejoicing in the familiar sobriquet "Rip Raps," suggested by the wish-wash of the surrounding waters, upon which stands the whilom Castle Calhoun, now styled Fort Wool.
And now we have reached that magnificent sheet of water to which we have casually referred in a previous chapter, and to which our people can never allude except with pride-swelling hearts—Hampton Roads.
This roadstead is nearly four miles long, with a width of from three-quarters to one and three-eighths of a mile, a depth of from four to fifteen fathoms, and magnificent holding ground. If Commerce is indeed a King, this has justly been called a "King's Chamber."
To our left, forming Willoughby Bay, we note in our onward passage Willoughby Spit, stretching out like a long curved finger of sand beck- [87] oning the Commerce of the world from its Royal Chamber to the cosier boudoir of its Queen to be, that graces the harbor of our united people.
We give a passing glance at Mason's Creek, whose luscious shell fruit is second only to its richer neighbor. At Seawell's Point, with its war memories, that recall many a pleasant (?) little interchange of civilities with our hostile friends in the days of the late unpleasantness, and later the seat of a very pleasant seaside resort, which fell a victim to the devouring element, we are within seven miles of our cities and begin to feel that we are turning our backs on the ample quarters of the roadstead for the snugger retreat of their safe and beautiful harbor.
Map showing the trucking circuit of Norfolk and Portsmouth.
At this point we find the wharf once built for the guests of the pleasure resort renewed and utilized by the truckers of the adjacent county as a means of reaching water transportation for their garden stuff to the near markets.
[88] In fact, the lands on both sides of the river up to the city and beyond are now devoted to this profitable traffic.We have already given statistics of previous years showing to what a profitable extent this business had been carried, and now take this opportunity of bringing our information down to the present time.
TRUCKING.
This section, embracing a circle whose diameter may be twenty miles, may be truthfully said to be the great trucking centre of the United States. No other section can show the amount of truck nor the net cash returns from the same that this circle can show.
We refer again to the report of William F. Switzler, prepared by our fellow-townsman, T. B. Rowland, by which report we see that the trucking business for the year 1885 for Norfolk county aggregated $1,882,918. The value of fruit shipped aggregated $404,124.71. Total, $2,287,042.71. The aggregate value of fruit and vegetables shipped from a single county (Norfolk) exceeded the value of the entire iron industry of the entire State for that year (1885). The amount of truck handled in this city during a single year will reach $4,000,000 to $5,000,000. The trucking business is yet in its infancy.
We now enter the mouth of the placid Elizabeth, with Tanner's Creek, redolent with the sweets of market gardens, on our left, and Craney Island, renowned for our victory over the "Britishers" in the war of 1812, under our own Taylor, equally renowned as upright and learned Judge and brave and skillful General, on the right. Passing these objects of interest, our attention is at once attracted by a long trestle extending far into the river until it connects the mainland with Lambert's Point light, which once stood solitary, like a four-legged crane, on the limits of the flats. This seems to mean business, and it does. This is some of the fruit of the Norfolk Terminal Company's work—that child of the N. and W. Railroad—of which we have had already much to say. What it has already done speaks for itself, as the following statistics of the Coal Pier for the year 1887 will show:
POCAHONTAS COAL STATISTICS.
Following are the shipments at Lambert's Pier and local delivery— William Lamb & Co., agents, Norfolk, Va., for Castner & Curran, of Philadelphia, general agents—from March 1, 1887, to February 29, 1888, inclusive:
Tons shipped—foreign Tons shipped—coastwise Tons shipped delivered in bunkers of steamships Tons shippeddelivered for local consumption Grand total Steamships bunkered, 160. Vessels loaded with cargo—steamships, 5; ships, 1; barks, 2; barkentines, 13; brigs, 10; schooners, 760. Total vessels, 951.
B. F. Wilson's Farm.—Early Vegetables.
But it is not only for coal that this terminal will be used, important an item as that has been shown to be. Very soon additional piers are to be built, and the business which is now unloaded from and into the cars of the N. and W. Railroad at its warehouses and wharves in East Norfolk, or at the wharves of connections in the present limits of the city, will find its way to Lambert's Point in order to make room for the growing local business at those other points. Its facilities for handling foreign freights in large quantities, thus giving the desirable expedition, will soon make themselves known and become a large factor, increasing as it moves on, in the full development of our cities by the sea.
Philadelphia lawyers are noted for their shrewdness, and it may not be out of place to note that the directory of the N. and W. have the benefit of the counsel of one behind none in sagacity, besides being made up of some of the best business men of that city as well as of our own State—men, too, that have taken an interest, a most material one as shown by their works, in the common harbor of our cities by the sea.
But pleasant as it is to linger at this spot, which gives such marked evidence of the rapid advance of our harbor, time will permit no longer delay, so we push off from the pier and continue our upward progress. To the right the mouth of the Western Branch attracts our attention, and up this stream, navigable for a considerable distance by the smaller craft used for the transportation of truck or market-garden products, may be found some of the most productive garden farms in this or any other section. Here, for the present, the Atlantic and Danville Railroad have their "water" terminus. This is the road over which our sister city Portsmouth showed such a lively awakening in its struggle to secure the benefit of that terminus in its own corporate limits. The terminus is styled "West Norfolk," situated on the north side of the branch at its mouth, and is connected by a steam ferry, now in active operation, with the city of Norfolk.
But our good friends on the south side must not give up the ship, nor expend their energy in the move to bring the terminus of the road within their present limits. Rather let them with a higher ambition strive to extend those limits to the Western Branch and thus capture this road, with all the accruing benefits of the large and healthy business of the new and productive territory opened by it. This is no idle suggestion, no day dream, but a feasible result attainable by a steady persistent effort to keep up with the progress of the times—which we are fully able to do, as evinced by what is now accomplished by our various "spurts" in special directions. To the left, as we continue to advance, the roofs and spires of Atlantic City, at present only a flourishing suburb of Norfolk city, are visible—notably the shaft of the Norfolk Knitting Company's factory, our only venture at this time in that direction, and crowned only, therefore, with limited success. For the rule is invariable, "competition is the life of trade."
[90] There are many creditable marks of improvement in this locality, which only needs a gentle but firm pressure to bring it where it ought to have been for a year or more, in the corporate limits of the city.Here we find the outposts of that flourishing trade in lumber, whose growth in the past few years has been little less than miraculous, and to which we intend to refer as we pass up the southern branch of the Elizabeth, on which the greater part of these flourishing mills are located.
But there is another flourishing interest to be met with just at this point, about which, perhaps, the interest of our readers generally will be more thoroughly aroused—the oyster trade, which, strange to say, has only reached its present magnitude since the war. Norfolk oysters, par excellence, took the lead in old times, but as a rule they were not handled here or shipped from our port except in limited quantities. Baltimore enterprise came down the Bay and snatched the prize as it were from under our very noses; so that while we got the name and the credit, they pocketed the cash, Times have changed, however, and we are, in a measure at least, changed by them, and now our hearts are reached not only through our stomachs but also by the other great highway, our pockets. Even the shells have found no inconsiderable commercial value as their various uses have become known. We now leave solid facts and figures of this business as given below to speak for themselves:
OYSTERS.
The most reliable data for the oyster business of this city is found in William F. Switzler's report on the Internal Commerce of the United States for the year ending June 30, 1886, in which we see that the oyster business of Norfolk city for one year was as follows:
Number firms engaged Number bushels oysters Cost of the same Number opening and packing Total cost Number hands employed in opening and packing business Number hands employed in catching oysters Total Value of vessels engaged Value of small boats engaged Value of other outfits Buildings, tools, &c Total [91] As to the number of vessels engaged in the oyster trade we cannot speak definitely, but they will run up to several thousand, large and small. In addition to the above, Norfolk county outside the limits of the city of Norfolk reports as follows on the oyster question:
Capital invested Quantity opened—gallons Value Hands employed In addition to the above statistics for Norfolk city and county we notice that the State reports 18,864 persons engaged in fisheries, all of which are in tidewater Virginia, of which section Norfolk and Portsmouth are the cities, and therefore the centre of this great business, which, as stated above, gives employment to 18,864 persons.
Capital invested Value of products The value of the oyster business alone to Southeast Virginia is nearly $3,500,000 per annum. It is a crop constantly harvested except in the months of May to August inclusive, and is as constantly replenished by the bountiful hand of nature. No city in the Union is more highly favored in this respect than is this city of Norfolk. It is a crop that requires no sowing or planting; no cultivating—nothing but harvesting. Nature does everything except harvesting the crop—and we presume there are some who would ask that worthy dame (Mother Nature) to furnish the oysters already harvested and shucked, ready for eating. The income to the city of Norfolk from her fish and oyster industries is greater than the entire annual incomes of many a Western city from all sources.
A relic of the old time rises up before us, despite this solid wall of facts, and prates thusly:
"But, Mas' Boss, you had orter seen them Lynnhavens befo' de wah. I use ter cook fer Mas' Bray Walters—him dat died in de great pestilence. 'Jerry,' he said to me one day, Mas' Bray did, 'dere's a Baltimo' man done bet me a basket ob champagne he could eat a dozen Lynnhavens fer lunch any day. Now I want you to fix him.' Then he whispered in my ear, Mas' Bray did. So I sent him up a nice dish fried in crumbs, and by'm bye Mas' Bray called me up in de dining-room, and dere sot de Baltimo' gentleman stalled at eleven, and one piece still left, and acknowledging de corn. Mas' Bray said 'Jerry, tell the gentlemen what he has eaten; he says he has only eaten eleven oysters, and is ready to pay the bet.' 'Mas' Boss,' says I, 'you ain't eaten no oysters!' He jumped up with a big 'dam!' and say 'You black rascal, what in the botheration you been feedin' me on?' 'Sot down, Mas' Boss,' I said, 'sot down. Nothin' gwine ter hurt ye. You only done eat eleven pieces ob one ob dem big Lynnhavens.'"
"But," says a Baltimore paper, commenting on a similar incident, mine host, Bray B. Walters, who knows whom to speak to for the best of everything in the eating line, is the only man who could command such 'spirits from the vasty deep,' where the seven-inchers are said to inhabit."And this oyster chat carries your editor back to his boyhood's days, when old "Sim Smith and his creetur" was an honored institution in our market with his limited supply of peerless Lynnhavens, one of which spread in the middle of a large old-fashioned breakfast plate left no room on any side for its fellow, and was as much as the ordinary small boy could stand up to.
But one of a kind naturally suggests another; so while we cannot dwell longer on this very palatable subject, we turn to the other shell fruit, the pet of the gods of the "higher dramatic circles," for which our market has grown equally celebrated for some years past. Virginia has now gotten to be in verity the "gouber State," and her cities by the sea afford the market to which the large mass of this product tends. Here the peanut comes in its rustic roughness and strength to be polished off into a city nut to find its way to almost every quarter of the globe—the palace of the king or the swell mansion of the Fifth Avenue nob.
But what we want are facts and figures, and so our good statistician shall furnish us with all the information on this important subject our heart can desire.
PEANUTS.
Peanuts have been known to exist in some shape or another for an indefinite period in all of this section. Their first appearance is remote and uncertainly fixed, none of the first settlers referring in any way to them as indigenous to the soil.
It is admitted that they must have been brought over from Africa, where they were first known, in some of the slave ships that landed cargoes among the adventurers of the Rhode Island merchants, and it may be reasonable to assume as a fact that it formed part of their sea stores, knowing that they are consumed in that savage country as food.
The earliest notice to which the writer's attention has ever been called regarding them is a tradition that between 1790 and 1800, in digging some of the canals or big ditches in Eastern Carolina, where African slave labor was used, they were cultivated for their use, as being accustomed to them.
Some half a century ago Hanover county, Va., raised some in a crude way in small patches. It was not considered a respectable crop then, but was reproachfully spoken of as a "free nigger crop" and no attention given it. Perhaps about 1840 Isle of Wight county followed, and straggling parcels of superior quality occasionally appeared—barely more than enough to supply even the then insignificant demand at a ridiculously low figure. Salem, Mass., was perhaps the largest importer of the few [93] foreign nuts brought to this country among the other articles from the African coast.
The French and Portuguese settlements on the west coast of Africa have always had the principal monopoly of the trade in nuts, though the English share somewhat with them in it. Marseilles, France, is by far the largest market in the world, using about 50,000 tons of shelled nuts per annum. Amsterdam and the other Dutch ports are perhaps next. England consumes some. They are exclusively used in making oil— in fact, the quality they receive would not be fit for fancy use and eating, as ours are. This trade is suffering now, perhaps, for there are so many other oil seeds utilized—rape seed, mustard seed, cotton seed, cocoanut—that prices follow in the comparative scale. The Rue Fisque and River Gambia (Africa) nuts are perhaps the best, and Goree, Freetown, Bathurst and Sierra Leone are the principal shipping points, none coming from the south of these points. They are collected from the natives in trading and by barter, the custom of the coast, stored up in pens of some sort and covered up, and often remain an indefinite period awaiting transfer. Quality is not so much a consideration with them as with us. They are shelled by the hands of the numerous wives or slaves of the chieftain or trader, and are mouldy and dirty.
The first boom or impulse received by the trade seems to have been started during the war, both sides taking a hand, and from entirely different motives; the South to manufacture oil for lubricating, table or medicinal purposes, according to the necessity, and the Northern army chewed them for variety and their sutlers supplied them fresh hot roasted. At any rate they got started and sold largely and were imported freely, notwithstanding the war import duty was tremendously large. A Congressional canvass was once made in this district on a claim of having secured a reduction in the tariff duties; the fact, to the contrary, was that it was reduced to one cent per pound at that identical period by the endeavors of the importers, and has since remained unchanged.
New York dealers in 1886 estimated the crop for the year as, North Carolina, 125,000 bushels; Virginia, 75,000 bushels. African exports, 6,000,000 bushels. Values then were, for—
Virginia North Carolina Africa We have no quotation of the Tennessee product, chough that State was then reported as furnishing the Pittsburg and Cincinnati markets with some.
We can hardly do better, in showing the increase of the trade since then, than to give the Cincinnati Price Current's statement, which is made up at great cost and labor and among the trade accepted as reliable, and [94] which is used and quoted by all writers as the basis of their own figures, and that without the courtesy of a credit.
TOTAL UNITED STATES CROP.
Should the present expectation of this year's crop be realized the yield of the United States will compare with the ascertained crops of previous years as follows:
1887-88 1886-87 1885-86 1884-85 1883-84 1882-83 1881-82 1880-91 1879-80 1878-79 1877-78 1876-77 1875-76 1874-75 1873-74 It may not be uninteresting to the reader to know that peanuts (arachides) are cultivated and grown in other parts of the world beside. The advance in agricultural knowledge keeps pace with the times. Madras and Calcutta, in Asia, have them to sell. Surinam, South America, furnishes a supply for the Antilles when they want them. They are now no strangers on the Sandwich Islands. New Zealand and Tasmania enter largely into the production, machinery for the manipulation of them going from this State. A visitor to this section last Summer, a Scotchman, now a resident of and planter in the Fejee Islands, raises crops of them, which are found nicer eating there than "cold missionary." California a few years ago produced large crops, but has discontinued it to any great extent, at least as a shipping point, not perhaps in excess of consumption.
Of the Virginia crop of 1887-88, estimated at 2,250,000 bushels, it is claimed as usual that about four-fifths, or about 1,800,000 bushels, will find a market or be handled at this port. Prices are ruinously low for the producers, yet, with all that, the money value at 60 cents per bushel will be near $1,100,000 received and paid out here for them in the current year.
[95] There are within the city limits four large substantial brick four-story mills, built and expressly fitted up with costly and elaborate machinery run by powerful steam engines, for the picking, cleaning, assorting, shelling and polishing of the nuts for the dealers and jobbing trade, which gives direct employment constantly to between 600 and 800 persons, male and female. The investments in mills and machinery may be put at $125,000. The amount disbursed for handling the crop may be shown by the value as expressed above—and the output spreads from Canada to Texas and West to Salt Lake City, Omaha and Ogden.
But the wheels of time are still going round and round, and we must cast loose our moorings once more, and, while we dismiss our peanuts, cross to the western side of the river and visit the stately though now somewhat "old-timy" building, the U. S. Naval Hospital, which occupies the site of old Fort Nelson. As this building and its beautiful grounds, the scene of both pleasure and sanitary profit to many of the citizens of our sister cities, are worthy of more than a passing notice, we will leave them for the present and postpone our stroll through and around them until a subsequent chapter gives us more leisure to do so.
Turning from the site of old Fort Nelson, with its pleasant hospitalities, we come once more into the world of busy life and activity on the eastern side of the river. To the north, amidst the surrounding oyster-packing houses, we see in Atlantic City a large storehouse bearing a conspicuous sign-board which reads "Nottingham & Wren. Ice, Coal and Wood." These gentlemen were among the first to engage extensively in packing and shipping oysters, but after having pursued this business with marked success induced other enterprising firms to take hold of it, while they launched out in their present enterprise, which has assumed almost gigantic proportions. The eye passes rapidly over Atlantic Bridge, which connects that flourishing suburb with the city proper, spanning the classic waters of Pudding Creek; rests with pleasure on the various groups of handsome residences which adorn the West End of the city, and invades once more the territory of the Oyster Kings, whose courts are reared on the cast-off clothing of their subjects. A noble being is our friend the oyster, for he not only gives up heart and body to sustain his destroyer man, but yields his now unneeded home to make the very terra firma on which to erect new shelters for his destroyers. But the eye must pause in its ramblings, for we have reached in due course the pier that once bore the outposts of the Cotton Kingdom, the shippers' compress, which until the fall of 1887 used the large warehouse now occupied by the Newport News and Mississippi Valley Company. As shown by the notice very conspicuously painted on the end of this warehouse, the Newport News and Mississippi Valley Co. is the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad route to Richmond, Chicago, Cincinnati and all points South and West.
This railroad, as indicated, has its eastern terminus at Newport News, [96] Va., and extends to New Orleans and other points on the Mississippi as well as by its connections to the leading cities of the West.
The opportunity was afforded the C. and O. Railroad Co., as the organization was then called, some eight years ago, to select a deep-water terminus in the city of Norfolk, but they preferred the more speculative site which they now occupy on James River. Their business has been undoubtedly larger and will probably continue to increase, but appearances indicate it is far from remunerative. We know that our people were disappointed that the advantages of Norfolk were overlooked by this company in making the selection that they did, but we feel assured that the present extensive warehouse preparations for business and the occupation of that portion of the dock on the south side of the pier used by the Compress Company last season for Liverpool steamers, for their large car barges, clearly indicate that Norfolk cannot and will not be ignored as an important factor in their business by the N. N. and M. V. Co.
We sincerely wish them a good measure of success, for we are satisfied that the development of Newport News into an independent port is impracticable, and its business expansion can only result in the end in making it one of the elements in the final and complete success of our harbor.
The cities of New York and Baltimore have as much to fear from the commercial rivalry of their adjuncts as we from our little friend and useful ally in the future, Newport News.
To the southward of the one just noticed we find another pier, upon which stands the passenger depot, &c, of the N. Y., P. and N. Railroad, which made its first entrance into our harbor in the fall of 1884. From this pier passengers are conveyed by a swift and commodious steamer to the wharves of the company at Cape Charles City, 36 miles across Chesapeake Bay, in Northampton county, Va. This road not only affords the most expeditious route for passengers between our cities and New York and Philadelphia but presents more material advantages in the rapid transit of freight. On the south side of the dock, formed by the two piers mentioned above, there is a float affording the necessary facilities for the speedy transfer of loaded cars brought on capacious barges by powerful tugs from the track at Cape Charles City, where there are similar conveniences, to the track in yard at Norfolk. This track leads either to the local depot on Granby street or connects with the N. and W. Railroad track over the McCullough bridge, to which reference has already been made.
An immense traffic in truck from our garden farms is secured, during the season, by the very expeditious delivery in suitable cars in Northern markets; while the west-bound freight from Philadelphia and other points in Pennsylvania and New Jersey through the connection with the N. and W. Eailroad have increased rapidly month by month since its in- [97] auguration, in March, 1885, with a promise of reaching an enormous magnitude.
The new candidate for public favor, the Atlantic and Danville Railroad, also connects from this pier by a transfer steamer with its trains from its terminus, West Norfolk, at the mouth of the Western Branch.
This road is backed by ample capital—and while its name would indicate Danville as its objective point, we can't believe that the large and fertile territory that can be reached beyond this point will be overlooked or neglected by that judgment and energy which have characterized the management and brought it with success so far through many obstacles.
With the bright prospects and success of this road it is a self-evident proposition that those of our sister cities are most intimately connected, if we are only willing to stretch forth our hands and take hold of the benefits when brought to our very doors.
The valuable property of the Boston Wharf and Warehouse Company next invites our attention. Here is a very bee-hive of commerce.
Perhaps the most attractive sight is the foreign vessels, steam and sail, that crowd the dock on the north side of the extensive wharf of the company awaiting cargoes of cotton and other merchandise for Liverpool and other foreign ports. Here are located the mammoth press of the National Compress Company and, in close proximity, the smaller but effective press of the Atlantic Compress Company, which are kept briskly employed during the season.
And as we have now struck the cotton line and are in close proximity to that business section of the town where the cotton is handled we cannot do better than to engraft on our sketch the cotton statistics of our port, so well kept and published for the benefit of those most deeply interested by that valuable institution the Norfolk and Portsmouth Cotton Exchange, whose handsome quarters are visible from the street adjoining the wharf.
COTTON BUSINESS.
The following statistics are taken from the thirteenth annual report of the cotton movement of Norfolk for the twelve months ending August 31, 1887—season 1886-87:
The total receipts at the port of Norfolk have been 556,538 bales, which in view of the fact that the crop was more than 100,000 bales smaller than that of the preceding year affords most satisfactory evidence that our trade has been well maintained.
It is gratifying to note that our transportation facilities are being yearly improved, our railroads are increasing their equipment and extending their connections, while our magnificent coastwise lines have still further augmented their capacity for business.
The reputation of cotton shipped from the port of Norfolk has been more firmly established than ever by the satisfactory experience of the [98] past season; while in Liverpool and other leading markets "Norfolk Cotton" is regarded with great favor.
The movement of cotton to the "deep-water ports" of Virginia is a feature which is worthy of careful consideration. In the aggregate over one-eighth of the cotton crop of the United States has sought these safe and commodious waters. Following is a summary of the receipts at the three Virginia ports:
Norfolk—Gross receipts 12 mos. ending Aug. 31,1887 Less received from Newport News Less received from West Point Less received from Wilmington, N. C Less received from New York The receipts and shipments of cotton at the port of Norfolk are as follows:
Total receipts of Norfolk 129,300 427,238 556,538 Deduct receipts from Newport News, West Point, Va., Wilmington, N. C., and New York 22,337 1,856 24,183 Net receipts for Norfolk 106,973 425,382 532,355
The receipts at Norfolk for the past 13 years aggregate as follows:
Receipts season 1886-87 Receipts season 1885-86 Receipts season 1884-85 Ten years previously Total receipts in 13 years The exports, coastwise and overland shipments and consumption for season have been as follows:
Bales:
Exported direct to Great Britain Exported direct to Continent Total direct exports Coastwise shipment & overland—New York Coastwise shipment & overland—Boston Coastwise shipment & overland—Providence Coastwise shipment & overland—Baltimore Coastwise shipment & overland—Philadelphia Total coastwise and overland Shipped to mills in Virginia Shipped to mills in North Carolina Total exports and shipments Withdrawn for consumption Total distribution RECAPITULATION.
By stock on hand Aug. 31, 1886 By total receipts, 12 months, Aug. 31, 1887 To total distribution Stock on hand Aug. 31, 1887 Following is the aggregate of exports and shipments from this port in past 13 years:
Shipments season 1886-87 Shipments 12 years previously Total shipments, 13 years The value of our direct exports as per Custom House returns for the past year is $14,419,121.
There have been exported to Great Britain, France and the Continent, on through bills of lading via Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, 56,629 bales, which are included in our coastwise shipments and do not appear to the credit of our exports.
As a supplement to the above statistics we give the report of the superintendent for the first six months of the season 1887-88, ending Feb. 29, 1888:
[100] RECEIPTS.
Seaboard & Roanoke Railroad Norfolk & Western Railroad Norfolk Southern Railroad Atlantic & Danville Railroad Newport News & Miss. Valley Co. Albemarle & Chesapeake Canal Dismal Swamp Canal West Point, Va., Nansemond River, etc. Total receipts since Sept. 1, 1887 Deduct receipts from New York, Newport News & West Point Net receipts six months ending Feb. 29, 1888 Net receipts same time last year New receipts same time 1885-86 Receipts at Norfolk during Feb. 1888 Receipts at Norfolk during Feb.1887 Receipts at Norfolk during Feb. 1886 SHIPMENTS.
Shipments since Sept. 1, 1887 Shipments same time last year Shipments same time 1885-86 But the ample dock room on each side of this wharf and the track which traverses it have other uses than for the handling of export business. We find a daily line of fine steamboats for freight and passengers connecting our cities by the sea with the capital of the country.
Also the Merchants and Miners' Transportation Company, with a magnificent fleet of steamers which affords us regularly a semi-weekly boat to and from Boston and Providence, with additional sailings to meet the increased demands of business.
This line connects with the N. and W. Railroad, whose track comes down to the warehouse on the wharf in close proximity to the steamers' landing place, and is one of the links in the V., T. and G. Air Line, an arrangement for through traffic between the cities of the Fast and all points in the South and West.
A similar arrangement, the Seaboard Air Line, is made by its connection with the Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad from Portsmouth, the freight being conveyed to and from that point in very large barges.
Nor is it for freight only that this line has its advantages, for it presents a most delightful medium of travel to the invalid or pleasure tourist.
[101] A Corner in East Norfolk.Across the dock, still taking a southerly direction, we come upon another scene of busy life, on the fine wharf and commodious warehouses of the Baltimore Steam Packet Co., the old Bay Line, a favorite of many years' standing for passenger travel and noted for its excellent attention to the wants of the inner man.
Its swift and elegant passenger boats are supplemented by a substantial fleet of freight steamers, one of which, the Gaston, has a model not beaten by many a pleasure yacht. The worthy president of the company, Commodore John M. Robinson, styles her, we are told, "his flagship"—and "long may she wave" is our addendum.
Here the local freight of this line is also deposited, while still further up the harbor is an extensive warehouse for freight going to the West and Southwest. This building fronts on the wharf a little to the north of the west end of Water street and was originally erected for the convenience of the Norfolk consignees of freight from the S. and R. Railroad, which is under the same management. Two years ago it was fitted up by the Y. M. C. A., to whom it was kindly loaned by the management of the railroad, and for about a week was the scene of a series of meetings conducted by Evangelist Moody and his co-worker Sankey, the like of which, for the resultant good, has rarely if ever been seen in our communities. But Mammon soon again asserted his sway, and since last July the larger part of the building has been devoted to traffic for the V., T. and G. Air Line—the track of the N. and W. Railroad finding its Water-street terminus at this warehouse.
Across the street we find the new quarters of the Shippers' Compress Co., whose wharf is once more lined with foreign-bound vessels, thus bringing back to the neighborhood where this now well-grown business was nurtured in its infancy at least a portion of the heritage of which circumstances had nearly entirely deprived it.
From this point our course, which has been hitherto southerly, will be diverted to the eastward, as we pass along the wharves of Norfolk; for to pursue the former course would land us too soon in our sister city on the south side of the river—a pleasure which we wish to reserve for a later portion of our trip. As we pass up the water front the location of the powerful press of the Seaboard Compress Co., which has done good work in its day and plenty of it, is noticeable. This company unfortunately got into difficulties along with the Exchange National Bank in 1885, its effects being part of the assets of that bank; and while it has been worked to the best possible advantage since, under the circumstances, its usefulness has undoubtedly been much less than it would have been if worked by an independent corporation.
Could it have been sold at once and worked by some party from abroad with fresh capital and vim, it would have proved a good investment for both the purchaser and the former owners. We presume that now it has [103] greatly deteriorated, and in a few years its pattern, once considered admirable, will have become obsolete.
Our wharves, we regret to have to say as an honest chronicler, do not present that general business activity which our advantages and general business statistics would seem to call for; and yet there is improvement apparent to the careful observer, though room for much more, and the general appearance of the buildings as seen from our harbor is quite creditable, as they give evidence of this improvement. It is hard to realize, however, as we pass the foot of Commerce street and its vicinity, that this was once a favored maritime locality, so far at least as all the shipping now gathered at that point speaks for that interest—though a glance up the street tells us that the bustle of a thriving trade may still be found there in some departments.
Norfolk College for Young Ladies.
In this connection a reference to the Norfolk Importing Co., which handles a very considerable amount of foreign salt received at this port and forwarded into the interior, as shown by the following statistics, kindly furnished us by the officers of the company, will be appropriate:
This corporation was duly chartered under the laws of Virginia, in October, 1883, its officers being as follows: M. L. T. Davis, President; T. A. Williams, Vice-President; Wash-ington Taylor, Secretary; William C. Dickson, Treasurer; W. D. Denby, Superintendent. It was organized to conduct a general importing and exporting business, and its operations since the date of its organization have been confined to various grades of foreign salt, and it has supplied a want long felt in this community.
Norfolk is unquestionably a city possessing many advantages as a distributing centre, and, being in easy communication with Liverpool and other foreign ports, can offer inducements to purchasers of salt and other foreign products.
[104] The growth of this company has been somewhat phenomenal, as can be shown by numerical comparisons from year to year, and every member has been more than encouraged with the success it has achieved. Having now established its salt trade, it is preparing to extend its importations to other foreign commodities, which will not only prove an incalculable adjunct to its success but will also very materially assist the reputation of the "City by the Sea," and prove of great benefit to every trade now represented here; for each and every branch of business when judiciously managed must necessarily promote the entire business interests of any city.During the year 1887 the importations of this corporation together with those of other importers here aggregated the enormous quantity of about 150,000 sacks of foreign salt—which figures will furnish an idea of the magnitude of the salt trade of this port.
The officers who were elected at the first meeting ever held by the company have been re-elected each year, and are now the present incumbents.
After reaching Campbell's wharf, in our progress up harbor, we enter the new dock of the Norfolk county and Portsmouth ferries connecting our sister cities with each other and the growing village of Berkley.
In our passage up the dock to the float we are by no means favorably impressed by the buildings on the west side, as with rare exception they present the appearance of old tumble-down rookeries that are certainly not the marks of progress—rather the semi-decayed vestiges of the old borough—links in a chain that binds us to a past that in the light of modern advancement can only be an instructive warning as to what we should avoid if we are really to reach the goal of our "manifest destiny." May these rusted links soon be broken by the force of energy and good example. We note the Baker Salvage Co.'s sign over the door of one of these antiques—a very useful and profitable institution, we have reason to believe, and perhaps too busy in saving others from shipwreck to think of this old hulk on the home strand.
The ferry-houses are certainly a great advance on the old shanties which they have superseded—quite as much so as the present boats surpass the accommodating old tubs that ran to and from our two cities in our boyhood days—often returning to the wharf to accommodate a solitary, belated traveler.
But the crafts of to-day are as far behind the demand of the large and growing traffic as they are ahead of their predecessors, and we earnestly enjoin our friends of the joint committee not to permit any personal consideration or divided counsels to keep the traveling public out of their just rights. But if entreaty fails we warn them that the day is approaching when the nuisance will be presentable and a forfeited charter will make room for public-spirited enterprise to supplant a selfish monopoly.
Just at the head of this dock stands the market-house, on Market Square, once a very creditable structure, but now ready for the hand of progress to sweep it out of sight. It is pleasant to think its removal is now under serious discussion, and in fact we only await the happy time when our City Fathers in council assembled are able in their wisdom to select a suitable site for the new structure which will be more in keeping with the advanced demands of our increasing stomachs.
That old relic of a past century that held its own so long on the corner of Water street and Market Square, in which fortunes have been lost and won, and where the oldest inhabitant remembers so well Dr. Balfour had his office, is now a thing of the past, and as soon as its debris are removed will be replaced by a handsome modern structure that will doubtless soon wipe out its predecessor even from memory. In fact, the spirit of progress is at work through the whole square, and one by one the old landmarks are crumbling into the grave of the dead past.
But we must not linger even on this agreeable theme, but pass on to inspect another of those admirable lines which give to our harbor such ready and pleasant intercourse with our good friends and neighbors of the North and East.
We have reached the capacious docks and wharves of the Old Dominion Steamship Co., whose main line connects us directly with the nation's metropolis, the great city of Gotham. For speed and comfort their fleet of steamers is unrivalled among the coast lines, and for a delightful trip by sea of 24 hours we can commend this route to our inland friends of the South and West who, not content with the attractions of our cities by the sea, wish to push forward to the larger cities of the North. For accommodation of the freight traffic the tracks of the N. and W. Railroad, which extend the whole length of Water street, switch off into this yard, so that the cars for through or V., T. and G. Air-Line freight are loaded or unloaded at the docks of the steamers. Over 50,000 tons of west-bound freight were forwarded from this company over these tracks alone, besides its deliveries to other roads, while the shipments of truck during the season present very heavy figures, amounting in some instances of single shipments to 20,000 packages.
In addition to their main line this company also furnishes a supply of smaller steamers, equally well fitted for the trade with our Virginia neighbors who live on Hampton Roads and its smaller tributaries or on the sounds of North Carolina reached by one or the other of the two systems of canals, the Dismal Swamp or Albemarle and Chesapeake, to which reference has been made in a former chapter.
A very pleasant and noticeable feature in passing up the harbor from the ferry dock is the number of manufacturing establishments, many of which appear to be new, that are at work and necessarily give employment to many busy men and boys.
[106] We note on Water street, which is just back from the river front, many new and some really imposing-looking buildings—noticeably the Norfolk Storage Co.'s building, with its busy peanut factory, where this popular nut is receiving its city polish—just before reaching the enclosure of the Old Dominion Steamship Co. In fact, the whole adjoining block gives evidence of business. Workers in machinery and in iron generally abound for several squares on the opposite side of this street, and all give evidences of success. Without wishing to show any partiality, where all are so worthy of mention as elements in our city's progress, we think that a stranger would be particularly struck with the very extensive factory and storerooms for agricultural implements recently completed by S. R. White & Bro., which really makes a big show from the water. This great improvement is located just beyond the wharves of the Old Dominion Steamship Co. as we approach the depot of the N. and W. Railroad, whose track passes right by its doors, thus affording easy accommodation for unloading and loading the large shipments of crude material and manufactured articles which are being constantly received and forwarded by this enterprising firm to and from the West and South over that road.
We note with pleasure too a considerable number of locomotive engines, both narrow and standard gauge, manufactured and shipped from this same neighborhood by the Virginia Iron Works, who make a specialty of this class of work.
As we recross Water street once more, after a detour for an inspection of its north-side improvements, we will not return to the docks of the Old Dominion Steamship Co., but enter the large gateway to a long series of low sheds, which we note are also penetrated by the railroad track.
The very conspicuous sign informs us that this is the entrance to Clydes' Steam Lines for Philadelphia, Pa., Newberne, Washington and Tar River Landing, N. C, Richmond and James River Landings, Va. The latter is our water route to the State capital, affording a very pleasant opportunity to those who are not in too great a hurry to get there and back, to have a tine view of the historic "Jeemes."
Everybody knows these little "busy bees" of the Clyde line. Quiet and unassuming, they lay claim to neither beauty nor speed, but make semi-weekly trips by sea between our harbor and Philadelphia—and we note "they get there all the same."
The Merill Wrecking Organization, of New York, have very recently leased a section of this extensive wharf and are fully equipped with all the requisites for conducting this business thoroughly and successfully. They have also opened an office on Main street. This we hail as another evidence of the growing popularity of our port as a harbor of refuge.
And now once more we've embarked on our trip up the harbor, and we pass Hunter's wharf, so long and so well known as the headquarters in Norfolk of the Old Bay Line, but now a sad evidence of the decadence of [107] this once flourishing portion of our water front; then we reach the old India wharf, where Charles Reid, Nestor of the stave trade, still holds the fort—and may his broad pennant long grace it!—and vessels, steam and sail, large and small, draw heavily for foreign and domestic ports on a seemingly inexhaustible supply of that useful article, some of which appear to the uninitiated to have rested quietly on that time-honored wharf beyond the memory of the oldest inhabitant.
But the signal is given and we stop once more, and this time we have reached a finality, so far at least as our survey of the harbor on the Norfolk side is concerned from a river point of view; for we are now once more in the presence of the fruits of that wonderful spirit of enterprise that, commencing at its old site at the confluence of the Elizabeth and its eastern branch, has extended its beneficial influences to our present business outpost at Lambert's Point.
We have reached, in a word, the wharf at the depot of the N. and W. Railroad, at which so many foreign-bound vessels have during the past season received their cargoes of cotton, tobacco and other merchandise. But in speaking of the past we have already alluded to the improvements one by one which from year to year have been made in the yard and on the water front of the N. and W. Railroad since its reorganization and renaming in 1881. Coal from the inexhaustible mines of Virginia and West Virginia, now supplemented by those of Tennessee, finds convenient preparation for handling at this depot as well as at the more extensive pier at Lambert's Point, of which separate mention has already been made. Corn and wheat from the West by the V., T. and G. Air Line, as well as from the line of the Norfolk Southern Railroad, which here has joined in closest union with its older and stronger companion, the N. and W. Railroad, are stored in the elevator, on the wharf, or distributed by it to the large foreign or the small domestic vessel, as may be desired. And this, remember, is but the precursor of grander improvements to be made in our lower harbor to meet the developments of its growing trade.
But we have prated enough on what is going to be, and must now let the figures of what has been done at this important point in the way of grain, cotton and other merchandise stored and shipped through the several agencies speak for themselves.
STATISTICS OF GRAIN.
To the courtesy of the efficient agents of the V., T. and G. Air Line and the N. and W. Railroad at Norfolk and the polite attention of their intelligent clerks we are indebted for the following interesting statements, which give an accurate idea of the large business passing over the N. and W. Railroad for export from the port of Norfolk direct, and other suggestive information.
As we have gone up the harbor on the north side to where the N. and W. Railroad bridge spans the Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth, we note [108] first in returning the work of the coal trestle; but as the figures already given during our sojourn at Lambert's Point pier cover this ground also, it will not be necessary to repeat the details; so we pass on to the elevator, which is the next point of interest.
The elevator commenced work May 10,1887, and this report closes with the operations to March 1, 1888—not quite 10 months.
Received in elevator from all sources Exported to Liverpool Exported to London Coastwise Inland Of the difference in receipts and deliveries of elevator, 90,000 bushels say 60,000 bushels will probably be exported and about 30,000 bushels will be shipped coastwise.
Of this grain there was furnished to the elevator
By the Norfolk & Western Railroad By the Norfolk Southern By Vessels In connection with this grain business we would note that there has been considerable white corn shipped from Norfolk which did not pass through the elevator; and while perhaps it should not be credited to the elevator, it certainly comes under the head of grain shipments at Norfolk and via the Norfolk and Western Railroad.
There was shipped since the beginning of the white-corn trade of 1887-8—say December 15, 1887, to March 1, 1888—
To cities in Iowa -------- To cities in Illinois —about 60% to Chicago To cities in Wisconsin -------- To cities in Georgia —about 90%to Macon. To cities in South Carolina -------- To cities in Virginia —all to Petersburg. Of this corn about 15 per cent, was brought over the Virginia Beach Railroad, 30 per cent, over the Norfolk Southern, and the residue by vessels.
The shipment of grain from our Eastern port to the great West would certainly seem like "sending coals to Newcastle" (which we may yet have to do literally) but for the explanation that our white corn is admirably adapted for the purpose of ensilage, for which their home production in the West is not available.
The two large fireproof compartment warehouses A and B, whose erection we have already referred to in our historical sketch, come next in re- [109] view, and have proved most useful, as they were designed to do, for the storage of cotton and other produce received over the Norfolk and Western Railroad for export from the port of Norfolk. In fact, their ample proportions would have proved inadequate had not the very large wooden warehouse situated on the water front of the Norfolk and Western Railroad yard been used to a great extent for this export business as well as for storing and handling the freights, east- and west-bound, delivered to or received from the Philadelphia lines.
OTHER MERCHANDISE.
SEASON OF 1886-87.
Received over N. & W. Railroad for export from Norfolk direct to Liverpool, England Received at Norfolk (local market) over N. & W. Railroad Received at Norfolk for Eastern points over N. & W. Railroad Total receipts over N. & W. Railroad For the season of 1887-88, up to March 10,1888, inclusive, the receipts of cotton were as follows:
Bales. Received over N. & W. Railroad for export from Norfolk direct to Liverpool, England Received over N. & W. Railroad for export from Norfolk direct to Bremen, Germany Received at Norfolk (local marked) over N. & W. Railroad Received at Norfolk for Eastern points over N. & W. Railroad Total receipts over N. & W. Railroad The export business for the year 1887, other than cotton and grain, from the West over the N. and W. Railroad, forwarded from the port of Norfolk direct, was as follows:
TO LONDON, ENG.
Weight in lbs. Tobacco—4,799 pkgs. (4,051 hhds., 624 tcs., 99 cases & 25 boxes Logs and lumber—215 cars Bark—997 bags Boat oars—98 crates Flour—1,879 sacks Linseed oil cake—3,339 bags Paper boxes (empty) and labels, 10 cases TO CAPE TOWN, AFRICA, VIA LONDON.
Tobacco—1 hhd., 4 tcs., 143-1/4 boxes Total weight TO LIVERPOOL.
Weight in lbs. Tobacco—5,718 pkgs. (4,606 hhds., 1,010 tcs., 57 cases & 13 boxes) Logs and lumber—25 cars Bark—8,275 bags Bark extract—232 bbls. Boar oars—445 crates Flour—1,750 sacks Handles—10 cases Staves—1 car Total weight While the receipts of cotton for the past season have not shown up so well, we think it a good lesson for our people to learn not to depend too much on that uncertain commodity. A general business is much more satisfactory in its results to all concerned in handling it, whether merchants or transportation companies.
The shipments above referred to came from the line of the N. and W. Railroad in some instances, but were largely drawn in a majority of cases from the West—even beyond the Mississippi—and Northwest, and furnished the cargoes for 46 steamships.
THE V., T. AND G. AIR LINE.
Incidentally we have spoken of the V., T. and G. Air Line in connection with the N. and W. Railroad and the steamer lines coming to our port. We would be permitted to enter somewhat into details on this subject. Its predecessor was the V. and T. Air Line, a traffic arrangement between the A., M. and O, Railroad shortly after its organization, the steam lines out of Norfolk for Eastern cities, the E. T., V. and G. Railroad and several other Southern and Western connections. Doubtless the conception looked to an ultimate consolidation at least to the Mississippi.
The reorganization of the N. and W. Railroad developed a further step, in the tripartite contract between the S. V. Railroad and the E. T., V. and G. Railroad in October, 1881, under the title of the V., T. and G. Air Line, which looked to an ultimate consolidation inside of 25 years, and renewed the traffic arrangements with the steam lines. This organization exists today with that Colossus of Roads, Henry Fink, as General Manager, who stands with one foot in New York and one in Knoxville, Tenn., while he pats on the back his favorite nursling and bids her Godspeed.
The General Eastern Agent, with his headquarters at New York, is Tom Pinckney—courteous and affable to all. No better posted man on rates in the transportation business, whose only deficiency, as the world goes, in his line is that like our great Washington he can't cut a rate and [111] about it. But maybe "honesty is the best policy" after all. That "douce man" Perry Gaither, agent at Boston for New England generally; our genial Col. Rockwell, at Providence; gentle Isaac Westlake, at New York; Col. Buffaloe, who has the field and has found Ponce de Leon's waters of eternal youth and drunk at the branch; A. W. K., the irrepressible Kilgore, at Philadelphia, and last but not least, Billy Fitzgerald, who has worked up the Monumental City triumphantly for the Line against fourfold odds, are all able lieutenants that any captain might justly be proud of.
Then there is our bright particular star, Walter Payne, whose home is within our midst, who is fully identified with the interests of our port and has done so much to keep up its export business. There is no better transportation man, and he is as good a fellow socially as there is in the business. His great commander knows whom to call upon on occasion, and has always found him "ready and willing."
Nor must we forget our astute Auditor, "Jack" Franklin, as the boys call him, though his sponsors gave him the more euphonic appellation of Walter Scott. We guarantee that he can "digest" more claims in a given length of time than any other in his calling.
The N. and W. Railroad, which has for its local agent at Norfolk the handsomest man in the transportation business, and, what's better, a good man in spite of it, and moreover is well ballasted from Bristol to Norfolk with compact Sands, firm as the unyielding shore of our Virginia Beach, and with a strong Eddy sweeping away all obstacles that would prevent its bringing wealth and prosperity to our port, is our Norfolk end of the line, so very naturally we seek to hold it up.
But we have other friends in this valued line, that, looking from the Occident, see the rising sun first in our latitude.
Ned Fitzgerald, General Western Agent of the Air Line, late at Louisville, Ky., but now translated to Knoxville and by merit raised to that proud eminence is traffic manager of the E. T., V and G. Railroad. He and his brother, of Baltimore, are both Norfolk boys, and the boy that has been raised on Norfolk oysters always turns heartily to his old shell.
Then there's Hughes—our Barney, of Memphis; everybody knows and everybody loves him. But, Father Bernard, we have one thing against thee. For good Catholic as thou art, thou deserted the Pope and walked in the ways of the Hebrew children. But we will forgive and forget—so come on this summer and have thine eyes opened by Demetrius, the Greek, and take a dip in the deep blue at the Beach, and thou wilt fain confess that the natural advantages of our twin cities, as set forth by the said Demetrius, surpass even the York River "selects."
Again, they don't make them any better than Walker Edwards, at Nashville—long since dead if the doctors could have talked him into it, but just the liveliest corpse in Tennessee, as our opponents know to their cost. And old John Wyly, at Montgomery—open as a stranded clam to [112] his friends, but only wyly, as he need be, in fighting our battles way down in "ole Alabam'." Major, are we not on the right track?
And there are many other big-hearted, clear-headed fellows, like Ray Knight, A. G. F. A. of the E. T., V. and G. at Selma, Ala; Waddell, agent at Meridian, Miss., or C. J. Graves, of Rome, the jolly old (?) tar that still hankers for an occasional sniff of the "briny," who, strictly speaking, might be claimed by their own road only, still are with us in heart, we are sure. For no man of sound mind and clear conscience that has ever come and washed off his occidental mud in the beautiful waters of our bay or the deeper, darker ones of Old Briny, and has feasted on the luxury of our fat Lynnhavens, can ever forget our cities by the sea or fail to turn with wistful eye and yearning heart towards this favored spot of the Orient.
[Note,—Pardon this rhapsody, kind reader, for we are talking about our own family; and if we have lugged in too many family portraits—well! our personnel can't be beat, and that's the whole truth of it.—THE EDITOR.]
Brambleton From Norfolk and Western Railroad.
[114] CHAPTER V.
East Norfolk and Vicinity.COMING down from the clouds, we rest once more on terra firma, and before taking to the water again would cast a parting glance at that part of the city which is yet in the first part of its city life and awaits the future to develop its water front into an active and busy part of our harbor. The portion of the river upon which East Norfolk fronts is very nearly all included between the iron bridge, with stone piers and abutments, upon which the N. and W. Railroad crosses the Eastern Branch and the wooden Campostella bridge; and while both bridges are provided with draws, the navigation is still more or less obstructed by them. It is beyond both these bridges—in fact, some distance beyond the present limits of the city—that Elizabeth Park has been projected, as before stated, by private enterprise. It appears to us that a more beautiful location for a park or a cemetery, if the growth of the city should preclude further use of the present narrow limits, would be that calm and lovely spot on the southern bank of the Eastern Branch east of where it is crossed by the Campostella bridge. The bridge could be purchased by the city and made a free bridge, and the park made as accessible to all as any spot which can now be procured for that purpose.
But the section of the city which we have now reached merits a more extended notice than we were able to give it in our historical review, and we now propose to devote this chapter to a presentation of a few interesting facts in regard to Brambleton Ward or East Norfolk, as it is variously styled, for which we are indebted to F. Richardson, Esq., who is justly regarded as the "Father of Brambleton":
"That attractive portion of the city known as Brambleton Ward is distinguished over any other area of the same population in tidewater Virginia by its total freedom from liquor licenses and by the unmixed character of its population, the colored element being only one per cent. These two reasons for growth did not come about by accident, but are due to the fact that for years the development of six-sevenths of the entire area was practically guided by two men only, who were thus enabled to carry out a consistent plan in selling no lots to such parties as would repel other customers.
"The ward derives its name from the late George Bramble, whose farm once extended from the old city line along the Eastern Branch to the present extremity of the ward at Mississippi Inlet. In July, 1856, Mr. Bramble sold 50 acres to the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad Co., and [115] for 29 years thereafter, till 1885, there was no public outlet for the expansion of the city from Main street eastward. This sale to the railroad company left Mr. Bramble about 145 acres, of which in 1870 about one-third was in scrub oaks and chinquepins. In February, 1870, W. H. C. Lovitt, Esq., as executor of Mr. Bramble, sold a considerable portion of the land, and in November of the same year Mr. F. Richardson settled upon the tract, being the first to risk his prospects upon the future value of Brambleton lots. In the summer of 1870 Mr. Lovitt, aided by Mr. Richardson, built the causeway towards Queen street and Brambleton avenue as far as Windsor Avenue, thus opening the wilderness to public access.
"In February, 1872, Gen. J. F. B. Marshall joined the enterprise by purchasing 36-1/2 acres for $12,000. This tract, with 40 acres owned by Mr. Richardson, was laid off in lots, one-fourth of the land being occupied by the wide avenues. About a thousand dollars was jointly spent by Messrs. Marshall and Richardson in constructing brick and plank sidewalks, and in the same year five handsome dwellings were built on Brambleton avenue, opposite the present flower garden. The object was to give tone to the place, and the houses were all sold at less than cost so as to secure their occupancy by owners only.
"The year 1872 was important in the history of Brambleton as being the year when both the Campostella bridge and the Holt-street bridge were built. The construction of these outlets was followed up in 1874 by the opening up of Park avenue to the Princess Anne road, in spite of violent opposition, and by the building of the Indian River turnpike in 1878. By these expensive improvements Brambleton, instead of being out of the way and inaccessible except to boys, became a leading thoroughfare for the country travel.
"With the exception of about 27 acres sold to the city for a reservoir the character of the neighborhood was in the hands of W. H. C. Lovitt and F. Richardson, who fortunately agreed in faithfully carrying out the necessary restrictions on sales. But in 1873 the city decided to sell the reservoir property, and there was serious danger that such sale might reduce Brambleton to the level of other suburbs. Mrs. Hemenway, of Boston, came to the rescue and purchased the reservoir property. Her ownership not only saved the tone of the neighborhood but has otherwise been of the greatest benefit. It was chiefly by her aid that a street railroad was built in 1877 and run for five years to Church street, doing much to develop the place. In 1878 the first greenhouses were built by Mrs. Hemenway to start the Barker Floral Garden. In 1879 the great need of a public room was met by her building of Brambleton Hall. A superior school, started in the same building, was afterwards transferred to the elegant building finished in 1885 and now called the Hemenway School. And in 1887 the first market-house worthy the name was built by Mrs. Hemenway on Park avenue.
[116] "The growth of Brambleton for years was slow. When in 1873 a new omnibus was purchased of Stephenson in New York and put on the route to Norfolk with the name Brambleton on it, people would stop in the streets to look at the coach and ask where Brambleton was. Every device was used to inform them. Bath houses were built on Campostella bridge-Boat and tub races were organized. A band played in summer evenings in the grove at the end of Holt-street bridge, and constant advertisements were issued. Nevertheless, up till 1878 only 50 white families were on the old Bramble farm. The ladies thought the place lonesome, the physicians gave a cold shoulder to the idea of moving off the pavements, and the real estate men generally were doubtful of Brambleton and active on the north and west of the city. But by the year 1882 the natural advantages, the easy terms to purchasers and steady pushing had obtained 130 families. Since then the annual increase has averaged about 30 per cent., and on December 20, 1886, there were 840 families in Brambleton and Mayfield, and the need of municipal government of some kind began to be seriously felt by the citizens themselves. The subject of annexation had been agitated since 1884, principally by non residents. In March, 1887, equitable terms were agreed upon giving Brambleton low taxes for 15 years. And by act of Assembly which went into effect July 1, 1887, the old Bramble farm, together with the neighborhood known as Mayfield, was added under the name of Brambleton Ward to the ancient city of Norfolk."Brambleton has very thriving churches and Sunday schools of the Methodist, Baptist and Episcopalian denominations. It has a public library of over 700 volumes, and lodges of Odd Fellows and Independent Order Red Men and of Knights of Pythias, the latter incorporated. At the present writing, February, 1888, a street railroad is being built to run through the ward and supply the one thing most needed. The prices of real estate, though greatly increased from six years ago, are very moderate as compared with other portions of the city, and the prosperity of the ward appears to rest on the most solid basis."
We cannot better conclude our special reference to this very interesting portion of the city than by giving the following extract from the last message of the Mayor, bearing date November 1, 1887:
"I cannot close this message without a few words regarding this beautiful and thrifty addition to our city, the annexation of which will undoubtedly prove a lasting benefit to both; but it is important that steps should be taken to secure more fully to Brambleton the protection and benefits of a city government than she at present derives. The fire-alarm system should be extended to that ward, and a water main for the supply of water for fire purposes should be laid down Park avenue from its intersection with Princess Anne road to the east end of Main street. You have on hand a quantity of second-hand 12-inch pipe, which would be suitable for the proposed main on Park avenue; and as there are no pave- [117] ments to relay, the cost of laying would be comparatively cheap. An engine house should also be built in the northeastern part of the city, near the end of Queen street, or in Brambleton, and one of the engines be kept there. If a fire were to occur in Brambleton at present she could receive very little if any more benefit from the fire department of the city than she would have done prior to her annexation. For such necessary improvements as these it should be remembered that the law allows bonds to be issued predicated upon the assessed value of real, and personal property in the annexed territory, the interest on such bonds to be paid from the revenue collected therein."
Our visit completed to this very flourishing and enterprising addition to the city of Norfolk, we once more embark from the N. and W. Railroad's wharf and cross the river to Berkley—as yet an independent corporation, situated on the peninsula, between the southern and eastern branches of the Elizabeth River. A former resident returning after an absence of some seven years would miss a familiar landmark—the old Norfolk drawbridge, which formerly connected Washington or Ferry Point, as it used to be styled, with the city, and was a great thoroughfare for visitors from the county seeking either pleasure or profit in the town.
The bridge was removed in 1881 in the interest of commerce, as navigation beyond it was seriously impaired by its presence. We anticipate at no very distant day a series of bridges, higher up the Eastern Branch, which will form links between East Norfolk and this important suburb and ultimately result in bringing it within the corporate limits of the city with mutual benefit.
Our attention is attracted by the excellent site for a shipyard as we approach the Berkley shore, at present only utilized for the repair or building of smaller craft for harbor or inland stream navigation, but destined no doubt, as our business is developed, to become the location of an extensive and prosperous dock or yard for purposes of constructing the large vessels that shall bear our products to the markets of the Old World. The lofty stacks of Le Kies & Collins's large and flourishing lumber mills are specially conspicuous at this point. Following the water front of Berkley we note the long-established wharves and anchorage ground of the Bakers, so well and favorably known in connection with the salvage and relief of wrecked vessels and distressed mariners. Old Man Joe is still the surviving partner of the old firm of Baker Bros., and is largely interested in the salvage company that bears their honored name.
Somewhat weather-beaten, perhaps, he still breasts nobly the storms of life, ever ready to lend a helping hand to any less favored craft.
The old U. S. Marine Hospital—a landmark of ante-bellum days, since the war sold by the Government and converted by private enterprise into a very comfortable residence—still presents rather an imposing appearance as we sail up the harbor.
Here the long pier of the Portsmouth and Norfolk County Ferry pro- [118] jects out into the harbor, and as soon as the new ferry buildings are complete which are promised the traveling public—patient sufferers!—will present a much more creditable appearance to welcome visitors from our sister cities to their young but ambitious friend.
Private enterprise has also erected a successful box factory on this extensive water front—an article whose utility can only be fully appreciated by those engaged in raising or handling the "garden sass," etc., for which the adjoining county is so justly celebrated.
It must be very evident to those who study at all the formation of our harbor, that this centrally located frontage, at present so little used, must necessarily in a very short time, if our anticipations of future developments are even only in a measure realized, become invaluable for commercial purposes. And we think no better location could be found for those seeking investment for capital. In fact, it is only necessary for this peninsular town to be annexed to the city of Norfolk to make its thoroughfares and wharves teem with life.
On this water front, just as we round out of the Elizabeth into its southern branch, are located the docks, float and warehouses of the Norfolk Southern Railroad.
We have already referred to the many advantages of this important factor in building up our trade with the rich and productive sections of the Old North State. The reduction of all our railroads to the standard gauge enabled it to make that close physical connection with the N. and W. Railroad that delivers its passenger traffic without transfer at the elegant depot of the latter in the city of Norfolk, while its shipments of grain and cotton are delivered respectively at the N. and W. Railroad elevator and at the several compresses in the city. But in addition to this traffic the trucking and fishing of the North Carolina sounds yield a large business, and by means of their dock and float at Berkley the barges of the N. Y., P. and N. Railroad receive the loaded cars of the Norfolk Southern and convey them to Cape Charles City, where they are landed by a similar convenient arrangement and go through without transfer to the markets of New York and Philadelphia.
Leaving Berkley in the rear as we pass up the Southern Branch and note in particular its eastern side, we come to what is known as Montalant, so called from the former owner of the valuable site of this promising settlement—a French gentleman, as his name indicates.
We find quite an extensive shipyard, susceptible of much greater future development, with its business office in the city of Portsmouth, and a large lumber mill, with office in Norfolk city, already in successful operation in Montalant—only pioneers of what must necessarily be many teeming industries in the near future.
Adjoining this settlement is that valuable property St. Helena, purchased in 1846 and since used by the U. S. Government to relieve the 119] overcrowded grounds at the Gosport or Norfolk Navy Yard, as it is now styled, situated on the other side of the river, of which more anon.
Prom this point upward to where the N. and W. Railroad crosses the Southern Branch we have three several industries or manufactories, which have sprung into life and vigor in an almost incredibly short space of time. A brief study of these will convince us that Cotton is not King— at least not our King. Royal Prince though he be—or in her fickleness perhaps we should say Princess though she be—Commerce, father of them all, is alone entitled to claim the undisputed Kingdom.
It is safe to say of these industries, perhaps of all in our midst, the chief one is the manufacture of lumber. We have some dozen extensive sawmills in close proximity to our cities, besides a considerable number of smaller establishments, which, while situated further from town, still use our harbor as their common shipping point. Over one million dollars capital is invested in this business. The daily capacity of the mills in our immediate vicinity is 300,000 feet. The daily capacity of our planing mills alone is 25,000 feet. One of the enterprising corporations engaged in this flourishing business, the Tunis & Serpell Lumber Co., are now building a very large mill whose daily capacity will reach 100,000 feet.
This lumber comes mainly from the forests and swamps of North Carolina and neighboring counties of Virginia, through the canals which connect our river with the waters of North Carolina. From these sources, in addition to that used by our mills, there are average daily receipts of 350,000 feet juniper lumber for pails and buckets, telegraph poles to the value of $100, and piles for piling valued at $70.
This lumber is mostly distributed by sea along the Atlantic coast, with a rare shipment to the interior by rail. Lumber is also exported from this port to the Hamburg, London and Liverpool markets; and oak staves, for whose quality our market is justly celebrated, to the West Indies and Mediterranean ports.
This important business has increased so rapidly in the past few years, now aggregating $60,000,000 and still improving, that the enterprising men who conduct it have found it to their advantage to organize what is known as the Carolina Pine Lumber Association. This organization was effected on March 1, 1888, and John L. Roper, so extensively and favorably known in connection with this business, was chosen as the first president. With men of such intelligence and business capacity as those who are engaged in this traffic, it is difficult to fix the bounds of possibilities for this association within any reasonable limits.
We refer now to another industry, as connected with the lumber business rather than in its order of importance as yet. So far we have only one establishment of the kind, though we think there is plenty of room and opportunity for more, and that to the advantage rather than the detriment of the one now in operation.
[120] We speak of what is now called the "creosoting" process of piles, lumber, ties, posts, etc., by the Old Dominion Creosoting Works at Money Point, on the Southern Branch.
This process was formerly known as "kyanizing," and the business was first begun some years since and carried on in our harbor for the purpose of supplying "kyanized" railroad ties for Panama and Cuba, but was finally abandoned, though conducted for a time successfully upon the completion of contracts.
The work was revived a few years since by the present company, whose enterprise has been rewarded by a merited success, despite the serious drawback of a destructive fire following shortly on the outset of the enterprise.
As a safeguard against that insatiable foe to all intruders (as he regards all vessels and other woodwork submerged upon his rightful domain), the teredo navalis, this process is certainly invaluable; and with timber abundant and reasonable in price, we can only anticipate excellent results from enterprises in this direction.
But there is another great and increasing industry which has availed itself of the advantages of our harbor, which is not yet full, and, like Oliver Twist, is still "asking for more." We refer to the manufacture of fertilizers—articles which met and will meet a ready and increasing demand as stimulants for our exhausted soil, much more needed by them than the stimulants for our own bodies and minds, which in times gone by we were most ready to supply, to the neglect of the greater need.
Prior to the war we find our farmers and planters dependent on the imported supplies of Peruvian guano or the home product of the barn-yard, supplemented, perhaps, by the oyster-shell lime from the domestic kiln; but the science of chemistry has stepped in, in this latter day, and we now find erected in our very midst large and flourishing factories, which import the kainit or other chemical salts and convert them into the various fertilizing compounds adapted respectively to special crops or localities. We have also within our borders or in easy reach immense deposits of phosphate material for this manufacture, independent of the fish product, to be gotten in the greatest abundance right on our shores. Sulphuric acid is said to be the only ingredient for which we are at present dependent on the outside supply, and it is probable that this will not long be wanting, so many and varied are the undeveloped resources of our own great Commonwealth, to be brought within easy reach of our market by our connecting iron bands.
There were shipped during the past year about 68,000 tons of fertilizers, of which some 12,000 tons were manufactured by our own five factories, that employ a capital of $260,000 and 170 persons. The products of these factories reached a valuation of $300,000.
As we have now reached that point on the Southern Branch where it is spanned by the bridge of the N. and W. Railroad, before retracing our [121] course and inspecting the advantages and improvements on the western side we will board the train and take it as far as it will carry us on our way to the Dismal Swamp, which naturally claims attention in connection with our thriving lumber business; and its beautiful sheet of water, Lake Drummond, which, with its elevated sister, Mountain Lake (the old Salt Pond of the mountain teamster), in Giles county, divides the honor of being the only lakes in our dear old Commonwealth.
The extensive works of the Jno. L. Roper Co., built on the river's bank, are noted on our right from the train after crossing the railroad bridge.
The Dismal Swamp.
"It is possible to take a trip on one of the small canal steamers and so see much of the Swamp and many other interesting things; but this is a somewhat tedious experience, and a better way is to devote a day to a canoe trip.
"To do this, one goes upon the N. and W. Railroad out to Jericho Run, and there hires a negro to paddle him in his cypress canoe as far as he cares to go. By starting fairly early in the morning, it is possible to reach LaKe Drummond and return by 8 or 9 in the evening.
"The Swamp is oval in shape and fifteen to twenty miles in breadth. It is simply a great area of submerged woodland, lying over a low ridge, which in the centre reaches a height of twenty-four feet above tide-level, whence the water flows in all directions. That the Swamp never becomes dry is due to the fact that it is like a huge sponge, which receives the inflow of a wide range of highlands westward of it. Amid the mazes of rank vegetation, the morasses of reeds and fern tussocks, and the porous peat-beds which underlie all the juniper tracts (excellent peat for fuel), the water cannot work its way out. All that is needful is to open channels of exit—main outlets and lateral ditches—in order to drain the Swamp completely and effectively. The land recovered would be of the highest possible richness; great rice-fields would be created, with facilities for irrigation, and grazing-meadows of the best kind. At the same time the larger outlets would furnish canals for the better transportation of lumber now inaccessible.
"It is probable that this will be done for the northern half of the Swamp very shortly; but until it is systematically accomplished, the lumbermen are careful to keep the two or three canals well locked, in order to retain enough water for boating purposes.
"This introduces the principal industry and value of the Swamp—its lumber. Nearly the whole 150,000 acres embraced is, or was, covered by a dense forest made up of a great variety of trees. Of these, the two of chief value are the cypress and the juniper, or white cedar; both are becoming scarce, and the latter is now to be found only in remote and inaccessible districts. The scarcity of juniper is due not only to the steady [122] axe but to great fires in the past, which, in addition to burning the trees, devoured the roots, peaty soil, and logs buried underneath to the depth of several feet. Cavities thus made filled with water and became "burnt holes." It has been asserted that Lake Drummond occupies such a burning, but this is a mistake.
"The Jericho Run Canal, by which you enter the Swamp in your canoe-voyage, runs southward from the Nansemond River to Lake Drummond. It was cut seventy-five years ago, and was originally fifteen feet in width, but now has been contracted by the encroachments of vegetation and soil, until in many places there is scarcely room to squeeze through. The water, black with the stain of juniper, seems of vast depth, but is really shallow. A small quantity of it, held to the light, looks like weak tea; but it is tasteless, and not only wholesome but reputed to be medicinally beneficial in a high degree. Portsmouth is now receiving its public water supply from this source.
"At one side is a towpath, but walking is no longer feasible, the firm land having sunk into a tangled and peaty mass of vegetation, rotting logs, tussocks of grass or fern, and the woven roots of dense bushes, furnishing the only semblance of solidity. Ferns are especially rank and plentiful.
"Behind the water-touching flags, reeds and ferns stand bushes and saplings of bay, maple, poplar, pawpaw, and a dozen other trees, overrun with smilax and narrow-leaved brier, which weave them together into a continuous thicket, save where stretches of open fernbrake appear, with here and there a charred stub to show that fire long ago cleared away the thicket.
"Once in a while landings occur, where men are loading long, narrow flatboats with railway ties, cooper's stuff, and short cypress logs, which have been brought down upon tramways. In the old days corduroy roads traversed the Swamp, but now these rude tramways have taken their place, and all the lumber is boated out along this or some other canal.
"Approaching Lake Drummond you have to force your way through a sort of tunnel formed by the tall reeds and bushes, and then, in more open water, paddle delightfully for a mile or two through a grove of stately but almost useless gum trees. The lake is a great oval expanse of gray water, subject to lively squalls and surrounded everywhere by half-flooded forests, which leave no break visible."
We have to acknowledge our indebtedness to Ernest Ingersoll—whose delightful books of travel are a source of infinite enjoyment as well as instruction to our humble self and other readers—for the foregoing interesting and thorough description of the great Dismal and reference to its fascinating lake; for we felt it could not be improved on, and our own experience and recollection had grown to be only a happy memory of boy- [123] hood's fresh and joyous days, mingled with fond regrets for the dear departed who were the light and life of those glad times.
We must say further, however, of the beautiful lake that it is the general experience of visitors that their expectations are far more than realized. The effect is greatly heightened by the dark color of the water, which is level with the bank and at every movement overflows the tangled juniper and beds of reeds that fringe the borders of this almost circular sheet of water. A solemn stillness pervades its shores—a silence broken only by the melancholy dirges of the breeze in the thick foliage above, the notes of the feathered songsters, the hiss of the venomous reptile or, perchance, the splash of the leaping, flattering perch.
"Nothing is more delightful," says one of its charmed visitors in days gone by—we fear those of to-day have an eye more to its undeveloped material resources than its natural beauties—"than to drive along its banks or skim its surface in the morning or evening of a summer's day, when the sun is just above the horizon. The mirror-like surface below reflects the trees, whose limbs, embracing above, form umbrageous vistas beyond which the eye now and then catches a view of an opening in the blue firmament; and the gliding of the sunbeams is relieved by the lengthened shadows of the objects upon which they rest. Then to inhale the delicious fragrance of the jasmine, the laurel, the eglantine, the wild rose, and various other aromatic shrubs and flowers with which the Swamp abounds—not even the spicy gales of Araby, the blest, can surpass it, and no effort of the pictorial art can do it justice."
Kind reader, do you think the picture overdrawn? Then come to our hospitable shores and see for yourself; but do not wait for summer suns, that tan most fearfully on the voyage up "Jericho," nor even for the flowery spring month—for the May-fly, "he do bite."
We have little to add except to say that this great Dismal Swamp, whose name would seem to indicate disease, despair and death to all its indwellers, is really reputed to be a great sanitarium—as evidenced by the wonderful longevity of the shingle- and lumber-getters, who, according to the old legend, either dried up or blew away or had to leave the Swamp to die. Certain is it that the water, discolored as it is and suggestive in appearance of the mid-day refreshment of the old Virginia gentleman before the war, is wonderfully pure and healthful and even reputed to be specific in affections of the kidneys.
The great Irish poet, Tom Moore, visited the Lake of the Dismal Swamp, as he styled it, in 1805, and composed a touching ballad on a legendary love affair connected with it.
It is true the verses have often been published, and may appear trite to the majority of our readers; but withal they are so beautiful that we use them to conclude this chapter in the hope that they may give pleasure to some who have not before had the opportunity to peruse them.
[124] THE LAKE OF THE DISMAL SWAMP.
Written at Norfolk, in Virginia.
"They tell of a young man who lost his mind upon the death of a girl he loved, and who, suddenly disappearing from his friends, was never afterwards heard of. As he had frequently said in his ravings that the girl was not dead, but gone to the Dismal Swamp, it is supposed that he had wandered into that dreary wilderness and had died of hunger or been lost in some of its dreadful morasses."—Anon.
"They made her a grave too cold and damp
For a soul so warm and true;
And she's gone to the Lake of the Dismal Swamp,
Where, all night long, by a fire-fly lamp,
She paddles her white canoe."And her fire-fly lamp I soon shall see,
And her paddle I soon shall hear;
Long and loving our life shall be,
And I'll hide the maid in a cypress tree
When the footstep of Death is near!"Away to the Dismal Swamp he speeds;
His path was rugged and sore,
Through tangled juniper, beds of reeds—
Through many a fen where the serpent feeds,
And man never trod before.And when on the earth he sank to sleep,
If slumber his eyelids knew,
He lay where the deadly vine doth weep
Its venomous tear and nightly steep
The flesh with blistering dew.And near him the she-wolf stirr'd the brake,
And the copper-snake breathed in his ear,
Till he, starting, cried, from his dream awake,
"Oh! when shall I see the dusky Lake,
And the white canoe of my dear!"
He saw the Lake, and a meteor bright
Quick o'er its surface play'd—
"Welcome," he said, " my dear one's light!"
And the dim shore echoed for many a night
The name of the death-cold maid!Till he hollow'd a boat of the birchen bark,
Which carried him off from the shore;
Far he follow'd the meteor spark—
The winds were high and the clouds were dark,
And the boat return'd no more!But oft, from the Indian hunter's camp,
This lover and maid so true
Are seen at the hour of midnight damp
To cross the Lake by a fire-fly lamp
And paddle their white canoe. [END]
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