Peninsula Enterprise, June 14, 1883

Untitled

Lumbermen -- Personal injury

Mr. Leslie McPherson, of Hadlock, who was so fearfully mangled by a saw some weeks ago, is improving, but will be confined to his home for some weeks yet. We regret the Herald was mistaken in the report of last week to the contrary.

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Moral -- MurderLaborers -- Fisheries

The trial of Burkeman, the murderer of Capt. Melson, has been again postponed, and a change of venue asked for. Wherever the foul demon may be tried in the future, we shall be mistaken if a Virginia jury fail to decide that he only deserved a halter and a hangman.

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Sea -- Fish factoriesFields -- Livestock - Diseases and pestsInfrastructure -- Commercial - General StoresSea -- WreckingFields -- Livestock - SheepTourists and sportsmen -- Other recreation - Fraternal orders

Chincoteague.

The fishing steamers King Fisher and Wm. Spicer, arrived here on Friday from Connecticut, and will commence work at once in the interest of Wilcox & Co.'s factory.

The hog and chicken cholera are proving fatal, and the malady is raging to a considerable extent on the island.

D. J. Whealton & Co. are having their new store house painted in fine style, and it will without doubt be the most sightly and largest business house on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

S. J. Mumford & Co., sold at public auction on Saturday, a large amount of materials saved from wrecking, including sails, spars, boats rigging, etc.

The sheep penning on Assateague, Wednesday, was attended by a large concourse of people, and everything passed off pleasantly. The great feature of the occasion was the attendance of the 'Led Astray Club' of Chincoteague. Early in the morning the organization assembled in front of the Capitol Hotel, elegantly attired in their glittering uniforms, said to have been made expressly for the occasion by Worth of New York. The stirring rhapsodies of the Chincoteague string band, led by Prof. Paddock, rung out on the morning air, and at 9 o'clock a. m. sharp, Brig. Gen. Oliver Logan Wimbrough gave the battalion marching orders. The line of route was as follows: Up Broadway to Chestnut street, up Chestnut to Duncan's Hotel, where the battalion performed some very remarkable feats of drilling, and a copious supply or refreshments were furnished the club. The order forward, march, was again given, and the battalion moved down Chestnut street to Broadway and up Broadway to the post office, where three cheers were given for Boss Mahone."

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MigrationProfessionals -- OtherInfrastructure -- Commercial - Insurance companiesInfrastructure -- Public : SchoolsInfrastructure -- Commercial - Residential constructionProfessionals -- Builders

Horntown.

Our town is daily being supplied with fresh meats, butchered in a manner to please the most fastidious, by Mr. T. W. Margerum, a worthy gentleman of New Jersey, who has recently purchased a farm in this locality and made it his home.

Mr. William Holland of our town, is actively engaged in the horse insurance business, and will soon prove himself a public benefactor by paying through the company he represents, the amount of policy taken out by Mr. Wm. H. Pruitt of Temperanceville, on a horse which has just died.

The graded school question, which has for some time been agitated in this locality has yet borne no fruit, and as the quota of children can be easily found in this locality which gives us the right to expect it, the query is pertinent, why are we less favored in that respect than other sections of our county?

The handsomest residence on the Eastern Shore, perhaps, is being erected at this time in this town by Mr. Solomon T. Johnson, and while a model of beauty it could not be more conveniently arranged. The building will reflect high credit upon both the architect, Mr. Johnson, and the builder, Mr. John Hargis.

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Infrastructure -- Utilities - TelegraphTransportation -- Railroad - ConstructionInfrastructure -- Commercial - Hotels

New Church.

The first poles on the telegraph line along the Peninsula railroad, were erected at a short distance below here. This was selected as the starting point, because it is the farthest point north, definitely settled upon as the route of the railroad.

Our hotel is growing rapidly into popular favor, and the patronage, both transient and permanent, is increasing daily, and it is entitled to that prosperity both on account of its central location, and because of the first-class manner in which its clever proprietor provides for the comfort of his guests.

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Development -- Quality of life

Tangier.

In the history of the island our people were never more thrifty than at present. There are two schools, a first-class church edifice, lands are being improved, our dwellings are neat and comfortable, and, what is better than anything else, our people are happy and contented.

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Tourists and sportsmen -- Other recreation - Excursions

Temperanceville.

The steamer Widgeon has been chartered by a missionary society known as the Buds of Hope, of the Temperanceville Methodist Church, and will give an excursion from Wishart's Point to Chincoteague Island, next Thursday.

A Call.

Tourists and sportsmen -- Other recreation - Veterans

To the Confederate Soldiers of Accomac.

COMRADES: -- Throughout the South camps, in their nature chiefly social, commemorative and historical, are being formed by the old Confederates. No section of our State furnished braver or more devoted soldiers; no more noble dead fill honored graves, than the gallant boys who, entirely free from the force of conscription, gave themselves with all they held dear to the fortunes of the Lost Cause. To us, except as an integral part of the army, history gives no place. Whatever gallant deeds may have been done by the boys of Accomac, they lie hidden in the whirl of events. Few there are outside of ourselves, even among our own people, who know that there were among us men whose brave deeds deserved and won high commendation. Yet they were not few. It is for us, comrades, to rescue from fatal decay the memory of the deeds of the noble men, who by their courage shed lustre upon the arms of the Confederacy and sealed their devotion with their blood. Our duty is plain; and the way to it open. By the formation of a guild whose duty it shall be, among others, to see to it that naught we won shall be withheld from us, and that our children, with generations yet to come, shall learn to revere the memory of our brave boys, and raise in their hearts at least memorials of such heroes as West, Rogers, Wise, Edwards and others, whose deeds were as noble and devoted as those of any whose lifeblood welled to nurture a sacred cause, we can reach the end desired.

We ask you, therefore, to meet us at Drummondtown, on Monday, June 25th, at 12 m., at the office of Dr. G. T. Scarburgh, that we may take such steps as are needful to form the camp.

John J. Wise, W. C. Hall, G. T. Scarburgh, Robt. S. Milliner, Thos. C. Parramore, Orris A. Browne, John H. Wise, G. T. Garrison, O. B. Finney, Thos. H. Savage, L. C. H. Finney, W. P. M. Kellam, and many others.

A Word With the Farmers.

fields -- Crops - White potatoes : Quality controlProfessionals -- Commission merchants

The time for the shipment of the Irish potato crop being now near at hand, a word to growers, we think, will not be considered out of season. So much of it in fact has heretofore been shipped in an unripe condition, and been so badly prepared for market, that we should, we believe, be derelict in our duty, if we did not counsel them to give these matters their attention. We are disposed to proffer our advice, not merely because of the loss the evils designated above entail upon us, but because, also, of the disrepute into which they bring us yearly. The fact not being controverted, we believe, that these evils exist, then the reasons therefor become a matter of pertinent inquiry. In seeking the cause of their existence, however, we are not of those who believe that they have their origin in the want of honesty in our people. In our opinion the errors in these respects have no higher degree of criminality than lack of discretion, produced, either by the desire to reap the better prices of early shipments or by a rivalry between our farmers to be among the first in placing their trucks upon the market. But, whatever the motives of the farmers in sending their trucks to market in an improper and unripe condition, a proper regard for their interest, if not for their principles, should lead to the correction of those evils. The desire of the farmer to excel his neighbor is a laudable one if controlled by a proper judgment, to-wit: in having them ready for market before we send them; but experience has demonstrated that nothing could be more suicidal to our interest than the sending of our trucks to market in an unripe condition. We not only injure ourselves by putting upon the market trucks unripe and improperly handled, but it leads to a depressed market, which is felt by every farmer in our county. But having corrected the evils to which we have referred, you should not in our opinion stop there. The pruning knife should be applied as well to the faults of the commission merchants, or rather we think no one of them should be favored with a consignment from you, who does [illegible] merits. In fact, we do not know that they should not be condemned rather than you for the improper condition in which many of your trucks in the past have been sent to market. The fact that in many instances trucks, good and bad, are sold together and the same returns made, certainly offers very little encouragement to take the extra care which we have counselled. But the whole matter is in your own hands, if you but act wisely, and we do trust that the reproach which you have brought upon yourselves in the past, may be corrected by the means which we have suggested. Briefly, then, we advise, prepare your trucks properly for market, and then consign them to a commission merchant who will sell them upon their own merits. These requirements being met, we prophesy speedy relief to our farmers of the reproach that now rests upon them, and that only those will reap the reward of trickery who attempt to practice it.

The Oyster Vessel Cases.

Sea -- Shellfish - Oystering : Litigation

A SUPERSEDEAS has been granted by Judge Fauntleroy, of the Court of Appeals, to the judgment of the Circuit Court of Matthews county, in what is known as "The Oyster Vessel Cases," entered at the late term of that court.

It will be remembered that in November last the Court of Appeals as then constituted reversed the previous decision of the Circuit Court, and decided that the vessels of persons not convicted of unlawful dredging were not subject to forfeiture under the existing act, even though they were used in such dredging. The act provides for no service of process upon such owners, and gives them no opportunity of being heard in defence of their rights. It is, therefore, unconstitutional and void, and was so declared to be by the court, which, reversing the action of the inferior court, remanded the causes for proof of title by the petitioners claiming to be owners. No other question was left open. At the last term of the Circuit Court of Matthews, proof of title was made in the most complete and satisfactory manner by the petitioners, and the Court directed the payment to them of the proceeds of the sale of the vessels. A motion for continuance was made by the Commonwealth, which was refused by the court, no ground being assigned for it, except that no opportunity had been afforded the Commonwealth to get ready for trial. This being obviously absurd, and the attorneys representing the State admitting that they had made no effort to prepare for the trial, the court properly rejected the motion.

It is difficult to conjecture the ground upon which a supersedeas has been awarded, but not at all difficult to conjecture the motive which has prompted the action of the Attorney-General in applying for it.

There has been a persistent effort to make political capital out of the whole affair, and a judgment which, however righteously, restores the property of innocent persons, is naturally distasteful to the politicians, informers and attorneys, who are thus disappointed of their prey.

We shall be slow to believe of the present Supreme Court, which has both pleased and surprised us by occasional exhibitions of independence, that it will violate every principle of judicial decency, by reopening a final judgment rendered unanimously by its predecessors, and for the rehearing of which no motion was made.

But we feel no surprise at the attempt to perpetrate this outrage, engineered by BLAIR at the dictation, as we suppose of the little oyster policeman sometimes know as the Governor.

Peninsula Enterprise
Accomac Court House
June 14, 1883