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<DIV><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">Bluefield Daily Telegraph<BR>July 27,
1909</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV align=center><FONT size=4>BUSINESS MEN URGE EXCURSION FROM
NORFOLK</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=center>------</DIV>
<DIV align=center><STRONG>Tidewater Virginians Would Doubtless Welcome
Opportunity to See Mountains and Blazing Coke Ovens</STRONG></DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left> There is a movement on foot among the
business men of Bluefield to run an excursion from Norfolk to the coalfields in
the near future. It is argued that a trip to Bluefield and the neighboring
coal operations would be vastly of more interest to the average resident of
Norfolk than a trip to Norfolk would be to the citizen of Bluefield. It is
urged that probably a majority percent of the people of Bluefield have been to
Norfolk or have seen the ocean at some point or other, while the people of
Norfolk and surrounding country who have seen a coke oven or a coal operation
would figure as a very small percent. Yet excursions to Norfolk are of
frequent occurrence, while there never has been an excursion from Norfolk
to the coalfields. Besides the attractions in the matter of sightseeing
which the coalfields hold out along New River and the entire line of the
proposed excursion, the scenery is unrivalled in the entire Atlantic
slope. All these things would be of consuming interest to the clam digger,
and he would probably avail himself of the opportunity of seeing them if
attractive excursion rates were given.</DIV>
<DIV align=left> The present plan, if the Norfolk and Western
people will agree to it, is to have the special train leave Norfolk early in the
morning, reach Bluefield by early candle lighting, and allow the excursionists
to remain over night. The next morning to leave Bluefield and proceed to
Gary, the location of the United States Steel Company's plant. Returning
at night the excursionists would have an opportunity to see the coke ovens along
the line in full blast, lighting the hills and valleys along the route.
The average clam digger or tidewater webfoot never saw anything like this and
the business men of Bluefield think it would be of more interest to him than the
ocean, the roads where the Monitor and Merrimac rammed each other, or the
old church which the British fired a cannon ball about the size of man's fist
into, or Virginia Beach, Ocean View or the rest. Bluefield is solicited,
the people say, to gaze upon these sights semi-periodically, yet Norfolk has
never been asked, "excursionatically" speaking, to view greater sights in the
black diamond belt.</DIV>
<DIV align=center>------</DIV>
<DIV align=left>[<EM>I wonder how the "clam diggers" and "webfoots" would have
responded if the proposed excursion ad would have addressed them as
such?</EM>]</DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Script size=6>Gordon
Hamilton</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>