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Carillon in Byrd Park - 1939

Byrd Park's "singing tower," which has done comparatively little singing in recent years because of disputes over who should foot the concert bills, will probably be heard from more often in the future.

Airplane Racing in Midget Ships, 1909 - January 1, 1939

Scene: Miami Airport, January 7, 1939:

The announcer's voice comes a bit harshened through the loud speakers. "The next event is the 15-mile race for planes of not more tan 200 cubic inch displacement."

Visit to 'The Bottoms' - January 1, 1939

Oddly enough, it is a place that looks somewhat forbidding to those unfamiliar with it, and yet the kindliness to be found there makes it a haven for the weary traveler.

By scratching under its coarse surface, one can find many things of refinement, tenderness, warm love and artistry.

It is the little neighborhood in Richmond along Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Streets, between Main and Broad Streets, not far from the Poe Foundation. It is called "The Bottoms" because it lies at the bottom of a long, steep hill. On clear nights one looks up the hill to see the gleaming lights of Richmond's business section towering in the west.

Rags, The "Hearing Ear" Dog - February 5, 1939

"Rags" is a dog of uncertain ancestry, but Fred Lewis, his master, will bet his bread and butter that he is as smart as any Seeing Eye dog in America. And well he might, for Rags is the most essential piece of equipment Lewis uses in his job as chief engineer at the city water station at Aberdeen, N. C.

Washington Subway - February 5, 1939

The District of Columbia is in the midst of a valiant attempt to overcome the perils and delays which long have been inflicted upon traffic by the capital's world-celebrated street circles and at the same time avoid serious impairment of their arboreal beauty. Under one of them is being dug the national capital's first subway, which, it is hoped, will start general remedy of one of the most trying traffic problems of a city having more than its share.

The Real Story of Casey Jones - March 5, 1939

Come all you rounders for I want you to hear
The story of a brave engineer.
Casey Jones was the rounder's name . . .

As a matter of fact, his name was John Luther Jones. The "Casey" was applied to our brave engineer because he was born in the little town of Cayce, Kentucky. Yes, Casey Jones was born and walked the earth (as Roark Bradford phrases it) "a natchal man." This may come as a surprise to many, for Casey Jones has entered the folklore of America like Paul Bunyan, John Henry and others who, if they ever had any actuality, had it as part of a composite character typical of a peculiar class.

Patrick Henry's Words Gain New Significance - March 19, 1939

Just 163 years ago tomorrow, in Old St. John's Church, on Church Hill, Patrick Henry gave the battle cry which focused the thoughts of the Thirteen Colonies upon liberty. He it was who held high the flaming torch of freedom.

Early this month, President Roosevelt and Congress rededicated the country's faith to the principles laid down by Henry.

Today, America and other nations are rearming. Is history repeating itself? Henry's immortal words on March 20, 1775, when he called upon Virginians to arm, take on renewed significance in the face of present-day worldwide persecution and denial of civil and religious rights.

Airshow in Richmond, 1909 - April 23, 1939

"Watch, now, he's getting ready! There he goes! Gee whizz! Wasn't that swell?"

With brief pauses, the above ejaculations could easily have spanned the duration of the first flight of an airplane at Richmond. I could not very well say "over Richmond," as the maximum altitude is reported to have been 12 feet.

The Story of Father Byrd, Richmond - April 24, 1939

It was September, 1733. Summer was waning. Cool, gentle breezes at sunset served notice that fall was near--the season which would transform Virginia's great, green forests into a magnificent rainbow.

Colonel William Byrd II had returned to his home at Westover. Pen in hand, he sat by a window, gazing admiringly at the rolling, deeply wooded hills. Then he wrote in his diary:

"We laid the foundation of two large cities. One to be called Richmond, and the other to be named Petersburg. These Major Mayo offered to lay out into lots without fee or reward. The truth of it is, these two places, being the uppermost landing of the James and Appomattox Rivers, are naturally intended for marts, where the traffic of the outer inhabitants must center. We did build not castles only, but also cities in the air."

Thus, Richmond was born in the mind of Colonel Byrd.

John J. Craven - May 7, 1939

The VMI Cadets at the Battle of New Market - May 14, 1939

Seventy-five years ago . . . .   And today there is only one survivor of the battle in which a small band of V. M. I. cadets fought shoulder to shoulder with veteran troops to repell an invasion of the Shenandoah Valley on May 15 of 1864. That sole survivor, William M. Wood, was but a lad of 19 when he marched the 82 miles from Lexington to New Market to participate in the battle in which the cadet corps contributed materially to the Confederate victory.

The Richmond Light Infantry Blues Look Back 150 Years - May 14, 1939

The Blues, pride of Richmond and glory of Virginia, are marking 150 years of a noble career this week end. Historic commands of the Centennial Legion have joined the sesquicentennial of the famous battalion, to produce one of the most colorful and brilliant events in the long existence of that body, whose name has been linked with the very fabric of the city's traditions almost from the outset.

Honorary Colonels of the South - May 28, 1939

In Webster's New International Dictionary (1938) this excerpt from the definition should be and hereby is challenged:

"Colonel . . . 3. A title of courtesy given to any prominent citizen. Southern U. S.

This emphatically does not apply in Virginia, as a recent interchange of statements between the office of the Governor and the office of the president of the First Families of Virginia, Inc., plainly shows.

Richmond Streets - July 30, 1939

The Rev. Palm Beach has another name, too, Robert Mundy, but nobody calls him anything but the Rev. Palm Beach. The reason for this is, he says, that he used to work around in hotels and always wore a palm beach suit. But although a palm beach suit would have felt good that bright, hot sunny Monday morning when I met him at his work on the dump, he did not have one on. He was dressed in some old clothes fitted for work on the dump, and so were his band of coworkers. These people make their living by picking over the dump and salvaging everything that they think anybody might buy.

Also in this article:

If you don't know Aunt Rosa, you don't know what you're missing. She shells butterbeans down on the market but all the butterbeans in the world--as good as they are--cannot match the philosophy she dispenses as her fingers fly from early morning until night.