Peninsula Enterprise, February 4, 1893

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Weather -- FreezesFields -- Crops - Sweet potatoes : Seed and slips

During the late cold weather many of the farmers lost their sweet potato seed, and it is feared that the supply will hardly be equal to the demand this season. The loss to many of the farmers is a very serious one, because if they can be obtained at all, it will be only a very high price.

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Farmers -- Farmers' organizations

There will be a meeting of delegates from all the sub-Alliances in Accomac county at Parksley, on Wednesday, February the 15th, at noon. Each Alliance is requested to send three delegates. Delegates will please meet there promptly at noon.

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Weather -- Freezes

Chincoteague and the mainland are again in communication with each other by steamer and we had hoped to be enlightened by our regular correspondent as to proceedings in that section in this issue, but he does not seem to have sufficiently thawed out yet to favor us with a letter.

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Tourists and sportsmen -- Other recreation - Fairs

Preparations for the next Eastern Shore Agricultural Fair are already in progress. The following gentlemen have been elected as members of the Executive Committee, this year: For Pungoteague Grange, Messrs. T. T. Wescott, J. T. Bull, William M. Turlington and Dr. John W. Kellam -- for Belle Haven Grange, G. H. Adair, W. T. Fleming, George W. Elmore and R. Elmore.

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Moral -- AlcoholInfrastructure -- Commercial - HotelsTransportation -- Road - Liveries

Accomac C. H.

The interior of the old ENTERPRISE office has been handsomely fitted up by Mr. William E. Lewis, the present occupant and owner, and the same has been converted by him into a place for dispensing select and exhilarating liquors.

The Hotel Doughty of our town is fast becoming a popular resort for guests and all have only words of praise for mine host Doughty and deservedly so. His rooms are comfortable and elegant, table always supplied with the luxuries of the season and service excellent in every department. The livery of Melson and Doughty, attached, is all that could be asked for and prices reasonable. When passing this way you cannot afford to withhold your patronage from either hotel or livery.

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Infrastructure -- Utilities - IceWeather -- FreezesTransportation -- Road - Other

Onancock.

All the ice-houses in this neighborhood are filled with choice ice.

The steamer "Pocomoke" is expected to arrive this morning from Baltimore. She has not made a trip since the beginning of the recent cold snap.

Mr. F. W. Byrd, of Baltimore, was in Onancock last week. He was on Tangier Island when the freeze-up began and was ice bound there for several weeks. Mr. C. A. Snow, also of Baltimore, was caught in the same predicament. They finally determined to walk off on the ice, and succeeded in doing so, but not until they had surmounted some exceedingly hazardous obstacles. Mr. Byrd gave out completely and had to be almost carried a distance of about fifteen miles.

Several persons living outside of Onancock have been fined within the past week for fast driving.

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Transportation -- Road - MaintenanceTransportation -- Railroad - FreightWeather -- Freezes

Parksley.

Our roads are very bad, and our oyster shippers are doing but little at this time, as they really are not fit to haul over.

There was almost a coal famine in Parksley, during the late cold spell, but the arrival of a few car loads has put us in better shape.

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Weather -- FreezesDisease

Temperanceville.

The public schools which were closed during the recent bad weather have reopened.

The winter of '92-93 will long be remembered in this vicinity as well for the epidemic of measles as for the severity of the weather. This peculiarly unpleasant malady has been raging here for nearly a month and every man, woman and child who has not previously had it has fallen a victim to it. Out of several very serious cases none have proved fatal yet.

Arrested For Murder.

Moral -- Murder

On Saturday last, Thoroughgood Taswell, colored, shot and almost instantly killed Leah Wallace, also colored, aged about 17 years, at the home of Noah Ballard, on Deal's Island. Thoroughgood went to the house of Ballard, put his arm around the neck of his victim and fired the fatal bullet from a 32 calibre pistol. The ball entered the mouth of the girl and came out the side of the neck. The murderer immediately threw down the pistol and took to his heels. An alarm was given and pursuit was made, but he made his escape. Jealousy is attributed as the cause of his act. -- Wicomico News.

He was arrested at New Church station, last Monday night, and confessed the killing, but claims it was an accident. He was being held, according to our latest advices, for the authorities at Princess Anne, Md.

Mr. Wise Leaves Southern Club.

Tourists and sportsmen -- Other recreation - Fraternal orders

New York, Jan. 31. -- Mr. John Sargeant Wise has resigned from the Southern Society of New York. His resignation is the subject of conversation among Southern members whenever they meet. The cause was an episode in the club-house a few weeks ago. In a speech at Cooper Union Mr. Wise had made a comparison between the Democratic platform of today upon the tariff and the Confederate constitution of war times. Mr. Wilton Randolph, a Virginian, was one of the Southern Democrats who objected to the analogy. Mr. Randolph afterward refused to shake hands with a friend of Mr. Wise who was taken to the club. The matter came up before the House committee and Mr. Wise, as a consequence, handed in his resignation. Mr. Wise and Mr. Randolph represent two of the most distinguished of Virginia families the one bing a son of the late Henry A. Wise, the other being a lineal descendant of Thomas Jefferson.

Crops for the Coming Season.

Fields -- Crops - Other vegetablesFields -- Crops - Sweet potatoes : Quality controlfields -- Crops - White potatoes : Prices

The following from Mr. Walter G. Fentress, commission merchant of Baltimore, of recent date, merits the attention of our farmers:

I write you to-day to give you my ideas about some of the crops of the coming season. I have visited all of our largest packing houses and I find that they have cleaned up on canned peas; and they all tell me they have more enquiries as to the crop of peas for this season than they have ever had before; and I feel confident that peas will bring more money in Baltimore this year than they have for many years; and I advise all my friends and patrons to plant all the pea they can -- pick them young, put them in good round hoop barrels; and I feel sure they will be perfectly satisfied with the prices they obtain.

As to Irish potatoes, the crop of old ones is short, and they are wholesaling now at 90 cents to $1 per bushel in all large cities. Some people think this a good reason to think new potatoes will sell high; but I have been in the business about 17 years, and I know from experience, that a short crop of old ones does not always help the sale of the new crop, but I would advise all the farmers of Accomac and Northampton counties to plant some Irish potatoes and not depend entirely on the sweet potato crop.

As to sweet potatoes, I have this to say: We all know those raised on the Eastern Shore of Virginia are the finest eating sweets that are raised anywhere, and if all of our farmers would put them up in nice round hoop barrels, well filled, use nice, clean covers, and have their potatoes well culled, running a uniform size from top to bottom, I really believe the demand for Virginia sweets would be so great that the prices obtained for them would pay the farmers handsomely and that there could be twice as many sold as was raised in Virginia any one season.