The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1853-04-04
THE DAILY DISPATCH
Jas a. cowARDIN. Proprietor.
zUGH r. PLEASANTS Editor.

- from Norfolk TO Raleigh by the middle of
aa-l' aa2rl,
T5;s notice calls to our mind very memo.
.hrs journey we performed from CASTOR to
p,,s;rb in the year iS4s. The road was then
:, the worst order we suppose ever railroad
..s There was, with the exception of seven
,,,;ya. Of heavy rail at CASTOR, hardly one un-
b,oken oiece of rail on the entire route, and
-,ncb Of the way the cars ran upon the naked
uo,d Yet il was, perhaps, the safest road in
..ouorl4 and DO disaster of fatal kind oc-
o,,,,sd anon it, we believe, during the long pc
-,,d +, remained in this condition. Its safety
ms :, the slow speed at which the cars were
moved bv very small engines that were very
much out OF order. II one wheel got OFT oi the
track, the engineer could easily stop the train
bsf,re another followed it. We of the train
could easily converse with the people as we
passed along, and Ii man on horseback could
ri3e bv the side of the cars and chat very
agreeabiv with a passenger friend sitting in
,bem, # VAS no uncommon thing for the
nssseprsrs TO have TO get out at heavy as
cending grade, and sometimes they even had
<3put their shoulder TO the wheel 10 help the
laboring, wheezy little engine, which hadn't
breath enough TO get along without l'ttle as
sisiance
The company had doomed the road TO pay
u own expenses, and as il could by possibility
d. very lille, it had very little to pay expenses
with. An admirably rigid economy was there.
fore practised. No repairs except those of the
most pressing necessity were made-"mend or
e;op'" was the cry before anything in this line
was done. Very few officers could be en-
poyed, and one train captain and one engineer
were required to perform the trip TO and fro be-
tween Raleigh and Gaston-which took about
twenty.six hours-pretty hard service that
1t was in the month of April, aud one of the
coolest drzzling rains that ever fell in that
month. began the night we left Gaston.-
Indeed, there was an interude of snow occa.
sionally. We started at - o'clock, and when
daylight began TO streak the horizon, we for
the first time had full conception of ihe
snail's pace at which we progressed. The
red-headed, red-eyed train captain almost bro
ken down with fatigue, entered the car TO see
what could be done in the way of fire, for
we had had none; and informed US in the most
patient manner, that we had only gone about
!reice miles from CASTOR! "We can't gel
along for The water on the rails said he.-
TIE passengers, among whom was only one
lady, land she a very gentle and lovely one J
were very we'll behaved and very respectable
persons. They made no fuss-they had been
prepared to expect but very little comfort or
expedition, and they got it. There was gen.
eyal ou.-burst of laughter when the good ma
tured captain made his cOnfessi0n-for it was,
in truth, made as though he were the engine,
and apologising for his poor performance
The passengers who, under such circum-
stances, and chilled by the cold damp air, pre-
served their good humor, proved that they
were capable of becoming great travellers
Well were they fitted for the ups and downs OF
life
We should not omit to say that General
SAMUEL HoUsToN was one of this happy par
III and none got along better and bore the dis
comforts Of the day with better humor than
he. The captain, we said, had come in to
raise FIRE TO warm his shvering passengers;
b4tthe stove had been burnt out, and soon af-
ter kinding blaze the pipe tumbed in Vain
were the efforts TO replace il, and the car be-
came densely filed with smoke. At last the
captain concluded that the fire must be put
Gat-to which conclusion the passengers had
come before him-and that we must wait till
we got to Henderson to repair the diIapidated
stove. To that place We had to scufile our
way before we got breakfast; and the amusing
incidents of the journey, assisted by old San
Jacnto's bon hOmme, and some very good
stories he told, kept us all in good humor in
spite of the discomforts TO which we were sub
jected.
Long, long after the usual breakfast hour
at snail's pace, we entered Henderson-that
village then almost hidden by chirquepen
bushes-delighted at the chance for tempo
Eary relief from our discgreeable confinement
On entering the hotel-if we may be pardoned
1cr abusing that name-where We were to
breakfast, there was no FIRE in the sitting room,
ard We were ushered into bed room, where
there was little, until one was made in the
parlor-such paiIor As a sort of antidote
for the cold rain, decanter of old applejack
vas produced, and though il burned as it went
down, it soon produced glow!
On being introduced into the breakfast room
with whetted appetites, we beheld what would
have driven us all away if we had not been as
hungry as hounds. The liable, the knives and
forks, the cups and plates Oh defend US from
such again! The fat fried bacon-the bleached
biscuIs-the halfdone corn bread-lhe muddy
Rio coffee, odOriferous of seed.sticks-all in
all, constituted about the meanest breakfast
we ever behelj, and we have, in our very con-
siderable travels, seen and eaten some hard
ones! Old Sen Jacinto smiled-he bowed
most blandly to the hale and hearty-looking
landlady, who, with a stout and steady hand,
poured Cut The coffee. And we all did eat of
the fare, aye, and felt refreshed from what
nothing but hunger and apple-jac could have
enabled us TO stomach. Upon getting up, the
Old General said he believed he had had little
worse fare in Texas!
Before leaving Henderson the ingenious cap