The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1855-09-03
Railroad Villages.


cent feature In village building. They usu.
ally begin with depot, followed by post
office, a blacksmthshop, and the contents of
u couple of pedlar's packs duly distributed
upon half dozen shelves, and there they are
born and christened, and waiting to grow.
The trains run TO and fro, and the passen-
gers see the little group clustering round the
track, and wonder ~ hat they do there, and
why they do not 90 on with tie train.
BY and by, houses get to be an epidemic,
and.up they go, here and there, and all about
--streets are staked and lots are, measured,
and public square is reserved, and they have
justee,a doctor. and "a young lawyer, and
"stated preaching" ,orce in two weeks. This
is pretty good 5eginning, aud tits only
begihnihg. "A young sophomore, out of funds
and looking for a paceeto teach winters
school, gets off from 9 struggling train some
day. ~ - - r.
Everybody knows he 10 there. He reach
es there at two o'clock, and at quarter past
three everybody knows who he is, and what
he is, and whence he is, and the 'Squi Q sees
him, and the doctor shows him around town
waves his hand towards the prairie, and di-
lates upon its resources; towards the town ,
and pronounces an eulogy upon it's enterprise,
and the young man is charmed, and over the
into high school.
Things 90 bravely on, and public spirited
individual, who, as be says, has more room
than he wants, gets the painter-for mean
while such an artizan has taken passage in
the village, en- route TO greatness---to emilia
zon his name in very black letters upon a
very broad board, and there is a general re-
loicing at the new "hotel," where he lawyer
argues nightly with the store-keeper, while
Ghs doctor completes the triangle upon the
destinies of the world in general, and Depot
dom in particular.
What they lack now is q newspaper. By
ana by Jan old press is for sale in neighbor-
ing town, and "tramping jour" has stranded
upon their beach, and the awyer promises
to write their leaders, the doctor will con-
tribute their obituaries, th schoolmaster' do
the puzzles and poetrys while the blacksmith
and the merchant promise to be liberal patros
in the way of advertising. The paper, APP
pears; like the village. very small but with
the village grows
The trains used to whistle and ring, and
barely sacken their speed. Now they stop
aliogether for there are more TO get off, and
more to get on.
The tavern keeper takes a State map of a
pedler, who happens TO be his guest over a
SUNDAY, ana discovers tHdI DepOluOU is tue
geographical center or the county. There
is an immediate agitation. The seat of JUS
tice, Justice herself, scales aud all must be
removed thiiher.
They work at it, electioneer about it, bid
for it,, and getit.
Now the huddleis village; no the village
is, town; now theiown is shire-town; now
the shire-town sis a city. The blacksmith.
shopsha grown into half dozen factories
the lawyer is multiplied by ten and the doctor
Sy six, and the housekeeper knocks down
his prices ten per cent, TO comp tie with nine
teen new corners.
And all this is accomplished through the
agency ofrailroads and locomotives, wishir
two or three years.
The lawyer is county Judge, the eocto
has grown rich, The blacksmith is may ant
the sophomore is married and settled. Thel
have a Lyceum and library, and alittle dai
" regaes its renders with a whole column o
city items How they talk or "onr city,
they are no longer villagers and pagans, the!
are citizens.