Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1858-07-07
For the Spirit of the Age.
Pencilings by the Way.
By A cosMoPoLITE.

Commencement, dc. a
Railroads have become a fixed institution e
necessity to our ever moving race. we q
are glad of it. They annihilate time and :
space, and quite overcome the tedium of trav- I
ell. The timid and uninitiated start at the t
scream of the whistle-tremble at the passage /
of precipices, and hold on with a death grasp, {
when the iron horse gets hot and snorts and I
flies over the track but zoe never feel safer, I
than when snugiy seated behind the fiery
steed. And then they bring distant places
so near, that the calls of business or of pleas
ure may be dispatched SO quickly, that none
need begrudge the loss of time.
We were born to be busy-to keep steadily
on the anvil some job that must be DONE
Hence by the old methods o ftravel, we could
scarcely ever hope to get out of sight OF the
smoke of our chimney, unless dire necessity
forced us. But now, if duty or pleasure call
ns off, we can decamp, do a world of business
or tarry amid scenes of rare and rich enjoy
ment, and return to our W home, before
the next neighbor has missed US, or the vii
lage gossips have been peering about the
streets wondering what took US away so I'M
expectedly.
Well, it was on an errand of this sort, Mr..
Editor, that took us one morning last week
past your beautiful city, with our prov
vessxarV turned, to sauff the pure breeze of
our delightful hill country and to look into
the educational interests of our State, or rath-
er, learn what we could, by taking a peep
+; The impressions" of that trip, shall form the
wool and web of a chit chat with your readers.
Roteigh-Ah! there's a charm in that
= name for us, and we wanted to tarry awhile
= there on the above named occasion, but the
wagon wouldn't wait. After the usual de-
, t~ention, we were off in a jify, rather impress
{ ed with the belief, that whatever of good the
Central Road has brought to others, it has
done Raleigh little good in the way of trade
and commerce." Right glad are we, that we
are not obliged to jot down the same thought
" as to the entire route. Through the country
as the track passes, there are encouraging
&c signs of progress-new farms are opening
of tasty dwellings, empowered in oak groves are
~ being erected, and other indications of thrift
!; and enterprise fill the eye. Just here, Mr..
- Editor, we would ask why is It that the prac-
II tiee is not universal of erecting dwellings in
q the midst of the grove? To us it indicates
" the most obdurate ignorance and logged IN
~ civilization, for a man to put his house out
w. into the bald sunshine. That man knows
% nothing of comfort-of the humanizing, civil
&c izing, influences of a vast contiguity OF
oI shade" 1t is almost an Notwithstanding habit
ooo for who can fancy Paradise without shady
r. bowers and overspreading trees?
~ Twenty miles quick travel brought us to
~ ~ Durham's Depot, the point of communication
;"r with the University Of the State. A good
~ looking country Hotel and Store, make W
IN the material of the place. The inside of tint
Nv Hotel we didn't see, but presume its gentle
- of manly proprietor, keeps a plenty of fodder
~ for man and beast. A two-horse hack drov
,+Iv up to take passengers to Chapel Hill
small affair thought we to furnish the mean
my q o~~o, ooI oorocc Fo1 +bo 400 cE,Jor4c r
60 the University and several hundred villageI
"A at the Hill. In spite of all our fuss and bus
naw tie about waking up in North Carolina, ther
are yet unmistakable evidences that Old Ri
is still in a snooze. Would it not startle
~ hive Yankee in search of the great Universal
:. of Of North Carolina, to come boiling up
&c Durham's, and with baggage in hand. {
mes mes 10 UuU r~rK 10 UnapeI I'M" But some o
yawner will say, "what a pity the gre
nau- oehtial III NJ 20 rienV Jam Oy the great VI
after spilled milk" Let by-gones be b
cones, and go to work at once to splice Il
slip. We must have a Rail Road to the Fl
,oDa and beyond, to the Coal regions, to interse
e' the Western Rail Road from Fayetteville
then the University can be found. Wond
if many a lad sent thither by his dad, h
not been taken up at the "Shops" or son
where else, wondering where and when
passed the turnout!
IT. Not long after leaving Durham's, we pa
' u" ed Hillsboro', whose grand old oaks qui
l concealed from the view its dingy houses.
10 u Now and then, a dwelling could be see
or or which 1ookod nc yonorob1o ord +;mo hoaor
TT of GO o sworn botrod - no;n+ cold n1oLo - !
III la here no signs of progress were given out.
oues' Why is this There are wealth, intelligen
Cnah refinement of manners, a list of hospital
P"on jewellers, and a frank intercommunion W
lecr the world. Why no waking up? 1t loo
eiiec' old and gray enough to have wisdom. I
t ia it lost the strength and the activity of m
com hood? Still it is a pleasant old place
TITiy calm retreat in summer, but outstripped
hne its more active neighbors. It's once no
i Tue schools have declined, though it has recen
'Pe a. revived its Female Seminary under the
nIuS p~eryision of Rev. DIR. Curtis of the Episco
u ne Church. Old Orange and Alamance S
hold on in giving to the State some of its /
"caVeS Male schools. There, as every body kno
ccom- ;c Nv Rinnhom,e oxcolIon+ ccboo1c 800
lcreas- Snood,c Of Son+b Iorol1 ond ~ W;leon,,
!. The GfGomonoo boS;dos otbars uo oarno+ nnm
coll
6f"nc' Next we came to the eating house at f
River. We had been there before, but I
AUS its merry bell and smoking dishes, coult
allure ne to test the skill of orr host
, that oot;nr TorSo ToS . hl,nder IN ;ts concon+
ON and from what we have heard and seer
has gone on laundering ever since. By
way, Mr.. Editor, we are halfway temple
make a chapter on eating houses, Hotels,
'aordi- in North Carolina. A good Hotel in our e
civ in old State, truth compels as to say, is VIII
,;fv traveller seldom meets with-at least, it
e.. rare sight; and when one gets to such a pl
Unl1e and eats a meal, he talks about little else
'areeiy a time. Why is this? Complaint is in
Al ry ones mouth, and the feeling evidently,
rtorm- tends lower than the lips. We have hear
en- said, that a gentleman of any experience
IS, the travelling, can tell, if blind folded, when
eldest place him down at a Hotel table whethe
is in North Carolina or not. Now in
~ ~ age of progress we call for reform upon
IL ~ point. 1t is a very delicate point, we ad
1ieu IN but still we call for reform.
his The "Shops" was the next place of il
after est that met our eye. Here one would IL
breast that the Central has piled up and spread
serious enough brick and mortar and machiner
or on meet the wants of a Rail Road that exteI
- oh;1a to the Pacific. 1t is a beautiful village. I
n domiciled we suppose by the officers and
"ouh- ~eratiVes of the North Carolina Rail Roa
Considerable taste is displayed in the ST
ture and arrangement of buildings, and
IN Mon OUTLAY must have hnen vorv loroo II: :.