, 1865-10-26

on pany Ind failed to meet the last pay day
nd tho negro laborers were "oR work" for
he time being. There Was much trouble at
:yery station about watcr, at ono place the
nough ior. q twelve miles run; Finally
re stopped in swamp, and tho hands
I bucket line and illled the
I'D tcnder-box to the top. That brought Us
below the line Of the "strike," and We
cached Florence eight hours and half be-
bind time. This was an exceptional day-the
ram isn't generally more than three or four
ho.1rs latc, and occasionally not, moro than
art ,lour. There are but two engines on the |
road, and, OF course, but one train daily each /
vry. Hardee paid his respects to the bridge |
over the Great Peedce, and the crossing Is |
elIecteG in great fat.boat, at point where
tie Ever u not more than ffty or sixty yards
wide. The bridge Is likely to be rebuilt
sometime next year.
From Florence to Charleston, BY the North
eastern road, the Distance Is 105 miles, tho
time line aud half hours, and th c fire SIX
doilp7s. The road rnns one passenger train
AMI enc freight train daily each way, and ap-
pcar 10 bc doing good business. Its bridge
1t The santee river was burned by panic
stricken rebels, and the crossing Is made In
the Usual fat-bcat. The rolling. stock up
peared to be in better condition than that on
The ruad nborc.
or RAILWAYS AND RAILWAY TRAVELLING.
since left Charleston, on the 1th Of last
month, I have travelled OH nearly nll the
roads In North Carolina md South Carolina:
/ went up through central South Carolina and
Western North Carolina, Eastward through
Northern md central North Carolina, and
back through the Eastern part Of the two
States. I have been neither specially fortu-
nate nor unfortunate, and speak OF my own
experiences only, that may speak with acen-
racy. Nor Is there occasion to speak With
fauIt-finding spirit, but only that the picture
of Southern lie may Lc brought nearer COM
pletion. .... ..-..,...
solely responsible for the destruction Of the
railroad system Of tho two States. There
were two great lines Of railway here-one
from Northern Georgia, through Augusta,
and thence: eastward gby Branchsllle, kirSs-
vile and Flurcncc, to Wilmington; and the
other northwa1l from Savannah, at greater
OF less distance from tho soaSt, through
Charleston and Florence, to Wi!nllngton, and
thence to Virginia.. From KngsEille the
former cross-line reached out one arm south
ward to Charleston, and another north
ward into western North carollns:;
This great eastesly md westerly ,,;9 yoad
Of II !; when he swooped down upon Cotum-
biz, be cut it in mfd-length. This Is about all
Sherman jid-thoronglly cut tho great cross
line. Stonemau struck tho arm reaching
northward from Kngsyille In several places.
and destroyed two or three Important
these two officers. On the other hand, Bragg
and uardee acted llks wild men. Thus they
burned all the bridges east Of Kings
vile on the cross-line, and all those
on the coast-l1ne between Charleston and
Wilmingt os-why? asks Yankee and rebel IN
unison. No one can tell. It certainly was
not done to prevent pursuit By Sherman, for
he was not pursuing. In d word, our forces
destroyed railroads and the rebels burned
bridges. It Wns much easier for Sherman to
build temporary bridge than TO lay rail-
road, antl SO the rebel Generals did not adopt
the surcst mems Of preventing bis pursuit.
1t Is much easier for the railroad CON.
panics 10 lay track than to build
| bridges, and 30 Shcrnan's method not only
eflcctually broke up tho rebel uso Of tho
roads, but left things In such condition saat
/ tue respective companies could moro casliy
put tac1a In Forking order. Hence the ours.
| great deal Of its not OF Sherman, who
| destroyed truck and accomplished military
| purposc, but OF Hurdles and Bragg, WHO
scnselessly burned bridges and accomplished
The obstruction Of our army Is nearly oEcr'
come-not obliterated, but 50 far overcome
that traycl Is resumed OIL the several ro!ds.
At this writing, believe there are less thar
| forty miles out Of use, and upon this WORK !:
progressing with conmendable rapidly. Q
| the bridges burned by Stonenan, only that OF
the Catawba, between Winns1oro and Cha5
lotto, remain unrcpaired. On the other hand
the destruction Of the rebel army will no
be ovctcon.e III . dozen yenrs. Thus Wad
! Hampton burned tho magnificent bridg'
ut Columbia. Its loss delayed shcrma'
about twenty-five minutes! South Caro'ln
1 lad In
Bragg burned tile bridges at Wilmington
their loss worked us no serious injury, hu
| they viii not be rebuilt under year. Hurdle
burned the great bridges oFcr tue Santce am
4 Lie Great Pedee-their loss wasn't Of th
least consequence to Us, but every passense
coast line of road now CROSSES fthcse Rivera !
| fntboats, and will continue to so cro5s ior
least SIX months more.
OF ali the roads In the two States, the Mort
| Carolina Central Ii the only one That runs Nv
. passenger trains per day, and this It does OF
J only short section. On Two Ioaus tacre Is
daily passenger train, and daily freight tIa5
With passenger car attached. On all 9TH
roads there & single train per day-eae
yay. of fcourse-consistipg Of one or TWO pa
eenser cars and tTo to eight freight cars. II
rate Of fare ranges from five to ulne cents P
r mile, with m average Of about si1 and qua
: ter cents. Tho actual running rate, ezcl1si
| pcr hour, with m average progress, ncl1dh
:, | stopparcs, Of about nine to ten miles an hot
u OF course, ut such speed there Is neSt to
danger Of accident, and travelling Is reasoI
bty eafc, even II exceedingly uncomtoFtab
j. THIS slow ratc ofspecd y necessltated y .
a causcs-bad condition Of the roads, and b.
u u condition Of the cars and engines. The TO
u bed ls gcneraIly In passable good order, q
r. could be put into first-clasa condition at co
,s | paratiye.y email expense. The rails ore, ho
- ever, literally worn out, and before any ct
Siderable amount Of work Gun be done On
road every mile must be relald Win
le iron. The wonder is. considering how mt
T. these two main lines were used by the re
he Government, That It is now possible to usc
!. roads at nll. The chief difficulty, hover
- after all, is in connection with
= little left, and that Is ID the m
wretched condition generally, imn!;i
Ia passenger cars are inferior to those used
second.class emigrant trains ut the Mort
Il, | needing, alike, the painter, tho g1azier,
is upholsiercr and tie scrnbber. Even all tt
no / could not restore more than three ours ou
hc ten. Three more Of the ten might, perhs
10 be put in scryiccab'e order by thorough O.
w. hauling at the shops. The remaining 1ouf
he hccn condemned but for the ahso
los necessity Of The situation. ! have ridden
ftv a dozc1 so far gone that I feared t
~ would actually fall to pieces IT speed OF
-, teen miles an hour was attained. The
4te seight cars arc, generally speaking, IN So
ICY | cars. Tie engines on all the roads, VIII
scs IN exception, arc, so to speak, on their
ar. ;eps. and most Of them must be soon rep1s
a by new ones. 1 rode with the enginee'
M ten miles on the Manchester road, while
, 1 ran ut the rate of mile IN three MINUTES e
I = hall n
,ur ncrinent, and doubt Ifhe will with that
fhe zine. His average rate Is ten to ten a
lay ! half miles per hour. ., -.
yas The labor on the roads is mostly don
ere negroes. The conductors, engineers
INA | station. masters are, so iar as observer,
md ;,rnkcmen. But two.thirdz the bzakemen
sd tireIncn. and nearly all the numerous Il
scd | employed at the various stations, are neg
nkn | and no complaint Is made but that the
rtu- tlcir work well enough when promptly
The | it Is a fact, however, that they VIII
make long engagements. IT, The ST. station a1
Tho / weeks at d place-then their craving for
vas civ possesses them aud they are of to
ling point, to engage, very likely, IN tho
nes. @ / have everywhere found that the !
fire, | haQ nll the business they could uo. Ihe
not senger travel Is s1nal!-scscnty,nVe Pc
/
run average. The lines ccnteFing IN VIII
ods, ion. and Charleston are burdened
tue eotton-iudeed, they cam, cannot ,lo, caTy z
And placc and another, l presume I
yere snoEcu with forty men who were
paid Shipment At oo 6sa0sesnsg 70 ass g,US1ca ws1e
Ian. who lad been dancing attendance npo
~ il railroad for fortnight. At Florence !
and he sarue state Of facts existed. So II
ody. loo, 1T Kingsyllle. There IT,, aaso,
liz freight coming IN from the North: or g e
ched as tic rates Of passenger travel lnd
ST frcights are exceedingly hlsh-at least :
b it those on Northern roads. Shippers scol
hirty swear, but no one expects rcooct'on =
rain Tho roads must be rebuilt and rest
rf at by Northern or foreign capital. Tha
one can be done by the present owners Is Z
nund impossible Is scarcely capital C.
yare- in The whole State OF South Carol1na
,duc. build and rcfirnish 4 hundred and hfty
~ in Of road. Tie earnings Of most OF the u
fotC lo+ffa hut nf fnurSn til