Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1870-09-23
oUI; SPECIAL CoAREsPoND ENue5.
ROCKINGHAM, RICHMOND Co.. |
Sent. 18Th. 1870.
),3u0I On Saturday afternoon

| Oept 1JGh, 1oIO.
| Dear Journal On Saturday afternoon,
September Nth, I mounted my horse and
with friend, rode IN tue direction Of the
river, hoping to see The traiu from Will
mington pass over the new bridge. The
weather was delightful for horseback exer-
cises, the temperature as cool and bracin E
ea October, the air redolent Of the fresh
I d---c IL II G1.A--- ><.~1 g~Ut i'll l. -
odor of ripenlng muscadines. Our road
lay through pretty farming country,
right thickly settled; here and there COW
farm houses embowered in orchards, where
reddening apples cleaned from out foliage
| yet green pastures, whence a good wheat
harvest had been reaped in June, now
browsed by thriving stock corn fields
stripped OF fodder with Big ears standing
out like OK horns, and green pea vines
carpeting the ground in wild luxuriance.
AS we approached the Pee Dee. the face
of the country changed from table. land to
series of steep, high, rocky hills. From
the summit Of one of these We saw the
white spire Of Rockingham church, and
some of its more elevated residences, shin
ing out brightly from the dark back ground
of forest. These perpend ocular hill sides
were clothed with cotton, we'll cultivated.
well-grown and splendidly boiled. as good,
some of it. as is grown IN the Mississippi
bottoms.
Fascinated with the picturesque beauty
OF the valley vistas and the hilltop views,
we arrived, not at all tired, at the depot,
near the banks of Pee Dee. Walking over
the ties to the bridge, just finished, we saw
a q al nOL Sfr
enteen hundred and fifty feet in length,
and forty feet above the channel Of the
river, not by any means the fair feature in
the landscape we had expected, having
none of the airy wood work, nor white
paint that beauties the bridges over Cape
Fear.
= We had not waited long before the train
from Rockingham came putting mp. Our
self and others got aboard, the whistle
blew, the bell rang, and the train began,
slowly, to cross the new bridge There
was promlscuous crowd aboard, and the
ordinations of apprehension and personal
feeling were quite funny One good
WUuI1n OH1iud out, Ehoid en- TO nae, Gonaraio,
If We is agwine, lets go together another,
you, Bill quit looking out that winder,
your head III git to swimm1n, and You'll
fall
The sun had broken from the thin cur
tain of clouds, and lighted up the pictur-
esque, shallow river, murmuring in fire.
quent cascades over rocky channel,
spotted with miniature emera ID isles, the
banks trlnged with the vari colored YES
ture of trees, just feeling the touch of
Fall. The tressle, crossing the main chan
mel, continued over an island and two
elbows, making right long bridge
On the Arson side q considerable crowd I
were assembled, whom Captain Wooten |
offered to take over the river and back
We found ourselves safe on the other side: |
the bridge tested, and not found wanting. |
Its completion marks an era in the history
of the river bounded counties, remedying |
the great drawback to the comfort Of |
travel from the other side, and making the |
highway to market, at last, easily accessi-
BILE, and furnishing proportionately great |
impetus to expectation and travel.
The protector and contractor, MIR. Har-
vey, still lies helpless and bed ridden, from
the injuries received in his terrible fall |
some months ago.
The railroad has put new life, spirit and
enterprise into everything in this country
The farmers are raising more cotton, using
more fertilizers and taking more news
papers, and altogether are far ahead of the
forefathers who trUnQ2eH tobacco hogs
heads to Fayetteville. Their fair daugh-
tiers IN chignons and short dresses, hounces
and fr1lls, look different race from their
homespun-clad, Woodworking. pipe smok-
ing, plain-talking mothers, ana the old
man, who used to spend his rainy days
making plow-lines, hardly recognises him.
SELF in his offspring, the hopeful youth,
who thinks no more Of trip TO Whining
ton, than his " pappy used to of crossing
the fence to see his nearest neighbor no.
as much of hundred dollars as he was
wont to do of one.
Respectfully, PoPNAcK. :