The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-11-27
Trio ee,asnsson On Riding ON a Loco
sy,nssseaa.EAoyy IL Feels.


most es6nS4 vssketch Of tho sersatio
OF riding on Nh .engine is one conti io .II :
- the Iadepeadsht by the Kew. Dew !,
ra,madpe. Who tried the experiment ~hiI
iorrneYfag In the Rocky Mountains. Ii
says: .., sy1 asked q
ep1.Igce. on tho Pac tic railroad ~ seat.o
six or seven thousand feet ABOVE 'he rev
of the sea. .'Ccrtainiy, ne sac hu
,r,i f,s, ttght. or YOU mas fall Off"
,.Tnn,, ,oot :" went the whistle, an
mo lang anaconda Of railroad train fic<
vent crawling along the rocks, but 500
foos on fearful momentum. Sitting /
.s4uIIm ,a's Palace Car" looking out {
tb, window, the passenger gets no idea {
The speed OF the train; but close by til
eagnccr. and feeling the nervous quiye
auI lamp OF the Iron courser, you see tn
III .unta:ns skip like rams, and the bills Lib
lambs. =. -,
The door OF The locomotive furuac
clapgs open ard the flames rave rs il the
would leap out to dcvour, aud the fireman
jars the coal into the raging jaw OF La
monster. The engineer has his hand on TIT
;ron bit that controls the speed, and SEEM
u use no cXeriion more than doctor feel
ing the pulse OF q child. Indeed, the loco
motive TO the engineer Is not mere ma
+, ne, but an animate. lie talks to 1t, seems
~ y, : it lovingly on TIC neck. He is proud
There is Il warm understanding be-
'wo. and IN occasional srurts Of
~niive seems to take voice
tween the. An engine never
Steam tho locom> "stort TO throw
and answer is rider.
hurts It's master save In the's~ -
tie passengers.
cif, Is wide awake. He is kept on DUTY
cn1r four hours in the day, and All the ener.
t,;,.> cG BODY and soul cluster in his Fisiiant
eve md onick thumb. TWO hundred lives
han, on his wrist.
We plunge into q saow-shed WIN lnh-
nitc cia.tcc, every board and Beam Deatns
back The dealcn,ng roar OF the facihe En-
pes. 80 we rush on, the prairie oogs
s.1l,E into their holes, or sit on their mud
,"i5ytcrs. with lore-teet lifted, Gs to say,
:. = t,nt ncxt!' The antclopes scom per
,y.r the rIa,ns. We ride unlmpedcd
wr,.rc less than two years ago the bnNaioeS
,.,nnrI TIC train as tho herd scai!lpcleu
.,,.rnts frc track: and along here the say
noes entered on their ponies. You see
here and there groups Of red men, WIN
innrii a,y and checks dashed with war pant,
riY.ed ears, and surcifElity OF alrt thaC
,,ry.rs yullr list romantic notion about Tue
'Ircilc rcd men Of the forest" The air Is
Ia.'cr with the breath o. cedar, madrona,
,r3, z,1,it., and buckeye. Here we are
raising through what seem the ruins OF
castles and temples ard cities, and calling
no 20 mmG retra and Pompeii, and Nine
ysh and IhcDcs: but these ruins, on either
side OF Our track, must have been Vaster
a2a6ts, where giants might have lived Till
the ritlns began here to play icap-frog ana
- turn SUE mcrsaults. Now the whistle
ja,. IN q Wild screum--a cow and calf on
t6ct,1rk. The COW We cut in halves, ana
lie clit, with broken legs. tumples over
into The ditch wonder il that man Just
ahead vii Get of in time. Perhaps he Is
deaf, perhaps he Is crazy, ana wants TO oe
RIA over. In time 10 save himself, he
s7.;'chc> OF and robs the coroner.
iIeil yuuI. breath! Eavine thousand
f.at dccp on this side. Entertainment Il
u.u,.pl lcet UP the other. AS we turn
IN. cave the engineer pulls the steam
y.i@g. AID The silence that chiefly relsned
b.. f., G 900 years les Slip all it, sounds
.! e, D2 a:,d IererbeTatlon.
4.haW how we f.. II n bolt break,
trairuc!. fall, or rock disiodSn, we are
ia C.csu.iy. lUuuinerable variety oil HOW
- b,c:.E their alloaster at the feeh OF Inc
Gift: but yondcr the mountaln-tops al
h!po,,:igg into the white lily OF everlasting
en ". B,jd""s, high, narrow, trench !
dlus, thai cicak aud trcmble under the
0r,>-uIc Of the train. A tunuel! lnk
black. midnight doubled, dampness that
never SAW the sun; While tar ahead Is
biut O. sunlight prcring through hole that
lo,hs apuut the size q! tie arcn OF Il mouse
rr.n, sui which wdcus till at last It is
large enough To let whole train escape
luir lie 9uiIcn day.
Cut ih,rc 10 HE old emigrlnt road, with
Occasionally skeleton OF u COW or horse,
O. The wreck Of II wagon that hopclcS>iy
L:Uk- down on he way, and here :; small !
lno,ud nud s rough stone 1t The lead OF IL,
thu snoUs where some worn traveller tiG-
isrCl lbs journey in those days when in ono
year accCs> those heights went GOO wagons,
i,u,iod by 1000 mules and $4,000 yoke OF
oxen.
Aui row the night begins TO fall, and the
train gee plouchiug through the darkness.
'gnc giI1i burning eve OF the locomotive
peers Though and bushes far ahead upon
the wild scene.
The 2rizzlly bear, the panther, the night
Ia" il, thc cormcrant, the pelican, the gros-
beck, the eagle, that kept aloof while the
tny Suone. may venture nearer now II they
dH.e. Oh! how we fly The rush of the
wind tue iantpiug Of the car.coupllngs,
the c!"u%ing OF the wheels, the steam MSS,
tss fleece shower OF sparks that set The
n'@ht Oh lire. the shooting past OF rocks nfe
hundred feet high, followed by preclplce
4 lhousaud feet deep, make the p!calh
short, and the heart thump, and the very
$>Iip M. .....-. 80
Now the shadows shuttle! How the
cr4.> SILVER! How the ccnoes rave! An
cNpl,,> train ut night OH The Rocky Noun
taii.,! The irresistible trampling the im-
myv.llel Yet the way is smoothed down
:y Aunan engineering. Then it will not
he 50 difficult to prepare the way for q
lraudcg coming then the mountains shall
nc u.5de low, and the crooked straight, and
rough places plain. and the glory Of the
Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall
3s tnrDj l,r