The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1871-12-08

We never saw "a more graphic -ketch
efthe sensation of riding sn an engine
than oAe contributed to the IVaeeen-
dent, by the Rev. Il. Dewitt Tat
madge, who tried the experiment
while journeyir 8 in the Rocky
Mountains. He says:
"May get on with you??" asked
Al engineer GA the Pacific Railroad,
at a station six or seven thousand feet
above the level of the sea. Certain
ly,n he said; "but hold tight, or yOu
may fall of" . '
foot! toot." went the whistle, and
the long anaconda of a rail-train iirst
went crawling along the rocks, hut
soon took on fearful momentum. Sit
ting in "Pullman's Palace Car look
ing out ut the window, the passenger
gets no idea of the speed of the train
but close by the engineer, and feeling
the nervous quiver and jump of the
iron coIIFSer, YOU see the ''lnountains
skip like rams, and the little hills like
lambs.'
The door of the locomotive furnace
clangs open and the flames rave a
though they would leap out to devOur,
and the fireman jars the coal into the
raging jaws of the monster. Tie
engineer has his hand on the iron bit
that controls the speed, and seems to
use no more exertiOn than a doctor
FEELING the pulse of child Indeed
the locomotive, 10 the engineer, Is
net machine, but animate. He
talks to il, seems almost To pat IL
lovingly On the neck. He is proud Oi
it. There i a warm understanding
between the two, and in occasional
spurts of steam the locomotive seems
10 take voice and answer its rider. An
engine never hurts its msster, save in
the effort 10 throw the passengers.
But the engineer, sitting so placid.
is wide awake. He Is kept on duty
four hour. in the day, and all the en-
crsie. of body and soul cluster in his
Tisilant eye and quick thumb. Two
hundred lives hang on hi. wrist.
We plunge into the snov-shctl with
infinite clstter, every board and Beam
seiitin9 back the deafenin. roar of
the Pacific Express. A. We rash or,
the prsirie-dogs skulk into their holes,
or -it on their hind quarf-r~. With
fore feet lifted. ~ much As To say.
y Hdt flCSA. iir
over the plain. We rii,' uuiInlse.Icd,
whore, le.. than two years sep, the
blIffalce. stopped~tli- train ~ the
herds -C-anperesi scr1ss the track; and
along here the .svageS caTsered on
their poHi6-. zen see here and there
srouv- ~ Red men, with long hsir.
and cnerss asubed with var irini.
rin9e1 ear end sIp-rfuity ef dirt
that buries ysur last ronlaatic notion
about the mobile red men :i the
forest The cir + laden with the
breath al the t.edsr. msdrona. msn-
Iauits aud hurk,ve. Here We 4rs
ps-sins through Whit -.eIn the ruins
Of castIe~ and temples sn.I cities, and
calling up 10 mind Petra AMI IoIgpeii
and \ineVeh and Gaebe-: but these
ruin. on either side of our ir7..'k must
have been ys.ter sh0ies, where giants
might have lived till the itsns began
here 10 play leap frog; and tura sCni-
crSault. Now th- whistl. tets of
wild scream: COW and calf are OH
the track. The COW We cut into halves.
and the calf with broken legs tunl-
bles into the ditch. ] wonder if that
man Just ahead will get OF i'm time
crazy and wants to be run over,
Neither. In time To save himself, ne
switches OF and rOhS the coroner.
Hold YOUR breath, Ravine a thau.
sand feet deep on this side F,Hbank
ment a thousand feet up Oh the other,
A ne iarn the curve the engineer
pulls the steam valve, and the silence
that reiSncd here for six thousand
years lets slip all its sounds OF cciIo
and Teverhcration.
Hcw, how We fly. If 4 ll.iI break,
or truck fall, or = r,.cK di-lOd.c, we
are in eternity. lpnumerable varieties /
of flowers break their alabaster at the .
foot of the cliffs; bat yOnder the noun
tain top are blooming into the white .
lily of everlasting SNOW. iiridgc-. [
high, narrow, aud tremendous, that ,
creak and trcmble under the pressure I
of the train. 4 tunnel, Iuk-hiack. /
midnight doubled, dampness THAI /
never saw the sun; while tar ahead i 7
a tint of sunlight peeriHg through
hole that looks about tho size of the
arcs Of d niaase trap, but which
wideRS till at last il il large enough To
let whole train escape into the gO!
deH dsy.
Out there is the old cniigrant road,
with occasionally the skeleton of
COW or horse, or the wreck OF wagon
that hopelcs<ly broke down on the
way in the days gone by; and here a
mound, and a rough stone AT the head
of il, that show where SGals worn
traveller finished his journey, in those
times when. In one year acrOss these
heights went five Thousand wagons,
pulled by seven thousand yoke Of
Oxen.
And now the night begins To fall,
and the train g,s< ploWing through
the darkness. The .re-.; burning eye
OF the lncsHlotive peers through, and
aasheS FAR ahead upon the Wild scene.
The grizzly bear the panther. the
nightiIswk, the cormuraut, the peli-
can. the grt.sberk, the es"lr. that
kept sioos while ,he day <hone, nIav
venture nearer nov, # iiIey dare. Oh,
how We H., Tie rush OF the vinl.
The banning Ol the c;,r-Coupliuw. the
clang "t the wheels. the s;e;,m hjSs.
the iier,- Shs~-r of spark thst ~sl
the night on fire. the shooting l,tst al
rocks live. hundred ieet high f..iaH III
by prsripir- th"usa!.i ie". deep.
make tl." a?s.il short. and tho very
l,-srt tliumr, aud the very ~'7tlp liIt,
How the shsjuHs shuttle, How
the crsgs -hiver. How the echoes
rave. Al express train ~ GiGn, on
the Rocky Mountains. rh.' irrc~ia;i-
lie traInpliuE the irmnovaI,l~, Yc;
TIE say -mo0thrd down lv human
engineering. Then il viii ;,oJ he ;.
tupr-pSF- ths way for "a grand
-r coming when The mount;,iH~ shall
h- made low. and h- cru-.ked straight
and ih- rough places plain. and the
,slsry of the Lord shall he revealed,
and all ie-h shall see il together,