The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-05-01
Oxcr fI,c sSo,,,,,ns,s.
Correspondence Of the Cincinnati Commercial.
LEwlssrRd, ansEEhRiEn COUNTY, VIVA, j
tt4 April 90. 1S7I (
THE ROUTE OF THE RAILROAD.

LEW1SBCKd, daEESRRfEH COUNTY, W.:TA.,I
April 20, 1872.
THE ROUTE OF THE RAILROAD.
For the fiifiety TITLES tliat the Che.aDfeake
and Ohio ftau follows New aid Gfeefibrier
rivers the scenery Is ttiitsH the same. a de.
scription of d section of II Is dissertation of
itall. It Is wild; picturesque, and beautiful.
splendid to lUth tipof; but difficult to buiid
railroads through: Still, With all the OBJ
structions encountered along their banks,
they are Providential passways through the
monntainsy for without them no railroad
could be built. They late cut deep gorges
through the hills that stood in their way. and
IN making themselves bed have marked out
. line for railroad over the Alleghanies
The banks are high and steep, and rocky and
rough and rugged; but without them no rail-
road could be built through here On the same
grade short of half u hundred miles of travel
ing through solid rock. Let us give these
wild rivers credit, then, for what they have
done towards making q way for a railroad
between the Ohio river and the Virginia sea-
board.
| followed the line Of the road as far as
Miller's ferry and the Hawks Nest. some
ten miles above the mouth of Gaulev, pass.
Ing over the worst of the New River cOun-
try. The character Of that country, its Wild
ness, wilderness, and beauty, and the diff
cllltles OF locating road through it, have
attempted to describe in previous letters. I
attended to follow the line up New river to
che mouth of Greenbricr, and thence lip that
stream with the line Of the road to this place,
Dut the difficulty of getting horse, together
with the frequent and furious storms, as well
rs the almost impossible condition of the
path " flor road there is none) caused me
10 make slight changein programme. Men
nave ridden through there, though the prin.
clpal part of the "riding" consisted in walk
ing and leading horse ; but mt this rainy
season OF the year, when even the little
path that there is has been cut I'D by
slides and cut into to make way for
the road-bed, All attempt to follow it
Is neither pleasant nor safe occu-
patlon. Besides, the country Immediately
on the line OF the road is precisely similar to
that which passed over from Long creek TO
Mliier's Ferry, and which attempted to de
scribe IN previous letters. say attempted
10 describe, for neither painter with brush
nor writer with pen, nor both together, can
40 Justice to the subject. New river must be
seen to be appreciated. This widest of
American rivers can never be run through a
painters head and paint-pot OH to canvas,
nor can any pen describe the r,lggcdness Of
It's mountain banks and roar of its angry wa.
tiers. With the completion of the railroad
New river will be within some ten hours of
Cincinnati, and then I'LL can look at it who
choose. a view from the car-wndows
would be preferable to the view | had,
though it might not he so conducive to an
appetite.
There Is Il popularity about New river de-
serving mention. 1t browns people. ANY
river will do that, but none seem to be as
hard to get out of as this. Men who have
swan the Ohio with hardly an accelerated
pulse meet death when once caught in the
angry tide of New river. Attempts to navi.
gate it even for short distance in any dc.
scription OF craft usually terminates i'm the
| staving-up of the craft and drowning of the
| navigators. The Indians regarded it with
meritcd superstition. They thought the
Evil Spirits controlled it motions and tloated
about in its turbulent tide to drag under al
who might launch their frail canoes on it:
! tossing bosom. But the Evil Spirit theory
| went out with the Indians. The thing thu
matter with it is uow discovered to he the
fact it is wcdgcd in between two nloliitaIns
and dcsccnds over bed Of bouldcrS Il
| twenty or more feet to the mile. Most an.
river would give surface indications of al
evil spirit under st:ch circumstances.
Apr0poS to this, pick up the Lewisbrrs
| local paper aud read: "Hc was useful ant
respected citizen, and leaves wife and chill
dren to mourn his sad DEATH" Who? Mr.
Hobbs, of Hobbs's ferry. New river. Durin;
the last rise his itrry-boat drifted from thu
bank. aud lie ijlungtt. lii t6 swim to 1t, beiu:
iii expert swimmer. He never c;pe out.
lear it stated that nothing can navigate
New river but catfish; and as they are otter
washed to shore with their skulls stove in b,
! running against sharp rocks, it is suppose
| they experience difficulties in navigation
which the inhabitants Of more pcacc;tblc WA
terS escape.
There is some game on the mountain,
! along Nei" river: b;t not enough TO make
hunting Il paying business. / notice thu
| those who hunt the most are worth the least
| Hunting parties sometimes come here from
| the western and eastern cities, equipped SUI
| cientlv to explore Africa, but their success
| is never commensurate with their eXpcctl
| tons and outfit. About the fourth day atte
one Of these parties has gone into the wood
some OF them will be seen Joking back to til
nearest settlement after middlng OF hacol
and chunk of fresh meat. They set starved
| out on crackers and bakers bread, and q
they utterly fail to kill any gatnp they hay
to hui' th'ir supplies: HIT II is MI right
| Such parties are usually made upof ncn VIII
don't do anything at home, and nothing bet
ter could be expected than that they Woul
come here and not do anything.
Buffalo used TO abound on the upper Il:
pawhn and lower New river, but there hil
been none for sixty years NOW; they havin
I'LL moved west to grow up with the country
| T1EGlTlA sTAGE-COACn EXPERIENCE.
The old stage road, the highway betwee
| Washington and the Southwest in the olde
time, leaves the hills above the railroad ne;l
the Hawks Nest, and these highways are il
sight of cueli other no more Until the stag
road crosses GrGenbrier river Hear This place
| This stage route is some twenty-five mile
shorter than the railroad route, us tina
shows" south with the river, while the stag
road is stisiighter,
From the Hawks Nest to this place, som
fifty miles; | came by stage. We left til
Hawks Nest before dark Thursday, and wer
until near midnight going twelve miles.
laincd, the winds blew, the thundcrs rolled
the liYhtnings flashed over the black sky, 0,
casionally striking objects near by, and afford
ing the passengers an agreeable topic of spccl
lation as to the probability that the coachan
four would be hit next. The wheels sunk i
the mud to the hubs, the horses tloundcrco
the damp, chilly winds swept over thr blca
landscape, and nature appeared i'll her worS
moods. There were six of us-a Cinriunat
scwinS-machlnc man, al East Virginia doc
tor, two railroad contractors, and Il large ma
with short, grizzly beard, who sat c!llcd II
in corner, saying nothing, and moving nc
from the gloomy solitude of his own orig
nality except when lungc of the stage won