Beaufort Republican. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1871-1873, 1872-11-21
up The ROAD And BACK.
LIFE, ENERGY, IMPROVEMENT
A Good Road and a Good Country.

tractor ana superintendent Vi tne olO
Royal railroad, to accompany him, In
special train, to the head Of the road,
near Steel creek, Is miles from Port
Royal. The occasion of the trip was the
arrival of Mr.. Appleton, of the firm of
Robbins & Appleton, the large stock
holders in the road.
The train reached Yemassee at two
clock. Here we halted for dinner,
which was served in the car BY the excel
lent caterer Marcus. After starting we
made few stops and arrived about six
clock at present terminus. For some
occult reason this has been named by the
railroad people Little He'll. >" Either
because 1t is usual to 60 from one ex-
treme to another-or because extremes
sometimes meet-Mr. Appleton proposed
at once to change the name to Thompson,
in commemoration of our visit.
This point is four miles from Steel
creek. The road is graded, and nearly
ready for the iron, to within a short
distance of the bridge. About the 25th
inst, the last bit of tressel work will be
done and track laying will begin at once,
and continue without inteImission, it is
hoped, until the rails at Sand Bar ferry
are met. The bridge over the Savannah
will be ready by the time it is reached
with the track.
There is enough iron to lay all but ten
miles now at the dock at Port Royal.
The loss of the E,ergy has caused some
arrangement of the plans but will not
cause any more delay. Two months
more will ALMOST certainly bring us into
Augusta.
Just as we arrived the construction
train brought down the hands from the
the work above. Singing and
shouting, they leaped from the flats,
and rushed to the. numerous fires, where
the cooks had already prepared hot
hominy and bacon, ever grateful to the
negro stomach. Thirty cars stood upon
the track. in which the motley crowd
were lodged. Far into the night, they
were to be seen crouching over the fires,
eating, talking, washing and doing.
From some Of the cars came the notes of
| devotional hymns, while in others
double shuffles" and walk rounds
were in full blast. The night was very
cold and sleeping must have been difficult
and uncomfortable.
We slept in passenger coach. With
the assistance of plenty of blankets we
passed a tolerably comfortable night.
Seven brethren Of the Baptist persuasion
we're aboard, having arrived in the rcgu-
lar train from points below, with insuth-
cient information upon the subject OF
their route. They were bound to a
church convOcation of some sort and
seemed to have vague idea Of IL
whereabouts. Night found them stranded
at Little He'll" Two Of the party
were selected to represent the rest.
These took an early start for wax Of
twenty miles, while the rest agreed to re-
turn as they came.
The next morning, at five o'clock,
Mr.. Hutson turned all hands out for an
early start down the road. Going to a
box-car kitchen We applied a pouliice Of
hot hominy to our interiors. This
regi en- was highly recommended by
Mr.. Hutson. The stars were still shining
and the fires dotted the embankmcnt and
the fields, while around them sat the
same groups Of negroes. Some doing,
some chatting, some grooming the mourn
full spirituals or singing more sprightly
ditties These men had worked all the
day before with pick and shovel and
were to work all the present day. Yet
many of them had slept only such sleep
as they could catch around the fires with
out reclining.
Soon the hoarse whistle of the rs. G.
Millett" called us from reflection on the
weird scene, and we bade good b to
Little Hell, or Thompson-as you choose.
A run of seven miles brought us to
Beldock. Here is store and platform.
The day had not advanced enough for IL:
to see much, and the cold was biting
enough to make us loathe to leave d
warm stove. Near the station we crossed
on tresSel what few weeks ago was a
wide mill pond, but which now is only a
mud fat, with little stream running
through it. For half century Beldock
saw and grist mill has been located about
a mile from the road, which was SUP
piled from this pond. About slA weeks
ago the mill was burned and the head
gate also was destroyed, by which the
waters of the pond were liberated. II
will probably soon be rebuilt.
Three miles more and we come tc
Wilson $. Two bales Of cotton were
taken here. One hundred and five bale
have been shipped from this point thi:
season; much more would have beer
shipped by the railroad, but the station
was opered for busi .ess only since