The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-09-03

iror-cs,.ondcncc Of the Richmond Ds>patch.l

WHO BUILT THECHESAfkAhF' Il
RAILROAD.
i,,,r-csrondcncc OF the Richmond Dt>patch.I
WnlrE SuLrHuE SPRINGS.
GRErSeRlER COUNTY. W. NA"t
August 30, 1873. }
.c> vcs. voupr man. 80 West Fol-
,cu,;,t, The oivicr OF Horace Greeley. L
weni--as far as kanawha Falls GA the
Chc,an,ale and Ohio railroad, ana ioI the
present am satisfied. r
! rartv Of us. lurcd by the coquence OF
vour fascinating correspondent u. " +. Z.
Go ard Find CincinnatD took the cars yes
tcrday for kanawha Falls and back (eNcur-
sion tickets: price, 500, with 4 view 10
sccipc the scenery and having a Sood tiine.
We saw some high old scenery mountains
aS high as II. Paufs church all along the
railroad for miles,, and had high old time:
The scenery has been so recently descrlDeu
in your columns that shall not attempt that
lob: il ! mine TO tell some OF the incidents
Of our "trip.
Jus, after we left Rorcevcrte, RonceburS,
Ronceyiilc-we heard it pronounced three
ways in our car-,Judge c., OF Chariot,eS-
willie. commenced his JOKES, and soon mao AL
The passengers IN roar.
"I;l tell YOU what can do said the
Judge 10 the correspondent of a New York
PAPER. You may think of any tune you
please, whether ever heard it or not, ana
hv scein. Won keep the time with your nm
ucrs can tell YOU what you are playing
The correspondent was skeptical. After
thinking moment he commenced piano.
playipg on the back Of the scat in front OF
him with the grace OF Leo Wheat. That
am ulaving now" he asked eagerly and
with an air Of triumDil
You me playing the - fool replied
the JnGgc.
"Ei-ht.'' shouted The by.standerS amid
roars o! laughter, and the correspondent had
business in lie smokiDg-car.
After a while The railroad, moving along
like 4 thing Of life, finds the New River, aud
then hugs it as long as there is such river
in the mountains. Just now it Is very
muddy stream, reminding lis of our "yal-
Ter" james.
..Isu'l il q shame" said member Of our
CITY Council, "tlIat the people Of Richmond
should havc to drink this water:"
Qacry Did he think the New was trib-
u,arv Of tie James. or that the New was the
james itself:
The popular and genial Sheriff of Rich
mond WAS along, and one OF the boys TOOK
it inso MS hcid to psf out the report That
President Grant WAS on the tram. 1he
Sheriff. who really looks like Grant, ana l.
Is great IL smoker. though faster taiker,
vas pointed out Is the President, and Colo
mel huma> j. Evans as General Horace
Porter. But it wasn't necessary to point
out Grant. As soon as it was known tllat
he was on the train everybody found him
without trouble. There was no miStakinS The
short, thick.set form. the non-comnittal but
I>h
beard. ard. above all. the inevitable and
everlasting cigar. Train hands gazed in the
door. urchins climbed up to the windows,
and raw-boned West Virginia ycomcp, pass
inc through the car, stared Sto!idly at the
President, and went home to tell their wives
what manner Of man he was.
As soon as the Sheriff found out why he
received so much attention he did all lie
could to clfacc the impression his physoSno-
miny had created, but it W;lS too late, and he
had to he bored until in despair he rushed
from the cars at kanawha Falls, and thrust
ing aside all hope Of further honorS, regis
tered his name as John W. Wright, Rich
mond. Va" What ultimately became OF the
bui-pupS, boxes of cigars, waeImelons,
ETC., brought to the deE0.S to be presented
10 him on the return trip am unable 10 say.
We were disappointed in kanaWha Fails.
True, il only lacks water, height, ana breadth
to lie the rival of Niagara but in our opinion
il didn't much excel some OF the falls on
James river, near Richmond, and didn't com.
pare fayorably at all with Richmond Falls,
which we passed OH the same trip. Some OF
the parts tried hard to be enthusiastic, but
couldn't. The wh-kcy gave out ut Hinton.
Hinton, by the way, is going 20 Ee Il towD,
for the railroad company is determined TO
make it one. But why they should have
selected that particular locality was unable
to ascertain. The people there are digging
down the hills to build houses, negroes are
loading cars with gravel, railroad ana eN-
press agents fly around every time i train
comes 10 the depot, every family displays
the weeks washing on the roof OF It's nut,
and business generally is brisk. 1 know OF
no city presenting superior attractions 10
energetic Young farmers who are handy with
the grubbing hoe.
what place is thiS?" asked Judge c. Of
:. brakeman waking up as the train stopped.
"Water Tank" replied the brakeman,
grimy lighting the lamp preparatory to
punGinS into another tlnnel.
Water Tank is not so well built as Hin
ton, but it has a supply Of fresh, pure water
from spring which would be worth for
tune in Richmond when the james is muddy.
We would have enjoyed the scenery much
more had not the tunnels INSTRUCTED the
view so often. Tunnels may be very good
things TO break contractors with. to tIi@hten
Il congregation out of a church, to make
market Ter niiro-gly cerinc, or to enable PEG.
pie 10 get through mountain, or from
Butcher,own TO Bloody Run in hurry
but they are 4 nuisance on q line which Is
soft on scenery. They might be defended
by counting couples, but not by these who
have tried Them. Kissing is rendered abso-
lutely Impossible by the candIe-liShtlng
which always takes place before tine locomo-
tive enters the tunnel. l have heard that
man might change his shirt in going through
Big Bend. That may be so; but know
fellow who failed i'll the Blue Ridge. He
was going to Staunton to see his sweetheart.
Hi, idea was to replace the dust-,taiucd cali
co garment by clean linen, but in his
haste he forgot TO unfasten his collar.but-
ton. The consequence was that he dashed
into the broSd daylight OF Augusta county
in a most eXaSperating undrcs>- uniform, and
the train was ut Naynesburo' before he
could bide his undershirt with buster aid
AGO out on the rear platform TO cool off.
General Wickham and Colonel Perry rank
y with the best railroad men in America, aud
it seems to me that they might get along
without tunnels.
The material resources Of the country
through which we passed struck us dumb
with arnaZemeht. Some OF us went to
sleep, some read the Richmond and Gu
cinnati papers OF The day before, and
Others reflected OH the comparative merits
of White Sulphur water and whSkey.
There Is wood enough on these ever
lasting bills to supply Manchester and