Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1877-02-13

General j., [pausing) They are yer.
regular?
Captain M-Yes, general, they are.
General Jim afraid Huger has no
come up to Magruder's support. It il
very important that should get my ar
tillery across the river as soon as posi-
BILE. 1 can get the infantry over imme
diately, but do not want to; am anx
ious to cross over with the artillery first
and at the earliest possible momen
(dnriously). Now, how long before yol
could make a bridge to rush the artillery
across on?
Captain M can't tell until I SCI
the ground first and select a crossing
1 think l can make it in two hours.
General j. Frightening up)-Are yol
not too quick in your calculations
Can you have it done in that time-twt
hours
Captain ~ (snailing)-Well, I dom
know; I'll go and see, and come bach
and let you know.
General J.-Do, captain?
The captain went and made a survey
of the river and returned to headuuar
tiers.
General J.-Can you do it, captain?
Captain M.-Yes, general I car
make in two hours.
General J.-GOod, captain ! good
GeeHn9ly.)If you ever wish to render
your country service, aaoaU is the time
to do it Have the dye made at the
quickest possible moment, as I do mo-
wish to cross until the artillery can &c
first. abruptly. Do you hear those can.
mons: They are very rapid and regu-
lar.
Captain M.-Yes, they are.
General J.-Captain, what force dc
you want?
Captain M-About thousand men
and forty to fifty of John Harman's wa.
CONS.
General J.-You shall have them,
captain. Do you want anything else
any axes :?
Captain M-No. 1 have plenty OF
axes captured the other day.
General J.-You shall have anything
you want. will order the engineers to
have the men and wagons sent to you
Immediately.
The men and wagons were sent to
Captain Mason, and at 2 p. NJ. be com.
menced building the briegde across the
Chickahominy. The bridge was three
hundred feet long. It is stated that,
about the same hour, the engineers went
to drawing up plans and Specifications
for the aforesaid bridge in their tents, as
they were ordered by "Stonewaln to
render all possible aid to Captain Mason.
When close on four clock, the scientif-
&c gentlemen and red pencils came upon
the scene of action and beckOned to
Captain Mason to draw near, that tIley
had drawing for the bridge, and thew
wanted to explain to him how he was
to proceed with it, and commenced un.
folding the bridge diagram on Dopey 2
Captain NV hat have you got there
pictures ?
E'agineers-A plan for the bridge,
captain.
Captain II. (snai1ingy)-zAe bridge is
built, gentlemen.
At that moment the captain turned
round, and he saw General Jackson and
his ataff approaching him, the army on
the march and the artillery in advance.
General il am here, captain you
see what confidence L have in you. 1t
wants ten minutes to four.
Captain NAH right, general; the
bridge IS finished. But just wait two
minutes, until l throw some more dirt
over that crack, to keep that off:mule
from shyingand tumbling into the river.
You can go ahead now, general"
jackson went ''ahead," and behind
him the scientific men with the "pic-
lures" and pretty red pencils. Captain
Mason returned to his tent, but had not
proceeded far when he heard tie ringing
order, away in his rear, "Chargel"
Looking round, he saw cloud of dust,
horses and cannons going like the whirl-
wi n n ho >f ~ ~ g
cannonading. Jackson's flying artillery
arrived just in the mick of time" to turn
the tide OF battle in favor of the Confed-
crates he opened up upon the Union
forces, as usual, in their rear (where thew
always expected him afterward, and
threw their ranks into confusion. Cen
eral Mcclellan has to thank Captain
Mason, bis skillet of bacon aud greens.
and Stonewaii Jackson, for his defeat.
A year or two after the termination of
the war, Capt. Mason resumed operations
on the Virginia Central Railroad and
the COvington and Ohio Railroad. He
did more than any other contractor in
the construction OF the great thorough
fare between the seaboard States and the
Western cities the grading and track
laying were executed by him. He fur
nished all the ties for the road between
Covington and Kanawha Falls, and the
tunnels are monuments to his handi-
work; Mason's Tunnel, one fourth of a
mile long; Lick Run Tunnel, one-tenth
of a mile; Morse's Run Tunnel, one
tenth of mile; Lewis Tunnel, near the
famous White Sulphur Springs, seven
eighths of mile. This tunnel had to be
cut through solid rock the seven eighths
of mile, and broke two or three parties
before Capt. Mason undertook to make
daylight shine through it.
Another stupendous undertaking was
the trestle-work and fiIling-up over
Jerry's Run and the Back Bone Cut. The
amount of work he accomplished on this
road reached one million Of dollars, and
not a foot of it was ever pronounced de
fective. From 1875 to the Spring of 1876
he was engaged in the masonry and
grading of twelve miles of the Cincin-
nali and Southern Railroad in Kentuc-
ky.
Capt. Mason lost one or two fortunes
in railroad stocks. OF late yeays he has
put his savings in agriculture and
stock-raising. He owns six farms in
Virginia and West Virginia, well stock
ed and improved; two in Augusta Coun.
ty, near Siaunton, Virginia; Falls
Plantation" on James River. opposite
Richmond, Va; one in Orange county
of thirteen hundred acres one in Sum.
mers county, w. Va, of four hundred
acres; and one in Highland county, Va.
of four thousand acres-just plantation
apiece for each of his sons and daugh-
tiers.
Socially, he is quiet, plain and I'M
assuming gentleman. and one ofDature's
nobleinen-an honest man. His unself
ishness and kindness of heart is pro-
verbal, and the most indulgent of faith
ers, never denying his children any
thing. His career presents noble ex-
ample to the young men of the day who
are waiting to step into "soft places'' Of
ign0Jie case and d0lencss!
A gunpowder explosion killed fifty
and wounded one thousand persons in
India.
The Egyptians have again been defeat
ed in Abyssinia.
Cholera accompanies famine in parts
of India.