Middletown transcript., 1878-05-11
Original.
Written for the NiddletOwn Transcript.
THE GREAT WEST
As Seen by nn Eastern shoreman.
No /.

!
Union depot, on the St. Louis, Kansa
City & Northern R. R., intent uPol
seeing some of the beauties, the advan
tages, the disadvantages, the big thing
and the little things Of the "Grea
West" beyond the Mississippi. Ther'
was nothing about the train on which
we were passengers different from 9th
er western trains. The forward cal
was beclouded with the usual fog 9.
tobacco smoke, the next car contained
the usual number of mothers with
restless babies, seeking new homes il
a new land, and sprinkling Of young
men, crowded out Of the East by the
pressure of hard times, going to the
promised land" (see Western Rail
road guides some in search Of work
at remunerative wages, others in search
of wealth without labor. In the real
Of the train was the usual Pullman
sleeping coach, with the usual dandy
conductor with the usual waxed NOUS
iaehe AMI paste diamoud pin and
shadowed by the usual inpudent ne
gro porter with the Great Mogul air
whose good graces were only pur-
chasable at fifty cents an hour.
After an hours run we came in
view Of the great Missouri-always
muddy, always swift-spanned by an
iron railroad bridge, which, with the
approaches, is more than a mile long,
and is, perhaps, one Of the finest struc-
lures of the kind in the country. We
slacken speed now and move over this
great bridge no faster than a man
would walk. The iron rods and beams
creak and rattle and sway as the train
glides slowly along, and so great is the
height it makes ones head dizzy to
look out and down at the swift flowing
river below. As we come on the
bridge by sharp curve we see, on the
opposite side Of the river, nesting
down below the bluffs, the quaint city
of St. Charles, which was founded by
Laclede, and is older than st Louis.
1t is twenty miles from the latter city,
contains about 5000 inhabitants, and
is place of active business. A large
portion Of the population are Germans,
and Friday being the wash-day of this
people in the West, the grounds Of the
numerous one-story cottages are white
with family linen. A number Of bright,
CHEEKY Missouri girls, with lunch bas-
kets, came into our car here. and, for
the next two hours, kept up Il chatter
IL a dozen magpies. They were 50
pretty, and bright, and cheerful, and
chatty, that when they left the train,
during the afternoon, Squibs said it
was like shutting off the sunshine.
Some of these North Missouri vii
lagos of modern construction are nov
elites in their way. They straggle out
on either side of the railroad, generally
consist of one-story frame buildings,
with half acre Of ground to each
building, and many of them with rude
signs upon them reading as follows !:
"Hotel," Lager Beer" Grocery &
Beer Saloon" Grocery" "Beer Sa-
loon & Grocery" etc. Three saloons
and two groceries to one dwelling is a
fair average for some of these embryo
cities.
Our stopping-place for dinner was
Montgomery, which we reached at 1:15
P. NJ. | had good reason to remem-
ber that dinner during the remainder
Of the day, because | had supplement-
ed it with piece of gooseberry pie,
the first Of the season, in which sugar
had been very sparingly used and the
crust of which was entirely innocent
of shortening. The dinner was rs
cents, and Squibs and I thought all the
afternoon we had received the full
equivalent of our money. After leav-
ing Montgomery, where the train was
a little behind time, we made a rapid
run up the North Missouri, past fertile
fields of waving grain, forests of heavy
timber, herds Of fat cattle and splendid
horses, rich iron and coal mines; past
Moberly, with its numerous machine
shops and iron works, looking beneath
its canopy Of black smoke like a sec
ond Pittsburg. The car and repair
shops of the North Missouri Railroad
are situated at this point and give
Employment to large number of peo-
pie.
In the early twilight our train
reached Lexington Junction, our stop
ping-place for supper, where the down
express was lying and the passengers
taking refreshments. This train was
the bearer of bad news, which was
soon communicated to us. Owing to
the recent heavy rains, causing a rapid
rise in the river until it was "out Of
It's banks" six or seven miles of the
road was under water, and to such a
depth in some places as to have threat
ened the fires of the engine which had
Just come through with great difficult
ty. The water was reported as still
rising at the rate of an inch per hour,