Daily Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1876-1884, 1880-11-05
8os SugeIts yerald.
xnnrlov Weed Tells Of his Trip on the First
S etsamboat with Lafayette.

mat champion of liberty. 1t
Ihankod Mr.. Weed In warm terms
~ hIs polite attentions to her
H5hor ssWhen In America recent
-. y and expressed the most earn.
~ 1nterest In the future progress
- the Republic.
30 you knew LafayetteP 2" l
n1kod.
Z. ssOh, yes," the old gentleman
nd, his face lighting up, II knew
HIN well-intimately, In fact. I
<Ravoled considerably with him
while he was here. That was in
A what year was 1t ?-I forget"
stTn 1924 I suggested.
sYos,n he went on, 'he was 65, l
Hhould think, and I was about q.
n w. invited down here and &C.
oompanied tho General and his
onite to Albany. We went on the
steamboat Chancellor Kent. 1t was
Summer time, and we were three
days going to Albany. The boat
6tcpped at all the villages along the
river, and everywhere great ova-
zion awaited the deliverer. There
we're days, and speeches. and din
nero and every expression Of Joy.
m event Of = lifetime-that was.
A. We moved quietly along from
Doint to point. Lafayett sat on the
promenade deck viewing the beau.
6iful scenery and responding to the
Welcoming shouts Of crowds along
Tie shore. Lafayette was . very
lnSge man, . man Of colossal pro-
poFtlons and of majestic demeanor.
II was larger than I am, and l am
over ak feet, even now, In my old
ogs."
allow did the company amuse
themeeives during the three daysf"
& s'Most of the time was spent by
the veterans in telling stories of
the revolution. There were more
than . dozen revolutionary officers
there, and they have all been dead
these forty years. One Of these
vas, I remember, Col. Nick Fish,
! lsthersof Gov. Fish. He had serv-
"a near the person OF Washington,
\ and be WAS : good ssory-teller. He
told great many amusing anec-
Gotes, showing that all hands had q
rood deal Of fun, even when the
I army Was ragged and barefooted in
The Jerseys, aud it wasn't certain
whore they were going to get their
next dinner.
sAnd here is picture" said Mr..
Weed, rising and feeling along the
s wall for 1t, "that interests one
about as much as that OF Lafay-
otte.n
He laid his hand on a framed
CODY Of the familiar silhouette of
] she FIRST railroad train that ever
ran In this country-from Albany
20 Schenectady, in 1881. Then he
carefully measured off distance
from one end, aud pointing with
{ hls nuger, said, II am right there
do you see me in that cat? l was
<Rreatly interested in the experi-
ment, and when sat there fore
4 nav some OF the greatness to which
the railroad sy stem has since grown
!: in this land. The train made very
rood time that day, too, surprising
every body"
~ MI. Weed resumed his easy chair
Ind eaid: "The frst steamboat,
Too. Ireckon I may be the only
nan living that saw Fulton's
steamboat, the Clermont, make its
l1fst trip Ia 1907. was boy Of 10
and lived vt Catskill. Suddenly
s6yefy body heard that the very next
day boat was coming up the river
from New York against wind and
& Hide. All were incredul0us, but
deteFmined to see what 1t amount
ID to, and early in the morning I
started off with two other young
stern for Catskili Landing. Arriv-
{ VI there, we thought we could get
. better view from an island In the
river. So hiding in the bushes, we
{ took off our clothes (boys' clothes
didn't amount to much in those
doys), tied them on plank and
oWam over to the island, push
Ing 1t ahead of US. /
don't know when have
/ talked or thought of this before.
Once on the island we put on our
clothes again and waited, fishing
With pinhooks from log with not
very much success. By-and-by we
saw = strange smoke down the
river, aud presently up it came,
Wheesing and putting and SPLASH
log along like some wild animal.
There were no paddle-boxes, and
the wheels were visible, and the
engine and boiler set up on deck,
exposed to the elements. 1t went
about four or five miles an hour,
and passed within twenty rods of
- on the island. 1t was we'll CAL
CuIated to inspire awe, for it burned
pine wood, aud poured fire from its
enOke stack like an active vol
6ano.u
4srhe progress of this country
Dust he astonishing to you, Mr..
Weed?''
ssMore than 1 can tell you. /
&assed through the site of the pres
oeit city Of Syracuse when 1t was
IN impenetrable swamp-not a
house or vestlge OF house-its
only Inhabitants snakes and owls
md toads. 1 first came to New
Xofk IN 1908, as cabin-boy on a
41oop. Between the City Hall and
Broad way WAS the Bridewell-the
city Jail. There we're some crooked
i okds In the surburbs, between
z1pmbers aud Canal street, but
4boge that were only farms and
<p11tures, with an occasional gar
s1eb, Where Canal street 10 O
6fream flowed down to the North
silver, and Broadway crossed 1t by Q
ride wooden bridge. This city to.
ny seems to me like another
lyoFld."-N Y. Corr. Indianapolis
4 II~ss~ruy