The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1883-01-10
Railway Items.

on the Iron Track, and operate n tnfoo
bing arteries of commerce and travei.
There are risks In all active avocations,
and often the stu lent 10 his library, the
Judge on the bench, or the preacher IN
his pulpit falls by some mischance or III
sidious disease. while the man of dash
and recklessness lives through countless
p~erils. to die from Old Age: nevertheless
it is certainly r that few occupations
afford so MANY black balls ID the lot
iery of lie as that of railway operating.
The bursting boiler, the broken rail, the
misplaced switch, the Distracted track,
the ~car-coupl.ng. the covered bridge, the
overturned lamp or stove. and many oth-
or .~iapeer, lese; Inc sai,road man ot eV-
,r, INK f,um ihe ensile oiler TO the
c .map9et-i C .ief. And TO add TO the
.e.iuIo, III The Business, every tram
nan i mere or less at the mercy 81 9th
~, He may be a model OF carefulnes>-
Kill md devotion 80 duty. yet be wreck
ID BY a su~itch-ua>ters blunder. or some
tiend's ilut. or 10y the recklessness OF
some other train, running upon his Tune
Many similar accidents may befall hun,
ard POSSIBLY wreck his reputation as well
As his train; although we believe 1t Is a
veil established fact that conductors and
engineers who are noted for carefulness
and strict obedience 10 orders, rarely have
! accidents; or, al any rate. a 'cidents when
Ianape their own standing with their
EMPLOYERS. We have sev>ral engineer
,cauaintauces who have served 10, Is
and 80 years on the same route.
Two rairoad. men were killed the
same day last week, by similar acc'dents,
n this State. Mr. Geo. W. Elmore. a
subscriber Of the Fayn,er and Mechanic,
At Hamlet, was at work on the track
(Section MASTER when his pistol fell
from his pocket, and striking the IRON
rail, exploded sending a ball through the
throat, into his neck. killing him instant,
IS. MIR. Erainard v hitting, Of Hamlet,
in giving us these particulars adds-"Mr.
Elmore was a %tavorite with US all, here.
aud our sympathies ore with his widow
and three small children. They are al
Magnolia. "--Th other death was
at Rufhn. on the Piedmont Road. Mr..
Duncan the agent started to go hunting.
4 gun burst and killed him.
Col. S. VI. d. Tate thinks the Il. r
now running FROM Johnson City, Tenn.
to the Cranberry Iron Works, will Ger
,ainly be sAtended TO tap the Western
Y. g., at M~organton. or some adjacent
Doint.-Tlc E>tatoe Gap Route tic
wit. from Aiken. S. G., to Greenvllle,
Brevard, n. g, Way u~esville or Asheville,
-Molristown. Cumberland Gap, Cincln-
uati, and Chicago) Is showing a good
deal more vitality tilin people expected
1t has just effect Il lo.n OF ST. 200
900 from tie L IAN ana Trust Company:
aud the necessary papers are being reg
lstcred ali along the QUITE Work ha,
been en progress Tor some months, but
will now begin to boon bulls
70 the North Carolina border this r, ad
will swallow for else RUM that part of the
Western n c.. X. Il between Asheville
and Paint Rock SO that AL the tiade oi
the mountains west of Swananoa TUNE
will empty into Charleston or Ohio
part going north, part south. This vii
be a grand thing Tor that section Of the
State, aud we shall be pleased to see II
effected. Everybody knows that toi
yeers we have batiied for North Carolina.
and a state system" of railroads tC
bulld up eur scaports. The first news
paper work we ever did was a series OF
articles in lS67-'S, urging The 'consoli-
dation" project, Il e.-the cons0!oda.
tlon of the .hree railroads between Ashe-
vile and Beaufort, SO that the entire line
would be operated az one road, aud GU
Western produce brought East, -whlct
was approved by Eastern men, because ii
would turn III of Office a great man,
directors, Presidents, superintendent
etc for of course Que set OF %Oillcers
could easily manage a line 300 miles long.
Next we fought the lease of the n. Z. r
r.. Knowing it would ~artagoniZe and
eventually xii the North Carolina svs-
tenn" Next we fought the w. j. Besr
scheme, believing 1t would at once en-
Ureiy wreck the State system, and make
Nor h Carolina as the Virginia paper,
termed her, The commercial tributar,
OF Richmond"
Has not Time viDdicated all Of thee,
assertions? We leave it TO every candle
person. have not the predictions Of tn,
f,tsnter ard Nech1ntc for three wear,
past been fulfilled one after another?
But the past is irrevOcable. The Rich
mond 4 DauvilIe syndicate iof Virgiuian.
and Northerners) We're fortunate in find
ing a North Carolina Governor willing t.
Join hand and glove with them apd otheI
high officials from Senator down, friend.
iy to their interests. The result is tbaI
these half "a doz IN shrewd men have cap
tured all the railroads with u our fit,
thousand square miles OF territory except
three. And the entire I,200 or !. 500
miles of road is made a grand duet tc
draw our trade traffic, aud produce tut,
other States. Such are the facts: lei
those who were responsible Tor this STATE
Of things be held responsible. AS 70,
the future,--that Is different. When E
citizen has done his duty TO his country
he can afford to accept what comes. The
Richmond & Danville men have captur-
ed the State, bat they have done it lie.
gally,-with the endorsement and assis
tance OF the highest powers Of the State
government. They are not to be blamed
TOR taking all they could get. Their bust
ness is to build up THEN own towns and
Interests. aud if North Carolina wa,
wiling 10 surrender hers, so much the
better for them. Anyway the deed j.
done. and the grip which the syndicate
holds upon the State cannot be legally
broken SO long as they choose to main.
tain it. Hence we think there should be
no application to any project they ma,
undertake. Railroads would beln any