The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1885-07-25

going by way of the Northwestern
road. Now in this later day of steam
transportation his son is one of the
leading spirits in building railroad
which crosses his fathers path of the
long ago, and the spot where his
father may have rested on the further
boundary of his native State bears
the family name and town rises as
monument to the energy of the son.
In the new West the father devoted
much of his time to staging across the
plains. Now the son comes back to
take an enthusiastic and sagacious in
terest in the development by railroad
of richly endowed part Of the State
which gave his father birth. This
personifies the refux of the tide of
development which rolled over the
middle country to the easier but not
richer fields beyond. This back ward
flow is the hope of West Virginia.
Good health to Elkins and to the Da-
Vises, and to Blaine and to Camden,
and to every man who puts a dollar
or thought into the development of
our West Virginia! A bumper, and
no heel taps! The unregenerate who
play at politics on the dead level of
Bourbonism won't join me in this
sentiment. Well, bless their benight-
ed souls. their is small choice left to
them-if they don't get on board
they'll be run over, for the train
moves fast and the way is narrow,
and when stone is flung off the track
you can hear it splashing in the pool
a thousand feet below.
"This is the big horseshoe l was
telling you about" said Engineer
Doughty. l thought we had been
seeing something of horse. shoe bends,
but now we were making the first
curve of one worth the Journey to
see. The station at this great bend
is HambletOn. The road hugs the
mountain side, and in the valley be-
low lies a large saw mill busily rip
ping big logs into merchantable lum-
ber. We are pulling up a heavy
grade, leaving the saw mill behind.
Now we take sharp but easy turn
and half mile on, by a slight cleft
in the dense foilage-perhaps path
down the mountain side-there is
Hambleton again, still saving logs.
We have doubled back on the saw
mill and are less than two hundred
yards from the station we left behind.
We could haye reached this point
ahead of the train by walking across
from the station, if there is a path.
We are not to take paths for granted
in this region. Beyond, as below,
we come upon some straight and level
stretches, but they are like angels
visits"
''See how she makes steam." says
my entertaining friend, the engineer.
1--WE are pulling up steep grade,
but | have to let her off. This coal is
from our eleyen-foot vein, and it is
the best steam coal l ever saw"
BEST l ever fired with" says the
fireman, land l don't believe there
is the eqnal of it anywhere"
THAT vein," adds the engineer,
"is almost solid vein of pure coal
without flaw. There's no telling
now much there is it, but we know
there is enough in sight to keep this
road busy for years. See there" "
pointing to the gauge, "got to let her
off again."
Here we are at Davis, at the juno.
ton of Black Water and Beaver, 100
feet above sea level, 700 feet higher
than Oakland. 1t is | O'Clock, and
with mixed train, freight and pas
senger, we have climbed 1000 feet
from Piedmont since s o'lcock. We
have come oyer 574 miles of first-class
road, well graded, spIendidIy ballast
ed, ''ironed" with steel, iron bridges
and trestIe work built to last. l look
on all this in admiration of the cour-
age that has driven this probe OF
steel into the heart of the wilderness.
That took nerve of high order. The
Davises had Numbered on the PotO-
mac. They knew of the coal and
timber beyond. They concluded
that the only way to open this viii.
derness was to split it open with a
railroad. They induced other capi-
talists to join them. They put in
the sparp point of the wedge and
mauled away at it, AS the forest
parted coal veins opened, sawmilIs
came into existence. human habita-
tions sprung up. There was the life
of productive industry. From the
beginning to Davis is four years, and
every year shows a profit on the ven-
ture,
Dayis has only begun to be. There
10 n 49, II