Morning journal and courier., 1885-02-11

In South CarOlina-The Present Com ditfon of Southern Railroads--In a Cotton Mill. AUGUSTA, Ga., Feb. 6. To the EDITOR of the JOURNAL AND COURIER: "Is this MT. Raworthg'' s'That's my name.''
 "May ride on the engine with you up to Aikena I have General Passenger Agent AL lens permission, providing you are willing ''It's agreeable so far as I am concerned So jump on.''
 ''Thank you," and pulled myself up into 1 the cab ''When do you starts' ''I'm wait ing for orders now'
 At this point dispatch was thrust up
 through the cab-window, directing Engineer Raworth to start for Aiken at once, and make 1 the station ''as quick as he could" The l train consisted only of the yard engine and single passenger coach. The distance from | Graniteville Junction to Aiken is six miles, | up continuously steep grade; and MT. Ra- worth is stationed at Aiken with an engine exclusively for the purpose of helping heavy 1 freight trains up the difficult climb. Years | ago the grade was so steep that all trains had l to be helped by a pony engine; but latterly the grade has been eased so that passenger trains ordinarily mount it without assistance, | and all the freights do the same unless they have more than twelve loaded cars attached. In the person of Mr Henry G. Raworth allow me to introduce to your readers one of the many ''oldest locomotive engineers i'll America" 1 am aware that too often newspaper article consists merely of the testi mony of one more ignorant or biased per sons; and that on the point of railroad anti quities it is particularly hard to arrive at truth. Every newspaper has published it's accounts of first railroad trains, and nearly every railroad in the eastern States proudly refers to it's pioneer experiments in railIoading." Yet I have the audacity to try to untangle the snare of diverse and contra dictory stories, and shall introduce in this article only such important facts as beliey3 to be historical facts; which may be sub stantiated by reference to the few standard works on early American railroading, such as ''The first railroads of America I glanced curiously across at my locpmotive host as he opened wide the throttle valve, and saw that he was pleasant, mild-faced gen tleman, with hoary beard and hair, well on in the seventies, as he himself afterwards told me. Soon we were rushing and rocking up the incline at 8 speed which would hardly have created the impression that the engine was climbing ''It isn't best to wear out your engine" said MT. Raworth, "by driv ing her up grade like this at such speed
 
 helped. This morning is one of the have tos' you see."
 ''Mr. Raworth, how many oldest locomo tive drivers in the country are there!" ''Well, that's too hard for me. I suppose there are good many people in the business for whom that distinction is claimed"
 "What facts you cite to show that you should wear the honor in question, so far as honor is involved?' s'Wel1, can say that l was engineer of the historical locomotive l Best Friend' after sho was remodelled; and she was the first American-built locomotive intended for actual service on 8 rail road.'
 have thoroughly investigated this claim for the Best Friend, , and find it upheld by the historical facts. The first imported locomotive was the 'Stourbridge Lion," which arrived from England in the middle of May, 1929, and was first tried on the Della ware and Hudson Canal road and Hones dale, Pa., about the eighth day of the follow ing August. few experimental machines had been put together in response to offers of premiums. In 1929, indeed, Peter Cooper had operated his experimental engine, the Tom Thumb, though the best results were not attained until the following year. But the ! first full-fedged locomotive designed for act ual service on an orthodox railway was the se-called Best Friend of Charleston,'' which was delivered to the South Carolina railway in November or December of 1850; and the second locomotive was similarly one delivered to the same company 8 few months later, known as the t'West Point"
 ''Have you seniors in experience on this road?' ''Not now. The first engineer was Nicholas Darrell He had charge of the Best Friend during the six months or so during which she was used before the explosion. He died four or five years ago, and hadn't driven an engine for years when his death took place. John Eason was the second en- 1 gineer, and he's dead also. Two three J,I1, Dake liaI -N ton. He WAS not locomotive driver. but master mechanic; and he was surely the oldest man in experience ill his department without any question whatever. All these men laid off from active service years ago, however, while I am as strong as I was when I grasped my first throttle. A man couldn't be more busy than I am to-day or feel it less. am at the beck and call of telegrams day and night ordering me to make the run between Graniteville and Ali ken. I have to keep steam on all the time and haven't found a chance of remedying have been watching for weeks; "How long have you been with the South Carolina companv?' 'sFrom the start-a pe- riod of fifty-ive years reckon. Once I was off eleven months, running a steamer with supplies to the Everglades of Florida in the time of the Seminole war. But that's all. I have scarcely known what it is to have a sick day and am as hale and hearty to-day as you are. I've run on this switching and po nying job for thirty years" Have you home of your own !' ''Yes, sir, up at Aiken, have house and lot right across the way from the shed where 1 store my engine. My wife and I live with white bousekeeper, and a colored girl for help. We also have a couple of Boston women up stairs every winter, as lodgers, though not as board CTS. You quite welcome to come and sit by my fire until I come back to Graniteville this afternoon. Isuspect you're newspaper man, but make the invitation just the same, though tell you plainly that l dislike news paper notoriety." ''Y You have guessed correctly but prom ise not to say anything either unfriendly or fulsome. I just want you to recall some in cidents of your early experience, such as will be entertaining and valuable for the gen eral public to read to-day. You must have been quite young when the Best Friend
 came, but suspect you remember her pretty we'll" "Ah yes I was apprentice at Charleston. MT. Petsch was very skillful eveo then, and he at once saw that the wood en spokes of her drive wheels weren't strong enough, especially when it came to rounding curves. So he replaced them with wrought iron spokes. You know the boiler of the
 Best Friend was vertical, the West Point being the pioneer locomotive with horizon
 tai boiler. But I suppose you don't want fig
 uIe or descriptions of the machinery e'
 C No, can get that from books. Tell me
 what experiments had been made before the
 Best Friend' came." "Well, you know the
 road was incorporated in 1897. Up to that
 time no steam locomotive had made its ap
 pearance upon the soil of this continent, and
 no railroad anywhere, on this hemisphere or
 the other, had been projected on such large
 scale. Indeed, when the road was finished
 from Charleston to Hamburg, (across from
 Augusta, on the Savannah riyer,) it was the
 longest railroad in the world. In May, 1S28
 the company was formally organized, and in
 1899 100 feet of track was laid in Charleston
 and the first car was drawn by mule. Active
 work was begun on the main line early in
 1880, believe, and the system of 'sail-cars'
 WAS introduced. A carriage was rigged up
 with big sails, which acted 8 propelling
 power when the wind was in the right direc-
 ton and there was enough of it. A brisk
 wind abeam-as the sailors say-would drive
 the little car along at a good smart pace in
 either direction: have known this train to
 get along at the rate of twelve or fifteen
 miles an hour, but this species of land navi
 gation wasn't reliable. Once the wind was
 so strong that the ordinary appliances
 wouldn't stop the car and the train mon had