Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-03-13
so YEARS IN THE SHOPS.
RbOOIatdfCTIONs OF AN OLD
q tCL CENTRAL EMPLOYE.

| Ouf OF saU&nnah. tHs
Just fifty Years ago the Central Railroad
Company aE,arded its first contract f6f
the bntldingpfthe road. The CONTRACTORS
began TorkEEith vim. Fifteen hundred
laDoreps were put to work telling trees,
grading ting Eeadbed, etc. The work pro
gressedfinely Without ripple until Fsb-
ruaryt 1887, when the signs of the 1mes
pointed tODa Rortentious cloud gathering
aroundbthe1sha9ties, and rumbllng oil
alsaneotioh was heard from within.BLi
Abogt this time, which was SHORTLY
before ! engag9a with the company, 4bere
was a sensaitpaal scene enacted inusa-
vannah which properly comes undep ,the
mead OF these ljottings, and will doubtiess
be interesting to the few surviving Yeter-
ans OF 1871 ,Whb took an active part In
supprefs4pgra Wbuld-be mob riot W9lch,
had II cBYmi gate6, would doubtlesshaYe
caused q scene OF blO0dshed like tbat OF
liIV, re-epqeted son the same battle
ground, at SPRING hill. -blIr
iLdsI@B AT SPRING HILL. rs 20
The faborersa nosnplained of rot re-
celVlngp bheIr wages and revolteds They
threatened to arm themselves with their
PICKS, axes erowbars, etc, and ma BODY
70 marchto thH6eity with the intent OF
tearing d0~nEhe onmpany's bankif they
were notlpaidge JnGge Nicoll was Mayor
OF Savannah at1the time of the outbreak,
ana as soon as 10 received the lntelll-
gence ne sssuedsa proclamation ordering
out the military armed and equipped
Win ball Cartridges Cat the ringing OF the
CITY Exchange bells and the hofsting OF
the United states flag on the exchange
steeple. hhe Mayor meant busfhess. His
al t-nI in
papers andthemews spread kewlld hTe.
Every maml and bog capable. lot bear
ing arms WaSI onsIthe alert anxious
y listening and DOCKING for the signals.
At a. ma sthe taithfub old bell
pealed out from It's watch tower the sum-
mons to arms AT the same time the stars
ana stripes were sseen huttering in the
breeze. A Bcene0f excitement and con-
sternation ensusd, Men were running
through the stKaets Aither. and thither,
some to theirhOmes t0dOn their uniforms,
others, the militia, to the State arsenal for
their equipments.OrAsf fast as they were
uniformed tb9eompalies double-quicked
to Spring HILL where q line OF battle was
formed at the head of the Louisville road,
the Chatham Arttflery At the head of the
column, with titeits guns mounted in the
face of the belhg6reMts. 0dHhe Guards,
Blues, and others OF the volunteers, Gov
cred the Galatians, and the militia COW
cred the battalion Of volunteers. The
Georgia Hussars, With Capt. w. w. Cor
don in command, were sKirmishing the
approaches to the city.f 20
QUELLING TaE MOB.
The Mayor, With Gih hand and ac-
companled by Father O,Neal, walked out |
in the early morning to the rendezvous of |
the belligerents and read to them the riot |
act, at the same time giving them some |
In adrr 80 al III
his priestly influence to bear, and bade |
the rioters return to their work. After |
little reflection they decided that dis |
erection was the better part of valor, and |
concluded treaty Of peace with his |
Honor, with the assurance that they /
would not resume hostilities. Had the |
crowd had the TGshless to march up in |
the face of the defensive column it would |
have been mOwn down to the last man. |
The Mayor and priest walked IN at the |
head OF the column at 10 a. M, two hours /
afterward, and reported hostilities ceased |
and the belligerents pacified. The column |
Immediately broke of into companies, |
and they dOuble-quicked to their re-
spective armOries. Thus ended a blood |
less war. How many, OF the veterans of |
1887 are there that can answer to rOlloall? |
began work tOF- thegCentral Railroad |
and Banking Company OF Georgia on |
March 10, 1891, 40 years ago to-day, as |
foreman in the compaBy's then black |
smith shop on theieast bank of the Savan- |
nah and Ogeechee cAAaig Capt. w. W. |
Gordon was then president of the CON-
pany, and knew no such word as fail for
his piojected ,rpad, . though many of his
friends predtct9 tbAt itGyould be a fail
ure. The pQbHe lost confidence in the
cOmpany's paper Which went down to 80
per cent below par value.
THE 6EaERAL's ERRuY DAYS.
SeveralDf The stock holders became
uneasy aud sold outat great sacrifice,
and had itn0t been for Capt. Gordon's
perseverancesgp QssIbly the road would
not have baan built, at least at that early
date. shF5gL. q, Reynolds, the first
civil engineer aBd surveyor, was a high
spirlted4lar seeing man, and saw no diff
culties eutWhat could be surmounted.
Mr.. Flda. stone. the first purchasing
agent, was y staid old gentleman, for
many wears Marshal Of Savannah. Mr..
John Mcfarland, its treasurer, was a
plain Olddas hi9ped gentleman, full of wit
and thuRlor. These werthies have all
long siacsipassed away, tut their works
live after themsr po
There were no rails Lara down when |
committed yerk with accompany, ex-
cept a taw from Fanny Cake hill now
four mIielhill9tO the rice lands of Stiles.
dump cars drawn by mules fer the en-
baffRnlantB6 % 'pe
.lh8 the spring or sumtiBr OF 1887 Mr..
GbOfge oliver built for the company lat
tic6 bFidge. lfl This was the first railroad
bridge that spanned the cAti6I. The lum-
ber usad IN its cOnstructidh'was sawed by
hand onbsof square tinfbefs with whip
HHWssLsn the east bank an the canal, in
front Dftbe blacksmith sh6bi
3 Mr. DAB Nichols had the supervision OF
,tbe flySt excavation Of Spring Hill. At
tbe CHM elton Of the bridge in Septem-
lcAer,J Air, N ichols put one hundred and fifty
Aaboge 81 With mules and carts to work
e1c9y at the hill. Ihe earth was
ocqftef over the bridge fgFfthe embark
mem. This work was completed in the
sipinpm 1898. Many wef rellcs-shOt,
as1eh and copper hOOps-Wet'e unearthed
! IN ths excavation At Spring Hill, which
| Was Ql historic renown. being the strong
holdof the British at the siege OF Savan-
hih ik1779. This shot did she'll were
phfeWn from the allies guns, and the cop
lperb9Qps were from the British powder
loosrFels. lG G
b. fAua, HISTORIC SPRING NALL.
boTYbers are but few nOWs living who
,know anything OF SavannahSs cherished
I spring half century ago., Spring Hill
t0oNits name from bold Spring Of cold
llfWeaer gushing out OF the eearth in the
ratIIaf ~ a al ~, n Ifta auNr f.a,o - a..