Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-12-21
Tho New Era That Has Come-Systems
That Arc Working wonders-Orango
Trade and Consumptives.

"No, Stree. l mind when tina BOYS IN
tina caboose use to curry lot OF chick
ems along with 'em, an il was blame
20 night thet we didn't have two oh
three chicken-fghts right tina in tina ca
boose. Dye mind when tina gold feyan
vah high hyshlin Georgia? Tha wah
fellah named Thompson, conductah,
who believed that tina hull country, sab,
wah full of gold, sab. IF that man
Thompson wouldn't tina train every time
we come to a deep cut, and so prowlin'
round in tina clay lookin' fob gold, hope
NAV 90 to -, sab. Them wah tina
times, sab, when tina run trains to DC
commodste tina trsinmen, sab. Now,
tina run them to suit the people, sab.
Times hes changed"
These words Of the old brakeman, ut
tered above the rattle of Georgia South
ern and Florida express train. were the
words OF q spectator, not seer. lie had
witnessed the changes in southern rail-
road management in the past dozen
wears. and he rebelled against them. He
had 10 prophecies OF good for the fu-
ture.
OLD TINES GONE FOREVER.
But the old times in southern railroad
history have gone, never to return, and
the day is past when Florida trains were
halted until the combination fireman
ands engineer stopped the locomotive
and crawled down out of the cab to
stone stray cows off the track. There
are passenger trains on at least one rail
road in the Keystone State which travel
nj the rate OF six miles in m hour and
half. and before the derisive laughter of
PENNSYLVANIA tourists, who arc accus-
toned to -ballasted, double steel
tracks, breaks forth, they want to re-
member that corners in their own State
IRE n trife slow at times and away be-
hind the age.
There is one feature of southern rail
road travel, however, that invariably
catches the eye Of the obseryant Yankee.
| 1t is the sad, silent. and sloyenly appear
| ance of the station-loafer. Up North
this genus homo is generally an ignorant
| country dude, with red necktie and
creased boots. who tries TO say smart
things about the passengers who peer at
him through the car-windows. In some
portions of the South the station
loafer is young fellow with n
mild eye, faded yellow breaches,
checked shirt, and a tally-colored com
plexion; "cracker who stands
silently and swkwardly with his arms
rammed up to his elbows in his breeches
pockets, peusively chewing large and
Juicy cud of tobacco. As the train fades
away in the distance the "cracker "
| fades away to his home. The coming Of
the daily trains, with their long lines OF
seeping-cars. their rows of faces at the
coach windows, and the beauty of the
big brass-mounted locomotive, Is the
only break in the monotony OF the lives
Of some of these young men. They
represent the "po' white trash, the
helpless, inactive, non-progresslye ele-
ment.
! wosDER-voRKFRs OF THE NEW SOUTH.
| But the railroads are working wonders
even among these people, who are
very small and very weak minority of
the great and growing South. The
Richmond and Danyille railroad, known
10 the world as the Piedmont Airline,
| is one of these modern wonder-workers.
With its splendid equipment, combining
all that brains can suggest and money
devise, it has carried wealth and
enterprise and new life into the
region it trayerses. Some of the
most substantial new cities of the
South fringe its borders. 1t is the high
way from tine North to the winter resorts
of the Gulf coast and the Florida shores,
and one Of the great outlets for the rich
and varied agricultural and industrial
products OF seven States Its allied
lines stretch unbroken from the Chesa-
peake to the Mississippi, and while it
leads through old battle-felds, whose
memories alike are precious to the sur
vivors in blue and gray. it presents to
tourists pictures of abundant and grow
ing prosperity in its portion of the
coming industrial empire OF the now
South.
| DOWN on THE sUwANEE RIVER.
Stephen c. Foster immortalized the
| Suwanee river in his "Old Folks at
Home" which has been sung under sun
and star in almost every land. When the
Georgia Southern and Florida Railway
| Company, whose new and picturesque
| line reaches from Macon TO Palatka and
Fernandino, Fla, cast about for a dis
| tinctive name they combined sentiment
with hard-headed business ideas and
christened their system "Suganee-
River route" But there is some
thing more than the sentiment Of q song
about oil this. There are thousands OF
carloads OF oranges, watermelons, and
early southern vegetables, hundreds
of thousands OF dollars worth Of pas
senger traffic, and a new field before
it. "The Suwanee- River route to Flori-
da" is becoming known TO tourists as
well as to consignees OF southern pro-
ducts. The men who are making this
new road are already reaching for Cuban
business, end steamship lines are yield
ing rich revenue to this picturesque
railroad system to the orange-groves and
seaports Of the Southeast
L" In the rush of railway improvements
in the South" said southern CONNER
cial traveller in Atlanta last week,
there is one thing a good many of our
| people iail TO appreciate, ana tnat IS the
value OF time They delay too long in
getting out Of the cars They make me
fidgetty. l have seen men and women
sit for a full minute after the train
stopped before they would move to get
out. Then they shake hands and talk
with friends all the way to the door,
But they'll get over that. Our conductors
are getting tired of it, and on several
occasions I've seen them start trains
with people gossiping in the aisles.
AMONG THE oRAsGE-GRoyEs.
Florida railroads have their hands full
with the orange traffic now. 1t is bust
ness that will continue to increase for
two months TO come,
Buyers are among the orange-groves
with pockets full Of greenbacks and they
not only bargain for fruit packed for
shipment bat they are buying outright
the fruit on the trees. Every side-track
of the Florida Central and Peninsula
railway is crowded with fruit
! ready for shipment North and load