The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-09-21

lar boxes. has replaced, poorly 50 far as
concerns the picturesque. the swinging,
rafting stage coach, with echOing horn and
eager thoroughbreds.
ON the Valley pike there were at one
time no less than three daily lines each
way. One Of them was composed Of omni-
buses. drawn generally by six mules. ms
line was owned by James Kemp, Of the
once-notcd coaching firm Of Kemp, Parish
a Ripley. He had his mule-teams gradu-
ated nom front 10 rear according to size.
1t was his fayOrite joke that once. on run
ming against a tOll-gate at night, the little
fellows in the lead Jumped over the bar, the
middle pair ran under, and the big wheel
ers were brought up on their Launches with
resulting mix" easier to imagine than
describe
These contractors are all dead. ] believe.
with other men Of the road dating beyond
them. odd. indeed, il seems, that OF the
party who located the road in 1898, four i'm
number. besides two or three colored axe
men, at least three should remain, one the
oldest and another the Youngest. third.
+. j. +. Carver, is resident on the Pacific
slope, in Washington, think. The fourth.
Frank Geiger. Of StauntOn, is believed to Dee
long dead. General Joseph r. Anderson. Of
the Confederate Army and the Iredegar
Works, was chief engineer, Geiger being
transit man. The writer then under thir-
teen, held the responsible position OF rod
man and marker Of stakes and mile-pOsts.
He numbered the first iifty-lour miles from
Winchester, and has manyo Of the spots now
distinctly in his minds eve. His stature
was four feet eight and half inches, a
valuable fact impressed upon his
memory by its association with the
height OF the telescope. Having "a
mark the rod at that height, he would some
times. after the careless fashion Of boys, 20
forward without measuring the instrument.
and assume its average identity with his
own statue. This often had the effect
Of trebling the length Of his walk 10y
causing a return trip for greater pre-
cisiOn. The average steer was another
gauge and only once. when a drove
of cattle Obliterated the rodman, and left
only the rod visible above their backs. The
valley was the vale of steers then. Five
hundred head made an average drove, and ]
recOllect church services being materially
disturbed by the believing Of a herd OF
twelve hundred, which took the better part
of an hour 10 pass the door.
Generally speaking. the task of location
over the gently undulating country was
easy. Wherever possible the line followed
the old road, and has IN turn been itself fol-
lowed by the railroad. At Ceder Creek, the
scene of Earlv's attack on Sheridan in 1854,
the crossing was made higher up the stream
than the old fork. The water thanks to the
dam of mill, was quite deep. General,
then by cOurtesey Colonel Anderson. Will
rccOllect his attempt. by order and persua-
sion, 10 induce a negro aXe-man named
Jack, six feet nigh or more, TO step i'm and
carry the line over. Jack said he couldn't
swim. The pointer of a neighbOring farmer,
Isaac Bowman, could, and did with the
the line in his mouth. POntO little dreamed
of the procession that was in the coming
years to follow his lead. The bird-gun,
which he loved would not have prepared
him for thousands Of cleaning muskets.
with whiz of shot and burst Of shell
and believing of the mOrtars.' lie
was plotting the locomotive, too, all unseen
as vet, for his bridge was passed. IN the
early part Of the war. by SIX or seven loco
motives and some forty freight-cars. These
were actually hauled over the turnpike,
from Martinsburg 10 Strasburg, forty miles.
This (iOrced) contribution from the Balti-
more and Ohio Railroad Company 10 the
Confederate cause was. | believe the whole
recruitment 10 the engine-serNlce in y ir-
ginia during the war, except five iocOmO-
tiyes captured from Pope and two or three
from Mcclellan. The old stock would
hardly have held out another year. \ boiler
level on its bearings was decidedly the eX-
ception, not the rule.
We had some trouble in getting a good
route 10 shasburg. Fishers Hill, two miles
west OF that village. was especially stubborn
in resisting the legal limit OF three and a
half degree grade. | held out, as IL did,
against the Federals a quarter Of century
later. The writer recOllects coming near 10
furnishing the first martyr 10 that famous
natural fertilization. He was sent ahead
running an EXPERIMENTAL line along the pre-
cipitous northeast front. His foot slipped,
and a friendly stump arrested midway his
tumble into Tumbling Run. The route
finally selected, included stone bridge Of
one arch, and turned to the right instead Of
the left, looking sOuthwestward.
Fishers Hill is not strictly hill, but the
abrupt scarp of this plateau forming the
main valley at this point. This descent Is
abreast of. or in a line with the ten-mlle
front of the twin ranges forming the fort.
and Joined at their northeast end by irown-
ing curtain, whose base Is washed by the
north fork Of the Shenandoah. This stream
flows from beyond Nj. jackson, northeast
ward, close to the western base Of the Fort
mountain, around the juttlng spurs OF
which il winds for twenty odd miles IN
beautiful, regular series OF curves. Arrived
at Fishers hill. il turns square 10 the right
and moves in a very direct course TO It's
junction. near Front Royal, with the South
Fork coming down the Luray valley, be-
tween the Blue Ridge and the MassanuttOn,
as the east wall of the fort Is styled. Be
low this opens the lower valley, no longer
split by secondary sides, and extending
fifty miles 10 Harper's Ferry and Falling
Waters. with a breadth OF half that extent.
The northeastern rampant Of the fort Is
pierced only by the narrow defile OF Passage
creek. Oyerhung by almost PERCEPTIONS
rocks, some hundreds of feet high, and de-
fensiDle by a triiling force against an army.
The enclosure is at its northwestern end
more accessible, but being only cul de
sac. was but little used during the war, par
ticuly by the Federals, who seldom trusted
themselves there even when IN possession
OF the main valley as far up as Harrison
burg. which is beyond the upper extremity
of the fort. Port Republic is opposite Har-
risonburg dozen miles away, on the south
fork of the Shenandoah, and little beyond
the south end of the Massanutton. These to-
points, familiar enough from
maps. enable one 10 understand how there
could be no strategic locality between
Fishers Hill and Port Republic, and why 1t
was that Jackson had 10 20 10 the latter
place 10 deal his right aud lett-handers al
Shields and Fremont. He dealt them, sent
both commanders to keep fifty thousand
men idle in the Lower Valley; by the same
Movement pinned Mcdowell 10 Fredericks-
IN for the protection OF Washington city,
nd Men struck for Cold Harbor, where ne
rriyeN\ust late enough 10 allow Fitz John
orter toNarn--If not, thanks 10 sinister in
uences. t0\yeceiye-the credit Of the very
est fought baAtle Of the war on the Northern
de-
y
lings~trom the beNpic age of twenty live
'ars ago TO the prehiSpric time near! rs
uch more remote.
Coming events did not nen cast ,neir
'ado~s before, at least To- JAsnooSs Aen
nd my most vivid recollecti6A ~ Slass.c
ernstown is It's apple pies-a A saiSs III
hIch attended sundry other battles eius VI
G future. Memory does not, hoKv'tI'
we'll with unqualified fondness upon ,ess
products Of the kIicien aIAu
e orchard. Among the Germans OF TN
nth Legion, the pies were apt &c be of :
traditional description Of those brought In