Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1890-10-10
OLD TIMES
ON THE BUILDING OF THE VALLEY
TURNPIKE.

ON THE BUILDING OF THE VALLEY
TURNPIKE.
THE NAIL LINES OF THAT DAY-THE EN-
GINEERS THAT LOCATED THE ROAD
HERDS OF CATTLE-THE GERMANS OF
THE vALLEY-MARTIN VAN buren,.
&C., &C, &C.
MI. E. G. Bruce, who, as boy, was in
the engineer corps which located the Valley
turnpike, has some interesting reminiscent
ces in the Sunday edition of the Richmond
Times. We make some extracts which
will be interesting reading at this day
The Valley roads only rival among Amer
lean highways is the National road, and that,
once the shibboleth of statesmen, is now
abandoned, for many miles of its Eastern
course, to the drumming pheasant and the
humming rattlesnake who seek its bare track
to strut and bask. Not SO with the other.
Paralleled for the whole ninety-two miles,
from Winchester to Staunton, closely by one
railroad, and more distantly by second, it is
traversed constantly and kept in as good Or
of vehicles or horsemen, although seventy
wagons in three miles would be an extraor-
binary sight now The writer once counted
that number, and it was in time of peace, too,
nearly every vehicle being 'mountain
schooner" bound to or from East Tennessee
and Southwestern Virginia.
THREE DAILY LINES OF STAGE COACHES.
In both cases the iron horse has only reliev-
ed Macadam of the heavier part Of his work,
leaving the local spring-wagon and pleasure
carriage to multiply, while the slow-moving,
broad-head with its six-horse 'sbell team"
abdicates in favor of the freight train The
passenger train, also, it must be confessed,
sliding along with its commonplace string of
rectangular boxes, has replaced, poorly so
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 omnibuses, drawn
generally by six mules. This line was owned
by James Kemp, of the once noted coaching
firm of Kemp, Parish & Ripley. He had his
mule-teams graduated from front to rear &C
cording to size. 1t was his favorite joke that
once, on running against a tOll-gate at night,
the little fellows in the lead jumped over the
bar, the middle pair ran under, and the big
wheelers were brought up on their launches
with a resulting 'miX" easier to imagine than
describe. These contractors are all dead,
believe, with other men of the road dating
beyond them.
THE ENGINEERS WHO LOCATED THE ROAD.
nd 4of4 l.. Il.
| located the road in 1885, four in number, be-
sides two OF three colored axemen, at least
three should remain, one the Oldest and an
other the youngest. A third, I. j. B. Carver,
is resident on the Pacific slope, in Washing
ton, think The fourth, Frank Geiger, of
Staunton, is believed to be long dead. Gen
eral Joseph r. Anderson, of the Confederate
Army and the Tredegar Works, was chief
engineer, Geiger being transit man. The
writer, then under thirteen, held the respon-
sible position Of rodman and marker of stakes
and mile-posts. He numbered the first fifty
four miles from Winchester, and has many of
the spots now distinctly in his minds eye.
His stature was four feet eight and half
inches, valuable fact impressed upon his
memory by its association with the height of
| the telescope. Having to mark the rod at
that height, he would sometimes, after the
careless fashion of boys, go forward without
measuring the instrument, and assume its
average identity with his own stature. This
often had the effect of trebling the length of
his walk by causing a return trip for greater
| precision.
THE BIG DROvEs OF CATTLE.
| The average steer was another gauge, and
only once when 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 1 recollect church servi-
ces being materially disturbed by the below
| ing of a herd of twelve hundred which took
the better part of an hour to pass the door.
HOW THE ROAD WAS RUN.
| 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 followed by
the railroad. At Cedar Greek, the scene of
Early's attack on Sheridan in 1864 the cross
ing was made higher up the stream than the
old fork. The WATER thanks to the dam of a
mill, was quite deep. General. then by cour-
tesy Colonel Anderson, will recollect his at
tempt, by order and persuasion, to induce
negro axe-man named Jack, six feet high or
more, to step in and carry the line over. Jack
said he couldn't swim. The pointer of neigh
boring farmer, Isaac Bowman, could and did
with the line in his mouth.
THE GERMAN PIES.
| Coming events did not then ast their shad-
ows before, at least to boyhoods' ken, and nv
most vivid recollection of classic Kernstown
is its apple pies-a distinction which attended
sundry other battlefelds of the future. Mem
DRY does not, however, dwell with unaualifi-
ed fondness upon these remarkable products
of the kitchen and the orchard Among the
Germans of the Tenth Legion, the pies were
apt to be of the traditional description of
those brought in by their Pennsylvania ances-
tors to the camp at ''Valley Forge" s'hard
enough to be thrown across the room without
breaking
| AT EDINBURG.
Our host at Edinburg, five miles beyond
Woodstock, was Madison Riddleberger, father
of the future Senator. He was tall, comedy
man, famous as maker Of rifles. remem-
Der admirlng them, and the select pieces of
apple-tree wood from which he shaped the
stocks. The war went hard with his estab-
lishment despite the "boom' in fire arms,
even OF the ancient model. Harry Gilmore
and companion were riding by the little
hostelrle one day and stopped to ask for a
glass OF milk. The girl at the door said they
had none. ''Then," said Gilmore. " at least
| won 90 md