Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-01-20

having been contin.
~ uously in the city OF
~ Washington from the
9Th day of last Au
gust until the coming
Of the holiday recess
Even the charming capital city of our
country becomes sluggish and uninterest
ing under certain conditions.
And SO 1t happened that at 2 o'clock las
Christmas morning. as the "F F. v. train
over the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad was
approaching Charlottesville, Va, / was
according to my request-aroused by the
porter OF the sleeper on which had been
passenger since leaving Washington with
wen be in Charlottesville in about twenty
minutes, sah.''
The cause Of this midnight alarm was a
Dit OF official paper in my vest pocket
signed and countersigne6, granting me the
privilege OF riding on the locomotive from
charlottesville to Clifton Forge 100 miles
at the head Of a solidly vestibuled train OF
nine cars, and that, too, over the peaks
and through the gaps and valleys Of the
Blue Ridge and the Alleghanies.
had run logs on the drive" had shot
the rapids at Salt Ste Marie, did" the
Brooklyn bridge when 1t was but little more
swung between them, but had never rid.
den on locomotive; I had traversed the
canyons Of the Grand, climbed up most
Of the Robinson Follies'' and down a ma
jority Of the lovers leaps" in the land
and yet I had never seen the Blue Ridge
or the Alleghanies Of the Virginias. 1t was
test In every way that long had coveted
and I was happy.
/ am fond Of the sociability to be found
at the railway station in a small city I,
Is SO spontaneous and honest. Somehow
the station agent. the baggage agent and
the telegraph operator-it Is better even
when he is all three in one-look upon the
stranger who jumps Off the train to stretch
his legs. as a personal friend and patron
and-'It would talk; Lord! how 1t talk ed "
Within five minutes after I landed at
Charlottesville I had learned that 'Monti-
cello" the home of Thomas Jefferson, was
away over there on the mountain" and
that had just passed through his birth
place at Shadwell. bout four miles back; p
also that Presidents James Madison and
James Monroe. Lewis and Clarke, the ex-
plorers, the late United States Senator
Rives and his no less famous granddaugh-
ter. Amelia Rives Chanler, had been we'll
known figures on the streets of Charlottes-
vile in times past. II reckon this is your
first visit in these parts" ventured the sta
ton agent you should go up and see the
University Of Virginia before you leave
That's here. too. and it's the greatest OF
all the universities of the SOUTH"
On No. 100.
Here, Conductor Jones, coming from the
telegraph Office, said he guessed we had
changed engines by this time. and so I ac-
companied him to the head Of our train.
when ! was introduced to Henry johnson.
a clean-cut. quiet-mannered young man. and
engineer of Hundred and-Six." Then ]
noted that we were to have a tandem-team
with LOG as the leader, and los just back
of her as helper. The sight did my soul
good, because l felt that there was no
chance of getting stalled going up the
mountains. So, climbing up after Mr.. John
son into the cab of 106. 1 was introduced to
F. Mahaney, the fireman, a young man who
wore a clean face, a well-kept mustache,
and, between his teeth. newly lighted Gig
arette-a combination which, when looked
at his soot-stained cap and blouse, amused
me. AS the engineer curled his right leg up
on his narrow shelf of a seat and putting
his head out of the window. looked toward
the rear of the train, the fireman fixed the
lcathern cushion on his bench for my oc-
cupancy. At the same time he explained,
apologetically: I'VE don't pull out for a
minute or two. and so I'm taking a sort of
farewell Whit"
Fortunately. for me. No. JOG had a real
cab with four or five feet of clear space be-
tween its furnace door and tender instead
of the larger engine, No. lbs, where the en-
gineer and fireman were perched, as 1t
were, on the very quarters of their steed.
And so 1t happened / could see all of the
hfH 10 a nd oil h0 law md
gauge cocks, I could
Just then the call of the conductor is
heard, the fireman grasps a sagging black
cord above his head, and, as the bell rings,
the engineer gives a short, steady pull on
the throttle with his left hand, and a great
kissing screech shoots out upon the night as
though telling of an awful hurt to some
thing that has soul. Little white tatters
of steam struggle up through the tiny
spaces between and the tender the heavy
rumblings of the drivers mingle with the
lesser but more spiteful noises from some
where out there AMONG the rods. pipes and
cylinders, and-our ride is born.
On to the Blue Ridge.
1t is fifteen miles across the valley from
Charlottesville to the Blue Ridge, miles
marked by the orchards, fields and build
ings of as well-housed community as may
be found in the Old Dominion; homes
which. while they were less shrouded by the
ClOuuS VI Ddttle were t1elT HelSnDOrS
during the civil war, were shelters alike to
the men under Jackson, Sheridan, Shields
and Ewell, and the store houses of the
most prolific grain fields in the confederacy
Across this picture in the perfect glory of
a Christmas moon-a brilliance that was a
midnight dream of day-we rolled and rum
bled over little bridges, around wood lots,
by the side of turnpikes, along brooks and
under the shadows of half-grown bluffs and
1t was during that ride that 1 learned two
facts: First, that the alleged unbroken, in
teresting and comfortable conversations
carried on In locomotive cabs between engi-
neers and firemen while making run are
well, they do not take place. They read
fairly well in tales entitled, Spins on the
Special" Leaps on the Limited" and the
like, but nature has such a comprehensive
estimate of the seriousness of railroading,
that she prohibits successful cab conversa-
lions while under way in her own fash
ion. The other revelation was that a loco
motive, answering promptly to every varia-
ton in grade or line, leaves the matter of
retaining ones seat on the surface of a
shiny, slippery leathern cushion wholly to
ones own ingenuity.
In this respect 1 obtained the shaking up
l sought. In other ways was 1 excited, but
as yet had not been startled. The strict
devotion to his charge on the part of the
engineer was exciting. There he sat with
his eyes to the front, one hand on the
brake lever and the other on the throttle
ready to pull either, his only variations