The morning times., 1897-01-10

tiOn enGtG- HOW lar II / = llt III QIaHtfSo
he did rot know Neither did he know-in
which direction.
The conductor on the train rs the eHly
person who knew of its existence But
his Knowledge of geography, further than
that sect on trayerscd by the Washington
Southern would not be sufficient To raise
any undue an. oJnt Of cUEccIt in the breast
OF a tweIye-year old school boy. Be-
yond misinformipg the inc uiTcr that IL was
four miles up the Quantieo river, he knew
nothing Of Dgmfries.
Its Exact Location.
As the train oiled southward, the town
seeker spliccd the various bits OfinfOrmatiun
and found that Dumfries is exactly thirty
nine miles fIom the city of Washington,
in Prince william county, and that Quan-
tico is the nearest railway station.
Quantico is the struggling village which
was much mentioned in the newspapers
two years ago from the fact that real
Western train robbery was committed near
there. Besides a gigantic empty hotel, a
few scattered houses and streets that
Were like muddy canals, there is not much
in Quantico. outside the air was keen,
and the cold, gray sky oyershadOwed the
lowlands and dismal pine forests
Through the windows ofthe station wait
ing room the silver bark of a birchen for
est on a distant hill, and here and there
q glow of clinging sumach leaves, added the
only tints to relieve the sunber landscape.
There * no livery stable at this point,
but the writer and a companion were in
formed that a culored man named Johnson
sometimes carries people To Dumfries,
and through the Kindness of this same
informant we were ushered through the
barren hotel to the kitchen, where the man
OF that name lives with wife and a num-
Der of younger Johnsons.
After deal of persuasion, and our word
that we could drive, and an agree ment not
to try to break the record between Guam
tico and Dumfries, made necessary by "A
wild drive OF drummer To catch the
train the day before, and also to pay
half what he considered fair cOmpensa-
tion, we then started for Dumfries in the
johnson dugcart.
Not. however, until The Times artist had
made a sketch OF some of the Johnsons,
whose eyes had been un MS from the time
we first became visible, and VINO were now
eagerly watching our actions from their
pOSI OF NdHldEe Dtlllnd II DDdTu ltIGt-
On the Way TO DuInfries.
The road to Dumfries is very narrow and
Yough, and in rainy weather it is very
muddy Atplaces it is scarcely wide enough
for two teams to pass; at others the clay
surface is displaced by branches and sap
Iings laid crosswise on the road and coy
cred by dirt, forming what is known as .
corduroy road.
Nearly the whole distance lies through a
cold, unnviting pine forest, and it is {
lonely drive. There is little TO break Tie
monotony Of dark stretches OF gloomy land
scape, and as the road is little frequenteC
now one meets but few people.
In the slow drive two teams and a Jacl
rabbit hunter were met. One of the teams
was a yoke of oxen hauling half a doZer
railroad ties TO Quantico, and the other
q mule team, driven by an old colored man
contained four ties. This is now the traf
fic OF a country which formerly turned out
shiploads of tobacco and flour and called
on the mother country for the finest raj
ment and the IuXuries of a comfortable
well-to-do people.
"Howdy, uncle. Which way to Dumfries. '
"Woahi Howdy DO, gemmen. Want Il
know which way to Dumfries? Yo' goes
twill yo' come to an advertisement mailed
on a tree and den yo' keeps on twill 20
comes to-. Does yo' use tobac'?'
A package of smoking tobacco was hand
ed him, and he filled a weIl-used corncof
pipe and began putting with an air of con
tent. When told that he might keep th'
package he continued, as soon as he cOult
cease bOwinc and thanking
Eff miah oil 'ooman sees dat she II make
me sten round mighty pcart Whah