The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1900-11-15
FROM ATLANTA TO AUGUSTA.
BILL ARP TRAVELS AN OLD ROAD
rho Georgia Was tho First hallway
Ho Ever Saw-~.His Father Helped
to Build it.


Ho Ever Saw-~His Father Helped
to Build it.
Some sad and some sweet memories
came over mo as | jOurneyed on the old
Georgia Railroad from Atlanta to Au-
gusta. 1t was the first railroad ] ever
saw and travelled on. My good old
father was one Of the original stock
holders. He subscribed $5 600 and pait
1t as it was called for. In those days
roads wero not built on bonds or Qucs-
tionahle, mysterious schemes. There
WAS no preferred stock or income bonds
or first and second mortgages, bu,
everything was simple, plain and hon
est. [ have great reverence for that
road. | lived In Lawrencevillo while
1t was being built. Stone Mountain was
our nearest depot, and 1t was there
first ventured to board train as
jOurneyed to Athens to entor college.
How solemn, how inspiring was tha,
ride. | remember that it seemed TO
me that the trees and fences and farms
and habitatiOns were oil moving swift
ly backwards, while the train seemed
20 be still and quivering on its track
| had the same feeling the first time
ever went up In an elevator. II WAS at
the Gilscy House, in Now York and |
was not conscious OF going up, but
thought the hotel was rapidly descend
ing into some subterranean cavity.
Young people nowadays have 10 such
experience. They do not romemb rtn,
time when there were no railroads or
telegraphs, nor sewing machines or
cooking stoves, or matches or stce.
pens, and therefore they cannot appre.
Ciate or be grateful for the blessings
they enjoy.
AS we neared Stone Mountain and |
looked upon it's bald, ma estic SUNNI
| WAS carried back in memory TO the
delightful days OF my youth, when
nearly sixty years ago that mOuntHiD
WAS our trystlng place, and boys and
girls jOurneycd there sixteen milUs
from Lawrenceville and spent Is happy
day and while there and on the way W,
rcveicd in loves young d. cam and eyes
looked love to eyes that spoke again.
| remember when there wt.o Il tower on
that mountains tOp-a tower lG0 feet
nigh, whose slender top did somcJlmes
touch the clouds, and it was built by
Aaron Cloud, whose very name made
him /. fitting architect. 1t was the first
sky-aCrnper ever built in Georgia.
remember the delightful day when a
brunette lHseio with hazel eyes and In
dian hair ascenQcd those winding stairs
with me and rs we SAT together on It's
dizzy pinnacle | thought | was q little
nearer Heaven than | had ever been
before. Under prctcnse Of shielding
her from harm, half enclosed her
with my arm and the pHl pitating lace
upon her bosom told me how fast her
heart WAS heating, ana there almost in
the clouds we pllshted our trUth. |
remember when one winter night tn,
tn,s Il N a ,>ni II tod , md
the winds blew, and that tower fell and
great was the fail OF it. | remrm Der
when there WAS Is fine hotel at the base
OF that mountain and one night There
was bali in the spacious dining room,
and bright the lights shOne DER fair
women and brave men, and tor tn"
first time | saw that quceniy girl
whom Inc boys called Becky Lattimer,
and whose dashlng beauty drew them
TO her rs molasses draws llics. Her
father lived no. far away, u substantial
farmer, and d few yeas later "our
Becky" became Mrs. R3Uocah FELTON,,
the wife of the learned and cllQuen,
doctor Of CarLcrsvllle. l rcmem be,
when that great solid mountain OF
granite seemed iarger-ycs, much larg.
cr-than it looks to be now, for WA
young then and nature had not begun
smaller now and every year gets smal.
Ter still. AS Pope says OF the dying
Christian, "The world rccedes-it dis
appears" and so it Will TO those who
die Of old age. Tom Hood express, d
it beautifully and pathetically when
he said:
dark and high,
] used to think their slender tops we're
close against the sky,
But now Pm growing older and find it
little JOY
TO know I'm farther of from Heaven than
when ! was a boy"
remember that historical town
called Mae son, whore many OF my col
lego mates nvcl. Tncy arc all gone
now, not one IL left to comfort me 10
ny declining years. u WAS here SAW
this railroad when | was boy Of four
teen, and it was completed to Madison.
What IL sensation Of wUnder anu alarm
as looked at the huge laviathan that
behind It. My father mad to holu my
hand for | trcmblcd lest " should jump
the track and Kill us nll.
My father WAS proud Of that road
proud because he helped to build IT,.
He kept that stock for twelve years
without receiving dividend. The
stock went down, down, down, until IL
reached its lowest point In 1910. 1t was
then worth onlv 81 cents on TIE dollar,
but he had faith and clung TO it with
hope. About That time commercial
rcvolution-a crieis--a panic came
over the country and TO cave his mer-
cantilc credit he was forced 10 sell hio
stock. 1t distressed him and grieYcQ
my mother, but he said there was no
help for it. The stock must go. ! re.
member the night he came home and
told my mother that the stock wa,
gOnc-hc hnd sold 1t to Judge uulchirs
for ~ cents on the dOllar--thc stock
that he had paid 100 cents for twelve
years before. Father was sad and the
tears fell on mothers cheek and none
OF us cared for supper. When father
went back to the store that night | sat
down by mothers side and took her
hand in mine. M0thor," said |, you
mist not feel SO bad about that stock.
Let me toll You a secret. Last night
proposed to y ;t&via Hutchina, ] ask ed
her to marry me and she said she
would and We have fixed the timc--th
. /.f L in l,,,,