The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1900-11-14
FROM ATLANTA TO AUGUSTA
'fSiHiI ARP TRAVELS AN OLD ROAD
The Georgia Was The First Raj way
Hc Ever Saw-his Father Helped
To HuiII it

The Georgia Was The First Rai,w
iic Ever Saw--tiis Father HeIpr
To Build it.
, Some sad aud some sweet menorie
came over me as ] j0urneyed on the oil
Georgia Railroad from Atlanta TO Al
gusta. 1t was the first railroad | eve
saw and travelled on. My good oil
father was one OF the original stock
holders. He subscribed S., 900 and psi,
1T as 1t was called for. In those dsy
roads were not b lit on bonds or ques
tionahle, mysterious schemes. Tner,
was no preferred stock or income bond
or first and second mortgages, bu
everything was simple, plain ana hon
est | have great reverence for tha
road | lived In Lawrenceville while
1t was being built. Stone Mountain wa.
our nearest depot, and 1T was there
hrst ventured to board train as
Journeyed to Athens to enter college.
How solemn, how inspiring was tina,
| ride. | remember that it seem ed &c
me that the trees and fences and farms
and habitations were all moving swift
| ly backwards, while the train seemed
to be still and quiVering on its track
had the same feeling tho first time /
ever went up in an elevator. II was at
the Gtlsey House, in New York and |
| Il
thought the hotel was rapidly descend
ing into some subterraneun cavity.
Young people nowadays have 70 such
experience. They do not rememb, the
tIm9 when there were no railroads or
telegraphs, nor sewing machines or
cooking stoves, or matches or steel
pens, and therefore they cannot appre-
ciate or be grateful for the blessings
they enjoy.
AS we neared Stone Mountain and |
looked upon its bald, majestic summit
l was carried bach in memory to the
delightful days OF my youth, when
nearly sixty years ago that mountain
was our trystlng place, and boys and
girls JOurnGyed there sixteen miles
from L4wrenceville and spent Is happy
day ana while there and on the way we
rGveied IN loves young d, cam and eyes
looked love to eyes that spoke again.
| remem Der when there was u tower on
that mountains top-a tower l60 feet
nigh, whose slender top did somet mes
touch the clouds, and IL was built by
Aaron Cloud, whose very name made |
him lifting architect. 1t WAS the first |
sky-scraper ever built in Georgia. |
I enc mber the delightful day when "a |
brunette la>sie with hazel eyes and In.
dian hair ascendGd those winding stairs
with me and as We sat together on its
dizzy plrn acle | thought | was little
nearer Heaven than | had ever been
before, Under pretense OF shielding
her from harm, | half enclosed her
with my arm and the palpitaLing lace
upon her bosom told me how fast her
heart was beating, and there almost in
the clouds we plighted our trOth. |
when one winter night the
$ iOrm came and the rain desccn and
~. a ll Il I
great was the fall ot it. | remember
when there WAS a fine hotel at the base
OF that mountain and one night there
was bali in the spacious dining room,
and bright the lights shone o'cr fair
women and brave men" and TOR the
first time | saw that quecniy girl
whom the boys called Becky Lattimer,
and whose dashing beauty drew them
to her as molas5es draws flies. Her
father lived not far away, u substantial
farmer, and q few years later "our
Becky" became Mrs. Il Ioecah FELTON,,
the wife OF the learned and eloquent
doctor Of Cartersvllle. l remember
when that great solid mountain of
granite seemed larger-yes, much larg-
er-than it looks to be now, for was
young then and nature had not begun
to shrink with me. Every thing is
smaller now and every year gets small
Ter still AS Pope says Of the dying |
Christian, The world recedes-it dis |
appears and so twill to those W ho |
die OF Old age. Tom Hood expressed |
it beautifully and pathetically when
he said:
81 remember, | remember the fir trees
dark and high,
used to think their slender tops were |
close against the sky,
Il,it ,I,ta
little JOY
TO know I'm farther off from Heaven than
when was boy"
| remember that historical town
called Mad son, where many of my col.
lcge mates llvol. Tney are all gone
now, not one is left to comfort me In
my declining years. 1t was here saw
this railroad when | was a boy OF four.
tcer, and it was completed to Madison.
What "a sensation Of wonder and alarm
as | looked at the huge leviathan that
came puhing now the track with train
behind IT. My father had to hold my
hand for tremb bled lest it should jump
the track and xiii us all.
My father was proud OF that road
proud because he helped to build it.
He kept that stock for twelve years
without receiving q dividend. The
stock went down, down, down, unit, it
reached its lowest point in l8i9. 1t was
then worth only y cents on the dollar,
but he had faith and clung to it with
hope. About that time commercial
revOlutiOn-a crisis-a panic came
over the country and to cave his mer.
camille credit he was forced To sell his
stock. 1t distressed him and grisyed
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 was
gone-he had sold it to Judge Hutchins
for u cents on the dollar--the stock
that ne 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
vent back to the store that night | sat
down by mothers side and took her
hand in mine. Mother" said |, "you
must not feel so bad about that stock.
Let me tell you secret. Last night |
proposed to Ottawa Hutchins, asked
her TO marry me and she said she
would and we have fixed the time--the
7th OF March--and in less than three
months Ill get that stock back and II
will be In the family again. Now, dom
you tell but you musn't cry any more,
and kissed her on the cheek and said
Mother, Mr.. Shakespeare says 'All',
we'll that ends well.'" But my dea
mother was woman and womanlik,
, she told an intimate friend what sait
about getting the stock back and tina
4 n a. 4 l.