Evening journal., 1901-07-24
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
ODD lEFFEcTs OF THE FIRST SIGHT
OF A LOCOMOTIVE.

some of,the People of the south Hid
Behind Trees In 1893, When the
Iron Horse Went By-The Country~s
Earliest Railroad.
America cannot lay claim to the first
locomotive or the first railroad. That
great honor lies with England. Yet
Yankee genius was not very far behind
her. for, when George Stephenson
launched his first real locomotive, the
Rocket on the Liverpool and Manches-
ter road in 1929. the first spike had been
driven on the Baltimore and Ohio rail-
road, July 4, 1928. by Charles Carroll |
OF Carrollton, the Thst surviving signer |
OF the Declaration Of Independence. |
This was the first road started in the |
United States. and in 1890 1t had reach
ed Ellicott Mills, 13 miles from Balti-
more.
But the south can claim the honor OF
completing the longest railroad in'the
world at that date, being the old
| Charleston and Hamburg road, now
part Of the South Carolina and Georgia
system, which was begun in 1880, and
by October, 1898, it had 13I miles OF
track In operation. In a letter from
Mr.. Samuel G. Clarke OF Georgia,
l,insman Of the writer, who attained
the extreme age of 81 years and who
had seen the beginning and the compile
ton of this road, he thus gives his ex-
perience upon first sight of a locomo-
tive;
"One day while going down to
Charleston with a party Of gentlemen
to attend the races as we approached
the city we saw in the distance the
new railroad, finished some 10 or II
miles out of Charleston. 1t was built
upon piles, longer or short, according
to the nature of the ground. Sometimes
in crossing a ravine the rails were 20
feet from the surface. Our track ran
near this elevated road, and soon a
, horrld shrek as from 20 panthers was
heard in the woods. BY this time we
were nervous. Elephants and lions
we had heard OF, and some of us had
seen them, but vahat monster was this
whose screams we heard2 Presently
il came in sight, flying aloft through
the air and breathing fire and smoke,
: and our frightened steeds became un-
n manageable, and in fact l think that
some Of our party were as badly fright
4 ened as their horses. If any of my
% readers are old enough to remember
yd the introduction of locomotives and
how they felt at first sight Of them
n they viii perhaps understand our sen
o sations that day in the pine woods.
"a mile or two farther on we cam'
t. TO n broken wagon by the side Of the
road, and near it sat Georgia cracker
smoking his pipe. On being asket
l. what was his trouble he replied, We'll
le. stranger, I've often hearn tell of'nulll
fication, and now reckon I've saw
- for true"
ls 1t is somewhat amusing, ,now-tosrea
Of the superstitious dread with whic
m mle the inhabitants looked npon thelbuilc
a. ing of these first railroads. Som
thought the smoke OF the continue
A. passing trains would cause a pestilenc
a or destroy all the crops along the road
". Others were afraid to ride on the car
i. for fear OF having their breath take
a. away, and the people in the cities ol
jected to the railroad being built b'
ss cause they feared the smoke from th
ID, engines would soil the clothes whic
were hung out to dry.
Many are yet living who looked upo
the terrible, screeching iron monst'
with awe and tfepidation. Mr.. Nat nj
Gee of Ivy, Albemarle. tells a joke upc
6u himself that when he heard the tral
coming he jumped from his horse an
-. got behind a tree, where he viewed
"a for fear Of being run over. Mr.. w.
al Prout, who was taking a wagon load
10 produce to Richmond. when he reach'
a. Gordonville heard the whistle and te
es rible noise Of the approaching trai
mt and he ana his companions were
scared that they sprang out, leaped 4
No. fence and ran across the field to sa
70 distance, leaving the wagon and tea
oct to It's fate, but when the train appear
Ms 1t was only an engine and one coach.
&c The first roadbeds were formed,
has been stated, by driving piles in t
ground, upon the top of which we
placed wooden stringers, in which we
cut a groove for the wheels to n
at These were called wooden railroad
.ho and at a distance appeared like the
iiaS waited railroads In the cities Of the pr
aF s ent day. The honor Of this invent
was contested between John Hartm
Of ScottsviIle, Va, and John William
an engineer Of Ohio, but it did 1
- prove a bonanza to either. for
'aii wheels were constantly bouncing out
pa the groove, and the piles soon af
line gave place to solid dirt embankmen
the and strap iron rails were substitui
for the wooden groove. But the gri
ing was very imperfect and unev
nv which made riding on one of tn
primitive railroads like going over
oint corduroy road in a springless wag
Gets with the cars bouncing over tn
,ook rough rails o the jingling music Of
De- windows.-Richmond Dispatch.
lers' "
DO Carpets shorten Lifef
-, Just think what a horrible recepta