The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-11-15
SKETCHES OF OLD RALEIGH
MOST CHARMINGLY TOLD.
Reverend Mr.. Whitaker Takes One With Him in a
Delightful Ramble Through Scenes
of the Past,


sketch. bought an interest in the Live
Giraffe" newspaper devoted TO the best
interests of humanity, generally, IN the
year 1853, but, l left untold many things
properly narrated. l said the Giraffe,
was devoted to the best interests OF hui
mainly generally" and it was; for it
was a religious paper, temperance pa
per. an agricultural paper, a mechanical
paper, a political paper, and, above all,
Il humorous paper. From the motto
which stood at Its head, the reader can
very well imagine the scope OF the AMI
mails pasturage: We care not to-
boundaries, mountains nor seas, creations
our forest, we roam where we please.
That Is about the case in these sketches;
we roam where We please, and, instead
OF grazing q field dry, We prefer to go
from pasture to pasture, and MP the
finer punches, and let the younger grass
grow for future grazings. Now, be it
known to the reader, that / was very
obscure country lad before / became an
editor; but, no sooner had l mounted the
tripod, than l began to know and become
known, and when / was favored with my
first pass on the railroad, and started
off to a neighboring town, on editorial
business my Importance had assumed
the dimensions OF the meadow frog i'll
AE.sop's Fables, when he thought he was
as large as the OK. Speaking OF railroads
reminds me to say, that my first impress
sons of them were about as crude as
some of the first roads built, We're; but,
crude as they were, and as much unlik
the roads We now have, laid with heavy
steel rails, they We're railroads: ano
railroads always We're, and, always will
be. big things to a boy raised in the
country. My father went TO PETERSBURG,
Va, when l was a small boy, to buy
goods for a country store, and ne an
nounced, when he returned, that he had
not only seen railroad, bu thad ridden
On one that the wheels ran on iron rails;
the cars were propelled by a thing they
called an engine; that the train, engine
and two or three cars; ran at the rate
OF 10 to Is miles an hour; and that said
train could carry fifty passengers. ]
looked at him with amazement, and won
dered how / would feel if l had seen as
much as he had, and knew as much AS
he knew. 1t was long time after that
before ever saw a railroad; but 1T came
at last-the old Raleigh and Gaston-and
for over half century, the old wagons,
that did the hauling, between Raleigh
and Fayetteville, and between Raleigh
and Petersburg, Va, have gone into lin
nocuous dessuetude" as Grover Clere
land would say, and the iron horse has
been doing the pulling.
OF course it is known that the Raleigh
and CASTOR railroad was first laid with
strap iron, ON wooden strlngers, and That,
in a few years it was like taking his
life into his own hands, when a mar
got aboard train; for, as the wooden
stringers began to rot and wear, The strap
iron was inclined to snake up" at the
ends; and, not unfrequently, "snafe
head" as it was called. would run up
through the bottom of the car and tear
things up. The first conductors l remer-
Der on that road were Capts. Riggan and
Horton. The later, Capt. Jeptha H"T-
ton, after he quit running as conductor.
vas made yardmaster at the depot and,
one day, as freight train was pulling
from under a shed, the top OF car
RULED the end of the shed upon and
killed him. John Horton, his son, took
his place and filled it satisfactorily, so
long as the management OF the road was
in the hands of home men, but. after
strangers got control of the road, most.
If not all, of those who once ran tie
shops, as we'll as the engines; and many
of the operatives in other lines, bad
to give place to favorites, which other
officers and managers brought In; until
it has come to pass that most OF the po-
sitions that were once filled with natives,
are now filled with strangers. At one
time the old road was in a pretty BAD
fix, and there was but little regularity
In the schedules; indeed, it was by no
means certain that train, when it
started, would reach CASTOR that day;
for, in many places, there was no iron
on the track, but the wheels had to run
on the wood and, sometimes, even the
wood was so badly worn that the en-
gineer had to go In a snails pace over
it. On one occasion, an excurs on was
leaving the depot for Wake Forest, to
attend a commencement. James L. Mar
riott, Esq, the then clerk of the Court
came down toward the train as it was
moving off, He was left; but he wen
back up town and got his horse and
buggy and went out to Wake Forest, OF
the country road. When our train
reached the college we found Mr.. Marriott
seated under an oak conversing with some
gentlemen, and he said as our crowd
went UP, he had been out there some
time l guess he had, as | remember
it took our engine about three hours to
make the run. DR.. w. ]. Hawkins was,
I believe, the first president of that road;
but, l think that Maj. w. W. Vass, the
lifelong treasurer, had the management
of it during part, at least, OF the time
when it was in such bad condition, and
it was said, that he managed to make
it pay a dividend.
When l first came to Raleigh the Bap-
fists were, comparatively small people.
but they had some first class members,
such for instance as Mai. Vass, P. @.
Pescud, Robert Jones, the BTigges,' Up'
churches, Registers, and others whom
might name, who loved their church and
southeast corner of the Capitol Square
with their little church building at the
southeast corner of the Capitol Square they
sold it and built the first Baptist church
northwest of the Capitol. DR.. Skinner,
the aged divine, who, a few days ago
left this city, to spend the few remaining
,iavs of EARTHLY career with his daughter