The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1903-11-17
SKETCHES OF OLD RALEIGH
MOST CHARMINGLY TOLD.
Reverend Mr.. Whitaker Takes Ore With Him in a
Delightful Ramble Through Scenes
of the Past,

Giraffe" q NEWSPAPER devoted 10 the De>r
interests OF humanity, generally. II the
wear 1853. but. I lett untold many things
u that period which might interest, Il
properly narrated. I SAID the Giraffe.
was devoted to the best interests OF hu-
mainly generally" and It was; for i
was q religious paper, d temperance p2
per. an agricultural paper. q mechanical
paper, 4 political paper. and, above all,
q humorous paper. From the mo}(o
which stood at It's head, the reader can
very well imagine the scope OF the ant
mails pasturage: We care not TO,
boundaries, mountains nor seas, creation s
our forest. We roam where We please
That IS about the case, III these sketches;
We. roam where we please, and, instead
OF gazing a field dry, We prefer to 60
from pasture. TO pasture. and M the
finer punches, and let the younger grass
grow fer future Cravings. Nov, be II
known to the reader, that l Was a very
obscure country lad before l became an
editor; but, no sooner had ! mounted the
tripod, than l began to know and become
known, and when I was favored with my
first pass on the railroad, and started
off to a neighboring town, on editorial
business" my importance q assumed
the dimensions OF the meadow frog, in
AEsop's Fables. when he thought ne was
as large as the OK. Speaking Of railroads
reminds me. TO say, that my nrst impress
sions OF them were about a. crude IS
some of the first roads built, We're; but,
crude a. they were. and a much unlIk
the roads we now have, laid with heavy
steel rails, they We're railroads; and
railroads always were. and, always viii
be, big things 70 a boy raised in the
Va. when l was a small boy. to buy
goods for a country store, and he an
bounced. when he returned. that he had
hot only seen a railroad, bu thad ridden
on one that the wheels ran on iron rails:
the cars were propelled by a thing theT
called an engine; that the train. engine
and two or three cars; ran at the rate
OF 10 10 j. miles an hour; aud that said
train could carry fifty passengers. !
looked DIT him with amaZement, and Won
dercd how l would feel il I had seen "a
much as he had, and knew a. much as
he knew. It was a long time after that
before I ever saw = railroad; but IT cam"
AT .last-the cid Raleigh and Gd=ton-ano
for over half a century. the old wagons.
that did the hauling, between Raleigh
and Fayetteville. and bctWcen Raleigh
and Petersburg, Va, have gone INTO in
u deSsuetude" as Grover Cleve
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 lad WITH
strap iron, on wooden strIngers, and that,
IN a few years. it was like taking M
life into his own hands. when a man
got aboard a train; for, as the wooden
~.stringors began to rot and wear. Tho strap
z- 49, ,~ol,,o1 - $685. ,-F - ~
ends; and, not unfrequently. q "snaFe
head" as it was called. would ran up
through the bottom of the car and tear
things up. The first conductors I remero-
. her on that road were Capts. Rjegan ana
Horton. The later, Capt. Jcplha HnG-
ton, after he quit running "a conductor.
was made yardmaster at the depot. n
one day. as a freight train was pulling
from under a shed, the top Of a ca
pulled the ED of the shed Ipon 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. mos.
il not all, of those who once ran tie
shops, as we'll as the engines: and many
OF the operatives in other lines, h"'
to give place to fdyOriteS, which other
officers and managers brought in; unit.
IL has come to pass that most OF the pO-
.sitiono that We're once filled with natives
are now filled with strangers. At or
time the old road was in a pretty ba
fix. and there was but little regularity
in the schedules; indeed, it was by NJ
means certain that a train, when ii
started, would reach CASTOR that day
for, in many places, there was no iron
on the track, but the wheels had to Iu-
on the wood; and, sometimes, even the
wood was so badly worn that the en-
gineer had to go IN a anail's pace ovel
It. On one occasion, an cxcur5 on wa
leaving the depot for Wake Forest, II
attend a commencement. James T. Mar
riott, Esq, the then clerk OF the Court
came down toward the train as it va:
moving Off. He was left; but he wen
back up town and got his horse ant
buggy and went u to Wake Forest. Or
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 Grove
went up, he had been out there some
time. I guess he had, a. l remember
it took our engine about three hours t.
make the run. Dr.. ". J. Hawkins was
l believe, the first president of that road
but, think that Maj. w. W. Vass, tn,
lifelong treasurer, had the management
OF it during a part, at least, of the time
when 1t was in such bad condition., anC
it was said, that he managed to maxi
II pay a dividend.
When l first came to Raleigh the BaD
lists were, comparatively a small people
but they had some first class members
such for instance as Mai. NasS, p. G
Pescud, Robert Jones, the B~rigges.' Il
churches, Registers, and others whom
might name, who loved their church an
southeast corner OF the Capitol Squar
with their little church building at tn
sotheast corner OF the Capitol Square the
sold it and built the first Baptist churc'
northwest OF the Capitol. DR.. Skinner
the aged divine, who, a few days ag
left this city. to spend the few rcmainin
days OF earthly career, with his daughte
at Arden, near Asheville, was the movin
spirit III the erection Of that fine churc
building which. when erected, placed tn
Ba pti6t denomination IN this city in tn
lead as to houses OF worship. Of all the dc
nominations, except the EIGscopa}ian:
The building OF Christ church ante.datc
by several years the building OF the FirS