Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1908-01-23

cars were at first entirely uncovered,
being In fact merely platform cars
with a row Of seats along each side,
The passengers were entirely unpro-
tected from the sun, rain, smoke or
cinders. A passenger who took a twp
over the Mohawk Valley railroad when
this company had opened its line be-
tween Albany and Schenectady thus
describes his experience:
They used dry pitch pine for fuel
and there being no smoke or spark
catcher to the chimney or mokestack
the volume Of black smoke strongly I'm
pregnated with sparks. coal and Gin
ders, came pouring back the whole
length Of the train. Each of the pas
Bengers who had an umbrella raised II
as protection against the smoke and
FIRE.
'They were found to be but a mo-
mentary protection. for l think in the
, first mile the last one went overheard,
all having had their covers burnt of
by the flames, when a general melee
took place among the passengers, each
whipping his neighbor to put out the
/ fire. They presented a very motley ap-
pearance Oh arrival at the first sta
tion."
| Telegraphic service available for
railway service was not established un-
til about 1850. In the absence Of the
telegraph and the lack of any estab-
lished system Of signaling the early
railroads adopted novel methods for
, conveying Information.
The New Castle and Frenchtown
railroad had primitive telegraph in
| operation as early as 1887. A descrip-
tion of 1t says that 1.-The poles were Of
cedar, quite like those now in use, and
had cleats fastened on them, forming a
sort Of Jacobs ladder"
The operator would 60 to the top
Of the pole forming his station and
with his spy glass sight the next sta
ton in the direction Of the approach
Ing train. If the train was coming
and the signal showed a flag, 1t meant
that all was well, and the operator
would pass the signal along to the next
station below.
II ball was shown, and no train
in sight, it signified an accident or a
delay Of the connecting steamboat.
These signals were methodically ex-
changed until an understanding was
had all along the road
The facilities furnished by the rail-
roads were at first much more fully
appreciated by travellers than by the
shippers Of freight The speed Of the
trains, amounting at times to as much
as twenty-five or thirty miles an hour,
was a source of unabated wonder to
the passengers, who had hitherto trav-
eled on the slowly moving canal boats
and stage coaches.
In the matter Of freight traffic the
railroads were at first unable to COM
pete with the canals. OF prominent
Massachusetts railroad it is said that
a motion was made at an annual meet
In gto let the privilege Of carrying
freight ON its lines to some responsible
person for 81 800 year.
There are many accounts Of the pitt
full state Of impecuniosity to which
some Of the railroads were reduced.
Cash being exhausted, and receivers
certificates having not been invented,
when operations proved Improbable
there was no basis for credit
Men were sometimes put on the ten
der with a sawhorse and saw, and
when the engine ran out Of wood these
men would take up their saw and cut
up new supply of fuel from the near
est woods. Often the passengers would
get off the train and help in the cutting
If the wood
The railroads were often too pool
to pay for the fuel thus secured. and
there are many stories in the old news
papers of encounters between train
crews and the farmers who caught
them cutting down their trees. The
complaints Of the high-handed meth
DDS of the graspng railroad corpora
tions, their defiance Of the law Of the
land and the rights Of others, sound
strangely familiar to-day.-Van Nor
den Magazine.
EAT SOUR MILK AND LIVE LONG