The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-11-01

- iAopcidliDn from 1870 10 1881, when 1t
Was purchased by the Richmond and
Allegheny Railway, of which James
@. Blaine was the chief promoter. Later
IL VS. purchased by the Chesapeake
J ana Ohio Railway. and is now In opera
ton by that company
sAs the name Kanawha signifies IL
was originally intended to reach the
hanawha River. and the coal fields OF
that region. but 1t was never completed
beyond Buchanan Sound. forty miles
west OF Lynchburg. There was also n
bTanc'' from the James River near Bal
cony rails up the North River to Liy-
!. inBston. Va. and some are in Rich
y mond to-day who as students Travelled
the packet to Virginia Military Insti-
, tuition. at Lexington, Va.
This old packet is the only one left
! and is the one that conveyed tho. re-
ms of General Stonewall jackson in
~, 1863, from Richmond to- Licking
?. rms picture was taken so1nc mr.
IN years ago. and now tho old packet
"a wreck was surprised that the
Pple OF Lynchburg did not have civic
,de enough to reconstruct and pre-
ve the old packet as a relic. Many
US have travelled many miles on
different packets plying the James
yer and Kanawha Canal.
y Each packet was named after gome
Pmtnent public man, the name being
tnted on the rear of the boat and
fthe helm. The name of the packet
the picture is Marshall named after
~ Gy;I Justice MarUihil. which adds an
IN Yitional interest to it.
ATS WE'RE; DRAWN
~ BY HORSES ON TOW path
(The boats were drawn by three
prses on the tow path and they were
flryed about every fifteen miles. The
praeB had nice stables at cacn relay
ne freight boats were pulled oy two
- yes and another two were stabbed
me bow or the boat and changed
Cry six hours.
rhe packet line was tri-weekly be-
cen Lxnclburg and Richmond, and
distance between the cities li4
lies. covered In thirty-six hours, faro
4 cents per mile. or sl45o. which in
fded TWO nights lodging and five
. ais When 1 was a young man I
lde several trips to Lynchburg before
the n. e. c. Railway was completed.
staging from Decherd to Chattanooga.
.thence by rail 10 Charleston and Will
-aninston and Richmond. by boat to
sttyhchourS. SIX days were required to
rfnmplete the trip. Major Munford
.3Pho is an uncle of President J. Howe
1payton. of;the n. c. 81 st. Ii Railway.
twas Tor many years secretary and
3treasurer OF the james River g. Kama
,swha Canal.
the people on the James River between
.Lynchburg and Richmond shipped their
tobacco and farm products in Dattca,is
.and carried their supplies back in the
same, but upstream 1T g,vas polling all
1.-The way. whereas ipf going down the
AAde in the James made IL :ea ~, work
sYhese batteaus were shell shaped. and
.NogI!arry about eight hogsheads OF
sE,1MHtpeopie welcomed the coming OF
,th efaaket because thestravel was so
lekaaAa, rs compared with the old
4tnge coach IN which hcy had; TO sit
up and be 1ostled alr night ait
8SiAs VIII be seen iii the picture, all win
idows We're In the sides OF the boat
tThc entrance Was near the rear In q
marrow ganEway, and very steep steps
Ito get into the cabin. In the stern OF
the boat was the very small kitchen,
and opposite was the office of the cap
tain. who handled the mall. have
sacen In this small space bar from
which drinks were served, One GUS
TONER could be waited on ut time.
EFhey had to fire and fall back.
:. In the front of the boat was the
tladies' cabin and towards tho bow
Anade very close quarters. Around each
side OF the boat was cushioned scat
and the tables were set in the middle
of the boat and tho meals spread oppo-
site each, as there was no room for
walters to pass by, and the additional
serving was done from tho end of the
table towards the Kitchen. and plates
sphSSeu Dy TIE passengers
TARLES ARE REMOVED
AND BERTHS MADE UP
s{When bedtime arrived the tables
swcre removed and the lower cushioned
seats were unfoldcd, which contained
much Of the bedding, and thus was
nrepared lower berth for one or two.
These two cots were arranged one
above the other with sufficient space
between and suspended by leather
straps hung to the ceiling, Thus they
were ahead of the Pullmans of to-day,
us they had three berths to the Pull
mans two.
1.-THE canal generally followed near
by the river, but at several points be-
low and above Lynchburg, on account
of the mountain, canal could not be
dug. Hence, In cases of this kind. the
river was damned up and the boats
run in what was called pond, rarely
extending more than three miles. Sew
sral times 1t was necessary to change
the canal to another side of the river,
and In these cases the packets were
poled across and the horses put in u.
ferryboat.
- AS the canal was near the low
grounds. and the farmhouses on the
upper grounds, bridges had to be
thrown across the canal to enable the
farmers to- reach their farms, These
bridges were quite low. and in pleas
ant weather<many of the passengers oc-
jcupied seats on the upper deck, and in
approaching the bridges 1t was the
duty of $the helmsman 90 yell out,
| Low bridge" and II the passengers
| did notsduck their. heads they would
get a whack at the bridge at speed
of about five miles an hour. never
heard of passenger being drowned
from one of these boats. or one getting
lany serious injury from low bridge.
Soon after leaving port on the packet
III negro porter with a large dinner
Ibell would ring from the upper deck
land lower cabin and sing out: "All YOU
passengers havn't paid your fare walk
down in the cabin. Will find captain
thar"
HI was talking some weeks ago with
some ladies Of our Virginia Society.
and they said they had often heard
;sst.heii mother and father tell OF the
iRialycon days they had spent on the old
packets. No one was In hurry those
iiiays. and never worried about, being
le5ehind time or missing connections.
PACKETS
J. WE'RE FOUND SUFFICIENT