The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, October 10, 1902, Image 1

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

ITMI TOwBonKSrMAS l|] * sSSSv:B;?| -Jlj ' T i \ I I I \ I I \ I I*1 C {,,,?;??='"as { , IiS?~~| J llili UluUil 1 llfllJjO, &&?? v HI gian Water. Population 6,600. jj YOL. LI1. NO. 41. UNION. SOUTH CAROLINA, FRIDAY^ OCTOBER mT 19027 ?l.()0 A YKAR ~~ FIRST RAILROAD IN THE COUNTRY. Description of Old South C3rolina Lino. In Case of Favorable Winds Sails ' W~re Used to Assist lingincs. A Kegro Who Was Killed on Track Was Called "Live Stock" in Complaint. To those Augu-tans who are so fortunate 09 not to coir.c under the head of ''Stay-at-Homes," at.d art ablo every summer to pack their g it)8 and take the train for some one of the numerous resorts of the fc'outh nt.d North, a brief history of the fir*t railroad to enter their fiir c'.ty may be interesting, says tho Augusta Herald. As tlift < 11m .r^rr t.Mi.i'ni lolls h z;1y back in his seat in the elegant Tollman of to lay ami caroleasly glances oVer his time t*b!e. I o rarely gives a thought to the time when i s figures meant days instead of hours. Such, however, was once the caec. As the rate of speed has quickened hours and miuutcs have been gradually clipped from schedules, until now, what was once a twenty-four hour run is gono over in hardly more than an hour. In th^se earlier dnys the Loaches skirting Charleston harbor wtro probab'y not adorned by the many pretty figures of Augusta girls thjt may be seen there now. Augusta sports of the '30's wouYi have had to spend about eight days of their week's holiday on the train if tbey had then taken in the Is'o of Palms. About tho 3 ear of 1830 the first steam railway in the South was nni>ni<il fnr Ir.fflc liotn-otn fl. V|,VUvv. IV* ?* ????v i/uwii VI u vuui :VT3tVJII and Hamburg, S. C. The r^oad from Charlett>n as far as Aiken, followed closely an old Indian trail, and occupied the same bed over which the Southern trains run today, op The company did business under the title of "The South Carolina Railway and Canal Company." When the road was fir t proposed the scheme met with tho widest protest from citizens all over the country. Farmers all along tho propos'd route made long trips on horseback to Charleston to enter their protest, many cf them contending that the enormous weight of the locomotives running over the country at the tor rible speed of eight mi'es an hour, would endanger tho life of every roan and animal so unfortunate as to l.vo near the track. For a time the pritnative railroad magnet? stood almost convinced that, even if the road was built, it would soon bo in a state of bankruptcy, occasioned by Lur.dreds of damage suits brought on by the slaughter of l:vc stock. However, in spite of the objection of half the State, the infant roal began to crawl slowlv out from Char Jeston, in the direction of Augusta. >> The road was built above ground, the rai's being laid upon a irtstle work acme four feet high. Soon after the completion, however, it was fnrtid necessary to come down to earth, the passage of trains being frequently inteifered with by the road tumbling down. The track was almost entirely straight, and, when it was found necessary to construct a curve, it was made as long as possible. Short I. curves were declared impossible, the | engineers declaring that the train would certainly leave the track, ahculd an attcmt bo made to round a carve at fall speed (eight miles an hoar.) Some contended that the road might be so constructed that it . would be unnecessary to slow up. # Much argument ensued, and it was finally decided to lay tho inner rail of the curve somewhat low er than the oater one. A trial was first made, , and, at this trial the first accident to _ -?i *?i- _i? pdoecu^ci uii iuu ruau tuun A circular (rack was bui't in a vrcant lit in Charleston, the inner rail being lower than tlio outer. A ctr was placed upon it, and a team of negro men engaged to push it around at top speed. The inevitable small ^ boj was present, and when the car W* started, a little darkey was seated in ?tate on top of tho car. The speed daickened as each negro tried to outGo bis neighbor, and tho car began to rook, finally jumping tho track. j The little darkey landed some twenty / feet away with a broken leg. Jt Everyone has soen pictures of the Sk first locomotive used in America. Tho "S. C. R. W. & C. Co." irai?jp* ported two engines of this pattern ?ro:n L'ng'and, and their engineers camo along in charge. They were Joseph Ilndden aud Thoodore llv worth. The last named was the father of Mr. Theodore S. Raworth, present secretary of the Sibley Manufacturing Company. These men were the first to run engines over the first railroad in the South. This description of the early method* shows thcui to have been primitive in the extreme. The first cars were equipped with sails. This sounds in newspaper talk, like a "pipe dream," but it is a fjic'. The o* j-ct of the sails was to help the engine in caso a favorable t-r't'ZT shouM spring up from behind. After making several trips along the line, it was found necessary to have a headlight ot somo kind. After a deal of thought and consideration, the superintendent provided a flit car with a dirt flojr. This was coupled on in front tf the engine, and piled wi'li lightwood knots. Just before the train was ready to pull out, these were set on fire, and a negro was employed to keep the fire going. One can wcil imagine the inconvenience to tho engineer. It took a v?ry ftw minutes for him to bo thorougl 1 j smoked. The authoiities of the new enterprise were at first very timid about increasing speed. Ivght milts was considered fast enough, cs tho lives of the passengers had to he consid-j ered. At a meeting of the directors of the road, some time after it had been in opera ion, it was proposed that an increase of speed be attempted. The proposition, however, met with l.ttle encouragement. The more progressive member* then rose and deliver! d an argument in favor of his proposal. lie believed that ten miles an hour could he ohtninpif and if more improved machinery could bo purchased, even twelve miles an hour could be reached. Not noticing the astonished looks of the assembly, the speaker argued od, and ended his speech with the amazing assertion that fifteen miles an hour would some day be possible. After the meeting there was serious t ilk among the directors of sending their friend to an asylum for the in sane, at the heavy responsibility of helping direct the road had evidently unbalanced his mind. One of tho most unique occurrances in the early Littory of the railroad was the first siitagiinst it to rrc.'vcr damages. In theso days there were no section hands to keep the road clear of grisa, and as the interval between trains was two or three days in length, the track wns generally so over grown with weeds that it was indistinguishable at any distance. One day a luckless negro?as hundreds of his kiu have done tiuce?lay down upon tho track to sleep. Probably he thought thft train bail nn?aprl tlio thy before. AlaP, for him, it was some fifteen miles away, and fast bearing down upon him. The grass was thick and tall, and in less than two hours the engine had passed over the fated slave before the engineer knew he was on the track. llis owner, a farmer, living near, probably one of those who had so vigorously protested against the build ing of the road, immediately began tuit Lr the killing of his live stock. Damages were never recovered, howover, thejudge ruling that the slave's death came from no fuult of the engineer, as the gra83 along the road was too tall for anyone to be seen who might bo sleep:ng upon the track. As stated before, the present road between Charleston and Aiken, lies upon the old route, but in the year 1852 that portion of the road be* tweon AII trust A anil Ailfnn nua an. tirely rebuilt and the route changed Up to 1852 the deep cut which runs through Aiken did not exist. The trains ran from Charleston straight into Aiken, and there encountered one of ihe greatest difficulties of the long trip. The grade from Aiken to the valUy below was too short and steep for even a modern engine to attempt. But the engineering corps of this pioneer railroad had never yet been balked, and this difficulty went down before their ingenuity as all others had done bifore. A stationary engine was placed ut tho top of the grade, and with the aid of a cable trains were drawn up and sent down the steep incline with the loss of very little time. In the year 1852 excavations were begun on the cut that now runs through Aiken. The old roadbed bttween Augusta an<l that city v?s> corn up and the 'racks l.?i?l nearer in co the hill on the present bed. It is hard to reabzj tint the road was seven yoarsin reaching Augusta. Begun in 1829, it was four years before the road was in operation between Ilnojbu.g and Charleston. Humhurg then far out-classed Auguita as t city, and it was not thought worth while si tiding tho road ncro-s the i-iver. Three years later, however, in 1830, trains began to run direct ft out Augusta to the sea. The enterprise proved a success from the opening day, and has been ic constant oporation-ever since. At the end of the civil war the road was I<Tc almost in ruin financially as well 19 materially. It went into a receiv r's hands and was bought by a new company. Alter lh-tt time, until recently bought by the Souh?.rn, it was operated uider too name by which many people e*ill remember it, **Tho South Carolina lliilrotd " LETTER FROM COLORADO. Onr Correspondent Continues His Intrreatln* Texas fitter. Times Travels Fast. ALONG THE PUBLIC HIGHWAY. [Union Ttmes Special Correspondent ] 1 dkxvek, Co'o. J Editor Union Times: ( Dear Sir:?Your interesting ptper , seems to have no trouble in finding ( its way out here "f la?o. I was very agreeablo surprised last Monday , night to find The Times of the , Friday previous waiting for me. I' ( had usually been Wednesday before ( the paper got here, though once be ( fore it had reached mc on Tuesday , but never before had it mad i such , speed as to rea:h us on Monday , i'hat is almost as quick as I could | make the trip myself. ! I read with iuterest the various l-.A I* - * * miers irotn contributors at <litt-srent points in tho county and hope they may continue their good work, but am very sorry that our worthy friend* T. II. Gore and 1). 15. have quit giring us the interesting new* of their little berg*. I hope some one will give us tho news every week from these points, for tin y are of vast interest to rae and I trust would be for the host of Tines readers. Well I will try to tell a little of the country of Texas around the capital, and to begin with will state that it is the most peculiar in many respects that I have ever seen. In leaving the city of Austin going east along tho public highway the road runs along the north side of the C >1> orado river, though the river is some distance from the main rood which is called the Dunlap and Webberville road, In fact you can hardly see where the river is except at a few points until you get very noir Webberville which is about 20 miles fr> in Austin, there the town is budt on the bancs of the river, though the ( banks of the river at this point are much higher than tho land out at the foot hills two or more Rules away and the river has been all over the town and washed away many houses several miles away from town. Cut to start at the city of Austin and traverse this country road twenty miles is one continual panarama of pisturerque view which tho observer could never forget, not beciuse of their grandeur, hideouaness or mag nificence but the varied contms'a which are ever changing at such a rapid rate even if jou aro only driving at the rate of six or eight miles an t_ rm . ? * nour. . x ne scenes cnango so last that you begin to wonder what you will next see. The first thing that claimed my whole attention after reading the peculiar signs which I have alrendy spoken of, was a very large cattle pen or more accurately speaking a very large collection of cattle pens jnst outside of the city on the lefc of the road on the side of a rather long steep hill. These pens will accomodate thousands of cattle and in the fall and winter they are well filled, but in March there were very few being fed there. The cattle are brought from all over southern Texas to be fattened there, as this is the best farming locality in southwest Texas and feed is usually cry cheap here in the fall of the year. All this hill where the pens are is covered with the mosquito trees or as we Carolina people would call it bush, but if you never saw ono of these trees I had better try to describe one. They are usually about ten feet high and two to six inches in diameter, have a very ?OJ_h bark, long thorns and at a distance res.eml le a will w tree of that <-izc with not more t ion half as mmy Iraves as a willow o*" Carolina would have. Those Texas penplo say they make a nice shade. Well they do make some shade an 1 as they nro the on'y kind of trees they have in many parts of Texas I tries* they ire very nice. The shado is just il-ont as denee as the shade would he from a fly net or a wire screen. Well, next wo came to the great oil tank, built of sheet iron, owned by the Houston and Texas Central Kailwsy. It is much larger than O"" ? in ordinary house and is usjd to storo the crude Beaumont o;l for use of the passenger cnginss on said roa 1. Then we cross wh\t Texas people call a creek. We would ca'l it a gully. I never saw any water in it while there though it is said to be impassible fur hours at a time but s'ill they have no bridge over it. Then we came to the famous hog ranch, or in other words it is ExGovernor Hogg's ostrich farm. The farm coti-is's of about fity acres all on the tight of the road, also the stables and ncgn houses are on the same side of the road but the residence of the G >vernor is on , the right of the road noil.d right in among some live oaks and built in the side of the great bluff which seems to guard the Cdoral) river all along its course though at this point as well us many others the river is near four rmlea distant. This fimous os'rich r inch was once well stocked with ostrich, deer and many rare varieties of animals as well as with shrubs and :rees, but the-e is only ono ostrich uow living and the Johnson grass ^as injured the firm very much and the p'aca has deteriorated materially. Before we reach tho Governor's placo and for two or three miles L* i_ - * " tanner ea?u, all on the right, is a vast fertile bottom for miles and miles while oa tho left is a very high rocky bluff, in fact the road is made away up in the side of the bluff so as to save tho level land for farming. This bluff is covered wi'h white looking recks resembling tho old nigger head rocks of old Bogansville township in every way except in color. Then there is a lot of mosquite brush also live oak and mirads of cacti or v hat wc would call pricklypear though ihe leaves are two or three times as large as the prickly pears we have in South Carolina. * Then we come to an old German place built if possible s*ill closer to the bluff than the Governor's house. Ilcrc the live oaks are much larger also more numerous than any other place that I saw. Sonus of thoss oaks were more than two*feet in diameter. The bui'dings were all painted aud looked fine, but thc.hill was so steep that tho rear of the houso was down in the ground, while the front was- ten feet off the ground. These live oaks were covered with the Southern moss, though it was very short, only a few feet long at best, and much of it in small bunches, giving the trees the appearance of black sheep in the spring when they begin to shod, Lut the most attractive feature of the old German's llomo was a real spring running out of the bluff higher up than where the house was built. Th? nlil mnn Knilf liima.lf ? ? ... V4MH Uiuncii a UU^ pen just below the spring and all the water ran into the pen and into a hog wallow, and very seldom any ran out as the hogs drank it as fist as it camo in. Thr spring was only fifty yards abovo the road but the wa'cr never reached the laitc*. Then we climbed a long and steep hill got up among the brush on both sides and entirely out of sight of the river or bottom land, and for miles there are only little patches of firms with plenty of houses, for many of the people who own or rent the bottom l&na livo upon top of the hill as they are much safer from disease as well as from the floods that often come down this river: but they can't grow anything very well on these sandy or rocky hills oxcept a little early cane, grapes and some fruits, though they value the peons', s'eenest and rockiest of this land at fifty dollars per acre; by the wholesale, at that, they have their churches, school houses and grave yards all on the hills except one I saw at Dunlap, it was built on the bank of a creek and waa called Dickvr'a Drjneh chircK A t'? I ?evernl niiles|>.-f ?h's high toad w | igai i go down hill up liill umi down I iill ii.1 finallyjwe gee in bight of tlx great bottom land once more, bu still the road is Lung upon the sid? d thi-i bluff until we reach what u-" <! r?? be Ilornsby's p st office, but tlx Itural lloute Mail Service has nh-i|. ndicd it as well as Duulap and Weh berville, though the II. S. has n mail box at (aeh ?f the?o ?* < where letters] can be lU'iiled, bu everybody who received mail from any of these offices are obliged thave a private box at some point on this main road in order to git theii mail delivered, otherwise their mail will be carried back to Austin and held f ?r their demand. Fioir. llorr.sby's tho road takes across I sandy, rather level country and so u. we arc out of sight ? f the bott'in j gain, but the houses arc closer t<g ther until one would think the; 1 wetc coining to a eiry. but we an only getting near Durilap. Ar this j place we are more than a mile f.- u , the river but the water has been al i over that little town several tiu's 1 during tho s'ay of sotnc of the citi zens who are still there. Dunlsp ionly a very small place having otn ! geueral merchandise st-.re, a el urcl and a blacksmith shop, but this n one of the most densely populated sections that I have ever seen, tlii? ( is the edge of the great bottom knowr > as Iluuter'a ]>end. Hunter's llei.d . takes its name like most of the o'hei , numerous Urge Bet.ds that aie fou .d i all along tho Colorado river, tin 1 origin <f which was from the pioneers of that section of country. Th's ? Uend takes i s name from Will D Hunter, who owns most if iho laud ' lor about three mile* alon-i tl ? livor besides considerable land on the hig; p airie south of his b atoms. II** i a native of old South Carolina, hav ; ing been teired in Laurens coun*y. and came to this place more than , forty years ago. Speaking < f these bends in ibis river, many of the n ar< i very near as crooked as a lmr-e shoe. The road from Dunlap to Webber ville is mostly through the bottom*- , and is very muddy when wet. hu they have hauled rocks for pu t of it lately. You sec all this road I hav* been speaking of so far was lite rally covered with rocks about the si/, s ci i a goose epg, the county had to hau1 some of them for four miles and they make the roads so rough by the time you rnle ten miles you are so badly shook up you can't tell whethei von nr? nf. mt mi* u*n>Lrir?.? T .1,1 J ~ - ? " ' " ?- " VJU.U like to tell you something about the people of Hunters Bend. With best wishes for The Times and all of its readers, I rem tin you' friend, W. G. Bailey. [All right, W. G. Let us hive all about the people of Ilun'er's Bend or any other old bend yon may have run aero.s. Just le;'er ro'.l and spread yours'. If, you aro doing fine it is virtually a con inuation of our Texas Trip, and the p:op'e were still 1 calling for more wl en ye laiddmn J our pen.?Ed.] our^a?tuc~lette ] The Price of Seed Makes the Cotton { Crop More Valuable. A Newspaper From the Cherokee Nation. News Items and Comments. I ROTTEN BAGGING AND TIES. 'Fair tresses, man'a impeii.il race ersnares, Aud beauty draws us wi.h a single ( bar." But the beaming gloiy cf her tresses more so than a single hair. Did any of you ever try to wet a mud- i mole? I 8a w something ab >ut the strict, game ( laws of the Indian Territory and the s'rict enforcement of same, and I b lieve | all over the west all laws aie enf.ucMl better than they are iu this "mo e civilized?" country. Now I will wii o an , "advauce copy" and say I am almost sure tin game laws of th s State will bo j violated to some extent tliis very fall, and then I caun>t be accused of writing . about it, because somebody is violatiug ' the law. The law should he euforced or observed and give everybody an equal chance. When crows and j \y 1 irds go together and samp'e corn and do various oilier things, I do not know which you will j say is keeping the "bad comp iny." I have never found out yet why every ' animal I ever saw ca i w?lx ovt-r Ibis old earth, over sinouth or rough and rarely ever stumble4and fall but a horse or mule, which will tonple o^er on smooth ground and nearly break your neck. 1 am having a bad cold or rat her worse cold. I wrestled all Saturday night, Sunday and Sunday night, and I lo not > < : ?i* whc'i throw, lue or tho . d.t I >'.h wider boto ii m >-?t; of t'ii ti i 'I'll .here h nothhg Ike ?lie I.e-p kicking and never I oiler on nigh, Jbut 1 ha 1 more than enough. Ti.oih vv.ii an nM otw ;irm in in litvrn **;? ii il.iy. 4 h. f11 opening re/ irs and knives. Ii- ?o-?k Ins a-itt early in lbs miming ami k'-p*. (o Ins work sterlily inii; la'e. aii'l s nue sty it was ain ising m see li ?-v lis cxiiv) get along with hi* vork wit'i only on" Imii '. IT*? was ii ikjn/ a-i holiest liv'.ng if thojobdil S 'em snuil. I believe I will bet 23 ce tsthal you esia'i send a negro in a leu h-t.* held lo 'urn a team and wagon bit. I hat he will l ck the wheel under the lied or 'oad aiid nearlv b ea'< lbe tongue or thiow the bed off. The world i.s scarcely iig enough. The heavier the load the sb >iter thev tirn. I saw a little negro climb a horse. He n h'I humane, made a spring, then his legs opened out like a piir of sum ?rs ihmm'iu lor a j in :in?l wlia'i ' t'-'v c mv? hack elamiied the horse's lee, then one foot went out to the bridle reins, and then such a scrambling uutil ho went np. You see he was going to Lake a lide and liis * IT-?rLs was crowned with success. The cotton here presents a ragged appearance. The old rot.ton biggiag sent jut by the cotton fsctoiies it r i oil, ragged a d rotten that it will scarcely day on the cotton until it is taken from lie gin, and ties are rotton a id brittle. I do not see what prevents a great l'*sa a that Vre packing. Thi> is good weather for plowing 1ai.iI "or prai i and it ran be done with ease, o nparalively. I.ast s ason the rei ifall mis mi light and land kept so diy that Vowing could not l?e done well and oats Mine 11 a bal s'and and p?or growth, jjns: <1 .c it. y l think to warm winter killtig. We had a good rain here on the 30th v'pt , alout .AO inch. It was good on '.?t! crops and rendering land better for I iwiit. a1 (1 it did l ot iijme open icton around this place, but there was a itorm tli.ee or four miles west of here, ir.d ope.i c Hon was bad y blown out md iii'iad. a portion of locks banging ib >ut on tl.e stalks, as if rattle bad Iwea nil ii.ig o" 1". Dr. lhl'ea told lite that reel wvie blown do.vn in Irs comninn* ty, and c?'ton was scattered alt over the le d- and b aten in the dirt, an 1 1 have .? id of some bouses, further on, bring liiropfed. We ha 1 m iro rail Sunday. i e. ort r-nd uvm the b iliof that it is so cus'ontarv to have an 4'?qiiuootl*l r?le," tliil if it, is behind lio.e or sid*rtv.ke.l, at. the tline of the? <i imox, thai it is so o to come, even if i> is not, until he days are t he l<-wrest or eh <r'est. of die year. Might as well call every jvindv lain the i (puiioctiaS ga'e, f<?r w? 1 > not kuo v whicti ore is miei ded for ,he list one tor the equinox. If it is ih;iged 'o cone*, the storm of Mindstv nz.i.iiiMi .w mu*v mon nig. .JJCU and "51st of An<USt, lSTl, was the createst H ,11.1 ,fi i-.tl e.tles we ever lvtd hii.I inula up for dolinq lencles. There used to be ;i deal of tn'k ab nit farmer., selling cotton seed < ff ??f the fanin when tney ought to have been 11r>e?1 for m moie Cotton seed is a good manure and use.1 with acid \ hosplr.te iIhv give (XCedei.t i? suits, but nt and over twenty cents per bushel, there is too much money in them form mure is that would be fxpensive. Fa:mem need to look for a tli *aper manure, rotation of crops, pt a vines, t'c., will t,\ aud the haul run farmer when the aee?l are prepared for market at a good price can put that little chance in bis pocket. Field peas are richer foj manure than seed but th j fanners won't use them. The co" ton crop ?eetn<; t? ba more valuable to the f.uum-r since there is a sale for see l, and tlut ; t a fair price, as I *ee it, the last, two ve.irs. Seeds are br'nging a good pre i now, hut to view t,'?d dilluvt.ea of i. -r/in between the r.t'v 8- i*d and the manufactured produot, Lhe piice may b) t.'K> low, really not whit they are worth; but few of us, if my, do net know th ltd iff rer.ee. Anyw iv farmers are now getting a good price and this will help them go a good ways on towards getting even. If they could only hold their cotton until it rises, which mmy believes it will. It is a g >ol tiling to s 11 things when you c in well spare it, but there are many people who will sell almost everything olT the farm if they are offered 8 good price; and is thus a victim to speculators. Mere is wh??re negro s have often lost heavily, l i the fall ihoy generally sell corn, peas, hozs, c nvs, and f.idder when it is cheap, and the next summer buy the same kind of products back at. alia M doub'e th? price they sold at. They are, willing dupes this way, but I do not hdieye th<*y ou-'bt to Iks encouraged in this too far. Unfortunately alio desire to have cash money to tpend light now, and the ease with whiedi some things can In) got on credit-, often works to the hurt of both white and colored. Some things they are obliged to have on credit o" stop bu iness. I do not. know whether one would call it a "curi?" or not, but l)r. P. P. Butler gave mo a copy of a paper that ta a sorL of a euriositv to mv knowtwtm Tlra paper is the Cherokee Advocate, published at Table quah. Cherokee Ration, I. T, by Mr. G. O. Butler, a nephew of the docfor. One half is printed in the Cherokee language. It is worse than Greek and I do inotknow hut it is worse than Hebrew. It la a g eat big huckleberry over my little bit el n persimmon. Then you ought to see some of the strange ways of putting tilings in tire English print. In the advertisements of 'Sti ays" etc. Tire.) t m districts, such as Going Snake District ai.d various other things that ap,reals to one not used to such, as a curioe ty, anJl that is why I am going to Die it away an a sort of souvenir. Dr. Butler has my thanks for same. IIky Dknvkb,