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How They Can do Things on the
“Sidetrack.”
Several days ago a passenger got aboard
a Western & Atlantic train in the Union
Depot, Atlanta, and, a little while after the
train departed, went forward into the front
end of the smoking car, an 1 there, with a
sort of “by your permission” bow to the sev
eral gentlemen who were therein, pulled off’
his coat, hung it up, took out his shaving
apparatus, hung his glass against the side
of the car, and began to shave himself.
Two or three of the passengers looked on
with some wonder at the exhibition before
them, and naturally expected that by rea
son of the motion of the car, he would run
a great risk of cutting himself.
Although the train was running at the
rate of some thirty miles or more per hour,
and he took some eight or ten minutes to
shave himself completely, yet he did so with
perfect safety and came out without having
a scratch on his face.
This is about as high a compliment as
could be paid the easy running over the mag
nificent road-bed of the Western & Atlantic
Railroad. We have heard it stated that
Vanderbilt used to brag that on his roads
he could pour out a glass of wine nearly
full, and set it on a table, while his train
was in motion, and there would not be jar
enough to spill any of the wine ; but he nev
er bragged that he could shave himself while
the train was in motion and yet find it so
easy and regular that there was no danger
of cutting his face.
Therefore, the Western & Atlantic Rail
road, otherwise termed the “Sidetrack,” is
not only “the biggest thing for its size in Amer
iky,” but it is also the easiest and safest rid
ing road that the traveling public find—cer
tainly within hundreds of miles of either of
its termini.
Bird’s-Eye Map of the Western
& Atlantic B. B.
The most unique folder which has been
issued by probably any railroad is that
which the Western & Atlantic people call
their “bird’s-eye map folder.”
This is a sort of topographical map of the
Western & Atlantic Railroad, and is about
32 inches long by 18 inches wide, in other
words, covering as much space as is gener
. ally taken by other railroads for folder
maps showing the United States from Port
land, Maine, to Denver, Colorado.
Starting from Atlanta it follows the va
rious changes in direction which the West
ern & Atlantic makes, thus giving a cor
rect representation of its whole line between
its two termini, Chattanooga and Atlanta.
The various towns are shown by little con
gregations of houses. The mountains are
clearly shown, and, to one holding the map
a few feet distant rn 1 looking at it, they
appear as if raised from the surface of the
paper.
The various battles along the line are
shown by representations of soldiers in line
shooting at each other, with proper dates,
etc. On the right-hand upper corner <>f the
. map, the United States and Confederate
flags are seen with the laurel wreath
twined around both, above which are the
words: “Army Operations, Atlanta Cam
paign, 1861.”
On the reverse side are six folder pages
of schedule matter, through-car service in
formal! >n, etc., an ! also eight pages of il
lustrations and historic data concerning the
road. There is a beautiful picture, or view
of Kennesaw Mountain from Allatmna
Heights; and another of Rocky Face Ridge
■ and Mill Creek Cap, showing the profile of
what is termed the “Slumbering Maiden.”
The two title pages are very attractive.
The words, “Western & Atlantic R. R.,”
and the initials “W. & A.” stand boldly
above a sort of pennant, on which are the
words, “The Cheat Kennesaw Route.” Be
low is the likeness of an old army canteen,
with the shoulder strap passing through its
borders. On the canteen is the picture of
a cannon among the crags of Kennesaw,
which its gunners are just firing. An offi
cer of the battery, with a pair of field-glass
es, stands looking to see the effect of the
shot. Above the group is shown the explo
sion of a Federal shell; and on a high crag
to the left we see an eagle in a combat
ive attitude who seems to have been disturb*
ed by the noise and is determined to defend
her young. Her mate is soaring in the air
above the men. Below are lhe words:
“We’ll scale the cliffs where eagles flew,
We’ll raise the wild huzza,
And plant ’mid clouds of golden hue
The guns on Kennesawl”
The folder has been very much compli
mented, and is generally conceded to be, as
we stated at the beginning of this article,
the most unique which has been issued by
any railroad line.
It is issued from the press of Fleming,
Brewster & Alley, of New Yorkcity, who did
the art work on the W. & A. valentine, and
both of these are what they may well be
proud of.
ST. VALENTINE’S GREETING
Western & Atlantic B. B.
What is almost universally conced
ed to have been the prettiest valentine
sent out, was that by the Western &
Atlantic Railroad Company. We give
its text in full on the first page of the
Kennesaw Gazette.
In addition to the stirring illustra
tion, which is therewith shown, of the
Confederate artillerymen dragging the
guns up the slopes of Kennesaw Moun
tain, there were also several other il
lustrations, such as a view of Kenne
saw Mountain, and one showing the
firing of a cannon on the summit of
the mount vn —the explosion of its shell
in the distance —the perspective of hill
side and valley which can be seen from
the summit of Kennesaw, and the burst
ing near the feet of the cannoniers of
a shell from a Federal battery which
had struck against the craggy side of
the mountain. The last illustration
was that of a cannon, with a long rope,
(prolonguc) which was twirled the en
tire height of the page.
The poem was printed in sac simile
of the handwriting of the author, on
THE KENNESAW GAZETTE.
smooth heavy paper of the finest qual
ity.
The cover was of heavy, rough sur
face, hand-made paper. The words,
“St. Valentine, February Fourteenth,
MDCCCLXXXVII,” appear in bronze
letters over the large letters, “W. &
A.” which stand prominently in the
back-ground. Below these is a repre
sentation of a cannon firing with the
smoke blown in a circle around it, on
which appear the words, “Western &
Atlantic R. R., Great Kennesaw
Route.”
The valentine was enclosed in hand
some, cream-colored envelopes, on the
back ot each of which was the repre
sentation of a seal, of a brilliant red
color, around the circle of which were
the words, “Western and Atlantic R.
R.” and in the centre of the seal, in
white letters on the solid red back
ground, the words, “St. Valentine.”
Altogether it was a work of which
the Western & Atlantic Railroad com
pany might well be proud; and the
very flattering letters from high au
thorities, and the very complimentary
newspaper notices are evidence that it
struck the popular fancy.
He’d “Try Them for a Mile or
Two.”
A good anecdote, and a true one, is
told of one of the oldest and best known
conductors of the Western & Atlantic
Railroad, and a Methodist preacher, a
presiding elder at the time of the oc
currence.
After leaving Dalton the attention
of some of the passengers on the West
ern & Atlantic train was called to the
fact that they were running side by
side with an E. T., V. & G. train, the
two roads here being parallel and only
a few yards from each other for over
five miles. The preacher in question
called the conductor’s attention to the
fact that the two trains were racing
with each other.
The conductor remarked, “Well, I
don’t see much signs of a race. It is
true the two trains are running side by
side ; but my train is not running any
faster than it ordinarily does.”
The preacher, however, called his
attention to the fact that they were
passing the-East Tennessee train, and
that the latter seemed to be using ev
ery exertion to keep up. Now they
would gain a little then they would
fall back, and he said to the Western
& Atlantic conductor that this was all
wrong; that racing was improper, and
that he was surprised that he permit
ted it.
The conductor said to him, “Well,
I don’t think we are racing. We are
running only at our ordinary speed;
and if the East Tennessee train can’t
keep up with ours at our ordinary rate
of speed that’s A their business and no
cause for anxiety to us.”
Within a few minutes the two trains
came to the point where the roads sep
arated, and the conductor shortly* af
terwards went back to the preacher,
and said to him, “Now, you see that
my train is running just about as fast
as it was when you saw that other train
by our side. Do you call this a race
now, or do you think this is unsafe?”
“Well,” was the remark, “you were
racing and it was wrong, and you
ought not to be setting any such ex
ample. It is too dangerous a thing.’
“That’s what you say,” said the con
ductor, “but now I’m going to ask you
a question, and you’ve got to answer it
too: Suppose you were conductor of a
train and you knew that your ears
were all safe, that your engineer was a
steady, sober man, and that the road
was one of the best that ever was Tun
over in America, and suppose you
noticed your train running like mine
was, and a train on the other road try
ing to keep up with it, once and awhile
getting a little a head and then drop
ping back, and your passengers were
looking out and not wanting to be left
behind, what would you do?”
“Well, that’s not the question,” said
the preacher, “you were running a
race, and you know it was wrong.”
“No, no, you answer what I asked *
you,” said the conductor, repeating his
question.
He then passed on to attend to his
duties as conductor ; but in a few min
utes came back, when the preacher mo
tioned to him and remarked, “Well,
you put a question to me that you
wanted an answer to, and I guess I will
have to give it. Now, I have thought
over it and have come to the conclu
sion that if I was conductor of a train,
and it was running by the side of an
other one that was trying to beat it,
and if I knew that my ears were all
safe, that my engineer wa< a sober,
steady man, and that I had a good
road-bed,” said he, “1 believe 1 would
let my engineer try them for a mile or
two!”
Only via the Western and Atlantic
railroad can you go to Elizabeth, “the
marble city of Georgia,” where there
is the most wonderful marble cutting
machinery in the world. Tourists
will miss it if they do not stop at Ma
rietta and go up to Elizabeth, only
two miles distant, immediately at the
foot of the famous Kennesaw Moun
tain.
A Prospective Blast Furnace.
The Citizen has frequently referred
to the reports concerning the existence
of iron ore in the ridge, a few miles
north of the city, known as Rocky
Face. It is said there are inexhausti
ble deposits of this ore seaming the
sides of historic Rocky Face, and that
the iron can be converted into the fin
est steel. We now learn that a par
ty of capitalists have been attracted by
the reports concerning these deposits
of iron-ore, and that they propose vis
iting that region soon for the purpose
of examining the beds. If they find
the reports to be correct, they will
erect a huge blast-furnace and begin
operations on a large scale immediate
ly, making Dalton their headquarters
and shipping point. — North Georgia
Citizen.
The palace and buffet sleeping cars,
running from Louisville and over the
Western & Atlantic Railroad, to Thom
asville, are the only ones which arrive
there at noon, or convenient hours dur
ing the day-time. No other line via Al
lanta runs sleeping cars to Thomasville,
or which go within 103 miles of Thom
asville.
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