June 2009

            "Look Rufus.  I know very well that you are a manager of the Schuykill Navigation Company.  For a long time you have been pretending that you have never heard of them."

            "Now, now.  Come on John.  Why would I lie and pretend something like that?  You know I am a pillar of the community.  Everyone knows I am a most upright man who would never tell an untruth or try to cheat anybody."

            "Oh, you are telling me that all of the pamphlets you have spread around to Delaware and Hudson customers just appeared out of thin air, Rufus?"  John Wurts looked him straight in the eye, but didn't way a word for a minute or two. Then his anger began to boil up from his insides.  "I know very well why you are playing these little games and then pretending to be completely innocent."

            "Well, spill it out, John.  Come on!  Let's hear your reasons."

            "You are scared stiff.  You are afraid we will make more money than you can. You don't want everybody to know how weak your organization is and you most certainly don't want people to know how costly your coal is.  But the shoe will be on the other foot when we reach January."

            John Wurts shuffled the papers in his hands to make them easier to hold.  He noticed something on the top page and bent his head forward just a bit to look more closely.

            At that moment, Rufus came over, paused just an instant, and then grabbed the whole pile from John's hands.  He raced down the road screaming in glee, because he had so easily gotten information he had been trying, since last January, to get in his own hands.

            John's face became beet red in anger.  He stood as still as a statue and began to mutter under his breath.

            "What will I do?  Those are papers from the State Legislature and I haven't even read all of them yet."  John quickly realized that he must until his horse, jump in the buggy and leave.

            As he drove swiftly down the rough, curvy road, he spotted Ben.  "Ben, what are you doing out here by the road?"

            "Picking berries so mother can make a pie, Mr. Wurts."

            "Come on.  Jump in.  I'm headed in that direction."  Mr. Wurts patted the seat.  Ben was soon ensconced there as the buggy began to roll.

            Grandfather knew and was friendly with many people.   They respected his problem-solving skills, which is exactly what John Wurts needed.  He explained his problem to grandfather.  It was three fiercely competitive railroad companies which were causing John's anxiety.  He had evidence, written and spoken, that the other two companies, Schuykill Navigation Company and Lehigh Company, were deliberately planning to force his Delaware and Hudson Canal Company out of business.  Grandfather always described activities like theirs as "fair or foul."  John was sure that they were trying to diminish his success in every way, but mainly, by spreading untrue rumors among the customers.

            Grandfather sat on the porch as the buggy arrived.  Ben headed straight for the kitchen to give mother the berries for the pie.  John sat down in the rocker beside grandfather's chair.  After their usual friendly chit-chat, John began to explain some of his problems.  Grandfather listened carefully and never spoke a word as John talked.  When the recitation was finished, Grandfather slowly rocked back and forth, looking off in the distance as if he were in another world.  In a few minutes, he stopped rocking, looked right at John and made quite a few suggestions.  They shook hands, John hurried down the porch steps, untied his horse and the buggy disappeared around the bend in the road.

            It was so quiet, the cawing of the crows was audible.  Ben had been sitting on the top step of the porch and heard every detail which Mr. Wurts told grandfather.

            "Grandfather, you gave him a lot of help, didn't you?"  Grandfather just smiled, put his hand up to his shirt pocket and pulled out a small piece of folded paper.  He motioned for Ben to come closer.

            "Look, Ben."  Grandfather had unfolded the paper and held it up to Ben's face so that he could easily see the number 1829, carefully written on one side of the paper.

            "Oh my goodness, grandfather.  I forgot!  I forgot!  How could I have done that?  I am sorry.  I should have asked you a long time ago.  Will you tell me now about 1829?"

            "Yes, but go and get your sister.  I know she also wants to hear about 1829."

            Marion and Ben came out of the house together, sat on the colorful, sturdy rug mother had made for the porch floor, and turned to face grandfather.

            "This is one of my favorite things to talk about because it is a local story.  It is filled with information about successful projects, hard work, and good decisions."

            "Wow, grandfather.  That sounds great!"

            Marion was so energized, she could barely sit still.  She slid over closer to grandfather, grabbed the leg of his farm pants, and shook it excitedly as she said, "Come on grandfather.  Begin!  Begin!"  Grandfather reached down and touched Marion's curly hair with his right hand and Ben's soft blond hair with his left.

            "All right, he shouted!  1829!  Here we come!  But before we begin to find out what happened in 1829, there are several other ideas I would like to mention so that you get a more complete picture of what really happened in the development of our own Railroad, right here, the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company."

        "First, let me tell you that we have Company Managers who work very hard, and even more important than their work skills, is the fact that they have the knowledge and the ability to make excellent decisions in connection with the growth of their railroad."

            "So....Ben and Marion, here is an example of what I mean.  In 1829, John Wurtz, whom both of you know, was one of the managers of the D & H Canal Co.  He learned that two other companies, the Lehigh Company and the Schuykill Navigation Company, both competing fiercely with his Company, were spreading untrue, exaggerated information.

            "You told me about this before,"  said Ben.

            "Yes, I know Ben, but let's let Marion know about it too."

            "Know what, Grandfather?"  Marion looked puzzled as she asked this question.

            "I'll tell her!  I'll tell her grandfather."

            "Well, Mr. Wurts heard about what his competitors were doing.  So.....he sat down, wrote 25 page pamphlets, telling all of the good things, the true things, about the D & H Canal Co.  He passed them out to his customers, explained Ben."

            "Well done Ben.  A good job."

            "Now, a second thing I would like you to hear about, is that the managers did not work alone.  They worked with their own employees, with financial experts in this country and most especially with railroad experts in England, where they began to build and use railroads before we did here in America.  They were very good helpers for us because they had already done many of the things we needed to do."

            "My goodness, that sounds like a very hard job," said Marion.

            "Well, it certainly is, said grandfather.  But, let's think about another part of the railroad picture.  Let's pretend that we are standing beside the track on which the engine runs.  The rails are made of 30 feet long stringers (wooden rails), held together by cross ties, 20 to 30 feet apart.  They are supported by posts, set in broken pieces of stone.   Have you been able to visualize this so far?"

            They both shook their heads up and down in answer to grandfather's question.  "Now, some more imagination is needed.  The running surface of these rails is protected by wrought iron straps which are 2 inches wide, one half inch thick, and 15 feet long.  They are fastened to the wooden rails by wood screws.  And, when were these stringers, ties, wrought iron straps, and wooded screws used?  Why, it was 1829."

            "But Grandfather, I thought you told us we were going to talk about the railroad in 1831?"  Marion scowled as she asked this question.

            "you are exactly correct, Marion>  You remembered exactly what I told you we were going to do.  But I spent quite a bit of time thinking about it and I decided that we should first talk about 1829.  There were a number of very important events then.  These events were so important that they helped create the foundation for the entire railroad development and would give us a good introduction to the early progress of rail transportation in this area.  One event really played an important part in the actual survival of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Co."

            "Wow!  That event must have been very special for the railroad around here in 1829."

            "You are exactly right.  It was most important, Ben."

            "Well, Grandfather, tell us all about it.  It must have been quite an experience," added Marion.  "Give us an idea what it was all about."

            Grandfather had his fingers touching his chin as if he were deep in thought.  He moved his fingers away from his chin, raised his head, and looked right into Ben and Marion's eyes.  For a moment he said nothing.

            "Well.....it was a lion."

            "A lion!"  Both Ben and Marion shouted in disbelief.

            "A lion on the Railroad?  Was it fierce?  Did it roar?  What did it eat?"  The questions came tumbling out of Ben's mouth.  "Did it have a huge mane like male lions have?"

            Grandfather began to laugh uproariously.  In fact, Ben and Marion thought they had never, ever seen their grandfather behave like this.  He laughed so loudly that mother came rushing out onto the porch.

            "What is the matter?"  Her voice was trembling and her face wore a very worried expression as she questioned grandfather's uproarious laughter.

            "Not a thing.  Not a single thing."  He told her about the cause of his laughter.  She breathed a big sigh of relief and went back to her work in the kitchen.

            "We are waiting, grandfather.  We are waiting.  Tell us about this lion which almost caused you to laugh your head off."  Marion looked quite disgusted.

            "All right!  All right!  Here is comes.  But hang on to your chairs.  When you hear about this lion, you will tumble right off your seats."

            "I don't know how any lion could cause that,"  said Ben.

            "Well, it can if this lion is the Stourbridge Lion."

            Marion stared directly at her grandfather as she asked, "Well, what kind of lion is a stourbridge lion?""

            "Young lady, the Stourbridge Lion is a railroad engine made in England and sent to us for use on the D & H Canal Co."

            "It can't be true!  You are just trying to fool us again."

            "No, no!  I wouldn't do that.  It is truly a railroad engine."

            Their eyes were bulging in disbelief.  They were so flabbergasted, they just sat there, trying to picture in their minds a lion, railroad engine.  No one spoke a word.

            Grandfather got up from his rocker, opened the screen door and disappeared into the house.  He left some papers on the seat of the rocker.  Ben leaned over and picked them up.  He flipped through the pile of papers, glancing quickly at each one.  Marion was sitting quietly, watching him.  Suddenly, he raised his head.

            "Marion, look!  Look at this!"  He was almost shouting.

            Marion got up and came around the back of the rocker and looked at the spot on the paper where Ben's finger was pointing.

            "Read this.  I would like to hear it."

            She took the paper in her hands and began to read:

            "The prize winning Rocket traveled along the famous Rainhills Trails.  Everyone who saw it on the rails in England was convinced that steam engines would be most practical for use on the railroad.  And this famous trail run was on October 8, 1829."

            "Well......I wonder why steam engines were so important?"  He was thinking and sort of talking to himself.  But Marion heard his words and said, "I don't know why they were so valuable on a railroad.  We will have to ask grandfather."

            "Hey grandfather.  How did you get back out here on the porch so quietly?"

            "I walked on my tip toes, Ben."  They all chuckled.  "I heard your question about steam locomotives.  They are so vital to the success of our Company and of all the other companies, because the Rocket demonstration on October 8, 1829 was so convincing.  John B., who always enjoys playing a joke, often tells people whom he knows and some he has just met, that he had that date printed on the soles of both of his feet."

            When John wanted to joke with the workers, he would pick out one man and ask him why he had that date printed on his forehead.  Then that man would be embarrassed, as everyone laughed.

            Marion stood beside grandfather, still holding one of the papers Ben had asked her to read. She looked at the words.

            "Grandfather, it tells right here that the prize winning Rocket made history.  It established the importance of team operated rail transportation when the famous Rainhills Trails were completed on October 8, 1829."

            "Yes, that is the very short description of the event.  But a longer version was also written by John Wurts.  I like that one much better.  In fact, I was so convinced that this was truly an historical event, that I sat down and made a copy of the longer version,"  explained grandfather.

            "Can you get a copy to show us?"  asked Marion.

            "Why yes, I surely can.  All I have to do is snap my fingers and one will appear."

            "Come on Grandfather.  You are trying to fool us again."

            Grandfather reached up to his shirt pocket, pulled out a small piece of papers and unfolded it.

            "Look!  here it is and I did not even have to snap my fingers this time."

            Marion and Ben pushed up closer so they could see the paper.

            "Grandfather, please, please read it to us,"  asked Ben.

            "Yes, I will.  Sit down here on the porch and turn on your ears."

            Grandfather's hands trembled a bit as he held the paper and looked right at Ben and Marion.  He took a deep breath and began.

            "The three mile run of the Stourbridge Lion was completed on August 8, 1829. The sun was becoming warmly but a slight breeze kept the heat from becoming oppressive. Many clouds floated slowly along in the robin's egg, blue sky.  The site for this trial run was chosen by John B. Jervis.  He chose Honesdale, where he had experienced several successful railroad experiments.  In his journal, he described the Lion's trials like this:

            "This three mile run of the Stourbridge Lion on August 8, 1829 is an historic event of prime significance and will never be forgotten.  It was the first operation of any railroad locomotive in America."

            "Oh, I really like that one best"  said Ben.

            "Me too" added Marion.

            "Grandfather, do you think that one hundred years from now, boys and girls will learn about the Stourbridge Lion in their classrooms?"

            "Yes, I do Ben.  I believe this is just the beginning.  I think we will make longer and larger locomotives.  They may then be able to pull much bigger loads than we think about now.  Maybe we will have trains and tracks all over the country."

            Ben and Marion sat on the top step of the porch.  They were thinking about grandfather's ideas for the future.  They sat quietly and tried to make their imaginations take them slowly, slowly, slowly, into America's future. (Maybe as far ahead as 2009)

            But, that was so very far into the future all they could see, in their mind's eye, was a soft, blue haze, ith puffy, white clouds slowly floating around.  They smiled happily as they felt that warmth of the sun on their cheeks.

            "Look!  Look!  Marion, Look!  Isn't that beautiful?"

            Ben had spotted one shining ray of sunlight pushing right through the haze and coming right straight down to glare on the barn's tin roof, on the stack of buckets ready for milking and on the old fence posts by the hen house.

            "Oh, it is so beautiful!  How I wish we had a way of making a picture of this to keep.  Ben, remember what grandfather always says when he sees everything so beautiful, like today?"

            Ben took another long look up toward the sky.  "Yes, I do remember what grandfather always says.  He's said it since we were both babies.  He always stands right down by that big stone on the lawn so he can see in all directions."

            "Come on, Marion.  Let's say exactly what he always says."

            "All right Ben.  That's a great idea, but let's go down to the stone and put our right foot on it, just the way he does."

            They both raced across and said just what grandfather always said.

            "When my eyes see the beauty of this world, my heart skips a beat.  My hand shades my eyes so I can see the sunlight glistening on the verdant meadows, on the sharp edged stones in the walls, on the crusty brown pebbles in the old path to the barn, on the sleek black crows and on the fields, my endless fields of sweet golden corn."

Addendum for June 2009

            The years passed quickly.  Ben and Marion grew older and much taller, but they never lost their curiosity about the world around them.  Their interest in the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company never faded.  They did not grow tired of hearing grandfather's informative stories about "their" railroad.  During the summer in which Ben celebrated his 16th birthday, he was overjoyed to actually have a job on the D & H Canal Co. Railroad.  The entire family, led by grandfather's enthusiasm, were so pleased that in 1833, the railroad was completed to Ballston Spa and then on to Saratoga Springs, where just a couple of miles from our quiet, verdant, little Town of Greenfield, something new was added.  It was the very first passenger station ever built here.

            Two weeks after the station was finished, John Wurts and grandfather sat on the porch reminiscing.

            "Well John, what do you think?  Is our Railroad everything you hoped it would be?"  John sat quietly, glanced down at a pile of papers on his lap, turned toward grandfather with a smile beaming from ear to ear and said,  "Well.....reading between the lines, the earliest years of our railroad, after construction was completed, were picturesque and prosperous."