The First “Camera Special
CROWD of c-nnirrn fiends and scenery lov¬
ers had a big lime on unique expedition
from Western .\or 111 Carolina across the
mountains to Tennessee.
tty JOSEPH
МОКШ
I
Г
»a. l'uck. I believe, who i.
вс
credited with having made the ob¬
servation "What foot, these
mortal. I*!"
If Puck had been in Wreteni
North Carolina last month and had
seen the expedition of the "Camera
Special," he probably would have re-
iterate! hia remark with eonsidcr-
ably more force and vigor.
It was al 8:45 Sunday morning that
a group of several score camera cn-
thiiMa'ts and scenery lover* from the
Piedmont —-turn of North Carolina
boarded a chartered train at Boone
for a ooeday trip to Johnson City,
Tenn. and return.
An Interesting Train
And what a train! Ordinarily it
only runs on week-days, carrying
freight, but it has several passenger
ears in its rolling slock and whenever
a minimum number of passenger*
are guaranteed, it will make a special
excursion. The tracks of thi* railroad
—The Hast Tennessee and Western
North Carolina- are only thirty-six
inehes apart, as compared with the
standard width of four feel, eight
and one half incite. The r. arches do
quite a bit of rocking a* they bounce
along.
It is needle*, to say that the train
isn't exactly up-to-date in its equip¬
ment. An old-fashioned Move is lo.
rated in one end of the ear, although
we didn’t have to make use of it for
beating purposes, thank good no* At
the rear end of the train was an open
excursion car, which proved quite a
novelty, with its seats hack to back,
running lengthwise through the ear.
Screen wires kept out the coarsest of
the cinders.
Plenty of Scenery
The train, incidentally, is the
highest east of the Rocky Mountain,
and traverse, one of the most beau¬
tiful scenic section* of the entire
country. It skirts the Use of Grand¬
father Mountain and wind, iu wav
A SONG IN THE NIGHT
A.vrmaw J. Ilowiix
The moehing hied ,ang all night
long.
•la-/, through the e hilling rain,
lie poured hi, animated ,ong
With i pa rile, in iU train.
It mattered not I naked or ilept.
The rapture in hi, bred
Poueued him
ал
he kept hi i
ualrh—
Л
rigil roid of teat.
Hi, mate, hi, jog. fulfilled her
pari
ИМ*
nature', dear employ.
The newt bore her and held hi,
heart.
And fitted the night with joy.
through "Happy Valley" ami the
Monte/uma Gorge.
The entire expedition was a most
informal one. Whenever somebody
wanted the train to .top, in order
that they might lake a picture. Urey
would let out a yell- and the train
would stop. And then, camera, would
be brought into action and every¬
body who eared to do so would snap
a picture As *oon as this had been
completed,
л
concerted yell would go
up. which the engineer would take as
a signal that everything wa. O.K..
and away we'd go again.
The looting of the whistle at
curses and other place, invariably
cleared the track of rows and other
livestock, although two or three
time, it was necessary for someone
to get off and shoo the animal, away.
Not Much Speed
Although the distance from Boone
to Johnson City if only tixiy-feren
mile*, it took four hours to nuke the
trip. In spite of regulations, the plat¬
forms were usually well occupied.
Not only that, but several took turn,
riding in the engine.
The train moved along slowly and
at times some of us bad an oppor¬
tunity to jump off. grab a few apple*
from a tree, or gather a few berries
from blackberry bushes, and then
run along the track and dumber
aboard again.
Playful pulling of the emergency-
brake cord caused more atop* than
