efface all timidity in approaching those in charge of trains, and the brakeman assigned to our two cars had a good face and appeared kindly disposed. Until we cleared the "long bridge he was a very busy body, for in those days, when compressed air was a rare service, brakemen were true to the name, as at every proper signal they had to jump to the wheel for a severe test of strength and judgment. In a short time, however, he loitered in the rear of the car, near my seat, when I inquired: "How long have you been running this route?" He replied, "About three years." "Then you are familiar with the points of interest!" To which he answered-" I ought to be." The formality over, I continued a fusilade of questions, which he answered promptly, pleasantly and satisfactorily. He was strong in patience, and more generous with time and knowledge than I had reason to expect, for he dare neglect his many duties. The distance to Alexandria, although only eight miles, appeared that morning far greater, as I had taken in so many new and unusual sights, and as we had lost nearly half an hour waiting a train at a junction near the canal several miles north of the city.

As we pulled into Alexandria I was impressed forcibly with the many crude frame hovels lining either side of the trackseemingly a district of squalid poverty-whose open doorways and steps were filled with colored women and children, sparsely clothed but laughing and vieing with each other in giddy delight over the approach of our well-laden train. The majority of buildings appeared extremely plain, many, both brick and wood, regaled in fresh or faded whitewash, evidence at least of cleanliness and neatness, while a few of modern design loomed up at commanding points, apparently not exceeding four or five stories. The depot was a composite structure, brick and frame portions, one and two stories with a train shed in front (westward) extending over several tracks and the length of three or four cars. The roofs were pointed and the entire building wore a coat of either grayish-blue paint, calcimine or whitewash, according to its various sections; the main portion, brick, contained waiting rooms for men and women, divided by ticket and telegraph offices. On the same side (east) and a little southward stood a moderate-sized roundhouse, where the engines of the road were housed and given

necessary attention. For these natural conditions I thought none the less of Alexandria, as I had never seen a railroad pass through a desirable section of any city-such that would leave a favorable impression upon the passer-by.

The friendly brakeman in going out with some paraphernalia remarked-" The train has a new make-up here and for that ten minutes are required." As we came to a standstill I jumped off my car and walked over to the depot, for a better view of the crowd and surroundings, and while there saw our engine steam away and replaced by another, which stood belching forth, in hatefully loud accents, steam and smoke, as it was being oiled and looked over finally by its master. It seemed so self-conscious and solicitous of notice that I gave it more than passing glance-sufficient to observe that it was built at Paterson, New Jersey, a wood consumer, with large flaring smoke-stack, high and heavy fly-wheels, and the general appearance of newness, thereby assuring speed, strength and durability. During the wait each car wheel went through a process of tapping or sounding; ice and water were supplied the coolers; considerable baggage was taken on, and a number of passengers joined us, among them several well-dressed young men whom I reckoned students having possibly a destination in common with myself. Shortly after 9 o'ck, our train was again in motion, and still I seemed a stranger in a strange land"-the more unfortunate from me recognizing that here was the true beginning of the "Orange and Alexandria Railroad," and that the next four hours could speak much of history if I only had an intelligent interpreter to associate narratives with places of enactment. The new conductor in a short time came around, and tore from my ticket a coupon giving in lieu thereof a small piece of yellow cardboard having printed on one side the names and distances of stations, and on the other a small advertisement with directions to this effect: Washington City, Virginia Midland and Great Southern R. R.—put this on your hat and avoid the frequent call of "Ticket Sir!" In addition it bore a picture of a silk hat and a sentence limiting stop-over privileges, signed by J. F. Peyton, Conductor. The new brakeman to our car appeared in a few minutes, and looked at the smoldering fire, ventilators and such incidentals coming under his care. He wore the air

of experience and possessed a face of equal kindness to the one met and parted with the hour before, so I determined to address him at first convenience. Fortunately not long thereafter he took a seat in the rear of the car near me, and at once I passed him my Baltimore paper, The Sun, which he accepted with thanks. In a short while I inquired the length of his service on the road, if he were a Virginian, where he lived, etc., only to receive acceptable answers and an inclination to prolong the conversation. He related some personal experiences at second Manassas and other turbulent fields towards which we were hastening; his father Henry Knox, whose name he bore, had been killed at Chancellorsville the afternoon before "Stonewall " Jackson received his fatal wound; an older brother had experienced the fortunes-misfortunes of the Army of Northern Virginia from beginning to finish, while he himself had joined the ranks (Longstreet's Division) in early August, 1863, as it returned to Culpeper from the battle of Gettysburg, and remained therein until the Appomattox surrender. He had lived on a farm near Warrenton prior to the war and enlistment, and told his story with such rural simplicity and earnestness as to cause no doubt of its truthfulness, while his two visible scars one on the forehead, another on the left hand-needed no verification by words. He was pleased with my interest and the seeming familiarity with which I handled dates, contests and personalities of the war period, the more so from my residence having been outside of the belligerent district, but his surprise abated somewhat when I revealed my objective point, and that I had so been absorbed in war records as to have written after puerile fashion quite a history. Henceforth we were very loquacious, and for the rest of the journey I never lost his companionship and explanations save when duties compelled his absence. He had been on the road five years, making three round-trips per week from Alexandria to Lynchburg, and knew well every historic acre through which it ran, impressing the fact that it played a most significant part in bellum days; while I had so often seen in print the words "Orange and Alexandria," as it connected the two places eighty miles apart, that I fancied it the greatest southern outlet, deserving comparison with the magnificent trunk lines of our country. But