The history of the first locomotives in America. From original ...

158 HISTOET OF THE FIEST LOCOMOTIVES IN AMERICA.
"William H. Beown, Esq.—
" Dear Sie :
"Office of J. M. Eason & Brothee, MANnFACimiEES op
" Sieam-Engines, Boilers, and Machinekt.
" Charleston, S. C, September 24, 1869.
I enclose you a note from old Mr. Darrell, and also
a photograph of him which I prevailed upon him'to have taken for
you.
" If of any interest to you, I could send you a photograph of
Thomas Dotterer, who, in early railroad days, built the ' Native,'
the first locomotive ever built with outside connections and straight
axles. After the explosion of the ' Best Friend,' he changed her to
straight axles and made iron wheels. Mr. Dotterer was con-
sidered one of the best natural mechanics of his day. J. D. Petsch,
N. W. Darrell, Henry Raworth, John Eason, etc., were the early
locomotive-engineers here, and were all apprentices of his. Every
master-machinist in charge of the South Carolina Railroad ma-
chinery and shops, up to this day, was his apprentice.
" I remember the first trip of the ' Native.' She had been
started out to run up the road, and I well remember the great
prejudice which Mr. Dotterer had to encounter against his plan of
outside connections, which was then urged to this effect : that the
power, being applied to the end of the axle, would rack the road to
pieces and the engine too ; that the thing (not calling it an engine)
would not do, etc. But, nothing daunted, he made the engine and
sent it out. Evening came, and the locomotive, probably the
second ever run on the road, certainly the first after the ' West
Point,' did not arrive with the train. Great uneasiness was manifested
by the officers of the company, for in those days everybody
interested attended at the arrival of a locomotive. Finally night
came on ; neither the regular train nor the little ' Native ' (for she
only weighed about four tons) was in sight, and the murmurlngs
could be heard in knots of persons and officials, that the damned
thing had broken the road, or blown up, or some other casualty
had happened to her, and prevented the arrival of the other loco-
motive and train.
" Now, my dear sii-, imagine Mr. Dotterer's feelings ; but behold
him, the man of genius, standing amid the bickerings of men,
almost fearing that his little engine was the cause of the delay,
when a voice cried out, ' She's coming !
' and the sparks from the
smoke-pipe were observed (for in those days spark-arresters were
not perfected). Then a general rush to hear the news, to see what
Digitized by Microsoft®