Alexandria Gazette

Letter from Falls Church,

Correspondence of the Alexandria Gazette.

FALLS CHURCH, VA., June 11, 1878.—The average farmer is apt to be a great croaker what with the frost spewing out his grain, and the weevil, the chinch-bug, the rust, the frost and God knows how many more things to ruffle the surface of his otherwise peaceful soul he manages to keep himself in a ferment most of the time, and now when all danger is past and the harvest is at hand he gets more dissatisfied than ever because of the failure of all his prognostications and the return of a good crop of grain. From present prospects there can be no excuse for any starvation. To be sure all the bluster and braggadocio of England and Russia, fighting over who should have the biggest piece of Turkey, is apt to end in smoke and instead of giving our farmers two dollars a bushel for their grain is likely to keep the price down to one dollar, but even at that they can possibly pay off their debts and put in another crop to fret over for another season.

The narrow gauge railroad is our most promising theme. The rough grading is principally finished out to the middle Turnpike which it crosses at W. A. Duncan's line, and some quarter of a mile beyond. The road is rather more crooked than the usual broad gauge, which, however, is held not to be any disadvantage to a narrow gauge road, and the curves in the road having enabled the management to locate the same in such a manner as to avoid any heavy grading, the expense of the work so far done has been very light in comparison with what the same distance of a broad gauge would have been. The numerous turns in the road have added some to its length, making about seven miles of road, between points only a little over six miles as the crow flies, but this cannot be avoided in a rolling country such as ours, where it would be a work of fearful cost to run air line roads as is the rule in Great Britain and the European countries.

It has been the supposition of many that Maj. Borst would go back to the Aqueduct Bridge and finish this section as far as Falls Church before going beyond; but the Major assures me, on the contrary, that while he will set a force at work to finish up this first section, the work on the rough grading would be continued without interruption toward Fairfax Court House. The people seeing the determined energy of the management are evincing a better spirit toward the road, and the spirit of cavil that seemed such an obstacle at the outset is diminishing so perceptibly as to be of very little moment. As a rule the cavilers at a movement of this character are apt to be the most zealous in its support as soon as there is any appearance of success.

The proprietors of a steam excavator sent it out to work on the narrow gauge road with a view of testing it. It is constructed with a series of excavating buckets working over an endless chain that lifts the earth and carries it up an inclined elevator, dumping it into a belted carrier by means of which it is dumped on either side at pleasure. The machine seems to be constructed on correct principle; but its working so far has not been satisfactory. The rocks and other obstacles it meets in our soil deranges and breaks the excavating buckets and interferes with its operations. On light sandy soil, free from rocks, stumps, and other obstructions, I presume it would work rapidly, as it is estimated as able to excavate a cubic yard a minute when in successful operation. As an auxiliary in the construction of railroads through a rough or broken country it is doubtful whether it can be relied on.