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[[newspaper clippings]]

BURNING DRIFT-WOOD.
BY JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER.

From The Independent of January 2.

Before my drift wood fire I sit,
And see, with every waif I burn
Old dreams and fancies coloring it,
And folly's unlaid ghosts return

O ships of mine, whose swift keels cleft
The enchanted sea on which they sailed.
Are these poor fragments only left
Of vain desires and hopes that failed?

Did I not watch from them the light
Of sunset on my towers in Spain,
And see, far off, uploom in sight
The Happy Isles I might not gain?

Did sudden lift of fog reveal
Arcadia's vales of song and spring,
And did I pass, with grazing keel,
The rocks whereon the sirens sing?

Have I not drifted hard upon
The unmapped regions lost to man,
The cloud-pitched tents of Prester John,
The palace domes of Kubla Khan?

Did land winds blow from jasmin flowers,
Where Youth the ageless Fountain fills?
Did Love make sign from rose blown bowers,
And gold from Eldorado's hills?

Alas! the gallant ships, that sailed
On blind Adventure's errand sent,
Howe'er they laid their courses, failed
To reach the haven of Content.

And of my ventures, those alone
Which Love had freighted, safely sped,
Seeking a good beyond my own,
By clear-eyed Duty piloted.

O mariners, hoping still to meet
The luck Arabian voyagers met,
And find in Bagdad's moonlit street
Haroun al Raschid walking yet

Take with you, on your Sea of Dreams,
The fair, fond fancies dear to youth,
I turn from all that only seems,
And seek the sober grounds of truth.

What matter that it is not May,
That birds have flown, and trees are bare,
That darker grows the shortening day,
And colder blows the wintry air!

The wrecks of passion and desire,
The castles I no more rebuild,
May fitly feed my drift wood fire,
And warm the hands that age has chilled.

Whatever perished with my ships,
I only know the best remains;
A song of praise is on my lips
For losses which are now my gains.

Heap high my hearth! No worth is lost;
No wisdom with the folly dies.
Burn on, poor shreds, your holocaust
Shall be my evening sacrifice!

Far more than all I dared to dream,
Unsought before my door I see;
On wings of fire and steeds of steam
The world's great wonders come to me,

And holier signs, unmarked before,
Of Love to seek and Power to save,--
The righting of the wronged and poor,
The man evolving from the slave,

And life, no longer chance or fate,
Safe in the gracious Fatherhood,
I fold o'er-wearied hands and wait,
In calm assurance of the good.

And well the waiting time must be,
Tho' brief or long its granted days,
If Faith and Hope and Charity
Sit by my evening hearth-fire's blaze.

And with them, friends whom Heaven has spared,
Whose love my heart has comforted,
And, sharing all my joys, has shared
My tender memories of the dead,--

Dear souls who left us lonely here,
Bound on their last, long voyage, to whom
We, day by day, are drawing near,
Where every bark has sailing room.

I know the solemn monotone
Of waters calling unto me;
I know from whence the airs have blown
That whisper of the Eternal Sea.

As low my fires of drift-wood burn,
I hear that sea's deep sounds increase,
And, fair in sunset light, discern
Its mirage-lifted Isles of Peace.
[[/newspaper clipping]]

[[newspaper clipping]]
HORATIO ALLEN.

Horatio Allen, the well-known civil engineer, under whose direction the first locomotive brought to America was built and run, died at his home in Montrose, N.J., on Tuesday evening. He had no specific disease and retained his faculties to the last. He was the son of Dr. Benjamin Allen and Mary Benedict Allen, and was born at Schenectady, N.Y., in 1802. His father was the principal of an academy at Hyde Park, N.Y. Young Allen entered Columbia College in 1821, and was graduated near the head of his class in 1823, taking especially high rank in physics. He studied law at first, but after a short time decided to make civil engineering his work, and entered the employ of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, under Judge Wright, then constructing engineer of the line. He was sent to St. George, Del., as rodman and within two weeks was placed in full charge of a party. In the fall of 1824 he was appointed resident engineer of the Delaware and Susquehanna Canal. A year later he was appointed resident engineer of the Summit level of the Delaware and Hudson Canal, under John B. Jervis, then chief engineer of the company.

In September, 1825, the first successful locomotive was put in operation on the Stockton and Darlington Railroad, in England, by George Stephenson. The news of its success reached this country early in 1826, and so greatly interested Mr. Allen that he decided to go to Europe and study the new motive power. He received an appointment from the Delaware and Hudson Company as contracting agent, to purchase in England the railroad iron required to build the sixteen miles of road from the company's mines in the Lackawanna Valley to the Lackawaxen, a tributary of the Delaware, and also authority to purchase three locomotives for the new railroad, to be built on plans to be decided on by him.

Mr. Allen, on arriving at Liverpool, made the acquaintance of George Stephenson, with whom he consulted in the carrying out of his plans. Two of the locomotives were ordered from Mr. Stephenson, and one from Foster Rastrick & Co., of Stourbridge. It was the latter--the "Stourbridge Lion"--that was the first locomotive ever run in America. The locomotives were received in New-York in the winter of 1828-'29, set up and tested while suspended in the air, and it was not until August, 1829, that they were taken to the road for which they were built. This road terminated at Honesdale, Penn., and ran about 600 yards in a straight line, then crossing the Lackawaxen Creek by a sharp curve of 750 yards radius. When the "Stourbridge Lion" was swung in the air preparatory to being placed on the track it was discovered for the first time that the axles had an unyielding parallel position and that there was no truck with king bolt that would permit of the engine accommodating itself to the curve of the road. Further, the road had been built of green timber in long lengths and the timbers had warped considerably in places. Nevertheless, Mr. Allen was confident that all would be well. He tried in vain, however, to get an engineer to run the locomotive and no official of the road would risk his life in the apparently foolhardy enterprise. Mr. Allen then acted as engineer himself and ran the locomotive three miles down the track and returned in safety.

In 1829 Mr. Allen was appointed chief engineer of the South Carolina Railroad, extending from Charleston, S.C., to Augusta, Ga., the first long railroad built in the United States. In 1834, after the road was finished, he married Miss Mary Moncrie Simons, of Charleston. In 1835 they went abroad and spent two years in foreign travel. In 1837 Mr. Allen was appointed principal assistant engineer of the Croton Aqueduct Department, and on the completion of the Aqueduct, in 1842, was chosen one of the Board of Water Commissioners.

In 1844 he became a member of the firm of Stillman, Allen & Co., the proprietors of the Novelty Iron Works, building the engines of the Collins Line of steamships. During these years Mr. Allen was at different times connected with the Erie Railway system, holding the office of chief consulting engineer for a long time and served one term as president of the road. Mr. Allen's last official place was that of consulting engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge. In 1870 he retired from active life, and building himself a fine home at Montrose, N.J., settled down to the life of a student and inventor. Mr. Allen was the inventor of the eight-wheel passenger-coach truck, now so universally used, and of a cut-off for steam-engines that is widely known.

He was brought up an Episcopalian, but in early life embraced the Unitarian faith and was one of the prominent members of All Souls' Church under the pastorate of the Rev. Dr. Henry W. Bellows. He was a man of quiet domestic tastes, great firmness and of unflinching integrity. Politically he was Republican, and cast his last vote for President Harrison. He leaves a widow, three daughters and one son. The funeral will be at his home to-morrow afternoon, and in accordance with his expressed wishes will be private.
[[/newspaper clipping]]

resigned and we came away after a great deal of talk feeling that the Society is dead. I mean to stick to it as long as the others will stay with me. Am going home tomorrow morning.

Saturday [[strikethrough]] Dec. [[/strikethrough]] Jan. 4th 1889. 90 Went home by the 9.55 train. Girard went up by same train. It was a perfect day, warm and bright. After Lunch Sara and I walked up to Kingston and called at the Clearwaters, but saw no one as Mrs C. was ill. Called on the Searings, at John Forsyths and on the Clarkes both of whom were ill but I saw Mr & Sara saw Mrs. Clarke. I had sent Tom down to Stock & Rices to get my informal sketching box saying in my note as I never expected to get the one I ordered I wanted them to send that home. When I got back I found them both there.

Sunday 5" Another pleasant warm day but with tendency to showers. I did some writing making out a statement of my account with the Estate a copy of which I sent John and one for Calvert.

Monday 6" Mrs. Jones made her payment on her lot $600 and I gave her her deed. Miss Elliott paid $100 to be applied on her mortgage to Booth There was a note from Mrs Gregory ignoring her indebtedness on her lot. I wrote her politely informing her that unless she paid it I would put it in a way to collect it legally. I went down town for some errands and when I came back put the leather handles on the newer

Transcription Notes:
Horatio Allen retired in 1870 per https://www.nrrhof.org/horatio-allen. But '187[?]' may be correct for this transcription as a last digit of '0' is not entirely legible. --------------- Changed "187[?]" to "1870", as it not only appears to be a correct guess based on the available portion of text, but is also historically accurate. Increased paragraph spacing of Horatio Allen clipping for legibility. "Girard" was Jervis' brother. Jervis' wife was Sara; " Searings" maybe refers to Annie Searing, the family of a (later) sufragette who lived in Kingston. ---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-06-24 12:44:19