Friend of Charleston

Charleston was the fourth largest port in the colonies and had become a bustling trade center as the hub of the Atlantic trade for the southern colonies. It was the wealthiest and largest city south of Philadelphia. It used technology to become the cultural and economic center of the South. Read the article below by Robert Freer for his tribute to Nick Darrell, one of the men whose use of the technology of the day kept the city moving forward. Also is a warning of how we should use technology in the future.

By Robert E. Freer, Jr., President of The Free Enterprise Foundation

Not long after its founding in 1670, mercantile interests in Charleston became leaders in broadening commerce and transportation to assure profitable markets for this region’s precious cotton, indigo, rice and other products not available in more northerly climes. It has been a leader in broadening commerce and transportation ever since. Recently a replica of The Best Friend of Charleston spent time on Wall Street to celebrate Norfolk Southern being listed on The New York Stock Exchange. This article is by way of a cheer and a prayer

What an auspicious day! It was Christmas 1830 in Charleston, South Carolina, and Nick Darrell pinched himself at the luck that had befallen him. Since October 1830 when the contraption in front of him arrived on a packet boat from New York, he had worked hard to assemble and test it and now was to make history. Before him in its festive and seasonally appropriate green and red paint stood The Best Friend of Charleston, the first steam locomotive in the United States to establish regularly scheduled rail service. It was all going to start today, and he was its engineer. He was really excited; bands played, and the sound of firearm salutes exploded into the sky.

Today the locomotive was only going to run six miles on its wood and metal rails, but it was intended to quickly open up the interior to reliable and fast connection with Charleston. The Charleston Courier described this first trip in the following terms, “The one hundred and forty one persons flew on the wings of wind at the speed of fifteen to twenty-five miles per hour, annihilating time and space…leaving all the world behind….” Though this first trip went without incident, the Best Friend’s future was to be short lived, a careless fireman, tied down the pressure relief valve on the engine, and it blew up within two months of its maiden trip.

Not to be thwarted, however, it was rebuilt as “The Phoenix” and along with a second engine named “The West Point”; the railroad pierced the continent—or at least as far as the 136 miles to North Augusta. Along with four additional engines, it succeeded in returning prosperity to Charleston and revolutionizing freight and passenger transportation. No longer dependent on river or weather conditions, commerce boomed. Mr. Darrell didn’t realize how potent a force this bit of free enterprise had loosed on the nation. Before he died in December 1869, he would see not just one state spanned but the whole country.

In May 1869 at Promontary Point, Utah, the symbolic golden spike was struck creating an endless ribbon of steel binding the nation together. Rather than taking months to span the nation, travelers could span it in a week. Of course today the miracle of free enterprise and technology allow us to span the country in a few hours, and our images, voices, and data span the globe in microseconds. Today we gather not to see a train take leave but to see a Rocket hurtle men into space. Today we can create a permanent environment for man to work and live in space, and today we reach out to the stars. Truly the imagination and determination of a free people are daily demonstrating what can be accomplished when they are allowed to seek what their imaginations tell them is possible.

I ask, however, that you do not allow unbridled enthusiasm for technology’s gifts to blind us to the hazards of falling into the hazards of its thrall. Man has a dual nature. Man has both mind and soul. Good and evil both come from our inventiveness. Without time for the soul to contemplate, to feel the rightness of the order in the universe, our journey is pointless. We ask our Creator how He permits so much misery here on earth, but we deafen ourselves to His echoing question back. It is for our better nature to respond to the suffering we’ve created. While curing disease is for the uniquely qualified, many embody consistent kindnesses to all they meet: the willingness to cut their brother a break, to reach out to the burdened with a smile, a hug, and a helping hand. Everyone in our society is a roughly hewn stone, but through simple considerations we can polish ourselves into gleaming jewels. Charleston and the Low country seem to have an almost permanent lock on the national crown as the most courteous city in the nation; so, I expect I am largely preaching to the choir, but I ask that you encourage compassionate humanity towards all of the living jewels you encounter each day.

You too can and should be such a jewel. Technology has provided so much to us, but we must never forget that it serves us, not we it. A great man I knew who died recently startled me by suggesting the accelerating agility of machines meant that “silicon” based “life” could replace “carbon” based intelligence within 50 years. That is the risk recently explored in my column on “To Nano or Not to Nano”. To prevent that from occurring, we must grow our souls and humanity to rival our mental acuity or be undone by our own machines. After all, it is our humanity that connects us. Bless each of you…pass it on! You too can be a best friend of Charleston!

Copyright © 2007 by Robert E. Freer, Jr. All rights reserved

About the author: Robert E. Freer, Jr. is President of The Free Enterprise Foundation. He is a Visiting Professor, at The Citadel and elected in 2005 to be their first John S. Grinalds Leader in Residence. A regular contributor to the Mercury, He can be reached by E-mail at The Citadel . Copies of his earlier columns can be found The Free Enterprise Foundation.

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