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Telling time in Parkersburg

Town clock vs. big whistle

The Parkersburg Gazette editor talks strongly to the citizens of that little village about the necessity of having a Town Clock. They must have a little longer purse in that town, with its decreasing population, than we have, with our increasing population, if they are enabled to put up a clock. Although our population is double that of Parkersburg, we have no Town Clock, nor do we expect to get one shortly, but we have a thundering big Whistle on the top of the Rail Road Machine Shop, which lets all who work by the ten hour system know when to go to work in the morning, to dinner and return again, and when to quit in the evening.

The Martinsburg Gazette

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Whew! Why, what a blow you do make, with your “thundering big whistle!” But, name sake, you are wholly mistaken about the superior whistling capacity of your mushern(sic).

The Steamers Keystone State and Buckeye State have fixins for whistling that will bang the world beside. Just listen some frosty morning; you may hear them, easily, in your ancient borough, and, when you have once heard them, your penny concern will never be able to attract your attention again! All this aside, however, we must have the clock. “Big whistles” may do for towns whose citizens have no other business than to eat, sleep and “see the cars” as they pass; but, for commercial communities, such as we wot of, some correct chronometer is necessary, whereby the various departments of industry may be regulated. Especially we will need the clock, in one or two years more, to start the trains in time to reach Martinsburg, where passengers usually go through the feeding motions and pay for the exercise – nothing else!

By the way, Friendly Gazette, your Deputy Marshall Nadenbush must have kept about the depot and counted several complements of Railroad Travelers, in order to make up that “increasing population” we read about.

Note: The railroad reached Parkersburg in 1857

The Parkersburg Gazette/Courier

Nov. 16, 1850

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The Wood County Historical Society works to preserve yesterday for tomorrow. For more information, contact P.O. Box 565, Parkersburg, WV 26102

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