Columbia gazette., 1854-03-04
AN INTERESTING STORY.

CHAT WITH THE CoNDucToR.-s1t'
not often man loses anything by kind
ness. l know little matter of that sort
saved my life, and perhaps the lives Of
many others at the same timc."
"How was that?' asked we Of our
friend Rawlings, the model conductor.
"Why, we had an Irishman on this
road watching tunnel. It was warm
weather, so he used to 60 into the tun-
mel to keep cool. l rather think he
used to take little liquor when he was
lonesome; any way, he laid down on the
track one day to listen for the cars; he
feel asleep, and very imprudently got
his head cut off by the express train.
Well, there was the last of that Irish
man. There was the devils own row
in his shanty when we took the poor fell
low up, and we got away as soon as we
decently could, for you know it's not
agreeable to be surrounded with dis
tracted family when you're neither a
doctor, nor nurse nor preacher.
"Somehow I was always sorry when I
passed that place; of course I felt as if
NOT exactly the same thing but just
as bad might happen to me some day,
and then there'd be another row in a
family. told my wife about it, and she
sent the family some little things. The
widow of the dead Irishman was Cath
olic, and, as I was then on very fast
train, I would sometimes take up the
old woman on Sunday and carry her to
church at Martinsburg. I somehow
thought it was satisfaction to her to 20
to church, for she had but little chance
in the world, any how. I certainly did
not expect to get anything for it in this
world, and | expected they had so much
scored against me in the other that it
wouldn't amount to anything there.
"That was during the Summer. One
night the next winter it was cold, and
the mountains were covered with snow;
we were running to make time, when on
turning a curve, the engineer saw a
waving light on the track, and we soon
heard some one ahead shouting I was
then out on the platform. The engi-
neer Stacked up and stopped the engine,
and we got out and went ahead in the
dark to see what was the matter. There
is was. A large landslide had fallen
across the track, near the shanty of that
old Irishwoman. She had built up a
large fire and watched for the train, for
the curves were so sharp that we might
have been upon the slide before we could
see it. So when we run up, there was
the old lady, with her calico cap, swing
ing the chunk of fire Like revolving
lighthouse, and there were the little
Irish carrying brush, like so many little
beavers. She had watched all that
night in the cold. But for her, in an
other minute we should have run into
a pile of dirt and stone as big as Bar
NUNS hotel. should have got 'pit
ticket,' certain, for | was on the plat
form. What would have become Of the
passengers and train you can guess as
we'll as l cam
We expressed a hope that the old
widow had been properly rewarded.
"The epassengers made up about eigh-
ty dollars; the company afterward gave
her shanty rent free, the brakemen and
engineers bought her a cow, and she
made out very we'll But when I hand
ed the money to her that night, she
said: Gentlemen and ladies, Pm thank
ful, and may ye never know the want of
what ye give me. But what I did was
mostly on account Of him, there. He
was kind and thoughtful to the poor and
the afflicted, and I'd watched till I froze
before harm should have come to him,
if | could ha helped it.''
eD-n the thing, it made me choke
right up"
''Passen-jars for the Rcla-a-y."
Don't forget your umbrella, sir; there
might be an explosion, and you'd want
it to keep off the cinders." "Let me
pass your bandbox, miss. "-"Take care
of your little boy, madam, no insurance
on him.'' "All right, 60 ahead!"
The local editor of the Cincinnati
Commercial gravely remarks that the