Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1859-06-10
NistorieaI.
OLD ITEMS OF VERMONT HISTORY
Furnished for the watchman by ELIAS HALL.
From the Rural Magazine, 1875.

From the Rural Magazine, 1875.
DIsINTBREsTED BRAVERY EXEMPLIFIED.
The following instance Of dsnierested bravery IN re-
ievins suatehins from death person all appear
irIecoveraby lost, deserves, in my opinion place
in the Vermont Repository. NJ. LYON.
Sometime in the month of March, 1879
when the ice was clear from snow, number
of sleighs were employed in fetching iron ore
on the ice from the bed north of Crown Point,
to Martins Landing They carried from
thirty to fifty hundred each and one of the
sleigh men, who had an excellent span Of
horses, and piqued himself on carrying the
heaviest load. having, with a person who rode
with him in his sleigh, mixed a little too
much rum with their water at the cold spring
at the narrows, few miles north of the
mouth of South Bay, and at that place hav.
ing lit on Robert Armstrong, the hero Of
these lines, who was on foot travelling to the
South, took him up also, when, to show the
excellence of his horses and his own courage,
he galloped on before the rest. 1t happened
that a sleigh had broke in the day before in
the track where the sleighs were passing, and
the ice of the last night only covered the
hole. The sleigh men behind saw the APP
pearance of the fracture in the ice, turned to
! 60 round it, and called to the three persons
to inform them of it, but they were either
too happy or too much engaged in conversa-
ton to hear word of it, and they were over
the hole before they had notice of the frac-
ture. The strength of the new ice was suf-
fcient to bear up the horses, but when the
sleigh and load came on it gave way, and the
two men dropped into the water, which was
ten feet deep, with the ore and all the boards
and stakes of the sleigh, while the driver,
holding by the lines and the tails of the
/ ,tk tbo o,,,1o of
the sleigh, although the ice had bent under
the horses till they stood up to the gambrels
/ in the water. While this was doing, the rest
of the people ran towards the hole in order,
if possible, to give assistance, and very soon
Mr.. Armstrong was seen to come to the top
of the water some boards were brought and
he was assisted on to the ice, but nothing
could be seen Of the other. Armstrong was
no sooner on his feet than he exclaimed,
"Where is Phippene = He was told he was
not to be seen, and all expressed their fears
that he would never be seen again; to which
Armstrong made no kind of reply, but step
ped resolutely to the hole, and jumped in
head-foremost; and in about minute, to the
astonishment of the spectators returned to
the top OF the water, holding Phippene by
the hair Of the head. They were Immediately
helped out, and Phippene was soon able to
stand, and to proceed in sleigh five miles to
house where he dried himself, and found
his health in no wise injured.
shall never forget the impression it made
upon me to see this bold display of disin-
terested generosity in Armstrong; young,
vigorous fellow jumping into hole in tho
ice, not more than six feet long by five wide,
to rescue from death perfect stranger, man
with whom he had been acquainted not more
than half an hour it seemed something more
than human.
The anxiety &C the bystanders could only
be felt, it can never be expressed while the
brave Armstrong was missing, the least
variation from this small hole, in coming up,
must have led him under the ice and proved
fatal to him. Another kind of sensation was
felt by the spectators, when Phippene came
to return thanks TO his benefactors, he ex-
claimed "By Cd, you snatched me from
the gates of Heaven Had you let me lie
half minute more under that pile of ore,
should have been in Abrahams BOSOM"
this think. confirms the information put on to
paper which you sent TO Mr. White last November that
Matthew Lyon the first who made Iron in ver-
mont his forge short distance from the head Of
what called then South Bay. He also the first
make nail-pates in the State and the first
nails. The first bound volume that made in
Vermont was done at Fairhaven by NJ. Lyon
ANECDoTE.