Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1860-10-06
Touching Incident
ny A RAILROAp CONpUCT0

Inerc Is an old saying, that the friendship
of dog is better than the ill.will and for
many years, in my capacity as railroad con-
ductor, / have found this true to the letter;
but mind | am not saying that | have no en-
cmies. | undoubtedly have few, and don't
think there is a man living but has more or
less. A little kindness now and then to the
needy ones, conductor will find almost every
trip over his road, will not be lost, and he will
find, in many cases, from his "bread cast on
the waters, a return fourlold. Yet he must
use great deal of Judgment in bestowing his
charity even upon those he thinks entirely
worthy of such bcstowal | will in conncc-
tion relate little incident, by which little
kindness saved my life, aud the lives of all OH
board my train.
The western division of our road runs
through a very mountainous part of Virginia.
and the stations arc few and far bctwccn.-
About three miles from one of the stations the
road runs through deep gorge of the Blue
ridge, and near. the centre is small valley
and there, hcmmed in by the everlasting hills,
stood small one-and-a-half story cabin The
few acres that surrounded it were as well cul-
tivatcd as a garden, and upon the fruits there
of lived widow by the name of Graft, with
her three children. They were, indeed, un-
tutorcd in the cold charities of an outside
|
sun shine beyond their native hills In the
summer time they brought berries to the near
est station to sell, and with the money thus
earned they bought few of the neccssarcs
of outside refinement.
The oldest of these children | should Judge
to be about twelve years, and the youngest
about seven. They were all girls, and looked
nice and clean, and their hcalthfu appearance
and natural delicacy gave them Il ready wei
come. They appeared as if they had been
brought up to fear God and love their home
and mother. | had often stopped my train
aid let them get off at their house, having
found them at the station, some three miles
from home, after disposing of their berries.
had children at home, and knew their
little feet would be tired in walking three
miles, and therefore felt that it would be the
same with these fathcrlcss little ones. They
seemed to be pleased to ride, and thanked me
with much hearty thanks, after letting them
off near home. They frequently offered me
nice tempting baskets of fruit for my kindness,
yet never accepted any without paying the
full value.
Now, if you remember the winter of '54
was very cold in that part of the State, and
the snow wa nearly three feet deep upon the
mountains.
On the night of the 26th of December of
that year it turned around warm, and the rain
fell in torrents. a terrible storm swept the
mountain tops, and almost filed the valley
with water. Upon that night the train was
winding its way, at its usual speed, around the
hills and through the valleys, and as the road
was all solid rock | lad no fear of the banks
giving way. The night was intensely dark
and the wind moaned piteously through the
deep gorgcs OF the mountains Some of my
passengers were trying to sleep others were
talking in low voice to relieve the monotony
of the scene. Mothers had their children
upon their knees as if to shield them from
some unknown danger without
1t was near midnight when a sharp whistle
brought me to my feet. | knew there was
danger by that whistle, and sprang to the
brakes at once, but the brakcsmcn were all at
their posts, and soon brought the train to a
stand. L seized my lantern, and found my
way forward as soon as possible, when, what
IL sight met my gaze a bright fire of pine
logs Illuminated the track for some distance,
and not over forty rods ahead of our train a
horrible gulf had opened its nav to receive us.
The snow together with the rain, had torn
the whole side of the mountain ort, and ctcr-
nifty itself seemed spread out before us. The
widow Graft and her children had found it
out and had brought light brush from their
home below, and built large fires to warn us of
our danger They had been there more than
two hours watching beside that beacon of
safety. AS | went up where that old lady
and her children stood, drenched through by
the rain and sleet, she grosped me by the arm
and cried:
"Thank God Mr. Sherbornc that we
stopped you in time. / would have lost my
life before one hair of your head should have
been hurt. Oh, prayed to Heaven that VIC
might stop the train; and my God, | thank
thee ~
I The children were crying for joy. con
fess | don't very often pray, but | did then
and there. / kreeled down by the side of that
good old woman, and offered up thanks to an
All-wisc Being for our safe deliverance from
a most terrible death, and called down blessings
without number upon that good old woman
and her children Near by stood the engi-
neer, fireman, and brakesmen, the tears stream
inc down their bronzed cheeks.
[ Immediately prevailed upon Mrs. Graf
and the children to go back into The cars out
of the storm and cold After reaching the
cars | related our hair-breadth escape, and to
whom we were indebted for our lives, and
begged the men passengers to so forward and
see for themselves. They needed no further
urging, and great many ladies went also, re-
gardless of the storm. They soon returned,
and their pale faces gave full evidence of the
trightful death they hal escaped The ladies