The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1860-05-24
Life upon a Railroad.

ductor, have found the above to be true to
a letter, but mind am not saying that
have no enemies, | undoubtedly have n few.
and | don't think there is man that lives
but has more or less a little kindness now
and then to the many needy ones, conduc-
tor will find almost every trip over his road,
will not be lost, and he will, in many cases.
find from his bread cast upon the waters" :"
a return fourfold. Yet he must use great
deal of judgement in bestowing his charity
upon even those he thinks entirely worthy
of such bestowal. | will, in connection, re-
late a little incident by which lltlo kind
ness saved my life, and the lives of all the
passengers on board my train.
The western division of our road runs
through very mountainous part OF Virginia
and the stations are few and far between-
About three miles from one Of these stations,
the road runs through deep gorge Of the
Blue Ridge, and near the centre is small
valley, and there, hcmmcd in by the ever
listing hills, stood small one half story
cabin. The few acres that surrounded it
were well cultivated as garden, and upon
the fruits thereof lives widow and her three
children, by the name OF Graf. They were.
indeed, untutored in the cold charities Of an
outside world. / doubt much if they ever
saw the sunshine beyond their own native
hills. In the summer time the children
brought berries to the nearest station to sell,
and with the money they earned, they bot,
few of the necessities OF outside refinement
The oldest of these children should Judge
to be about twelve years, and the youngest
about seven. They wereall girls, and looked
nice aud clean and the healthful appearance
and natural delicacy gave them really well
come. They appeared as if they had been
brought up to fear God, and love their hum
bic home and mother. / had often stopped
my train and let them get off at their home,
having found them at the station, after dis
posing of their berries.
] had children at home, and knew their
little feet would be tired in walking three
miles, and therefore I felt it would be the
same with these fathcrlesS little ones. They
seemed So pleased to ride, and thanked me
with such hearty thanks, after letting them
off near home. They frequently offered Qc
nice tempting baskets of fruit for my kind
ness, yet | never accepted any with ,ut pay
ing their full value. .... .
Now if you remember the winter Of 81
was very cold in that part of the State, and
the snow was nearly three feet deep upon
s'le iit>so..;-.;tts. - -------.--.-..- .z--
On the night of the Goth of December of
that year, it turned around warm and the
rain fell in torrents. \ terrible storm swept
the mountain tops, and almost filed the val
ley with water. Upon that night my train
was winding its way at its usual speed,
around the hills and through the valleys,
and as the road bed was solid rock had no
fear of the banks giving out. The night
was intensely dark, and the wind moanet
piteously through the gorgcs Of the noun
tain. Some of my passengers were trying
TO sleep, others were talking in a low voice,
to relieve the mUnotony of the scenc.-
Mothers had their children upon their knees,
as If TO shield them from some unknown
danger without.
1t was midnight, when sharp whistle
from the engine brought me to my feet. |
knew by that whistle chat there was danger,
and sprang TO the brakes at once, but the
br,kesmen We're at their posts, and soon
brought the train to a stop. | seized my
lantern and found my way forward as soon
as possible, when what a sight metmy gaze !!
A bright fire Of pine logs illuminated the
track for some distance, and not over forty
rods ahead Of our train horrible gulf had
opened its maw to receive u.s.
The snow, together with the ram had torn
the whole side Of the mountain out, and eter-
nifty itself seemed spread out before U.s.
The widow Graft and her children had foune
it out and had brought light brush from
their home below, aud built large fires to
warn us of our danger They had been
more than two hours watching beside that
beacon Of safety. AS | went up where the
old lady and children stood, drenched with
ram and sleet, she grasped me by the arm
aud cried:
" Thank God! Mr. Sherbourn, we stop
ed you in time. would have lost my life
before one hair of your head should have
been hurt. Oh, prayed to Heaven that we
might stop the train, and my God thank
thee /! T" 49,.
The children were crying for joy. | con-
fess don't very often pray, but | did then
and there. ] knee'cd down by the side of
that old woman, and offered up thanks to
an All Wise Being for our safe delivcrsnce
froma most terrible death, and called down
blessings without number upon that good
woman and her children. Near by stood
the engineer, firemen AID brakesmen, the
tears streaming down their bronzed checks.
i Immediately prevailed on Mrs. Graf and
the children to go back into the cars out Of
the storm and cold. After reaching the cars
I 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 a great many ladies went
also, regardless of the storm. They soon
returned, and their pale faces gave full evil
.dence of the frightful death we had escaped.