, 1870-05-29
A HEARTRENDING STORY.


One Of the most terrible calanitics of its m
t1rc that has happened lately ia narrated b,
thn Austin (Tc1as) Journal Il reads alnos
Ike romance, as 1t seems impossible for .
small stream twenty feet below its banks te
tlee with such rapfdisy rs ia stated 1t is, ney.
fiction --'
We Published, some time eince, brief and
necessarily imperfect account Of this strange
and noet painful calamity, which We now COZ
ret, with fuller particulars, - Ne receive the
Merriam, Major Of the Twenty y-fourth Infantry.
who il now n Austin- Tho Colonel, after -four
ye4fa OF military ssrvice on The frpntiars III
h.nsas, New Mexico, and Vest Te1as hid ro.
celyed leave Of absence, and Maa fourueyinc
Texan eoast.
=. They had reached tho head Of the Concho
the 24th of April. N''
"The river j. formed BY the junction Of the
nus oi water from several large springs, which
beaver, and arc well allied with large fab
The stream is 20 small here that l. man
can step acroas it anywhere. The banks were
twenty feet above the bed Of the wator, Fa-
heued with the long Journey Of sixty-eight
miles in the previous twenty-four hours, With
when, early in the ercning, Colonel Meuiasan,
vas aroused BY the aigns OF m approaching
storm. The tent was fastened md made "a
secure as possible, and about 9 o'clock hal
etorn burst upon them, accompanied By some
xaln and strong wind.
until nearly II: the stones being Of the sizo q
hens eggs, and striking the tent and praisie
with noise like that OF incessant mtskesry.
Tho Colonel who WAS not ignorant Of tho
saddan and e1t1eme overaoua to which tho
mountain stcans of TeEas arc Liable, went out
lnto ne dAtknass as soon as the storm had
ceased, TO note what effect had been produced
on this rFu1et- To his Amusement, he found
IN the formerly almost dry bed OF tho creck 4
realatlesa to1Tent, loaded 4nd filed with hail.
rolling bank full, white a milk, and ei1ent a. !
'He At once saw the dargar, md ran buck
to the tent. shouting to the escort and sery-
ants 70 turn out He placed Mrs, Merriam.
the child and nuEac IN the carriage, and. With
the aid Of three men, started to run with it to
the higher ground. distance Of not eixty
yards. Scarcely I minute bad elapsed from
the time tue darn hsd been given, but alrcady
the water had sutgad over the b4nk in wavea
OF such volume and force as to sweep The
party from their fee. before they had t.arersed
thirty yards.
:. The Colonel called for assistance on come
cavalfJ soldiers, who had Just escaped from
tho United States mail station naar- By, but
they we1o too terTprizcd to heed OF belp'
Colonel Merriam then abandoned tho hone
OF eas1ng his family in the carriage, and tried
20 enter 1t in order to swim out with them, but
he vas swept down the ice-cold tor1ant Ike 4
bubble. Being An expert swimmer, he sue
ceeded in reaching the bank about two hnna-
red yards below, and ran back to renew the
effort when he received the terrible tidin9s,
that Tho moment after he Was sxept down, tle
carriage. with all its precious freight, had
his Hife saving IS aba disappeared, " Ny lar-
ling husband. goodbye" Tbs Ittle Ri Of
few hours before, which = chlld might step
ACROSS, had become raging rivnr, covered
with masses Of dr1t-Wood mile in width, aud
from thirty to forty feet deepl
'1Thc bsiesved husband procured horse
from one Of the cavalry and rode. Il, down
the torrent but could SEQ nothing In the dark
nees, and heard nAught but tho wild sounds Of
the waves- So passed the long and wretehed
before day The strange and mornont.ry
Hood had passed By, and tho small stream
shtAnk to its usuAl size, and ran In its Hunted
bed. The sad search began. The drowned
soldiers and servants, four in number, wefe
found, and the body of the wife taken from
the water about thfee-fouFths Of n nile below,
aDd prepared foT journey ct ffty-threo
miles to the post OF Gonclso for Temporary
burial Not I'LL three days after mas the bodv
Of the chll found, four miles down tho
stream, and long distance from ita bed
Mr. Marian WIS lady OF culture and attain
seH'e. sN~A NA0 CeatsSA ~ IL WHO Knew
her: Tha little gil. not s yeara old was re-
mAtkab1e for the maturity o{ her Mid and tho
sweetness OF her disposition.
" The carriage waa drifted by the current
about mile, and lodged in \ thicket. The
storm and food are represented as feixhtful
beyond description. Tho Beaver ponds, from
which the Concho tR&es its rise, were 70 filed
With the icy h2il that the catfish we're killed by
the conge1aton, md wero swept in Wagon
loads, together with The myriads Of smaller
animals Of the plain, such - rabbits and
sn1kes, N oSs1 the country by the sudden and
rushing food.
"I1ee days after the storm, when the
party left tho Concho, The hail still ay in drifts
and winrows to the dopth Of more thAn six
feet! calamity more sad, strange And tragic
it has seldom been our lot to na,7ste, and our
deepest sympathies go out to tho fathar snd
By ths ghast1y loss Of III th.t be haid ross