The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1870-11-25
me sWIfCH.fEyDER.s Story.

L
50 ? EfE @ " |
1t ran thus: dts ni~h on to eleven
years, sir, since i came on TO this road.
For the first three J ears | was q brake
man, and If i had stuck to il / might
hev bin a conductor by this time-for
my character was good, and I've al
ways been q steady man ; but you see
it wasn't 10 be; My old woman al
ways objected TO my running on the
train, it kept me away SD much from
home, not to speak of the danger, and
so at the end Of the third year, when
our little boy was born, she begged
me SO hard to give it up that / con-
sented, and the company put me in
this place ;whcre Eve been ever since.
ats not hard, I've only got 10 tend
switch and 10 do odd jobs about
the depot; the pay is just as good as
what got before, only there is no
chance of promotion; but then I'm
always at home, which makes it up.
| live alone a little ways across the
bridge Oh the outskirts Of the town,
yondcr On the other side of the river
"A small white house with an elm
tree in the yard-you can see it from
the other end of the switch.
$50 you think the river is very
beautiful at this season of the year;
Well, sir, dare say it isl thought
so once myself; but don't take any
PLEASURE in looking at it now, nor
have ] done so for many a day. Its
green banks and its clear water, with
the sunshine sparkling on il, only
makes it seem the cruellcr TO nc, as If
it laughed over the misery it Lad
caused TO human beings; but my
opinions havn't got ANYTHING to do
with what you came to ask me about,
so III try to get to the point at once.
1T will be three years ON Mon-
day, the 18th of next month, which is
May, that after eatin' my breakfast
and smokin' my pipe, which latter
operation / ginerally gifts through
about seven O'Clock, ! started across
the bride, taking with me my little
Icy Willie, who was at this time just
rising of five years. lie was awfully
tickeled at the idea of being allowed
10 60 out with me, as his mother kept
him mostly around the house, having,
like al women, great fear of the
trains. | don't think, sir, l ever see a
finer morning-the sun well nigh up,
but not too warm, with a white cloud
here and there in the blue sky, the
trees and grass green and fresh, and
glistening with the dew, and UNDER
meath us the river flowing bright and
clear just as You see it now, sir.
"My heart felt light, and having
nothing OH my mind-I had just fin
ished paying for my house The week
beforc-I began to think of compar-
ing my troubles with my blessings ;
that after all it would be hard 10 find
a better place than this same much
abused world 10 live in.
".Thc time table was Il little differ
cnt then from what it is now. The
freight train came down at $50 a. m, |
switched of, and waited for the ex-
press to go by, which followed fifteen
minutes later, i reached the switch
about ten minutes ahead of time-I
always do-and sitting down on the
tic, l filled a fresh pipe and smoked
away, while little Willie gathered
pebbles, and throwing them INTO the
water, laughed and shouted at the
splashcs they made.
FINALLY, growing bolder. he ven
tUrcd TO the rivers edge, and picking
one of tho lilies that grew the re i'm
abundance, he came with great glee
and laid il at my feet. put the flow
cr i'm my pocket carefully, so as not
TO burst it, intending TO show it to
his mother. He lisped out that pref
~ blue ones grow further down, and
begged to go and get one of them;
but as it was almost time for the train,
refused my permission, and ten or
fifteen yards from the track, sat him
down at the foot of a tree-thc maple
wonderland babe him remain there
until | called him.
The time for the train came and
passed and still Ito signs Oft. Igrew
nervous and did not notice my boy.
Minute after minute passedaway, and
at last, when / began to be certain
thst some accident had occurred, it
hove in sight just five minute before
the express was due, which | knew
could not be more than two miles be-
hind. | saw at once the cause of the
delay the train was unusually long
and heavy, and the engine number
forty-two, which the fireman had
christencd old Rickety,' was the
worst OH the road. The switch was
ali ready, but the train moved so slow
~ that the last car had barely left the
main track, when | heard the whistle
OF the express, and the next she
1,-.lo1 .La la,1 o4 frl -nnn1
knew that | didn't have TOO much
time to get the switch in position, and
went at my work with n will, when
suddenly l heard a child's scream and
turning round | saw little Willie
struggling in the water. For an instant
the sight of my child's danger over
powered every other consideration
and | sprang for the river; but before
I'd got half the distance the hoarse
whistle OF thc approaching train rang
in my cars like a trumpet, and
thoughts of my duty, hundreds of
lives that would he sacrificed if l
deserted my post went like a flash of
lightning through my brain, while
all the time there was a feeling about
nv heart | can't tell in world only
knew il was worse than death--be-
seeching ne TO save my boy.
1.-The whole thing couldn't have
lasted more than two seconds; and
how the one feeling got the better of
the other / never knew. have no
recollection of turning back, but the
next thing | remember i was at the
switch working away like mad.
had such strength. l felt that
| could have wrenched up the rails i'm
my agony, and bent them like a straw
and yet | did not seem TO see any
thing distinctly, neither rails or ties
but timly and vaguely, ss if in a
dream, or at a great distance.
'What | did see as plainly as | do
now, although it was behind me, was
The clear and beautiful river, flowing
OH in the morning sum-, and in the
midst of il my little Willie, struggling
for life, while the bright cruel waves
smote him in the face and laughed.
l had no care for the roaring of the
nearing train; but all i heard-or
seemed TO, for l can't rightly say
were his cries 10 his father for help,
growing fainter, and fainter, and then
the horrible bubbling sound, as he
sank finally, and his last breath found
its way to the surface.
AT length the switch was in posi-
N--I So rl,a.. IL -