The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1870-02-04

} just five dollars among the four Of US
and, after staying there two weeks,
I we were i'm for = tavern bill Of about
twenty dollars apiece.
GLOW 10 get Out OF the place had
come to be question, and serious
one nj that OF course we hadn't 8
f. friend-what nigceT-singer ever has
when he's ia . tight place.
''I, for one, wanted tad 10 get away
} for Christmas week was common, and
! I'd determined to be at PittsbuTg fOl
my Christmas dinner. Pm native
Of the Iron City; and besides, I'd been
p:omised an engagement at the Pitts
burg theatre. 1t was before tho days
I Of rail: and staging IL through from
+. Tuscumbia, tO say nOthin' Of the bil
Owin' at the hotel, was simply out O
the question. SO, stranger, | think
/ you'll acknowledge l was in a fix"
''Indeed a very awkward one. And
how did you get out Of it,"
''That's just what Pm gOin' to tel
you. ! guess you'll grin when you
hear il. Tve made a good many spill
their sides laughin' at it."
"No doubt I'll do the same"
"Well; Pm tol'ably clever at gettin
out Of fixes anyhow; and il wasn't the
first, by long chalk, I'd come cleal
of. As YOU say, this Tuscumbia scraps
was an awkward one. But was bOuni
not to let il beat me; and determined
upon eating Christmas dinner witt
my friends. ! took to hard thinkin'
how / should get a0Eay from Alabam;
the meanest State / ever set foot in
"WeIl, mister; an idea turned up
( that promised me a free passage
Twas this. While nigger-singin
through the South, I'd got to know
something of Niger ways; and now
and then had come across some of tht
wiser kind of darkeys, and got into
| their confidence. They looked upon
me as a man and a brother"
Here the ex-melOdist interrupted hi:
narrative to laugh at his own jeu DIES
pTi.
'WeT," he continued, "frOm them
I'd learnt a good deal of the under.
ground railway. Isuppose you under
stand what that is?"
'fNOt very clearly, though I've heard
something concerning it."
"I'll tell you, then, all about it.
The underground railway was run
by a set of men, who were friendly tC
/ the nigger. Most of them were Quak.
ers and abOlitionists, who were set.
| tied in the South; and some were
wealthy planters too. They formed a
sort o. federation, for the purpose Of
encouragin' any nigger that wanted
to run away; and when he had run
away, they helped him along till he
! got clear out of the slave States, when
! of course, ne was free. They managed
| the thing by keeping him hid all day,
and at night stOwin' him away in 8
wagon, or some other sort of trap
among their goods. and so passin'
! him along from one to the other, til
| he was safe across the Ohio River, and
therefore on free soil. But at time
Pm speakin' of the underground
rail had to extend itself leetle furth-
er than the banks of tine Ohio. You've
| heard of the EXtradition law, which
| reck'n, stranger, wer'nt very cred.
liable o. legislation on the part of Un.
/ Gle Sam"
began to like the nigger singer, but
said nothing.
"Well," continuedhe, without heed.
| ing my reticence, "whatevcr may be
yOal. opinion of it, PUe got good reas.
on for gGin' against it. 1t cost me Z
Journey / don't want ever to make
! again; and by it / was not only chOus-
ed out of my Christmas dinner in
Pittsburg, but my engagement At the
! theatre"
GLOW was that?"
"You see, there were several lines
of the underground railway, all rum
min North through different sections
of the South, and endini
at the Ohio River. But after the Ex-
! tradition Bill had been passed, the
rnnaways WANT safe unless carried
on into Canada, where they'd be sure
of British projections: l knew the
Britishers only protected them to
breed bad blood between us, as is
proved by what they've just done to
their own darkeys in jamaica"
"Quite true" said, my respect for
the low comedian growing stronger as
he proceeded. 'In all history there
is no such instance of sham philan-
thrOpy as that prOfessed by Great Bri-
tain on the question of negro slavery.
II is not necessary, perceive, to dis
cuss it with you. Please continue
your story"
"WeII, stranger; Pd learnt through
an old darkey of Tuscumbia of an un-
der-ground line running from that
place, and also who was the nearest
depot manager on the rOute-a good
old Quaker who had a plantation
about ten miles northwest from town.
az made up my mind to play runa-
way nigger, and go north underground
az couldn't tell where they would
carry me; but supposed l should come
out all right somewhere on the Ohio
River, and might there get a boat up
to Pittsburg.
al took Joe Collum into confidence,
and proposed for him to run away
along with me; for I'd heard it was
not uncommon for two darkeys to go
together.
"But Joe wasn't up to the idea. Al
though he wanted bad to go North
most as much as myself-he got
scared about risking 1T, and stayed in
Tuscumbia. As for the other two fel-
Iers, they were both good-for-nOthing
cusses; and didn't saya word to them
about what 1 intended doin.' 1 was
afeerd they might fetch me into a
worse scrape, than that was trying
to get clear of; and preferred travel
lin alone.
"And the way 1 made preparations
for my journey. That, stranger, would
have tickled you. Talk of maxim up
for a concert; that WANT nOthin' to
il. cut my hair close, as if7t had
been shaved. / was afeerd the ends
of il hanging down under the wool
wig might betray me. | corked my
self with care, goin' far below the
nape of the neck; and then, with bit
of hog's lard, gave the skin polish
that would have outshined any dar-
key in Tuscumbia.
IA small bundle was sufficient for
all my effects; and, to tell the truth,
it contained most of 'em. Whatever
was left behind might go against my
bill; though / guess the Tuscumbia
Wi the reckOnin'.
"On stealth away from the hotel, in
the dark of the evenin, with my bum
die stuck on n staff over my shoulder,
| reck'n 1 must have looked very like
one of them pictures you used to see
in the New Orleans Picayune, headed
Runaway Negro
~ put straight for the plantation,
which I'd been told was the depot of
the Underground
There was no mistake about the in
formation. The old Quaker was at
home, and at once took me in charge.
He 'thee'd' and 'thOu'P a little, but
asked no troublesome questions. He
had no suspicion of my bein' white
man; for there wasn't much light for
him to examine me. If there had, it
would have been all the same; for my
makn-nn NnmId hnNn Stnnl sharnpr