Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1877-11-28
ray, he no sooner ceased fighting the


devil than he turned his weapons against
his old master !; and on no account did
he owe SO strong gruage, and fight 80
vehemently, as on the score Of intern
perance; YET to his mind there was
nothing figurative in this warfare. He
fought the old serpent as really, and
worsted him with as much exultation,
as ever he had felt in thrashing fellow
mortal. Nor was this a freak of INSANE
ty, or, if it were, it had not prevented a
great moral revolution in the mans life
and disposition ; and. besides, he was
In everything, save these visionary con-
tests, steady going and shrewd man
of business. 1
One pitch-black night, IN the early
spring, when the roads were so bad
that he would not take his horse out
he trudged home on foot, distance q
five miles, to attend an evening prayst
meeting. His wife, little vexed to SEQ
him said that it was scarcely worth his
while to come so far after days work
to a meeting where there would not be
more than two women and child or
two. His reply was
Nov, Annie, you know very well
that Satan'll be there to see who comes
and who doesn't; and it i'll becomes you
to be taking the divil's side agen me.
Where'd We have been an I'd stayed in
his sarvice? AM didn't come all the
road this night bekase knew if didn' t
he'd be thrapin' it on me for a month,
that I'd done more nor that for him
many's the time? ?"
He was not fond of referring to the
days of his mad career, and whenever he
did so, or if by chance the subject was
preached, a solemn horror would seem
to seize upon him. His eyes were pref
ty sure to give quick, upward roll, the
eyelids would flicker, and the lips utter
some such exclamation as ''Glory be to
God praise the Almighty ~ in rev.
erential undertone.
Two or three times he was heard to
thank God earnestly that his hands had
been keptfrom blood-guiltiness ''and,"
he added, Il hardly know how miss
ed 1t, ayther, for 1 was up TO livery
diyilment."
Once only was he known to repeat an
incident Of those days of darkness, and
this, too, with some humorous percep-
ton of the ludicrous.
1t was on a Sunday afternoon. He
was sitting apparently Eliminating ana
muttering to himself, as was his wont,
when, uttering gurgling little laugh,
he said:
Before the Almighty opened me.
eyes, l didn't know, nor stop to think,
muck about what 'ud be plain to Him;
but one Sunday thought l done Him
good turn. was purity dhrunk, an l
hard poor chap of a Freedman
BLOWN a thrump Ia jews -harp] and 4
licked HIM for BLOWN the thrump on
Sunday. Wasn't that Satan reproyin'
sin ?n
He was not IN the habit of recounting
his battles with the enemy to every ear,
and was not by any means garrulous.
He was, on the whole, dlgaified in his
general intercourse with his fellows, and
among his apprentices and journeymen
he was every whit master. True, while
at his work, he not seldom rolled his
eyes, heaved signing prayer, or per-
haps muttered, snapped his fingers aud
laughed but he made no explanations
there, and none of his workmen would
have presumed to notice such eccentri-
cities. However, Notwithstanding these
oddities, it was little less than miracle,
in the estimation of many Of his old ac-
quaintances, to see the formerly drunk
en-, brawling rowdy settled down into a
peaceful and industrious citizen, always
cheerful, never trifing, and all bis
quarreling, even his scolding, confined
to that ''ould fellow" He was very
kind hearted, and not only neighborly,
but generous to fault. He would at
any time sacrifice his own convenience
for others, but never his conscience.
At that time, and in those parts, it
was customary to raise the frames of
buildings by means of eoncourse Of
friends and neighbors, denominated
raising bee, this bee generally ending in
a drinking carouse. This was a state
Of affairs not to be tolerated by man
of his principles and caliber. yet the
custom was so deeply rooted that no
man could, without mourning the odium
OF stinginess, refuse to provide liquor on
such occasions. Mr.. Orr was, there
fore, driven to seek out some way Of
raising his buildings without outside as
sistance. To this end, he introduced
the machine called a tackle, which did
away with the necessity Of a raising
bee, and thus he banished alcohol from
his domains. Thencetorth he would
take no jobs where his tackle Che pro-
nounced iD was not accepted in the
contract =; and for tbs, even years,
he threw that tackle at the DEVILS
head, as his most demolishing weapon.
He was no speech-maker, but he
would 60 far and near to give his testi-
mony against the evils of dram-drink-
ing. and he grudged neither time nor
toll to further the cause of temperance.
Whether or not he ever felt any re-
turns of his old appetite for drink was
known only to himself, and what fierce
uprising of deepseated, long-indulged
evil propensities were disposed OF in his
w =, n ~,