Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1879-08-24
Little Refugees.

Git yer feet in thar, double up, and
keep still; git under that feller's seat.o
etc., was the fragment Of speech which
circle Of passengers heard last evening
on the Illinois Central. The voice was
muft1ed, and look under the seats re-
vealed nothing. The train had passed
several stations, when the voice was
heard again giving orders to some invis-
ible passenger. Another look proved as
fruitless as the first, but the mystery was
soon solved, after passenger had his
coat tails pulled and requested to hang
his buster over the backs of two seats
which were turned and formed an arch.
Looking through he saw bootblacbs
box, and then the form Of the owner of
the box huddled up INTO space hardly
large enough to contain an ordinary pair
OF boots. "What's the matter?" asked
the passenger. "Just put your coat over
that seat-that's the matter The pas
senger did so and the sinner was again
happy. When the train reached Dun
leith be crawled from his place of con-
cealment, and going to the next seat
aroused a little fellow and told him to
come out as the conductor would not be
around any more. The pleasant appear
ance Of the boys had the effect of draw
ing several Of the passengers into con-
versation with them, and it was a
pitiful and sympathetic story that told of
their trip from Memphis to the north.
While the Oldest was busy polishing shoes
the youngest was telling his story Of their
leaving the south and coming to the far
north. Last year, he said, mother and
father and sister caught the yellow fever,
and after being awful sick, v it'll nobody
to watch them. died while brother and
)! were in the house asleep. In the morn
ing I woke first and hearing no one speak
got up, and in going to the room found
all OF them dead. told brother, and he
did not know what to do, as people were
dying so fast that every body was taking
care Ct the sick ones and not botherinC
themselves about the dead. After CRYING
hard he went out on the street and found
man who said he would send around the
collins. When the man came he Rad only
one large box i'll which he put mother.
father and sister, ana that " as the last of
them. We could not leave the CITY as
men watched us, and we had to live alone
for many days. Whenever we heard
wagons pass the house VIC knew some
body else had died. After the fever
had gone out and all the people COM
menced to come back, we made bar
gain to leave the South if it should ever
come again, as we were so afraid of it.
Just little over a week ago it was said
the yellow fever was again coming, and
that some had died. This frightened US,
and we started for the train, as we knew
we could never leave after the fever got
fairly started. When we got down to
the train they were so full that we did
not know what to do, and as we were
going out bootblack told US he knew
how we could travel, and he showed US
the place you saw us in. That is the
way we rode all the way from the South.
After the young man had completed
his story he was asked if they never were
caught. Caught? yes, four or five times.
On one road the brakeman kicked and
slapped US, aud we had to walk to the
next station. Some conductors were
good to US, especially the ones on the
western roads; they never hurt us, only
asked US to black their boots, and wanted
to know where we came from and where
we were going.n This ended the story
of the two little refugees from the South.
and the last seen Of them they were eat
ing u hearty meal at the Julien House at
the expense Of some kind stranger.