Weekly graphic. [volume] (Kirksville, Adair Co., Missouri) 1880-1949, 1882-12-08
History OF . Ryna.

4
semi-centennial meeting Of the Presby-
terian synod of Missouri, in st. Louis
two weeks ago. memorial services
were held which brought out personal
recollection of incidents full Of local in
terest. DR.. J. ]. Marks related some
thing Of the early struggles of the
church in northeast Missouri, among
other things speaking Of the difficulty
which occurred at the Greenfield camp
ground, near Philadelphia. in Marion
county, resulting in the stabbing ofDr.
Bosley, by William Muldrow, and the
subsequent flight OF DR.. David Nelson
to Quincy. Through fear of the mob
DR.. Nelson and several others started
for Illinois. but upon reaching the bot
tom found it flooded from a sudden
rise in the river. His companions
went to Hannibal to cross over and
come up on the Illinois side to Quincy
while he remained upon the river bank
to wait until they could come after him
with skih.. For two nights and day
ne remained there alone, and during
the silent watches he composed a hymn
which thousands hereabouts have sung
without knowing anything of the local
character ofits authorship. The hymn
will be found in all the old books and
IN some of the new ones. The first
stanza and the chorus are as follows:
..ay days are swifrly gliding by,
And I, pilgrim stranger,
Would not detain them rs they fly.
Those hours of toll and DANGER
.'For now we stand on Jordan's strand.
Our friends are crossing over,
And just before the before the shining shore,
We may almost discover
DIR. Marks thinks that the peculiarly
pressing circumstances suggested the
theme, and the lights from Quincy
flung across the dark waters to the min
lister in his forest covert, the fact that
his friends had already crossed over,
and the incidents connected with the
dreary situation put into his mind the
language found in the hymn and Choir
US. The disturbance and flight from
the meeting was in 1896. and the hymn
is known to have been in use since
near that time. DR.. Gallaher, who
heard the incident related inclines to
the belief that the version of the matter
as given by DR.. Marks is correct, though
Mr.. ]. w. Bohon, who is familiar with
the circumstances, inclines to The be-
lief that the hymn was written by DR..
Nelson before the flight from Marion
DIR. Nelson died in Quincy more than
a quarter of century ago.
The principal proceedings in the
Memphis, Missouri, court last week,
says the Keokuk Gate City, were the
damage cases against the Wabash
railway. The most important case was
that OF w. A. Tucker, who lost leg
at Plano, Iowa. by jumping from a
moving train, falling with the limb on
the track. The wheels of the car pass
ed over it, laming him for life. He
brought suit for $4,000. After hear
ing the evidence of the plaintiff Judge
Turner held that he had no case and
had it stricken from the docket on de-
PENDANTS motion. One OF the peculiar
features of this case was the fact that
after Tucker had recovered from his
injuries Superintendent Armstrong
offered to give him position as gate
keeper at the intersection Of the Wa
bash and C. B. & O. tracks at Abba,
with salary $45 per month. Tuck
er refused to accept unless Mr.. Arm
strong would give him written gauran-
tee that he should hold the position for
life. This Mr.. Armstrong could not
do and Tucker brought suit, with the
result stated above. The Wabash did
not appoint gate keeper at Abba and
saved $500 by the operation.
The next case was that of John Lun-
non, who was driving across the track
near Memphis, when a train running
at the rate OF twenty miles an hour
struck him. The pilot of the engine
caught the rear end Of the wagon and
hurled the team, wagon and horses
down an cmbankment a distance Of
forty feet. Lunnon vas thrown against
a board fence. The horses collided
with the same fence with such force as
to break it down. The crossing at
which the accident occurred was in
deep cut and was considered danger
ous. The suit was for $4,000. The
ury brought in verdict for $3.50
The other case was that of a Mr.. :
for 5000, damages for the
light of way across his land. The jury
eturned a verdict for the railroad.