The Brookhaven leader., 1890-11-27
w. G.. T. L.
\ Report Of the National Con-
veutiOn at Atlanta.
writ,rn rdr the Brookhaven Lender.l

filled with delegates AMI vI-itois' Al
the first stroke of tho clock MtSs VII
lard arose from lrer chair and an
nounced that the seventh annual con-
veution of the National Woman ;
Christian Temperance Union was open
and called the delegates to order.
Rock of Ages was sung, Crusade
psalm read and the great throng bo"
ed with ore accord while "Mother
Wallace led in prayer. Delegates
from thirty States aud Two ter
ritories aggregating 80, responded to
roll call, this being n larger attend
ance at the opening than at any PIE
vious convention. The appointment
of committees aud other routine work
filed the mornings session with the
exception Of the introduction tn the
convention of some distinguished per-
sons. among whom were "MOther
Stewart" Who stood with "MOtheT
/ Thompson all during that memorable
winter of '73, which gave birth to the
Temperance crusade in OhiO-the
mother of the Worlds ". c. T. T.,
whose loval members to-day number
800. 900; Mr.. w. Jennings DemOrest
of New York. editor of DemOrest' S
Monthly, the originator of the "Dem-
crest Medal" plan of temperance work,
having already given in medals sill
yer. gold and diamond, $12, 200 to the
temperance boys and girls of the
world; Miss CUrnelia Dow, daughter
of Gen. Neal Dow, the father of Pro-
hibitiOn; Elizabeth ComstOck. "the
Quaker" was led to the front by An
ma Gortlam. Miss Wizards secretary,
and introduced. To many of us this
little woman in the striking dress of
the people of her faith and order was
most interesting; and when, after be-
ing seated on the platform she remov-
ed her black bonnet, revealing the
.'glory of gray hairs" and the white
muslin cap of the olden time, aud
drew from her hand bag her knitting
and sat there during the deliberations
of the convention knitting away as
quietly as if in lser own corner ut
home, our interest increased. When
'-the spirit moved her. to speak, she
''knit to the middle of a ueedle,' roll
ed the stocking, replaced it in the bag,
stepped to the front and spoke her
well chosen words so distinctly as to
be plainly understood.
Miss Willard delivered her annual
address to an audience of more than
one thousand people on Friday after
moor.
She spoke beautifully of Georgia
and her illustrious sons, chief among
whom was Henry Grady, the bare
of whose name awOke pro-
longed applause. But" said she.
"King Alcohol is enthroned in the
realm of King Cotton, and Atlanta's
proud meek has once more come under
the yoke lifted for brief space five
years ago" Georgia is, however, the
banner prohibition State of the South,
having local prohibition in 100 of her
1871 counties. This address is a grand
resume of the work of the past and
bright hints and hopes for the future.
So concise and pnre is Miss Will
Iard's style that it is almost impossible
to Gull without destroying the effect,
but this one illustration l must give
you:
About four weeks ago horrible
catastrophe was averted on the Lake
Shore and Michigan Southern railway
by the steadiness and daring of En-
gineer John Burns, of Buffalo. His
express train was on the down grade
and going at the rate of fifty miles an
hour. He saw truck and freight car
on the track ahead behind him in his
train were 80 passengers. To stop
before reaching the obstruction was
impOssiblej to jump would save him
self alone; in an instant he resolved
to share their danger and their desti-
NY. So he put on all the steam and
opened the sand pipes that the engine
might get firmer grip on the rails.
Forward raced the engine, throwing
the truck aside and cutting clean
through the freight car and debris.
Steady was the brave mans hand
upon the lever, and the moment he
had cleared the obstacles the engine
was reversed and the air brakes set in
motion. AS they entered the wreck
the sides were torn out of three
coaches, and the screams of frighten-
ed passengers rose high above the
screeching of the steam. The engine
was dismantled, the engineer covered
with cuts and bruises, bat every life
was saved. Exeitedly the people
gathered around the engineer and en-
braced him, for they knew that he
had risked his life to guard their own.
There are distractions on the track
of humanity, where the good old en-
gine of temperance is whizzing ahead
with daily accelerating speed. Par
tisan n-partisanship is the truck,
and high license the cumbrOus freight3
the National WOman's Christian Tenn
perance Union is the fearless engi-
neer; some cars have lost splinters,
and one or two had their sides torn
Out-hut this train ia pOinO throuoh