Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-06-27
vHE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS STORY.

II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS STORY.
DO We have many accidents hero. sirsa
MCll, no bEt of one ] could tell.
ii You wouldn't mind heHri2g The story.
| have cause to remember it we'll!
You soc how the draNbridgc swings open
When the vessels come in from the bay.
When Tho lightning express oYies along, sir,
That bridge mast be shut right away!
Yoa SOC how it's worked.by the windl.ss,
A el.iil. iii. could manage it we'll
My brave little ct.sr used 10 do it,
l}ut that's part of the tale / must tell.
1t is TWO wears agoceme the autumn,
shall never forget it, I'm, sure;
/ WAS sitting Mt work in tho house there.
AND The boy played just outside rho door.
yea must know that the wages 1N Getting
lfor The work on she limo ARE :aot great,
SO ! picked up n little shoenahing,
AMI ! manage to live ut that rate,
WIS nouudins a.&av on my l~aDstcna,
And ainsjng Is blitilc rs could be:
Keeping Time with the tap OF my hummer
ON tie work that / held at my knee.
Ard Willie, my golden haired darling,
Was tying atnil on his kite:
His cheeks all nglow with excitement.
And his blue eyes lit up WITH delight.
When the telegraph bell vt the station
Ram. oUt ~tile'cXpress ON it's way,
Az right, father shouted my Willie.
"Eeinclnho., I'm pointslnan today
! heard the wheel turn at the windlass,
J heard the bridge swing on It's way,
And then came II cry from NY darling
that filed my poor heart With Qlsllay.
"Ee p~father oh, help mo- he shouted.
| s,,rnlg through the door with Il scren!n;
His clothes had got caught in the windlass,
There he hung DER the swift, raging stren1n.
Aud there, like u speck in the distance,
lsaw The fleet ou-colnimg tram;
And the bridge TINT l thought safely fastened
Enclosed and swung backward again.
/ rushed to my boy ere l reached him
He fell in the river below.
I saw his bright curls on the water.
Borne.awny by the currents swift flow.
Isprang to the edge of the river.
But there was the on-rusl,ins train;
And hundreds of lives We're III peril
Till that bridge was refastened again.
1 heard Il loud shrek just behind me.
l turned, and his mother stood there,
Looking just like Il statue OF marble,
With hor hands clasped in ngonlZed prayer.
Should leap in the swift flowing torrent
While the train went nendlong to its fate,
Or'stop and ~refasten the drnwbridge,
And 60 to his rescue too late?
L lOOkeu III lily Wlle,u LIZ SIG whispered,
With choking sobs stopping her breath,
~Do your duty, and Heaven will help YOU
To save our OWN darling from death"
Quick as thought. then. / flew to the windlass,
And fastened the bridge with Il crash,
Then just as the train rushed across 1T
l leaped in the stream with & splash.
How l fought with the swift-rushing water,
How l battled till hope almost fled,
But just as / thought l had lost him,
III, tod hic Ivy, t1,t ppIlAn hnn1
How ! eagerly seized on his girdle,
AS Il miser would clutch ut his gold,
But the snap of his belt came unfastened,
And the swift stream unloosened by hold.
He sank once again, but I followed
And caught at his bright. clustering hair,
And, biting my lips till the blood came,
swan with the strength OF despair!
We had got to the bend of the river,
Where the water leaps down with q dash.
J. held my boy tighter than ever,
And steeled all my nerves 1of the crash.
The foaming and laundering whirlpool
Engulfed us, l struggled for breath,
Then caught on a craS i'll the current,
Just saved, for q moment, from death!
And there on the bank stood his mother,
And some sailors We're tlinging u rope;
1t reached us at last, and l caught it,
For l knew twas our very last hope.
And right up the steep rock they dragged US,
1cannot forget to this day
How Iclung TO the rope, while my darling
In my arms like u dead baby lay.
nddow on the greensward l laid him
Till the color came back tohis face,
And oh, how my heart beat with rapture
AS I felt his warm, loving embrace!
There, sir, that's my story a true one.
Though it's far more exciting than some,
1t has taught me Il lesson and that is,
do your duty, whatever may come"