Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1890-12-20

SSA1fTl1tSrl%>
xxEyyNNSS72& he had an empty
WAiG, y Man stomach, but its an
"' insult on top of an
injury to expect half-starved man to con-
tent stomach and brain wi cruelty SER
mons. He never drew bluid from the text.
Joost all a piece O. fiowry language,
without MAR soul or religion int than
you'd draw from pump. If he had put
a bit heart int, but seen there was
neither heart nor brain in it, what good
was all the fine words2 They say he has
a good delivery-the Lord deliver us
from such vanity in long words. People
who call in the doctors to help them
whet their appetites may be satisfied wi
that kind o preachin', but people whose
wits are taxed as much as their muscle
to keep body an soul together want more
substantial food than Mr.. Barnes brings
to the market. If we are starved i'll this
world, that's no reason we should be
pinched in the next. But along comes
Dir. Barnes wi his fowery sermons, his
cambria linen, an his hair banged, an
tells us that if we are thin bluided here,
we ought to be thankful an satisfied, be
cruise we are prepared to go where we Ii
have no bluid at all.
A silence fell upon Sandy Reas audi
ence. Many smiled, aud one OF two
laughed outright at his quaint speech.
1t WAS chilly morning; the dense fog
rising from the river obscured the sky.
The lamp in the railway station revealed
men in soiled, worn, ill-fitting, patched
and ragged clothes. Grimy, scanned,
knotted hands clasped dinner pals.
Faces lined with care; unshayed, full
bearded faces; serious, sad, resolute and
apathetic faces.
1t was on a morning ike this, when a
pail hung over the busy city, and the at
mosphere was laden with fog and scot
blended into a yellowish murkiness, that
Shuttleburg was shocked by an over
shadowing calamity. From the midst
of the dense fog flashes of light shot
'orth at times throughout the morning;
toLgues of fame assembled from the mill
stacks; eyes of fires winked in the fog
bank, and dull, yellowish glares of light
were projected horizontally as the furnace
doors were opened. A babel of sound
arose; the changing of iron against iron,
the ringing of mighty anvils pounded by
gigantic hammers, the dull, muiiled
sound of the iron rolls, and the ceaseIess
clang of iron falling on the cooling plates
was borne from the river side up and
over the beethug cliffs
On that dull October morning, when
the wheels were whirling fast, and the
iron workers, stripped to their waists
were bathed in perspiration, sound
smote the heavy air like the crash of
worlds. The iron workers, momentarily
stunned, instantly comprchended the
nature of the disaster Every man and
boy who had sense and strength sought
safety in flight. In the headlong rush a
puddler seized boy in his fight, and
ran with him to the side of the building
A portion of the bursted boiler in its de
scent cut the roof of the mill as though
it were made of paper; the falling tim
bers caught the mau and boy, and before
they could be extricated, the man
breathed his last. The boys right arm
was lacerated from bis shoulder to his
elbow; 9uivering muscles and bone were
laid bare, horrible sight, more pitiable
than the headless trunk of the engineer
lying near the boy and the dead puddler.
Physicians were there in abundance
there was no lack of surgical skill, or
sympathy for the victims of the explo-
sion and the families of the bereaved.
The calamity that desolatcd a score OF
homes fell heaviest upon the Dunns Lit
tie Jem Dunn, who, when the surgeon
began the work of removing the cinders
and splinters from his arm looked stead
lily into his gaping wounds, then calmly
at the surgeon and said: Don't tell my
mother till it's over lost his father and
eldest brother by the explosion. An
/ other brother the surgeons thought would
be crippled for life The end of a boiler
wrecked the walls of the house the
Dunns occupied, and the dead and
wounded members of the family were re-
moved to Sandy Rea's house. Jem's re-
covery was rapid. The toilers in the
mill attributed it to his extraordinary
pluck.
The great tide of sympathy that flowed
out to thevictims Of the disaster, TO the
credit of Shuttleburg let it be said, as
sumed practical shape for time. The
charitably inclined promptly honored the
first draft made upon them when the ex-
tent of the calamity was known. But
when all was done that concerted action
could accomplish, the future of the Dunns
was uuprovided for. John Dunn, {
CHEEKY, handsome fellow with laughing
blue eyes, and a spirit that nothing could
subdue, entered the mill one day, and al
the end of six mont'ls reviewed what
seemed horrible dream as he tried tC
sit up unaided in his chair. Among the
wage-workers in the adjoining mill, many
quietly aided Sandy Rae, who placed one
of his rooms at the disposal OF thC
Dunns, ''until they were better provided
for" But this itful and unequal contrl
button simply emphasized the necessity
of action insuring uniform and perma
nent provision. How to provide for the
Dunns was problem that puzzled all il
terested in the family. The surgeons a
the end of year shook their heads whel
they examined John Dunn, and SPOKE
vaguely of the recuperative qualities Of
famed waters in the Old World. Ever
the wit OF Sandy Rae, considered one o
the shrewdest and best informed men ii
the mill was not equal to the emergency
To borrow his own phraseology, hi
''pond had run dry, an there were ths
fish to look after still.
1t was at this juncture that the Rever
end Barnes, newcomer, announced h
would preach a sermon which he hoped
would allay apprehensions expressed con
corning the Dunn family. Mr.. Barne
chose to interpret the fears and doubt
expressed as a reflection upon the AL
mighty. He resolved to discharge hi
duty by reminding the friends of thl