The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1892-08-11
THE BOTTOMLESS PIT.
%NAs Tale of an Old Mans Strange
S&N Presentiment.

n
tell you, no good will come of
It," declared Uncle Hiram. '.You mark
my words, that railroad can't no
more go through the bottomless pit
than it could-well, no more n it could
the one the Scripture speaks about Il
WASH ynamed for nothing, | can tell
you. Many and many's the time my
fathers lost cattle in that swamp, until
1t was fenced in"
The surveyor, who was q young man
with a great deal of Importance and
confidence in his own knowledge,
shrugged his shoulders and continued
squirting through his instrument across
the piece of marshy ground which re-
joiced in the appellation of "Bottolnless
Pit We boys were considerably more
: impressed by Uncle Hiram,s words
than the surveyor. He was Uncle Hi
to every boy in the village and we had
always felt great respect for his opin-
ions; but the surveyors Indifference to
his prophesy rather shook our conf
dence in the good old man.
Perhaps the unwonted excitement of
the laying out of railroad through our
quiet village rather turned our heads,
for we began to furtively doubt in our
minds If Uncle Hi was really correct in
his opinion. The Bottomless Pit to us
had always been place of mystery. 1t
was welllSnown fact that strange
creatures such as giant water snakes,
eyeless fish and Shiny, scaly looking
lizards had been captured within it's
marshy confines, and more than score
of cows and horses turned out to pas
ture had wandered into it and been lost
in the quagmire.
Uncle Hiram had lived within a
stones throw of the swamp all his life.
In fact it had once been part of the
tract of land owned by the old gentle
mans father, and we had listened so
many times to Uncle His tales of
unfortunate travellers supposed to have
been lost in the Bottomless Pit, and of
the strange. creatures inhabiting it,
that we came to look upon it as almost
enchanted and peopled with all the
dragons that were supposed to have ex-
listed in the age of chivalry.
As soon as Uncle Hi heard that the
proposed railroad was to cross the
swamp hesprophesied its failure. Even
If it could be temporarily filled In and to
all appearances made solid, he declared
that it would still be dangerous. He
was so greatly exercised over. the mat
ter that he, took trip to the city
(something he had not done before in
ten years. for the purpose of warning
the officials experimenting the new en-
terprise. They listened to him respect
fully, but paid no attention to his ad-
vice, considering it simply childish
within of the old gentleman's. In this
nineteenth century there are few diff
culties which human ingenuity and
mechanical genius cannot surmount.
Finally the tracks were all laid and
the branch line connecting the city
with town some miles to the north of
us was in running order Uncle Hiram's
prophecies were forgotten by almost
everybody, we boys included, until one
day, at the dinner table, father said:
Poor Uncle Hiram is still harping
on the old idea of the insecurity of the
road bed over the Bottomless Pit.
Johnson, the station agent, told me
shat the old gentleman has been to see
the superintendent of the road and
begged him to establish flag station
at the edge of the swamp and keep
nan there night and day to watch the
track. OF course the superinte ndent
wouldn't do it, for there is track
walker for that section of the road as
we'll as any other. So what is Uncle
Hi about to- do but build cabin for
himself near the swamp and watch
over the track himself. Poor old man,
he's fast breaking up, I'm afraid"
But isn't that part of the track dan
gerous?" asked mother.
mo more dangerous than any other
portion" said father, decidedly, and SO
the matter was dropped.
A week or SO later, AL Reynolds and
/, while returning from days fishing,
went around by Uncle Hiram's new
house. 1t was cozy little cabin, built
substantially and was quite as cheer
full inside as the old farmhouse in
which he had lived SO many years.
perhaps I'm foolish old man" he
said, when we spoke of his reason for
living on the edge of the swamp. sit
won't be very good for my rheumatic,
mebbe, and the land is malarial but |
can't sleep or eat in peace for thinking
Of what would happen il the track
should sink some night One of them
fast trains might be wrecked and every
body aboard killed.'r
We couldn't laugh at his fears-he
was too much in earnest. He looked
Ten years older than he had when we
$ had last seen him, and both AL and i
left the cabin with the feeling that
Uncle Hi would not last much longer.
Pedestrians, belated at night, often
spoke of seeing the old man, lantern in
hand. walking up and down the track
across the pit, examining each rail as
carefully as though he was regularly
employed by the company.
The winter passed and spring came
with its flooding rains The streams
and ponds in the vicinity, fed by the
rain and melting snow. rose higher
than ever before. The Bottomless Pit
was now. lake with an island of cat
tails and flags here and there, and
water being but foot or two below
the railroad track.
For two days, heavy storm, accom-
panied by considerable downfall, had
been blowing from the northeast, AL
and / started out late one afternoon
supposedly to take survey, Of the
havoc wrought by the storm. but really