The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-06-24
ONE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE.
One Survivor Of the Six Hundred in
America.
Thomas Morley of the Death or Glory
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS of Balaklava
Forty Years After.
Copyright lsa4.)

city who carries about with him enough
thrilling memories to stock the lives of
a few hundred ordinary citizens with
recollections of war, glory and disaster.
This is Capt Thomas Morley, the only
man in the United States who rode in the
famous charge Of the 900 at Balaklava. He
was sergeant in the English cavalry in
the Crimea, afterward recommended
by Gen. C. F. Havelock to our army, an
instructor and a captain of cavalry in the
northern army through the war. Here
he saw plenty of hard riding and hot
fighting and was prisoner in Libby for
a year.
Last June it would seems as though ex-
perience woke up and said, why, there
is Tom Morley living peaceably along
nothing unique has happened TO him for
half life time" and looking over her
stock Of assorted novelties to find some
thing that would eclipse Balaklava, put
him in the fated building known as Ford S
theatre. He was at work there when an
economical administration was under
mining il to put in an electric light plant
so it could get more work out of it's en-
ployes, and incidentally dumped few
hundred Of them down with a few tons of
debris, from the third floor to the cellar.
Later in the summer of 1893, when the
scattered remnants of the records and
pensions division had resumed work in
another building, the elevator got out Of
order, and Morley narrowly escaped hav-
ing his legs cut off by that, which would
have evened him up on his limbs, as his
left arm had been disabled in the war,
and the right one was badly hurt in the
fall of the building. However, his usual
n dnEnrfpd m
and he escaped with some bad bruises
and cuts, about which he made little ado.
When he got home and had to pour the
blood out of his boots, he WAS glad they
were not his best ones, and went about
his business as soon as possible.
There Is one peculiar thing about Capt.
Morley's experiences. They are all
mixed up with some other persons mis-
takes. The charge of the Light Brigade
is perhaps the most famous episode in
the history of war. 1t was thing that
sent thrill of pride, wonder and pity
around the world. Some one had blum
dered." There was no Tennyson to crys-
tallize the sentiments reused by the
Ford's theater disaster into a famous
poem, but that one line fits both occasions.
When prisoner in Libby he was com
PEELED TO be vaCcinated, and the stuff was
a poison that nearly killed him. Fate
egregriOus mistakes, but one thing has
been demonstrated, he was not easily
frightened. Capt. Morley is a dignified
man without any airs. His memory is
wonderfully distinct, and he talks in a
very interesting way about his adven-
lures on the rare occasions when he re-
fers 10 them at all.
DISASTER WORSE THAN BATTLE.
Capt. Morley was asked the other day
If there was any similarity in his sensa-
tions in the falling building and in the
terrific charge of the 600. He answered
promptly:
mo. There is no comparison The
feeling under fire and in disaster is en-
tirely different. l could not say how
many times in my life l have been under
hot fire. The charge of the Light Brigade
was far worse than any other battle. but
] never thought about being killed. OF
course knew the chances were
that | would be, but 1 never stopped
to think about it. We were in
action, and we did what we had
70 do. To tell the truth, | don't believe
was ever really frightened until was in
the Ford accident. don't mean in sense
that was in danger, but real physical
terror
There was one time during the war
here when / had most peculiar sensa-
ton. II was the night we lay in Libby
prison knowing that powder had been put
in the building under us with the inten-
ton Of blowing up the prison If Gen. Kill
patrick made his proposed raid into Rich
mond TO set US free. l did not sleep any
that night and dare say there are a good
many men living yet who remember il.
III you want to compare queer sensa-
tions put that in. We knew the train
was laid all ready to light, and we could
not help being afraid somebody would get
drunk and fool with it, even if there was
no alarm of Union invaders, just to see
how the thing would look going up in the
air with ! 200 of US in the fireworks. It
was case of waiting all night for train,
and being glad to miss it. OF course we
hoped all the time that things would turn
out just as they did, and while il was a
slckly sort Of night it was nothing like
the feeling when the building fell,
when felt the floor giving way be-
meath my feet, and heard all that crash
OF falling walls, and screams
of men l had a distinct sinking
never felt before. 1t comes back to me to
some extent when l recall the affair, and
don't believe any man who was in that
building when it fell, will ever be free
from some nervous trouble.
81 shall never forget how Lotus looked
Just the instant before the fall. He beck
oned me TO come to his desk to get some
letters, and l started toward him. and
was about three feet from him when the
floor sank and he went down and was
killed. | was very close to a window and
jumped for that and caught hold of the
sill with my right arm, and as the floor
gave way beneath my feet | held on. I
could never tell just how l got out
through the window. but | had lot of
letters under my left arm and kept them
with me. My left arm is disabled any
way, so | must have pulled myself out
with my right. A shower of bricks, tiles
and debris struck me, from above. For
tunately none hit my head, but they
broke a belt / wear, which saved
my back TO some extent NV right
arm and shoulder were badly bat
tered up. There was a second or so in
which | saw clearly the men, and everv
thing sinking down in front of me. and
the desks and men coming down with an
the rubbish from the floor above Then
the cloud of dust shut out everything and
filled my nose and eyes. The first sound
l'heard was like CARLOAD of crockery
being dumped down overhead. The floors
were tiled, and the sharp, cracking
sound they made as the tiles crashed To-
gether was almost more distinct to me
than the roar of the fall which sounded
50 loud outside the building. BY the time
i got outside the window. on a ledge
about four inches wide, there seemed to
be no noise but moaning and screaming
from the inside.
81 walked along the ledge, and climbed