The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1897-06-29

the supper table, this sal ntly man pour
ing out his soul in prayer for our alllic-
ted laud, and for his helpless family,
the pleading tones Of thai gentle voice
were suddenly stopped by terrible
| banging on the door, aud the shrieks Of
/ the cook, Master. Master Judgment
! day Is come The world Is burning
/ up That prayer was never flushed
/ The frightened crowd "f women and
children rushed into the ward 20 find
the sky seemingly ablaze from horizon
most to zenith. 1t aid look like that
dreadful day OF wrath had indeed
come. After few minutes survey Of
the glowing heavens, my uncle Sail
quietly; 81 think it is Columbia burn
ing" n Il short time he succeeded in
quoting that crowd Of hysterical wo.
men and terrOr-strickon "darkies." :"
Can one OF us ever forget the horrors
of that night? The memory of it is burn
ed into the brain there To remain while
live lasts. 1t WAS impossible t0 forget
the lurid glare OF the sky, the terror OF
the negroes, the awful gloom that set
tied on our spirits AS we realized that
Columbia, the pride OF the State,
the gem of the South, Columbia, with
It's avenues OF stately trees, its heauti-
ful homes and dc ightiul gardens
Columbia with lis cVergreeus, its fOuu
ttins, its wealth Of flowers was perish
Ing IN this whirlwind Of fire. Even to
my childish mind came some rcaliHa.
t!on of the awful calamity, for we had
spent the previous summer in this YER
liable earthly paradise, and had re-
yelled in its beauty and delights
Inc next day Il courier came, con.
irming our belief that Columbia was
burned, and reporting Shcrman's army
as starting in ou, direction. Then the
lear seized the people that the same
unmcrclful torch was lighted for our
lair town ocOnfusiOu reigncd many
He'd, taking with them servants anu
valuables; many determined to STAY by
their homes till the last. AS my unclc's
nome was the most prominent building
In town, an most likely TO attract AZ
tentlon' he thought IL most prudent to
scatter out, among the families Ia town
for the night, his helpless family of wo-
men and children. Feeling sure the
house wouli be plundercd, il not burn
cd and, that, like the people OF Col
uinOla, we would have left only what
cl )thlng we wore: We did our best al
converting ourselves into animated drv
good stores. Several suits OF under
clothes were put on every child. and
two or three dresses in fact, lust as
many as could be buttOncd on. What
'uhHS HS ufcS we must nave made \ y
doubt looking like the Dltch maidcns
ol New AmSLcrdam whose wealth was |
counted by the number Of skirts they !
wore. And such funny time we had |
at night. Unable TO turn our uuwicld- |
ly little bodies in bed, when we could |
no longer endure one position and |
wanted 10 turn over, we had to yet out |
on the floor ANA get in bed again on the |
other side. After three nights Of this |
torture, word came that the Confcd- |
crate soldiers had burned the bridge |
across Broad river, whose waters ilOw-
ed between us and the dreaded foe. and |
that the frcshet in the river made il
impossible to throw Il pOntOon across:
and great was the rejoicing ut this tenn.
porary dclivCrancc. Before the waters
had subsidized the tide of the war had
ebhed, and Lee had surrendered.
When the yankees came. it was to
march quietly into the town to take
possession as garrisan. From the
'front.' windows Of our homo :hc vic;Ori-
jhs troops were watched by 4 crowd OF
eager, wondering children two Of /
whom could not help feeling in their
hearts mild disappointment that thcir
athletic exercises In gully jumping had
been all In vain, and :ha. the formid-
Iole yankee were only -otuiurs in meat
blue uniforms, inst lad oi soldiers in
Jagged gray. l.. a. NJ.