Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1898-09-29

). Mills of Crystal City. and the Rev.
l.. +. Potter OF K5rkwood. Mrs. Thorn
son entertained all the visitors and a
large number Of the Valley inhabi-
tants at VALLEY Home" on Wednes-
day afternoon, but the weather turned
1t into house party instead of lawn
party as had been intended. We
greatly regret to hear that the Rev.
Mr.. Potter met with an accident on
Thursday evening while out riding.
His horse slipped under him and he
sustained an injury TO his ankle but
was able to leave for home on Friday.
There appeared in the September
number of The Railroad Telegrapher an
account of the meeting of the tele-
graphers in the Valley last month.
| The signature to the communication is
a nom de plume. but we are very much
inclined to the opinion that the author
is Mr.. j. l.. Brierton, our popular and
versatile night operator, who is now
on a vacation marveliing at the sights
and wonders of the Omaha exposition,
and will also take short trip through
the famous corn fields of Iowa before
his return. Following is the commun-
ication as it is published In the Tele-
grGpher: ''At the suggestion of our
General Chairman, I. w. Barron, the
Local Board of Adjustment arranged
what Brother Wilson called an i'm
formal meeting. for the purpose of all
the Missouri Division boys getting
better acquainted with each other,
meet the new General Chairman and,
in fact, have a nice, social fraternal
gathering. The meeting was held at
Arcadia, Mo-, Sunday afternoon, Aug
ust 9TH. Among those fortunate
enough to be present. were: General
Chairman Barron, st. Louis; r. S.
Wilson, Poplar Bluff; }. H. Tucker,
Piedmont, and j. l.. Brierton. Ironton,
Local Board; also, l.. A. Nichols, De
Soto; f. B. Inner, MiddlebroOk; L.
t. Seitz, Piedmont, and L. III. HALEY,
of Poplar Bluff. Brother DeMier, the
popular agent at Arcadia, an old-time
Order man, was not able TO be with US
on account of his heavy duties at the
Office. which ali regretted very much.
In order that the visitors might have
an opportunity to view some of the
sights of the Arcadia Valley the
committee in charge of the affair had
previously arranged for a drive, and
promptly at 2 o'clock a swell rig in
the shape of a wagonette drove up,
well stocked with light refreshments
and cigars, and attached to a splendid
team of greys. All climbed aboard,
and we were driven through Russell
vile. the pretty little city of Ironton,
then northward through old historic
Pilot Knob, with its old fort still stand
ing as a reminder of civil strife. A
beautiful drive of five miles more
brought US to Graniteville, little viii
lage that certainly deserves its name.
as there was nothing in sight but
granite. A branch line connects these
quarries with the l. NJ. Railway at
Middlebrook, and the building material
for some of the largest buildings in st.
Louis have been shipped from these
quarries. The Elephant Rock was
visited and admired by all as one of
the most wonderful freaks of nature
we had ever witnessed. The cave OF
Sam Hilterbrand, the notorious south
east Missouri outlaw and bushwhacker,
was next visited. Some wonderful
tales were told by Tommie Seitz about
Sam and his cave-and, as operators |
never lie (Y, we swallowed everything |
he said. After we had all squeezed
into the cave through the rather small |
entrance, and while Nick was getting |
off an old stale Dewey joke, we heard |
an unnatural sound at the entrance |
and, upon investigation, it prove to be |
Brother Tucker, wedged tight and fast |
in the aforesaid small entrance. with |
his 225 pounds avoirdupois. Wilson
volunteered to sing a song, and the |
very thought of it drove Tuck to re-
newed energies and. as consequence,
US poor unfortunate prisoners. much /
to our relief, soon saw daylight once
more. After viewing other points of
minor interest, we drove to Middle
brook, where several of the boys had
friends and relatives, then back to Ar
cadia, over another and a very inter-
esting route. As we passed Brother
Immer's beautiful home, on our return
trip through Pilot Knob. we were
agreeably surprised to be each pre-
sented with a lovely bouquet of flowers
by Brother Immer's parents. About
$50 P. n. we pulled up to our hotel at
Arcadia, and dinner was served. At
ter fully satisfying our inner man, we
adjourned to the log cabin in the
hotel grounds and, over our cigars,
discussed matter for the good of the /
Order In fact, the entire afternoon
had been a beautiful combination of
business and pleasure; and not for
minute did the meeting lag in interest.
Our only regret was that more of the |
brethren were not able to attend, as
all those who were present pronounced
1t a grand success, both socially and
fraternaily, and all joined in voting |
that another meeting of like character
be held in the near future at some |
other convenient point on the line. A
vote of thanks was rendered Mr.. w. I.
Donnelly. chief dispatcher at De Soto,
for relieving and furnishing transpor-
tation to those who wished to attend
the meeting. Regret was expressed |
that Bros. Mahanay and Boggs of st.
Louis, were not able to attend. All of
US were delighted with our new Gener-
al Chairman, and the business-like
manner in which he has taken hold of
the Orders interest, and feel that we
should be congratulated upon having
the services of such an experienced
man as Brother Barron. The mid
night trains arrived sooner than we
were expecting them, so rapidly did
~ in