The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-09-11
A HEROIC LITTLE BOY,
Pluck and Nerve of a Lad In the
Mountains of Tennessee,
From the Chattanooga Times.

OF tennessee.
From the Chattanooga Times.
There recently appeared in the columns
OF the Times a brief account of a water
spout or landslide which occurred in the
mountains of Hawkins county few days
ago The public, in hurredly reading the
account of this calamity, no doubt gave
the matter but passing thought, as an
event OF frequent occurrence, and did not
realize in any sense, unless by actual ex-
perence, the devastation wrought, the sor-
row brought, or the heroism frequently
displayed in a calamity of this kind
A gentleman who resides in the negh-
borhood visited by this death-dealing tor
nado related to me few days past the
destruction that was wrought the lives
that were swept into eternity, and particu-
larry the matchless bravery displayed by
an eleVen-year-old boy during the scene
of devastation and death
But short distance from Bays noun
tain, Tenn, where the counties of Suhi-
van, Washington, Hawkins and Greene
corner, and upon the side of mountain
known as Sandstone Ridge, nestled the
humble home of the Comptons. The house
was a two-story log structure and the
family consisted of Roe Compton, his aged
mother, Charity Compton, his wife, Fran
ces, and nine children, the two eldest of
whom were daughters, aged about eigh-
teen and twenty years.
A short distance below the house In
front was a branch, which during the dry
seasons went perfectly dry, but during ex
cessive rainy spells became a raging cata-
ract. ~
In the rear of the house the land sloped
gently upward for a short distance, when
1t began to rise abruptly, and almost as
far as the eye could see this ridge or noun
tain rose grandty to the summit, where
Ii lowered above the home of this sturdy
mountaineer Many times had he watched
the storm king beat freely against its
craggy sides, as for the mastery, while
he sat In his humble house, surrounded by
his loved ones, in fancied security.
On the night of this fearful storm the
Compton family retired with no thought
of the impending calamity. The husband
his mother, and the two eldest daughters
occupied one end of the home, while the
wife and seven other children slept In the
apartments of the other end.
During the night members of the family
were awakened by the fury of the tempest.
The thunder roared necessarily, and the
vivid flashes of lightning shot in at the
partly screened windows of the house and
lighted up the interior almost as light as
day.
Down in the ravine in front of the house
the waters began to rise rapidly They
sides and the valley in perfect waves, and
seeIhed and surged in their fury. The
water was up within few feet of the
house, when far up on the mountain side,
in the rear of the dwelling, huge boulder
which possibly had been anchored there
for centuries, left it's moorings and came
crashing down the mountain side. Here it
would strike a tree and uproot IL; there it
would strike another rock and start il
rolling, and gathering strength velocity,
and additional destructive elements in the
onward sweep of death and devastation.
This death-deahng mass of debris struck
that end of the building occupied by the
husband, aged mother, and two eldest
daughters. Together with the huge logs
that went into the erection of the building,
they were swept into the seething torrent
OF wafer in front of the house, and were
either killed by the falling tlmbers or
were drowned outright When the bodies
of these four unfortunate persons were
found the next day, miles below where
their home stood, they were mangled al
most beyond recognition.
The mother and seven little ones who
occupied the other end of the building,
Jared better, but went through an expert
ence of terribleness that but few of man
kind are called upon TO endure. This mart
of the house was entirely wrecked also
What must have been the anguish of the
crashing down upon her little ones? For
tunately the force with which the other
end of the building was struck threw this
end almost out of the water, else instead
of four, your news item would have re-
corded The death of twelve persons
When Jimmy Compton, aged IL was
thrown roughly from his bed, and awak-
ened by the falling timbers, he did not be-
gin to cry, as 80 out of every 100 bows
would have done He began to act at
once. With nothing on but his night
clothes, almost drowned by the torrent
of rain that was falling, with the thunder
roaring and the lightning flashing, and
amid a scene that would strike terror to
the hearts of the stoutest men, little Jim
my began the rescue of his little brothers
and sisters. He could hear the wailine
of the little ones above the roar of the
tempest During the flashes of lightning
he rescued them, quoted their fears with
a gentle voice, and led them to the barn
near by for shelter and safety While
looking after the little ones in the barn
and during the interim between the roars
of thunder, Jimmy heard the voice of his
mother as If in distress. Instantly he
again ventured out into the fury of the
tempest to look for his mother.
where are you, mamma?" Jimmy
shrieked; but the roar of the thunder
drowned his voice, and there was no an