The Burke County news. [volume] (Morganton, N.C.) 1899-1901, 1899-03-03
IIaks About the Cold Days of Sixty
Years Ago.
WHEN HE CARRIED THE MAILS.
how he Came Near Freezing Story Told
Him by a Main Name, Where Mercury
Was 20 Below.

[ remember-yes, I remember the
cold Friday and Saturday Of '59. when
| was q little mail Eoy-and had to rlle
the mail from L~awrencevllle to Ros-
we'll, twenty -four miles and back In .
day. Friday was my day, rain or shine,
cola or hot. aud my mother cried when
father helped me on the high drome-
Diary horse that morning; but | was
bundled up good, and had warm wooden
socks over my shoes aud q PAIR OF
home-knlt mlttens on my LaudS and a
WOODEN comforter crossed aroun my
neck and ears. | thought l could stand
it, for | was young aud tough, and full
of blood. and had been raised to work
in the cold and 10 chop wood and to so
to mill, and my father always SAID that
boys who were raised easy would be no
, recount and die hard. | made the trip
to Roswell IN good time, but 1t was
growing colder aud colder, and the
drizzlinS rain had turned into sleet.
For about an hour | sat by the post
masters fire aud got thawed He urged
me to stay all night, and said | wou.d
freeze to death On the road; but [ knew
my mother would imagine | was some
where dead on the way and be DIS
tressed, and so the postmaster helped me
on the old dromedary aud | gave him the
J reins for home aud held on to the horn
OF the saddle. He was a fine traveller.
and paced up hill and down hill all the
same. BY the time | got to Gregory's
bridge, on the Chattahoochee, [ was
pretty we'll clad in ice, and the horses
main was q solid sheet and his ears
were full. stopped III the shelter Of
the covered bridge q few minutes and
found | was getting colder, for the sleet
had blown under me on the saddle and
got into NV socks. A feeling of alarm
came over me, for my fingers were
numb aud my feet too. Desperately [
CLICKED to the good horse. aud away
he went, for there were yet sixteen
miles to make, aud the blizzard was on
in earnest and it looked like the dark
ness of night had almost come. Mile
after milo was left behind, aud I felt
that we could make it; but all Of y sud
den, when [ got to Fairview church, l
realized that 1 had about lost feeling,
Tor / coullent unclutch my hand from
the horn of the saddle and [dldent know
whether nv feet we're in the stirrups or
not. l was only two miles from home
aud my good horse paced On. They
were looking for me-my father and
mother-and as the horse rounded up
to the back door | almost fell into their
arms, and my hand was wrenched from
it's frozen grip on the saddle. [ remem
Der that, for it was the cold Friday,
aud the next day was colder. | was
rubbed with %turrentine and oil and
tenderly nursed, aud ip a few days was
ready for another trip. We had nc
Thermometers then, and there is no rec.
ord how cold it was, but l remember
that birds were frozen in the woods
and chickens on the roost. / don
know whether these thermometers arc
any advantage or not. The other morn
ing l got up soon and made q FIRE il
two rooms and then won't out to tht
coalhouse to get more coal for upstairs
I noticed that the back hall floor anc
the steps and platform cracked strange
~ rs | walked or them. snd l felt tina
it was ~cold-very cold-but l neve,
looked at the thermometer for half al
hour, and it was : degrees below zero
got colder Immediately. for l ha(
never seen the mercury that low be
fore. My opinion is that 10 degree,
above zero is about as cold as 10 de
grees below If you have no Their
mometer. [ can't realize the diff
ference, and that is the res
eoA WHY our uOEtutEu UIclQ[oQ max
so little fuss about weather 80 and 4
degrees below the mark. 1t is like tn
engineer who was called IN by q rail
road committee TO gI-e his opluio,
about speed. They asked him if it wa
more dangerous to ruu fifty miles q
hour than forty. He said no. Ca
yoa run sixty as safe as forty eyes.
SAID he. How about seventy Q
e.ghtv2 Jus: as safe a. FORTY" b
sad. for II you Jump the track q, fort
Won VII 20 70 the devil. and that is a