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.
dow 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 80. when
was a little mail boy-and had to ride
the mail from Lawrencevllle to Ros-
| we'll, twenty-four miles and back In .
day. Friday wa- my day, rain or shine.
cold or hot. and my mother cried when
father helped me on the high drome-
Diary horse that morning; but l was
bundled up good, and had warm wooden
socks over my shoes aud q Ialr OF
home KNIT mlttens on my haud> and q
WOODEN comforter crossed around my
neck and ears. | thought could stand
it, for was young aud tough, and full
of blood, aud had been raised to work
in the cold aud 10 chop wood and to so
to mill, and my father always said that
boys who were raised easy would be no
account and die hard. l made the trip
to Roswell IL good time, but II was
growing colder and colder, and the
drizzllns rain had turned into sleet.
For ABOUT an hour ! sat by the post
masters fire and got thawed He urged
me to stay all night. and said | would
freeze to death on the road; but I 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
reins for home aud held on to the hOrI.
OF the saddle. He was a fine traveller,
and paced up hill and down hill all the
sane. 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 ID the shelter Of
the covered bridge q few mInutes and
cn,cI v-oo yntt,n~ oolonr f"r ~, ci nnf
had blown under me on the saddle and
got into my socks. A feeling of alarm
came over me, for my fingers were
numb aud my feet too. Desperately |
ciucked to the good horse. and away
he went, for there were yet sixteen
miles to make, aud the blizzard was on
i'll earnest and it looked Ike the dark
ness of night had almost come. Mile
after milo was left behind, aud I felt
that we could make it; but al! of sud
den, when [ got to Falrview church, l
realized that 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 stirrnps or
not. | 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 Ut
to the back door | almost fell into their
arms, and my hand was wrenched from
its frozen grip on the saddle. [ remem
Der that, for it was the cold Friday,
aud the next day was colder. | was
rubbed with %turpentine and oil and
tenderly nursed, aud 10 q 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 wood.
and chickens on the roost. I dom
know whether these thermometers arr
any advantage or not. The other morn
ing | got up soon and made q FIRE il
two Dom aud then won't out to th,
c%oalhouse to get more coal for upstairs
| noticed that the back hall floor anC
the steps and platform cracked strange
ly IS | walked OF them. and l felt tina
1t was ~cold-very cold but | neve,
looked a. the thermometer for half al
hour. and It was : degrees below zero
got colder Immediately. for l hat
never seen the mercury that low be
fore. My opinion Us that 10 degree,
above zero is about as cold as 10 de
-rees below If YOU have no Their
mometer. | cant ~reailze the DIFF
ference, and that is the rea
son why our northern brethren max,
60 little fuss about weather 80 aud I
degrees below the marx. 1t is like tn,
engineer who WAS called IL by q rail
road committee to give his oplulo,
about speed. They asked him if it wa
more dangerous to run fifty miles a.
hour than forty. He said no. Ca
yoa rua sixty as safe as f%orty:' ''Yes,
SAID he. How about seventy Q
e.1Htv2 Jus: - safe a. fortv," h
SAD. "for II you Jump the tack q, for,
von VII 20 70 the devil, and that is q
TAR as YOU can get al 10 miles AZ hour