The age-herald., 1900-08-05

Excluding, also, the story of railroad wreck, by one of the survivors, will be ! found of deep interest.
 E s"Can you take the early train tomorrow for Columbiana to receive the award of Tadge Byrd, the arbitrator in the--- eases ?"
 9This was the inquiry Of the sen'or- mem Der of our law firm, and Of course, noth , rg being in the way. my reply was "cer- tainly I will go." Early the nex: morning. after a nasty breakfast, I met .he judge and opposing counsel at the railway sta Hon, and was soon speeding rapidly to- wards the county seat of Shelby, about seventy miles above my home. Captain yohn White, now of Birmingham. was one ef the opposing counsel who accompanied us.
 5zt The broad fields either side wsre white with the opening fleece, not yet, ! However, so white as they would appear a Ettle later when the foliage of the plant should be killed by the frost; then, indeed, you'd there be the appearance of anow cut of its season and latitude. Her. and there squads of pickers could be seen, and their merry hal has, could be heard above the din of the moving train; to the light were the rising hills covered with i. hne old Hong leaf" pine, on the low grounds to the left, stretching far towards the winding creek, were the autumn tinted forests, allowing only liere a peep Of q Tumble cabin, or there more preeentious dwelling on the rising ground beyond the stream Here, nestled close to the road, amid a park of beautiful trees, We pass watering place, with It's white cabirs now nearly deserted, except by the few so- burners, who are impatienrly waiting for the welcome frosts that woul1 make it safe 2 fo return tO the lower conn
 The hillsides on either hand now be- came rougher, and more oroKe1; often lhe stunted brushwood pushes itsels forth ire m every "corner and rocky chink;" here, : through a narrow valley, and running across our way is tiny and now peaceful stream; and it was of sufficient size or < beauty to have been named by the red men in the long ago "Waxahatchee" lun- like my old friend Judge Heflin, am not sufficiently versed in Indian lore to give the interpretation. The stream was now nearly dry, but just here before another day should dawn there was to be enacted an awful tragdy.
 All of the incidents I am now about to , relate remain indelibly stamped upon my mind. It was on the 3d of September, 1874, that I had left my home The award of the arbitrator referred to was to decide sev eral important and much litigated cases that had been taken out of court and re- ferred to him.
 Because of the importance of the sub jects, and the amount involved, the senior member of our firm, as well as other prom inent counsel, had given these cases much of their time and labor. This senior has long been, and is now, the senior Senator from Alabama in the United States Senate; one of the other counsel in these cases on Our side Is now the junior United States Senator from Alabama.
 The little town referred to was then To- cated upon what is now a part of the great Southern Railway system. Judge Wm. M Byrd, our arbitrator, was man over 60 years of age, who had for many years been a prominent figure in our part of the State as lawyer, and later as a judge of the State supreme court, until his suceessor was elected under Reconstruction" laws. He had a fine and commanding presence, was tall and stately, and a man of court1y manners-in fact one of the old-time southern gentlemen, and a pillar in his church among the laymen, and as I was quite young man then, had that rever- ence and becoming respect for him that is quite usual for the younger members of the profession to entertain towards those so much older and more experienced.
 The award was read at the courthouse, and our clients. who were present, were pleased with the result, and one of them furnished me with a good sized check with which to compensate the arbitrator. we sojourned for the night at the little hotel and were up before o'clock the next morning to take the return train that was due to arrive about that hour.
 Just before stepping on the train handed the check to the arbitrator, Judge Byrd and took from his a receipt. l can see him now as he adjusted his gold spec tacles to write out that receipt on desk in the railway station. At that season of the year at >a- m. it is very dark AS we got aboard, we discovered that the train was quite crowded with persons re- turning from their summer trips, and near ly all of them were asleep-this was a day coach; there was no sleeper on this line.
 Walking in front, toward the rear end of the coach, I found a gentleman wide awake; he was a man with one leg, and with kindly nod he said: "One of you can share my seat" Of course, as I was . young man, I turned and asked Judge Byrd to take it, and he did SO I went for ward again and took seat next to Henry Wilson, then of Montevallo, and just be- hind the brakeman, and very near the door; there were no air brakes In use on this train at that time.
 We had run rapidly about two miles. and had reached a bridge over the creek, that was about fifty feet above the creek bed. My first sensation was a humping under heath: 1t was bump bump" I saw the brakeman jump for the bell cord and pull it, and then there were horrible sensations I felt that there was great crash, and that we were going down, down, very rap idly and at the same time we were turn ing over, and it seemed to me that all or the seats had been torn away. and that each of them was falling on me. In the meantime every light had been put out, and there was the blackest darkness tnag1n- able Then we struck bottom right side up with tremendous force, and then heartrend- ing cries, deep groans and piercing screams rent the air. Women cried Tor neip from their husbands. One or two men who were less injured than any one else, as was afterwards discovered, were full of groans, if not so full of wounds.
 The confusion amid the darkness can be better imagined than described. Fortunate ly the conductor was uninjured, and after a time he and the trainmen made light nor was it long before the eastern sky be- gun to show the first gray streaks of light, to be soon followed by rays from the sun itself, and yet these moments seemed hours to us.
 But to go back little; when I began to pick myself up and pull myself together, I discovered that the roof of the coach just