The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1900-12-10
Bill Hrp'S L.etfer
-yvritte, for The Weekly Constitution. }

(Wrtte1 for The Weekly Consttution)
Home again and happy. Children and
grandchildren met me at the depot and
escorted me home. where bountiful sup
per was awaiting, and / asked the same
old blessing that / have been asking for
| fifty years. only II was with unusual graf
!tude. for j had been in perIs of wind
and water and escaped them. / was
weary with long travel, and now / could
| rest. | left New Albany at midnight,
| reached Birmingham at daylight. only
five minutes late. and had five minutes
/ time to buy ticket for Poll City, and
/ from there | was to board the East and
West for home. How happy 1 was. But
/ alas! for human hopes. How soon they
can vanish into despair. There were
about a hundred big. black. greasy negro
preachers ahead of me at the ticket Of
| flee. Their Baptist convention had been
| broken up, and they were going home on
! the southbound train, and had an hour
| to go on, but they would not let me adj
vance an inch. / hurried back to the
gatekeeper and begged him to let me In
for my train was waiting, and | pointed
to the crowd of negroes and told him IL
was impossible for me to get ticket Ha
said he was sorry but he had his orders.
| hurried back to make one more effort.
with q back as broad as barn door. had
dropped a dime the floor and half a
dozen were down hunting for IL. l hailed
the ticket man, but he never heard or
needed me. Frantic, / rushed back to tho
iron gates. and saw my train slipping OH
like snake In the grass, and that Official
automaton would not let me pass.
"'Gainst orders" he said Blackstone
>says there is a remedy for every wrong
but there were no railroads In his day,
or he wouldn't have written those lines.
I had no remedy. and there is none.
What could I do? No train for Pell city
for twelve hours, and none from Pell
City for my home for twenty-four hours.
| was so tired and so disappointed that
I sat down to ruminate on my valise. L
was weak and sad and pitiful, for there
IS no disappointment so distressing to mo
as being left by train when going home.
Just then drummer, God bless hiTa!
came up and spoke to me. and said, MY
friend. ! am pretty much i'm the same Tx
you are, but we can so by Chattanooga,
for the Alabama Great Southern Is an
hour late this morning It's schedule is
t. leave here thirty minutes before we
arrived hut II has not come yet. and We
have half an hour to get our tickets.
Those preachers are nearly al out of the
way now"
/ rose to my feet I saw how II was,
and that / would lose only one hour I'm
getting home. In my heart I revived. and
like David whispered BLESS the Lord.
O my soul"
We got our tickets and in four hours
were IN Chattanooga, whore ] telegraphed
my wife. Hold the fort I'm coming
And so "An's well that ends Well and
10 thanks 60 those who manage that
f,.,,, N oh 2
But ] found the cutest little narrow
gauge railroad N Miss sSipp that ! have
seen in many years. 7 didn't know there
was one left. 1t is called The cur anu
Chicago railroad. but they began to build
it I'M the middle many years ago and built
sixty miles ara quit. You can ride az
day on it for $50. II doesn't seem to
have any schedule. and the folks along
he line iust walt for It and seem con-
tent They say. wen, its our road; it's
all we've got. and they do the best they
can" The owners are clever men ana
VII wait on You half an hour If you tel
epnone them. They are very accommo-
dating. especially Going south, for they
have no connections 20 make. boar'i-
cG that train az Blue Mountain at p.
M tcs .poutotoc wheee ' was to lecture
that 'Ierft at 1850 O'Clock. q was ouly
thirty miles, bu; We didn't get there unti
N-Ia - COCK, ana my duOt'hce N4lil GIVE
up tho ship. They said IL was their road
their only road-and they knew its pecu-
liar ways. We stopped when within three
miles Of town. and after half an hour or
So 7 asked what was the matter ana
was told that the steam had given out.
PEI re that the train stopped IN the woods
somewhere and then began to back. 1
vcnturcd to ask what was the matter
ana was told that the brakeman had
dropped his cob pipe and they had gone
back 10 look for it. But it was a rail-
road and I had no right to complain. fOr
| remember when there was not a rail-
road in the United States. When l was
seven years old | came from Boston 10
Georgia overland in carriage with my
father and mother ]. 200 miles, and We
never crossed a railroad. for there was
not one To cross: and now there are 1885,
00O miles in these United States. No.
am happy on the way on any railroad,
even If it is thirty miles short and four
hours long. II beats the old stage coach
a long ways. | tried a buggy team from
Ripley 70 Blue Mount only a siX-mllo
drive, and Ike to nave got drowned. I got
fundamentally and dstresSinglv wet l
shall wait for the narrow guaSe next
time. ON. that cyclone. ] haven't quit
telling about 70 yet Next morning n man
who was i'm il and under il and on top OF
it said he went out TO shut his mules up
i'm the stable and before he could say
Jack Robinson. IL picked him up ana
turned him a thousand somersaults. ana
while he was turning he heard his mules
a brayius in the air above him. Gentle
men" said he. that are a fact. If I ever
told it; and the thing just let me down in
jimmy Joues's potato patch as easy IS a
woman lays her baby in the cradle
That college at Blue Mountain IS a mar
vel TO me. II was founded twenty-five
years ago by General Lowrey. a great
b'g hearted man. who. like Ben A3hem,
loved his fellow men. II was at first a
high school for the benefit of the poor
girls I'm the neighborhood and expand
cd into a college. When he died his sons
and sons in law took charge and con-
tinued to expand. and now there are 300
girls there: over 200 of them are board
ers al $l2 per month. The others live in
cottages near by and board themselves at
a cost Of about s. a month. for they do
their own work. Large handsome brick
buildings have been built and more are
being built. Bountiful springs from the
mountain side furnish abundant pure