The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1900-12-26
friehted worknen and the assault Ct
o;,os oolu ceome6 70 madden the

fire engines only seemed to maoden e"c
rage Of the monsters that rose up to &C.
vour all thst came within reach OF their
chain. Up aloog the walls and through
the doors were pushed hands that
snatched down all they could reach and
bur]ed it into the abyss Of flame be-
Dcsth. The windows of the toTer
would light up for minute with a
wild glare ard then darken, as though
fcr6s with streaming locks OF fire bad
come to gsze on in laughing mockcry
at all human attempts aud then sunk
again into their native darkness. Wlih
crsckle and rosr and crash the focr;
tumbled. The roofs began here aud
there to blossom in wresths and vines
of fame Up and down the pillars ran
serpepts Of FIRE. Out from the windows
great arms snd fingers Of fame were ex-
tended, as though destroy ed spirits were
begging for delivevance The tower
put on a coronet Of flames and staggered
aud fell, sparks flying, the hremcn es-
Gaping, the terror accumulst'ng Books,
maps, rare correspondence, autographs
Of kings, costly diagrams burned to
cinder or scattered for many rod
upon the wild wind, to be picked up by
the excited multitude. On, it seemed
like some great funeral pile in which
the wealth and g?ory of our land bai
leaped to burn withit consuming treas.
ures. The heavens we're blackered
with whirlwIuds of smoke, through
which shot the lops red shafts OF
calamity. Destruction waved lis fiery
b.nner from the remsiuing towers,
and in the thunder offallug beams and
in the roaring surge of o.llo1lng ire |
heard the spirits of ruin and desolation
and woe clapping their hands and shout
ing, "Ahsl aha!
turned snd looked upon the white
doue of yonder capitol, which rose
shrouzh the frosty sir IS imposing as
though all the white marble of the
earth had come to resurrection and
stood before US, reminding one OF tine
grest white throne Of heaven. There
it stood, unnoved by the terrors which
that day had been kindlsd before 1t
No trenor in its majestic columns,
| no frowp on its magnificent scu pture, no
fush ofexcitementip its veins OF marble.
Column snd capital snd dome, built to
endure until the world itself skaters IN
cosvulsions Of the last earsE q1ske
o.. what a contrast between the smoS-
ing ruin on the one hand and that gorge
Gus dream of architecture on the other!
Well, the day speeds on when the
srandest achievement of man vii! he
consumed and the world will blaze
Down will go galleries Of art and
ashes Of consumed greatness and glory.
Not one tower left not one city uocCn-
sumed, not one scene Of grandeur to re-
lieve the desola.ion. Forests dis
nasted, seas licked up. continents sunk
hemispheres snnihilated, Oh, the roar
| aud laundering crash of that last coz,
hsgrstion! But from that ruin OF a
blazing earth We shall look up to see
the temple Of liberty and justice rising
through the ages, white and pure and
grand, upscsrred and uushsken Found,
| on the eternal rock and swelling into
| domes Of in6aituie and glory, in which
the hslieluiahs Of heaven have their
| reverberation. No fame of humsn hate
shall blsckeD its walls No thunder Of
internal wrath shall rock it foundations.
By the upheld torches Of burning
worlds We shall read it on column and
srchitrave and throne Of eternal domin
ion, Heaven aud earth shall pass
away, but truth and liberty and justice
shall never pass swav