The weekly Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1911-1922, 1911-12-28
SEES AN OLD CONRAD
Old Memories Revived In Cumber-
land Mountain Region-Plym-
outh Boy Met At Knox
vile, Tenn.

st. Augustine, Fla, Dec. Fl, 1911.
Editor Republican:
| Will give you a few details OF
our trip since leaving Plymouth. We
left on the l.. E. & W. 500 p. m.
and arrived at indianapolis at 9:45
From here we took the 3:i5 a. m.
Big Four for Cincinnati, arriving
there at 7:30 in the morning.
We attempted to get out on the
500 a. m train for Knoxville, but
on account of a cave in of the tun-
mel near Covington, had to cris-cross
into Newport to get around, and 1T
was after 300 O'Clock when we got
started. From Covington TO Paris,
KY, the way was over my first ten
months Of campaign as soldier,
after the Kirby Smith raid on Gin
cinnati In 1862.
The towns are much changed, yet
/ could see many familiar things
about them. At Paris we started
for the Cumberland mountain region
on road built since the war. They
are now making it a double track.
There were construction gangs all
along the line from Covington blast
ing and excavating. We went through
thirty tunnels from Covington to
Knoxville. The scenery was grand.
Coming out of a tunnel over can
yon, turning around spur, We could
not see the bottom of the gorge from
one side Of the car, nor the summit
of the mountain from the other side.
There are many camps where min
erals are being nined-coal, iron and
tin mines. Little shanties were
perched up against the mountain
sides. l told wife that they would
not dare run after the children or
they would fall out of sight.
There are numerous spurs to take
on lumber from lumber mj Is. At
Corbin, a lumber station ghere a
conductor, boy reared at r.ymouth,
side tracked his train for the fast
train, bad accident occurred. The
conductor went into the station for
orders, leaving the train with the
brakeman. They we're all ready to
switch the lumber cars back onto the
train as soon as the fast train had
' passed. The men In charge thought
they had time TO do it before the
fast train came-but were caught.
killing the engineer and several
others, and wrecking both engines.
The conductor was laid off for six
months but is back on again as extra.
We stayed all night with him at
Knoxville. His name is Edward
Biddle. He married Mrs J. E. Price s
sister, Anthony Schell's daughter.
John Baugher lives ten miles west of
Knoxville.
We had snow and ice all the way
to this place, and it froze quite hard
the night of the 9th. In the morn
ing 1 looked up the address of an
old comrade of mine with whom ]
eft, bled and died'0. In this
locality there are good many of our
comrades resting beneath the shade
of the trees.
Wife and / started out on foot
The morning was grand-the sun
shining brightly We breathed in
that pure mountain tonic which one
cannot get anywhere else that tastes
as good as here, 400 feet above the
sea. Well, we met, and it was the
proverbial "yaller dawg," where the
person being long from home met
an old acquaintance, saying, I could
just kiss a yaller dawg from oul
home.
We neither Of us knew how silly
we acted-the wives not much better
We just had good time, a good
dinner and had to sing some Of the
old songs together. Ny comrade went
with us to q. S. cemetery where 9
great many Of my comrades are
buried. Here there are 400 graves
marked unknown" with markers
six inches square. We have a serg
cant Ferguson buried here. He was
hung the night Il the evacuation by
Longstreet. BE carried a dispatch
from Sherman to General Bwnsides
/ sxw the tousb Of Parson Brownlee
We took the 500 o'clock train fo1