Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1912-09-13
THE MOTHER Persisted.
But Her Child Was Saved-Tragedy Of
Stratton Mountain on a Terrible Win
ter Night in 1921.

The death of Mrs. Rebecca Decorate,
which took place May IL, 1898, in Cleve-
land, Ohio, at the age of II years six
months and eight days, recalled Wind
ham county tragedy which has become
historic She was the child who was
saved, but whose mother persisted in
winters storm in 1921. The verses re-
cording the mothers neroism were
printed in Towns third reader and other
reading books of years ago, and they
are familiar to hundreds of the older
New England residents, and particularly
those of Vermont. They are as follows:
The cold winds swept the mountains
height,
And painless was the dreary wild.
And mid the cherries hours of night,
A mother wandered with her child,
AS through the drifted SHOWS she
The babe was sleeping on her breast.
And colder still the winds did blow.
And darker hours of night came on,
And deeper grew the drifts of snow;
Her limbs were chilled, her strength
was gone,
20 God" she cried in accents wild,
IF | must perish save my child"
She stripped her mantle from her breast,
And barred her bosom to the storm;
And round the child she wrapped the
vest,
And smiled to think her child was
warm.
With one cold kiss, one tear she shed,
And sank upon a snowy bed
| At dawn traveller passed by;
She lay beneath a snowy veil,
| The frost of death was in her eye,
Her cheek was cold, and hard, and
pale;
He moved the robe from off the child,
! The babe looked up and sweetly smiled
In December, 1921 Mr.. and Mrs. Har-
rison Gray Blake, who lived in Airing
| ton, started from their home in a sleigh
to visit Mr.. Blakes father, who LIVED
on the Marlboro South Branch. The
mother had an infant in her arms Th'
road became impossible, and the horse
was unhitched, and the three proceede,
on horseback.
Night was coming on, and the father
leaving his wife and child with thu
| horse FASTENED on foot to seek assist
ance. His cries were heard at a hous
in the mountains, but owing to a misap
prehension on the part of the famil!
that it was another person whom the!
knew to be out and who did not nee,
morning Mr.. and Mrs. Blake were found
He was lying in the snow but a few
hundred yards from his wife, his fee
frozen, and so nearly unconscious TIA
he could only hold up his hand to In
dictate that there were other sufferers
Mrs. Blake was found totally uncon
scious and frozen in every limb, blu
the child was alive and sleeping, wrappe
in the clothing which the mother ha
taken from her own body to preserv
its life. They were carried to the near
est house and restoratives applied. TIL
mother died In few minutes.
The spot where the tragedy occurre
is In Stratton, two or three miles beyon
the present location of the post office 1
that town, and just beyond the plac
where the great political meeting {
1910 was held, when thousands gathere
from every quarter to hear Daniel Wei
ster speak. 1t was then nine mile
through the woods, called the mine mil
woods" from the last house ON the roa
from Arlington to the Torrey plac
where the meeting was held. and whic
} was the first house near the road
Stratton. The Blakes got to within abo,
two miles Of the Torrey place. and M