Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1863-02-26

In Tracing my way rounu the roOn
py hand touched the gate. 1 wa
sayedi I never felt such sensation a
: when my hand touched that gate.
. was rapture! bliss! had despaired-
was now full of hope. / passed m,
hand carefully over the gate. 1 felt 0
! the bars; they were Of round iron. abou
. thfee-quartets Of an inch in thickness
! and after running through the frame
work Of the gate, were pointed at thl
, end. But to get them out of that frsme
work. pulled one: it yielded little
and then Knocked at my efforts.
must have q hamnsr. ! felt carefully
round the walls again. The shelves
were all let into the walls--there va,
nothing. I felt again. and close to The
gate the shelf had been cut away to al
low. the gate to roll back, and the
shelves we're supported on brackets. II
these brackets were wrought iron I was
helpless--cast iron might save me yet.
l felt them carefully and compared
them; il they we're wrought iron they
would be unlike in some poipts--if cast,
they would be alike in all. knew now
what the touch of the blind must be, so
full OF instruction to the mind.
i They were cast iron, not trace of
difference could be found. Cne more
sign and i was ceftain. II cast, they
would be cast In a mould, and there
would be slight todghness 10 the cast.
ing where the halves of the mould had
been joined. felt again. There was
the rOughhess-the same in both.-
And nov to break them of. A blow,
a heavy blow, alone could do It. 1 re-
membered 10 have Noticed; when PITT
ting array the books; small chest Of
apparently solid iron on one of the
shelves. sOhght for II and fothd It.
1t was heavy, nearly the fourth Of a
hundred weight thought. ! poised It
carefully, and felt l had strength
enough to throw 1t with an aim. 1
cleared away The books from the slate
shelf which rested on one Of these
braeketsi and then measuring carefully
the distance, threw the chest on to it.
II fell short, and crashed on the floor.
[ Once more | tried, and this time stic-
cessfully. The missile smashed the
chest into pieces. / kicked and beat
away the smaller fragments till the
bracket stood out from the wall by It.
self. And TOW came the test OF my
skill. II l threw once at the bracket in
that black darkness, threw twenty
times or more. At last one Fortunate
ly-directed blow, and had the joy Of
hearing it ring on the pavement of the
room. 3D..
had now a hammer-awkward it is
true-still tool that would give blow
with a certain force.
l struck again and again at the bars
OF the gate. They yielded as the other
had done, and then were fast. sank
down exhausted with my useless efforts.
Why did they not yield? I could give
no more force to the blow-to throa the
chest at them would be Useless; the |
size would spread the blow oset two OF |
three of the bars, and the force OF the !
blow would be lost. l must cut through |
one OF the bats 10 The middle; and thus
wrench out the half need ed. How
had l seen men cut through iron?-l
With files@-1 could not hope for them.
l remembered I'd have heard of pris-
oners uho cut through iton bars with
watch.Spring. BY What horrible fatal
ity was my watch at that moment III
the case On my dressing tablet A
watch-spring; thin piece of STEEL
Would iron dof 1t might. In almost
less time than it takes to tell, 1 had
broken up one Of the sheet-iron deed
boxes, and by carefully bending piece
of it backward and forward on the sharp
edge OF the chest I had Used as a mis-
sile, obtained strip about the length
of my hahd, and two fingers broad,
and with this commenced saving one
of the bars. Hall al hour's hard
work produced no impression on the
bar, and had turned the edge of the
soft sheet-iron on both sides.
If it had been 8 question OF saws,
I could have ten deed boxes into hun
dred ssHs to eui through that one bar.
Alasl it was no such thing--ihe saw
would not cut and then sprung up be.
fore me the vision of large yard with
blocks of stone and the motion to and
fro of the suspended saw of the stone
sawyet, and bis little trickling water
barrel and heap Of sand. Once more
/ went to work. broke of corner
of the stone shelves (ths lower ones
we're OF stone, the upper Of slate ],
pounded 1t fine with my hammer, and
then Hettlng the edges Of the saw with
saliva, stteRed tie pounded stone upon
it. i felt the saw become steadier and
steadiet, and at last l could feel with
my nail little nick in the bar. worked
for nearly three hours on this one bar,
changing my saw when it was worn
hollow for another and another till had
worn six of them. / was nearly I
through; another half hour and / shall
be quite through; yet 1t might break
off now with blow; it might, and it |
might leave ragged end to my chisel
that would destroy half the force of
my blows when came to bore through ,
the wall. / would not strike, but kept
on patiently, and at last the saw went c
through. seized the end, and ir I
few minutes ] held In my hand the in. I
Of deIiverance. I
The cir Of the room had by this time ,
become close and sitting. and L was 1