The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1867-02-07

| eOhoaIiOho hlhuiSu W JOuT own. IOi
may have died in the brief space o
time in which you were crossing tn,
outor apartment. Who can tell? Dim
ly seen through mist is a shelf, abov,
it is another, and higher up thrC
and fourth, each narrower than III
predecessor. Receiving slight hois
from your familiar spirits, you 90 W
and recline on the lowest projection
o, the agony OF that moment Hotter
and hotter grows the temperature
you boil-you simmer, and at the same
time think of your dollar and quar-
ter. Indignation comes to your reliet
at length, and you say bad word
Vainly you ask your attendant if he
considers you an oyster or an eel. lie
still, in the most nonchalant manner
keeps turning away at little wheel on
one side of the.shelf and you grow hot.
ter and hotter. You scroam-or rath-
or you are about to scream, and open
your mouth for the purpose, when
swash comes big sponge across your
face, and then--but the bliss is too
great to be talked about. This sponge
is soaked in cool water, and now the
air that you breathe passes through it.
The relief is instantaneous. The bliss
of the moment compensates for the ag-
ony of the years of suffering and an,
guish. You will sleepnow. Immedi-
ately you think, 81 have passed thro'
Purgatory-I have reached Paradise. -
Now you are floating in an ecstatic
state. Slowly your body is melting
away, and, o, wonderful fact, you are
steam yourself, and know no more un.
til "Get down." is Numbered in your
shadowy ears; and meekly you obey.
You are unconscious; nevertheless you
come down, being willed by stronger
power. Now you are placed in foun-
tain tn, | say, and mean. From all
points of the compass come streams Of
cold water, and quickly are you bro't
back from the sweet realms Of bliss
You strugglc-yot gasp-you drown.
You do drown-it is nothing less than
real old fashioned drown. Then you
are hauled out, and again put, like the
Pumpkin Eaters" wife, on the shelf,
and again you become drunk on steam.
Now are you called back to life again,
and by your two demons led to cav
ernous pool. Black and cold is the wa
ter, death like and gloomy is the pros
pcct before you. In a tone of con-
demned hate you are told to "plunge." I"
The spirit is willing, but the flesh
alas, how weak. An energetic shove
from behind decides you, and in you
go. o, the deathly cold of the water |
o, the stygian gloom in which your be.
ing is wrapped. Like Noahs dove,
after a few weak, helpless paddles in
contrary directions, you come back to
the pitiless @retches, who will not take
you out. Boldly yet icariully you
strike out tor the tar away Shore
What you would do if you could not
swim, is more than | can tell. The
pit, l presume, is bOttomless, at least
it feels so. But you are across, and
are dragged out by the attendants,
(who have in some mysterious manner
circumnavigated the lako,) and once
more you are shelved. l should have
said that at each shelving operation
you are told to "go up higher" AT
the third awakening you are conveyed
to the finishing room, wish you to
realize that now you are in pulpy
state, you have no substance; you are,
so to speak, idealized. What there is
of you, however, laid out on a board
and then-I pause for words, would
that my tongue could utter the tho'ts
that arise in me. Heavy towels are
taken and you are rubbed. That is
very simple, isn't il? DO you know
how you sometimes near stories of men
having been tortured by letting water
drop slowly upon their heads2 That 8
nothing compared with this. First
they tear off the outside skin that 3
painful you know. Then they soize
the next larger with little pincors and
pull One by ono your ribs appear,
and your most precious Of all 'innards,
still they rub on aud mind not your
pileous cries for mercy. Now you are
confident that you are reduced to a
simple skeleton. and you try to imsg-
inc yourself as walking the streets, and
how the little young ones will run at
ter you and howl and yell. Then you
conjure up devices in the shape of pads,
SO that, should you really return to
earth again, you may initiate the pris-
tine rotrndity Of your form, and also
obviate the necessity of procuring new
clothes. But a new method of torture
is introduced: you are kneaded.Cc How
they can knead poor bundle of bones
is more than can tell; but they do.
Digging their knuckles into you, they
kill you, and you die. 1t is the same
thing-you never can die worse
doath. I Then again they cut you, then
knead you, then stand you upon your
feet, and, to your surprise, you are a
new man. You do not walk-you sail.
You do not stand-you float. Gliding
into your sIate-room, you draw on
your heavy material clothing, wishing
at the same time that you were an
Adam, and not obliged to cucumber
yourself with clothing which shall an
chor you to earth. You are dressed
and then you are invited to sit down
in the ante.room which you entered &C
many years ago. Then you are told
to sit down and amuse yourself fol
twenty minutes, otherwise the propri
etor will not be responsible for aeci-
dents. So you wait and dream. You
are soon surprised ut finding that you