Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1870-03-19
A Singular Adventure.

relsies the following singular adventure
"When ~e were publishing paper in
Lewlsborg. w. Va, several years ago,
very singular accident befel a young
man there, which We narrated briefly al
the time. A few days ago we CHANGED TO
meet him here in Muskegan, and be mar
rsled his adventure a, our request. Ii &C.
Cured or tie farm Of General A VIC.
Davis, in GEeenbrier County, in 1856.
We give his story in his own words, as
near as we can recollec! them:
IL was plowing on Generals Dasis's
farm in 1856 said he. "unsuspicious Of
being on insecure ground. when sudden
" the earth seemed tn fall benesh me.
| saw the horses descending, bu, was too
frightened 10 lei go The plow handles
The pitch OF the horses with the earth
gave my AL an impetus, and somehow |
caught the name OF one Of them in my
fall, and g, held on insIinctively. Whatl
thought when filling can hardly tell.
At any rate did some rapid blinking.
When lhndcd fell on the horse whose
name | had hold Of, and, although the
horse was instantly killed, was merely
stunned and confused. On recovering
myself looked up, and the hole through
which had fallen looked so small that |
concluded | must have fallen full $50
feet. Nv first thought was to call for
aid, bat ! Instantly recalled the fact tina,
was al least DIle from General Davis's
hat
tes, probability that any one had seen
nv descent into the earth. Ii was then
earl y morning, and, as had brought out
my dinner with me, no one would miss
me before nighIlall. While going over
these facts in my own mind. | heard the
rush Of waters near at hand and it occur
red TO me that must have fallen upon
the bed OF sinking creek. which, as you
know, falls into The earth above Frank
fort, snd does not come out but once ill
il resches the banks Of ,he Grecncrier
river. TO say where was. CT attempt
TO follow the suberrsncon passage. was
the next qcestion. sometimes took The
team TO my own tenant static, and there
fore might notfc missed for days; so
determined 10 How the stream. wad.
ed into it, and jttleing from its dc,th Of
one 10 three feet, con cluded i; must le
the identical Sin King Creek spoken Of.
Leaving my dead sGcompsnions behind me,
! followed the slreem. For The most
part had pretty easy work Of it, but
sometimes came to deep place, where
| was forced 10 swim for considerable
distance {; sometimes ran against jagge
rocks, and then again was often precipiia.
ted headloug into deep water by he pre-
cipilous nature Of the rocky bed Of the
stream. Talk about the darkness Of the
grave A grave itself could no, have
been more impalpsbly dark than the pas
sage was following. The occasional
ripping Of the waters was an inexpressi
b!y dear sound TO my ears. Day and
night was The same 10 me. AlIast, -wea
ried with my efforts, Ilaid down on
comparatively dry rock for rest. and must
have slep. for hours. When | awoke
again took The The water, carefully ssrer-
tanning which way il ran, so as not 10
lose my labor by rctrscing my steps. II
seemed TO me that the further | went the
more difficult progress became. When /
had gone perhaps a mile came 10 o place
where the arcbway narrowed so much
that had to crawl on my hands and
knees in the water. Here as a dilemma
] bad NOT looked for. tried either bank
OF The river, but found no passage. |
could swim under water for a considera.
bic distance, bu, the distance before me
was unknown, and halted long before
making the dangerous venture. At last
| concluded that my fate was equally
doubtful in returning as in proceeding and
plunged boldly into The swift current, and
soon found that it was SO swift in lie con-
fined passage that only need 10 hold my
breath 10 go through. In the course OF
twenty or thirty fee, again got my head
above water, and took long breathing
spell. Again the arch way above seemed
10 enlarge and The bed Of The stream be.
come more even sped along compare.
lively rapid. keeping my hads ouisire.eh-
ed to prevent my running against The Jag.
ged rocks. Wearied out, again laid
down and slept soundly in my we, clothes.
On awakening ! pursued my course down
the subienanesn stream, and al lsst, in the
long distance ahead. saw Rlmmer that
looked very bright 10 tue darkness / was
then peni in. Nearing ihis. / found that
II did not increase in brightness /; and
when | had gone perhaps mile cs,pe
TO another place where my path nsrro u ed
to the very tunnel filed by water. Ny
case now became more desperate. /
could not possibly reirace my steps. so 7
submitted myse'f 10 the cnrreBi, and vas
immeasursbly overjoyed 10 End myself
rapidly ewept into dayligbi. Exbsy,ied
and half drowned. crep, opt upon the
land and was NOT long in Recognizing lie
objects about me. had come out into
the Greenbrier river, as / knew from the
familiar look Of General Dsyis's a i'll on
the bank, On reaching home ! found
that had been over forty-eighi hours in
making my perilous journey Of six miles
underground :" The bols where fbj,
man went through is now fenced round.
On listening one can plainly hesr The rush
OF water below. and stone thrown down
will sometimes be beard 10 splash in The
siresm."
& Tue Little Corporal for March 10
a rich number. We do no, see how il