The Idaho world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1864-1918, 1870-12-01
IDAHO WORLD.
From the New York Times
A sTRAsBURG HORR0R-BURIED ALIVE

horror 1t occurred ab OttaSou' o IL 49,
siege, and the hero of 1T was Wealthy We r no
chant there This gentleman on Tue aPP ,d"an
of the enemy sent away his wife ana chlluren'
lint coud not himself be prevailed upon 10
abandon his property. Of this he possessed
loreat deal. He had been tOiling tor many
wear to cain the money which had bought his
Syoreho,Ises and shops, and several OF those on
The breaking out of the war, were full OF valu-
sble goods. The most bulky articles he Sc
cnred as well as he was able, and, taking his
Mate and Jewels to the cellar of one OF his
,houses. 'he prepared that place as his strong
hold. Remote, as he considered it, from the
line of fire and we'll concealed from pillage, ne
thought here to weather the coming storm III
safety. TO this end he laid in stock OF pro-
visions, and with one or two trusty dependents
prepared to endure the interruption OF his gu
siness and the misfortunes of his country Win
what patience he could. For the first elgnt
DAYS of the bombardment all went we'll NO
shot or other missile disturbed that immaculate
;neighborhood, and although the babel OF noise
and destruction elsewhere was indescribable,
no harm came to the citizens sanctuary. On
thgninth day came change. A shell dropped
in the street before the dwelling, and broke all
the windows on the first floor. The merchant
now thought it time to retreat to the cellar.
Hence on the tenth day, taking all his supplies
Uf food, and all the books he could, he babe
farewell to daylight aud descended to the vault
below his house; and here, while the din OF
battle went on ceaselessly over his head, the
worthy merchant passed his days and evenings
in reading by the light of petroleum lamp.
few days passed in safety and comparative
quiet But on Saturday. at about noon, while
the recluse was taking his dinner, there came
suddenly an appalling crash overhead. The
walls above were tumbling into ruin, part OF
the cellar walls even topping in; there was
horrd cry, then choking dust, silence and ut
ter. darkness. A tremendous shell had fallen
through the roof of the house, and, exploding,
had scattered devastation around. The mer
'charit ran as best he could to the stairway. 1t
is completely blocked and filled by parts of the
fallen Wailsf Terrified. he sought everywhere
for cretice of light but in vain. The cellar
was completely immured and shut in from the
outer world. The captive shouted aloud tor
textricatiOn. His voice came back to him mut-
fled and dull, with no answering sound to give
hope Of its penetrating the mass of masonry by
which he was surrounded. The merchant now
realized that he was buried alive. He felt that
for him there was less hope than there some
times is in such cases. For, in the endless roar
of strife above, with dozens OF unfortunates
killed and manned every hour, who would think
of, or take the trouble to search for any single
man? Yet before the explosion he had had
companions, and the means of making light.
He CROPPED swiftly to spot where he remem-
bered having placed some additional lamps. ,
With trembling hands he succeeded in lighting :
0ne and looked about him. Of his three COM !
panions two were missing buried, perhaps, in
the debris. The other Jay PROSTATE rear Il .
wall close by. He had been struck and killed
instantly by falling stones. The situation was ,
even more awful than it seemed before. To be ,
buried alive was dreadful but it was horrible /,
almost beyond endurance to be buried alive |,
with the dead. :
= Some days of agony now passed. The hap 4
less prisoner had fits of terror, of strange fury,
iandiot exhaustion. Then he began to work
'withaN the energy of despair. His only hope, =.
he Thought, was to clear the rubbish from the !,
staircase If he failed to do this, the cellar =
would be has tomb He toiled frantically to
escape from so miserable fate but the walls
'crumbled continually, and each brick he took u
away'made others tall. Every now and then =
he was threatened with instant destruction By e
the ruins" Finally his lamp went out for want G
of oil, and he was left in total and irremediable
darkness. For time after this he abandoned
all hope. But the instinct of sefpreservation r
again asserted ITSELF and again he tore desper. !.
ately at the stones and mortar. He had been q
working, as ne estimated more than two DAYS, d
when the ceiling fell in A brick struck, him !.
on the head, and he tainted. For long time, =
he remained insensible-how long he could not =
tell Att he opened his eyes and above him =
he saw the stars. 1t was night. and he was = =,
alive, although hemmed in by rubbish and did g.
not dare to stir, for fear of producing fresh :,
fall of masonry. In lingering agony he waited 4
until daylight The dawn came at last, tinting -
the surrounding desolation with streams of ro =
sy light. With infinite caution and pain the ;,
merchant suceeeded in drawing himself up to !;
a beam OF the ceiling, and thence, after some !;
time, IN making his escape. Once free, as he r.
says, ne crouched by the ruins of his home and .,
wept TOR more than two hours. He had spent =.
nearly week in the cellar Like the prisoner ~ ~
OF ChIion hls head, which had not single grew =
mar before. became during that week entirely =;
"hite; ana ne declares himself to have aged -
more in those few days than in the preyous p
twenty years u
There may have been events more poinful
and disastrous than this during the war esne.
cially as regards their ultimate catastrophes III
But it is difficult to conceive of human suffer. ~
ing more agonizing than his must have been III
thus closed in as he was from the world by an VI
impossible wall, with darkness and q corpse ~ ~
lor company. and having only lingering death :"
W LOOK forward to, infinitely more terrible than 10
any conceivable swift destruction 1t is con ne
soiafory 70 reflect that at all events the unfor ~
Iunatenero OF 80 romantic an episode survived ~
20 teii Ine tale, although he finds himself com. :.
pletely destitate, and forced to begin the world ~
again without'a penny. ~ "''
JOSH BILLINGS ON THE EPFEMINATE Man w.
me enemlnate man was a weak poultice He =