The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1870-02-24
a SINGULAR ADVENTURES.

'ONNS INV iO4aC' AbE SsNh Gt1tuIS
When we were publishing a paper in
Lewisburg, West Virginia, several wears
ago, a very singular accident befel Young
man there, which we narrated briefly at
the time. a few days ago we CHANGED
10 meet lin here in Muskegan, and he
narrated his adventure at our request Il
occnrred on the farm of Gen A w. G..
Davis, in Greenbrier county. in 1856.
we give his story In his own words. as
near as we can recollect them: 81 was
piouching on Gen Davis farm in 1856"
said he, ''unsuspicious of being on secure
ground, when suddenly the earth seemed
TO fall beneath me saw the horses do
scending, but was too frightened to let 90
the plough handles. The pitch of the
/ horses with the earth gave my fiill an ini>
/ Petus, and somehow / caught the name
OF one Of them in my fall, and So held on
/ instlnctveiy. What thought when fall
ing l can hardly tell At any rate, | did
some rapid thinking. When landed [
fell on the horse whose name | had hold
of, and although the horse was instantly
killed, was merely stunned and confused.
On recovering myself l Iouked up, and the
whole through which had failed looked
So small l concluded l must baye fallen
full $50 feet Ny first thought was 10
call for all, but instantly recalled the
fact that | was at least a nile from Gem
eral Davis house, and that there was not
the rein"test probability that any one had
seen my descent into tie earth. Ii was
then cSrly morning, and as | had brought
out my dinner wiki me. no one would
miss me before nah.fall. While Going
over these facts ia my own Joind, I heard
the rush OF water near at hand, and it
occurred to me that | must have fallen
upon the bed Of Sinking creek, which. as
you Know, falls into the earth above
Frankfort; ard does not come out but once
ill ii reaches the banks Of tie c. eenbrier
river. To say where | was, or 10 attempt
to follow the snhterraneau passage. was
the next question. | sometimes took the
team TO my own tenant stable. and, there
fore, might no; be missed for days; So
determined to follow The stream. wa!ed
IN il, and, Judging from lis depth Of from
one TO three feet, concluded it must be
the identical Sinking creek spoken of
Leaving my dead companion behind me,
followed the stream. Tor The mos. part
had pretty easy work Of il, but some
times L came 10 deep place, where was
forced 10 swim for considerable distance;
again was oflea precipitated headiong into
deep water by The pfecipitous nature Of
the rocky bed of the stream. Talk about
the darkness of the grave A grave itself
could not have been more impalpably dark
fhap tho rl.SSaya I ,.-.,s III.
occasional ripping Of the waters was an
mexpressible dear sound to my ears Day
and night were the same to me. At last.
wearied with my efforts, | laid down on
a comparatively dry rock TO rest, and
must have slept for hours When awoke
again took to the water, Carefully ascer-
! tanning which way it ran, So as not to
lose my labor by retracing my steps. 1t
seemed to me that the farther [ went the
more difficult progress became. When I
had gone perhaps mile came TO place
where the archway narrowed so much
that had To crawl on my knees in the
water. Here was dilemma | had not
looked for. | tried either bank Of the
river, but found no passage. could
swim under water for a considerable dis
lance, but The distance before me was nn-
known, and hated long before making
the dangerous venture. Al last conclu-
ded that my fate was equally doubtful In
returning as in proceeding, and plunged
/ bodily into The current, and soon found
that 1t was So swift in its confined pas
sage, that only needed TO hold ny breath
TO go through. In the course of 20 or
so feet ] again got my head above water,
and took long breathing spell. Again
the archway above seemed to enlarge and
the bed Of the stream became more even. =.
l sped along comparatively rapidly, keep
ins my hands outsiretched 10 prevent my
running against the Jagged rocks Wear
led ont, again laid down and slept sound
III my wet clothes. On awaking, [ purs
sued my course down the subterranean
stream, and at last, in tile long distance
ahead, saw a Glmmer that looked very
bright in The darkness | was then put in.
Nearing this, found that it did not in
crease in brightness and when | had
gone perhaps mile. came 10 another
place where my path narrowed TO the
very tunnel filled by the wafer. My case
was now become more desperate
could not possibly retrace my steps, so I
Submitted myself to The current, and was
UNNECESSARILY ove'joyed to find myself
ra%dly swept into daylight. Exhausted
and hall drowned, l crepi out upon the
land and was not long IN Recognizing the
objects about me- had come oct into
the Greenbrier river, as I knew from the
familiar look of General Davis mill on
/ tie bank. On reaching hon.E / found
that l had been f"rty-eight hours in max :
ing my perilous journey of six miles under
ground The hole where this man went
through is now fenced round On listen
ing ono can nlninlv hear the rush of the