The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1870-07-08
GLreQntetIi5g
THE AIR.LINE no CHINA

Two years ago last February, 1 think II
was on Tuesday morning, ! started as
usual very early to distribute my papers.
had large bundle to dispose Of that
day, and thought IL l took short cut
across the fields instead Of following the
road from Roxbury to jamaica Plain, !
could go my rounds in much less time. !
do not care 10 tell precisely where II
was that Jumped oyer the fence; but i
was rough, bRrren kind Of spot, which
nobody has ever done anything to Inn
prove.
Aftcr walking about third of q mile, l
began to think that had better have kept
to the turnpike, for l found that l was
obliged to Chamber over IN uneven, rocky
place, among trees and bushes and
and shrubs that grew Just thick enough
to bother me, so that I hardly knew where
to put my feat. All at once lost my
balance, and felt that was sliding down
the side Of o smooth, steep rock, while I'm.
dcrneath, TO my horror, saw what
looked like circular cave, or well, some
five or six feet in diameter. l tried to
grasp the rock with my hands, and ground
my heels Us hard as I could against the
surface, but 1t was of no use; down I
slipped, faster and faster, until ut last /
plunged, feet, foremost, into the dark hole
below. For q moment held my breath,
expecting TO be dashed to pieces; and oh,
how many things I thought Of in that
short minute! It seemed to mo Us Il ,cY:
crying that had ever done came back
to me, especially oil the bad things; and
how wished then that had lived bet.
ter life thought, too, of my poor
mother and my little brother and sister at
home, and how they would wait breakfast
for inc that morning; aud how they would
keep on waiting and waiting, hour after
hour, and day after day; aud how tho
neighbOrs would all turn out ind search
for inc; and how should never be found,
and nobody would over know what had
BECOME Of mo. And then l wondered
whether MIR. Simpson, who employed me
TO distribute the papers, would suppose
that had run away somewhere, to sell
them on my own account and
so went on thinking and Won
derihg, until it seemed rs if there
was no end 10 the time. And yet l
didn't strike the bottom Of the cave, but
lust went on falling and falling, faster and
faster, in tho darkness, and sometimes
lust grazing the sides, and still not SO as
to hurt me much. My great trouble was
to breathe, when it occurred to me to lay
the sleeve Of my coat across my mouth
and then l found that could breathe
through the cloth with tolerable ease. Al.
ter awhile recovered my senses; and,
though continued 10 fall on still faster
and faster, experienced no great incOn-
vcnicnce. How long this continued !
cannot tell, it appeared to be an age; and
l must havo been falling for several hours,
when l began to feel as. though Twas not
sinking Us inst as had been; and, after
while, it seemed as il l were rising up,
rather than tumbling down. AS was
now able 10 breathe much more freely
than l had done, began TO think calmly
about my condition, and then tho thought
flashed across my mind that pcrhapsl
had passed. the center Of the earth and
was gradually rising to the surlaCe Oh the
other side. This gave nc hope; and
when found that continued to move
slower and slower, tried to collect my
faculties so that might know just what
It would DO best to do if I should be 50
fortunate Us to reach tho other end OF the
hole into which had tumbled. at last,
looking down, l saw little spcck OF
light, like u very faint star; and then, !
tell YOU; my heart bounded with joy. At
this moment itsuddcnly occurred to me
that it would not do to come out OF the
hole feet foremost; and, by a tremendous
effort, l managed to turn a complete sum-
mcrsault-what the boys always call q
"sumersct"-which, of course, brought
me into the right position. How thank
full felt that l had been taught TO prNc-
ticc gymnastiC exercises Mt the school in
Rox6ury! In my present attitude l
couldn't see the bright spot any longer;
but, before long, perceived that II was
growing lighter around inc; and l was
confident that tho time Of my release
drew near. I bud determined exactly
what would do when reached the sur
face of the earth again; and, accordingly,
on the instant that my head ctGncy out Of
the hole, graspel tho edge with oil my
might, aidi by another terrible effort,
swung myself up into tho air, and lcaped.
upon the ground: = ~
tits impossible 10 describe tho strange
thrill that passed over nc when / thus
found myself standing, on what ! knew
must be the eastern side Of tue globe. AS
soon Gs I had fairly, OVcred5 the use Of
my, reason, ! began to speculate rs 70 the
region Of country into which / had
emerged, II had como directly through
the centre Of tho earth, l knew, Of course,
Just where / ought to be-; but this hardly
seemed possible, considering how short q
time it had required for my journey. It.
then occurred To me that was really UNI
able to form any accurate idea Of thon num-
Der. Of hours That had elapsed since ! left
the soil Of Massachusetts: Tor before /
had iallen a hundred teet, o whole age ap-
peOrcd to have passed. knew that 1t
was Q o'clock in tile morning when l start
cd, and on looking at my watch, / found
that it had stopped at W, owing, as at;
forwards ascertNinCd TO the influence OF
magnetic currents upon the hair.sprlng.
The country around WINS in u high state
of cultivation, except in the immediate
vicinity Of the spot where l stood; this
was rough and barren, and SO situated
That the small cavity in the earth from
which l had just been. released would be
very likely. to escape observation. Think.
ing TINT It might 6e important for me TO
he able hereafter to identify tho locality, l
took careful observation Of It's general
bearings, and twisted together few Of
the twigs that grew near tho hole, but in
such manner us would not bc likely To-
arrest attention.
Striking off now ut random, l soon
found myself In n low, lnarslly region,
covered with species of grain unlike
anything l hadevcr seen before, but which
j concl1dcdsmust be rice; ind then the
t%i,S0,,EyFt, cOn,c IN mn TINT very DrOllablV