The Bloomfield times. [volume] (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1867-187?, 1870-03-08
A Singular Story.

n IOONU man working on the 1arm
IA Of Gen. Davis, in West Virginia,
tells the following remarkable story. We
give it in his own words, as near as we
can recollect it
6 l was plowing on Gen Davis farm in
1885," he said unconcious of being on
insecure ground, when suddenly the earth
seemed to fall beneath me- | saw the
horses descending, but was too frighten-
ed to let go the plow handles. The pitch
Of the horses with the earth gave my
fall an impetus, and somehow [ caught
the name Of one Of them in my fall, and
so held on instinctively. What l thought
when falling 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
looked up and the hole through which l
had fallen looked so small l concluded |
must have fallen fully $50 feet. My first
thought was to call for aid, but instant
ly recalled the fact that | was at least a
mile from Gen Davis house, and that
there was not the remotest possibility
that any one had seen my descent into the
earth.
1t was then early in the morning,
and as l had brought out my dinner with
me, no one would miss me before night
fall While going over these facts in my
own mind, heard the rush of water near
at hand, and it occurred to me that |
must have fallen upon the bed of Sink
ing creek, which, as you know falls into
the earth above Frankfort, and does not
come out but once till it reaches the banks
Of the Sweetbrier river. TO say where |
was, or to attempt to follow the subterra-
mean passage, was the next question. I
sometimes took the team to my own ten
ant stables, and therefore might not be
missed for days; so determined to fol-
low the stream. L waded in it, and,
Judging OF its depth of from one to three
feet, l concluded it must be the identical
Sinking creek spoken Of Leaving my
dead companions behind me, | followed
the stream. For the most part | had
pretty easy work Of it, but sometimes
came to deep place, where | was forced
to swim for considerable distance again
was often precipitated headlong into the
deep water by the precipitous nature of
the rocky bed Of the stream.
Talk about darkness of the gravel
The grave itself could not have been
more impalpably dark than the passage
was following. The occasional ripping
OF the waters was an inexpressibly dear
sound to my ears. Day and night were
the same to me. At last, wearied with
my effort, laid down on a comparative
ly dry rock to rest, and must have slept
for hours. When | awoke again | took
to the water, carefully ascertaining which
way it ran, so as not to lose labor by re-
tracing my steps. 1t seemed to me that
the further | went the more difficult my
progress became. When | had gone per-
haps mile, came to place where the
archway narrowed so much that | had to
crawl on my hands and knees in the wa
ter.
Here was dilemma I had not looked
for. | tried either bank of the river, but
found no passage. l could swim under
water for considerable distance, but the
distance before me was unknown, and
halted long before making the dangerous
venture At last l concluded that my
fate was equally doubtful in returning as
in proceeding, and plunged boldly into
the current, and soon found that it was
so swift in its confined passage that | on
ly needed to hold my breath to go through.
In the course Of twenty or thirty feet, l
again got my head above water, and took
long breathing spell. Again the arch
way above seemed to enlarge and the bed
of the stream became more more even.--
l sped along comparatively rapidly, keep
ing my hands outstretched to prevent my
running against the jagged rocks. Wea-
ried out, | again laid down and slept
soundly in my wet clothes.
"On awakening, pursued my course
down the subterranean stream, and at
last in the long distance ahead saw a
glimmer that looked very bright in the
darkness 1 was then shut in. Nearing
this, found that it did not increase in
| bc;ob+noee. aud xrbon I haJ oona ha NO