Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1871-11-02
TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE
The vagaries of a starving man.

The Vagaries of q Starving MAJ
Mr.. Everts, who was lost in the Ye
lOwstone, contributes to Scribner'S a
intensely Interesting account Of h
"Fhirty-seven Days of Peril"
| 1 lost all sense of time. Days an
nights come and went, and were mum
bered only by the growing conscious
ness that was gradually starving.
felt no hunger, did not eat to appeasl
appetite, but to renew strength. / ex
perienced but little pain. The gapin,
sores on my feet, the severe burn ON M
hip, the ftstering crevices at the joint
of my fingers, all terrible in appear
concern. The roots which supplied my
food had suspended the digestive pow
er of the stomach, and their fibres werI
packed in it in d matted, compactee
mass.
Not so with my hours of slumber
They were visited by the most luxuri
Gus dreams. would apparently visit
the most gorgeously decorated restaur.
ants of New York and Washington
sit down to immense tables spread
with the most appetizing viands; par.
take of the richer oyster stews and
plumpest pies; engage myself IN the
labor and preparation of curious dishes;
and with them fill range upon range OF
elegantly furnished tables until they
fairly groaned beneath the accumulated
dainties prepared by my own hands.
Frequently the entire night would seem
to have been spent in getting up a
sumptuous dinner. / would realize the
fatigue of roasting, boiling, baking, and
fabricating the choicest dishes known
to the mo lern cuisine, and in my dis
turbed' 'Aumbers would enjoy, with ep-
icurean relish, the food thus furnished
even to repletion. Alas! there was
more luxury than life in these somno-
lent vagaries.
BY some process, which l was too
weak to solve, my arms, legs, and
stomach were transformed into 80 many
travelling companions. Often for hours
/ would plOd along converSiug with
these imaginary friends Each had
his peculiar wants which he expected
me to supply. The stomach was i'm
Fortunate in his demand for change
of fdiet-complained incessantly of the
roots fed to him, their present effect,
and more remote consequences. l
would try to silence him with prom
ises, beg of him to wait a few days, ,and
when this failed of the quiet desired,
Pd seek to intimidate him by declar-
ing, as sure result of negligence, our
inability to reach home alive. All to
no purpose-he tormented me with his
fretful humorssthrough the entire jour-
ney. The others would generally con-
cur with him in these faneied alterca-
tions. The legs implored me for rest,
and the arms complained that gave
them too much to do. Troublesome as
they were, it was a pleasure to realize
their presence. / worked for them too
W thright good will doing many things
for their seeming comfort which, had
felt myselfalone, would have remained
They appeared to be perfectly
helpless of themselves; would do moth
ing for me or for each other. I often
while they ate and slept so
much, that they did not aid in gather
ing wood and kindling fires. As a
to their own inertia, when
ever they discovered languor in me on
necessary occasion, they were no want
ing in words of encouragement and
cheer recall as 1 write an instance
where, by precept and timely interpo-
'ition, the representative OF the stom-
ich saved from a death of dreadful
agony. One day 1 came to a small
stream Issuing from spring of mild |
on the hillside, swarming
with minnows. I caught some with
ny hands, and ate them raw. To any
lsta they were delicious. But the /
'tomacn refused them, accused me of at
TO poison him, and would
lot be reconciIed until 1 had emptied
ny pouch OF the few fish I had put
here for future use. Is. - "