The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1872-02-15
DEAD AND ALIVE.

| broad-brimmed hat and red flannel shirt
He sat on the railing of the bridge, whit
ting and talking to three or four others
standing near by.
Yes, sir, said he, l was dead once. 1t
was the strangest thing you ever saw in
| your life.
! You don't believe it, ha
| Well | don't wonder much. | don't sup
pose any man went through such an awful
siege, and | can't expect anybody to look
at it as do. You see it happened Ike
| this: 1t WAS winter, we numbered on
| Whitcomb Greek, six or eight years ago.
| 1t was war times then, and wages were
| good was getting forty dollars a month,
and worked like beaver until this little
! affair came off. We went at work about a
mile from the shanty-Jim Robinson and
me-and had slashed into the pine like all
possessed The boys were hauling pretty
lively, for it was early in January and
sleighing was good. jim was at work on
big tree about twenty rods from where |
| was. Pretty soon, after he yelled to me,
his tree tcrpled over and fell. 1t was as
handsome piece of pine timber as ever
you saw, and | watched it as it fell. Crash
it went right into the branches of an old
grub oak, and hung just there. l never
saw q fellow madden than Jim was-we
did some tall cursing about them pines He
tried every way possible to loosen the pine,
but couldn't get It off. Finally We made up
our minds to 90 foAthe oak tree, and in
so it trembed like leaf with every stroke
of the AK, he cutting on one side and | on
the other When it was almost through,
as was the biggest and best chopper, Gays
| to jim, (and then | ripped out a biz
oath
Let me finish her, Jim. Get out of
the way, and | will have her through in
half a minute
| had been chopping a minute or two
when Jim let loose scream that would
have made an Injuns blood run cold |
had just time to look up and see that pine
tree tumbling down, when | dropped my
ak and run. | couldn't have got far when
something seemed to hit my eyes, and then
everything was dark.
suppose | was dead.
Maybe you don't believe me, boys, but
that's all | can make out of it. All at once,
the light, the looks of the snow on the
ground, everything was shut out from my
sight. There was kind of an uncertain
KIM Of feeling, just as fellow has when
he's asleep. | knew something awful had
happened, but | could not stir hand or foot
1t seemed as though it was night, and that
1 was covered up by something that press
ed heavily on me. Still there wasn't any
particular pain, and for long time l
couldn't think where l was. How long |
staid there, | can't tell. l suppose it
wasn't long, when felt somebody pull my
arm, and heard Jim Robinson say:
80, Lord Poor fellow"
/ knew he was there, and could feel
him touch me, and yet l couldn't speak
or open my eyes. He thought was dead
Then l wondered if all dead folks could
hear and think things as did. | tried to
move my hands, tried to BREATHE tried
to scream. But | couldn't dc anything.
Jim left me, and the next | remember of,
was pulled out from under the tree and
hauled to the shanty on one Of the sleds.
| You may bet there was considerable excite
ment among the BOYS when | was taken
into camp. | could feel that | WAS dead.
My heart didn't beat. l couldn't move.
b ut | could hear, and had kind of misty
notion about everything that was going On
| about me.
Some of the boys, after feeling of my
forehead, wanted to send for the doctor.
| "It's no use, boys said the boss, L" the
| poor fellows gone. His neck was broke.
| The most we can do for him is to take him
| to his folks"
! Well, they laid me out on one of the
sleish., and after fixing me up in as decent
a way a, corpse could be in lumber
camp, one of the teamsters started with me
| for Oshkosh.
| | didn't realize just how bad the situa-
ton was. When it began to leak into my
head that | wa, really dead, and was going
to be buried in the ground, and shut out
| forever from the light of the sun, it fright
ened me- The long ride to Oshkosh passed
| like those things that happen in dream.
We got there and | was taken to my
brothers house. He felt terribly bad
idea that be thought so much Of rA as he
did. | could hear him cry and talk, and
still hadn't the power to move muscle.
| was put in a coffin, and it finally came
out that | was to be taken to Watertown
to be buried. Ny old mother lived there,
you know. Oh, boys, hope none of you
will ever be made to feel the horrors
that | felt when | knew that | was
b0Xed up IN CONN ana HOulu soon De
buried. Seven years have gone by since
then, but | never think Of it without a
shudder l could feel them putting on the
lid of the coffin, and then | knew | was
fastened up.
From that time until the cover of the
coffin was raised again, | havn't any recoi-
lection of what happened, only that was
continually in motion. Though | couldn t
open my eyes, | sorter felt that it was
dark and ! was going somewhere. All of
a sudden felt that some one was turning
the screws of the coffin lid, and after a
while the cover was taken of.
would rather die thousand times over
than 90 through the horrible suffering OF
that affair again. There | was dead and
going to be buried, and yet so near alive
that / knew what was going on. Boys, you
NAV talk, but there is nobody in this
world that thinks so much Of you as your
mother. You can imagine my feelings
no, YOU can't have the least notion of how
felt when she was taking on SO over me
After while | could feel that my moth
er had stopped CRYING. Then l thought she
might have tainted. l never was so much
in the praying line, but if ever anyone
made strong Try to call on God for assist