Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1874-10-29
Lost In the Woods for -Four Days.


vie~ had BY reporter of that paper
vita Mr.. Joseph Robinson, who was re-
esnEly rescued after being lost for four
DAYS In Wisconsin forest:
Now. Mr.. Robinson" said the re-
the time you got off the cars TO go hunt
/ ing, and tell il in your own way"
"Yes, sir" answered Robinson.
g When / got of the train took my re-
I volver and went into the woods to shoot
little. had seven loads in it. tried
20 shoot some squirrels, and with that in
tention wandered away about q quarter
Of 3 mile from the road. After | had
shot at some squirrels looked about me
but could not make out which direction
/ / had come or how to get out, and be-
came bewildered / walked on little,
but got more bewildered, and then sat
( down on stump and rested. While l
/ was there heard an engine whistle. /
| could not make out where it came from.
/ II sounded as if il was ahead of me, and
/ then il sounded off, both right and left.
i | suppose now the last were echoes. 1t
/ appeared from the statement of the en-
| gine-driver that he had whistled for half
| an hour. | started to walk in what APP
| peared to be in the right direction, but
/ got farther into the woods | could not
see any way out, and began to wander
about aimlessly. The only idea had
was to get out of the woods. My mind
was full of nothing else did not think
of any plan. / wandered this way till 1t
was getting dark. Then thought was
J lost in the woods, and began hallooing
| for help. There was no answer but
the rustling of the leaves on the
pine trees and the echo. / cried out
as loud as could, turning in every di-
rection Then took out some ivory
circulars Kept by newsboys to distrib-
uteamong passengers on the cars) and
wrote on them that was lost, and to fol-
low me, and managed to fasten some on
the trees. began to think how l was
to pass the night. All had in my pockets
was one match and piece of one-luck-
| lily the sulphur end In both cases-to light
fire with. / had no overcoat, having
| left it at the station. walked till came
| to piece of clear, firm ground, with
plenty of branches overhead for shelter,
determined to pass the night, and began
to pick up dry wood. was thirsty and
found rain-water in holes, but nothing
to eat The fire was not long building,
and | took some circulars and lighted
them with one Of the matches. Then,
by the light of the fire, gathered my
| wood for all night and heaped it round.
| The night was cold, and when Hay down
| folded my arms across my chest and
| tried to sleep. ! thought of home and
| lot of things. / had lost spirit, and i
knew had but very little hope of get
ting out of the woods, but managed to
doze few minutes at time. Then /
liz 1, ofn md En1t nnr
the fire getting low would replenIsh it.
will confess TO you that / was scared. /
knew nothing of the country, and could
not make up my mind what plan to pur-
sue. Friday night passed in that way.
"At daybreak | resolved to travel.
My feet and legs were sore, as | had
fallen good deal in the broken timber
and brush So / commenced Saturday
with walking afresh, the idea in my mind
being always how can | get out. /
thought all the time to see an opening.
Every few steps / took fell down, my
feet being caught in the 'windpaths'
(broken trees, and limbs of trees covered
with leaves, and having the appearance
of firm ground). / shouted as long as /
could but it was no good. l found
plenty of rain-water but no food that /
could trust. There were plenty OF ber-
ries, but did not know what kind they
were, and feared to eat them, as they
might be poisonous. 1t is not true l ate
berries. There was nothing noteworthy
occurred Saturday; the whole day pass
ing in that manner When night began
to come on again remember feeling a
dread as to the other match. | was not
sure but had lost it. After search /
found il ia the corner Of a pocket l
built campfire in the same way as
on Friday night, fortunately succeed
ing in lighting the circulars with
the bit of match. Then ] began
to gather up firewood for the
night ! could not sleep. The noises of
| the woods and my thoughts kept me
awake. After some time | managed to
doze little, and woke, cold, to find my
! fire going out. All around was black,
dark All the loose dry wood was burnt,
| and had to go into the woods space
to find timber. l proceeded to what
looked like some logs, and was just
reaching my hand out when | was
startled by hearing deep growl and
seeing big black bear in front of me.
He was rising erect on his hind legs, one
arm secured by his side, and the other
ready to stretch out. For an instant
/ neltUcT StlTTeu- ITODdUIy uc was az
tracted by curiosity, and was as much
scared as myself. He did not appear
hungry for mans flesh. / did rot touch
him. am afraid to think what might
have happened if had. moved back
and he lay still, but growled. Then l
quickly got a fire-brand and threw at
him, and fancy he moved off little;
but he appeared, from the tracks in the
morning to have been waiting around
there the whole of the night. managed
to scrape enough wood together to keep
the fire alight till daybreak.
| az got out Of that neighborhood Sun
| day morning as soon as possible. All
this time all that had passed my lips was
rain-water. ] did not feel very hungry,
but knew was weakening, and lost what
little hope had. After wandering on a
little while | struck what they call the
hay marsh, and at very step sank to my
hips. The other side appeared to be
firm, dry land, and took off my clothes
and waded until / reached deep water,
when / SWAN across the creek, put
on my clothes, and walked down the
bank. 1t is not true that left paper
4 n hi