Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1875-10-21
A Victim of Water.Lilies.

AN incident which recently befell one
OF our esteemed contributors, Mr.. Frank
Wade, of Indianapolis, involved some ex-
periences of such remarkable character
that 1t is deemed worth narrating Mr.
Wade is the General Passenger and Ticket
Agent OF the indianapolis, Peru & Chica.
go Railroad. He is about thirty wears
old, unmarried, good-looking, genial and
popular. A short time ago in company
with a few friends, he went up to Lake
Maxincukee a small but beautiful BODY
OF water in Marshall County, Ind. on =
fishing excursion. He had noticed some
magnificent water-lilies, in full bloom
along the southern shore of the lake, and
one day he concluded 10 gather few
Taking a rowboat he had proceeded q
short distance up the lake shore when he
came to a little rivulet, not more than four
feet wide. There had been a heavy rain
the day before, and the inflated rivulet
had left quite deposit Of sand and LIGHT
debris along its sides, partially concealinr
the character Of the ground and making
smooth and apparently solid surface.
On the opposite side of the rivulet, a
little above where he stood, there
bloomed a huge water-lily-a perfect mar.
vel of beauty. Franks soul went out
toward it with a true inwardness. Select.
ing what appeared to be a good landing
place on the other side of the little stream
he cleared it at leap The moment he.
struck the earth he felt it giving way be-
meath him, and in less than second he
was up to his thighs in soft mud. His
| first impulse, of course, was TO get out.
but he found he could not move his legs
Worse than this, he found that every
movement he made sunk him deeper.
Then the horrible truth burst on him
that he was in quicksand. The sensa-
! ton was dreadful. The mud grasped him
like wise. His legs were helpless and
| his feet seemed to be treading on nothing.
And still he sunk His cries We're heard
| by two companions, Messrs. Elliott and
| Gall, about a quarter of mile distant on
the lake, and by some instinct they at
| once took in the situation. By this time
he was up to his armpits. The mud and
| sand seemed to press him from all direc-
tons. Respiration was difficult, and his
breathing was growing shorter.
| Each breath was drawn with distinct
| effort. He grasped at a little bunch of
grass and held to it like drowning man
! to life -preserver. With the other he
managed to get hold of small piece of an
old barrel-stavc which lay within reach and
worked that under his arm. Both these
stays soon failed him, and he continued to
descend. The approaching rescuers
| struck a bar. In an instant they jumped
out and were dragging the skitf overit. 1t
was hard work but soon done. The life
of Frank Wade was at stake.
In deeper water again they rowed to,
him like athletes. The boat strikes the
| land. They leap out and run to Frank,
bringing an oar with them. When they
| got to him the mud was within an inch
| of his mouth. His head was thrown back,
and the back part of it imbedded in mud.
He was pale and helpless. With all pos
I sible haste an oar was extended to him.
He was too weak to grasp it firmly, but
managed to get it under his arm and thus
sustained himself. Then hope revived
| After a few minutes of rest he worked the
oar into such position that he could
seize it with both hands, and then ,he
work of extricating began. Little by little
he managed to loosen his body, though he
could not move it.
! Then the boys would work him back
and forth with the oar. Without describ-
ing this process in detail suffice il to say
that after halt an hour of hard work he
was finally dragged out, leaving his rub
Der boots behind, the most exhausted and
most beslimed man ever seen. Pale, weak
and sore he submitted himself to his
friends, who hastily stripped off his
clothes and put on dry ones. Two or
three stiff drinks of good brandy revived
his strength and brought the color into
his face. AS soon as he was able tomove
he was placed in z boat and rowed to the
landing, and theme led to the hotel. 1t
was several days before his system recov-
evered its tone, and fortnight before
the effects Of his squeeze passed away
| Frank is as fond as ever OF water-lllles,
but would rather somebody else would
| gather them. FOREST and Stream.