The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1876-03-22
WHOLE NO. 1889,

I tsnce Of about ten feet, 20 The bottom
OF the shaft. | wss n0t al ali burt
The upper part Of the ladder fell
I across nv thigh but did not hurs NE
felt az once that 1 was completely
trapped The pole had become quite
rotten, besides the iddle notch bad
by accident been cut liJIle TOO deep
10 falling NY eaadIe vas exJin-
guished. bat | bad good supply Of
matches aud. soon lighted il agaio
Holding the candle alafl | found ts
nv diSmay tha; u the first plarfpTm
and to the foot of the nearest ladder
the distance wa 0eaFie twenty feet.
To this heigbI on all sides wss
shut 10 by a smooth aud solid wall If
rock
Il next locked about the bottom of
the shaft. The space was about
eight feet In width by fourteen Ia
length.-it having been evacuated in
this shape in order to give room for
planting the ladder at a proPer an
gle. Only half the bottom was drv
ground. The east side Of the shaft.
into which the vein dipped. bad been
sunk about three feet lower than the
west side, and contained over two
feet of water.
when | bad made these Observa-
tions | again looked aloft and care
fully examined the walls on all sides
They aff,rded not a chink By means
of which I could hope to climb to ,he
platform above. | planted two pieces
of the broken ladder againstthe wall
climbed to their top, and again look
ed for cbinks in the rock in which /
might gain bold for nv fingers and
toes. All was solid and smooth.
Il then placed one piece Of the
ladder against the wall. and, carving
the other, climbed up and tried to
plant it upon the first section I could
not make it stand, and 10 have ct
tempted to climb it, even thought IL
bad stood, would have been folly. as
it was quite vertical | tried plant I
ing its base in some Of the uotcbes in
nv first section, but they were not
deep enough. and / could Dot make
IT staBd. When | stood nv first sec
ton against the shaft at . smaller
angle | could plant my second in the
notcbes, but then it would not reach I
higher than within siz oreight feet Of
the platform [ wished to gain.
"All this time nv candle was stuck I
into bit Of clay al the bottom Of
the shaft 1t was fast being consum- /
ed, which I could not afford, there
fore blew it out and sat down IN 4
the dark Ny feelings NAV perhaps, /
be imagined. but | cannot describe .
them. I wanted to think-to do
some good strong thinkiDg-but nv
thoughts and my brain seemed to
spit around in a circle, aud oil | did
was 70 repeat over and over the one
word. Lost lost, lostr Lost was
all | could say-all | could get my
brain to comprehend.
Il Law down and rocked myself TO
aud fro on the ground not remaining
sin for g moment, save when ! paus-
ed occasionally to gaze up at the
little sgusre of light that marked the
top Of the shaft. Once IN thus toss
ing about | struck nv head against
the wall of the shaft. This gave me
an idea that | stopped for time to
coBsider; it was that might at least
dash out my brains against the rocks /
when there seemed to be nothing else /
left 20 do.
This did me some good and be- I
gan to think again. It appeared TO /
me that | bad seen sOmeLbiog feat I
ing in the water in the other part Of
the shaft during the time nv candle
vas burning. | tried 10 remember
what it was. There were several 4
objects They were not bits Of wood /
OF bark, but something else-jusI 1
what | could not reccOlleet. This
me 80 much thar / determ-
med to light my candle and see what
vas in the water. | found two dead I
rabbits-all bloated and greed
three or four small striped squirrels,
one tolerably large gray squirrel Of 2
kind, and half a dozen
mice.
"All these were partly deesyed,
but considered that il might vet be-
come necessary for me to eat them
therefore | ished them out and plac-
ed them in q corner Of the dry part
Of ths shaft, where | could find them
if nv candle was all gone when the
time came that | must eat them.
This done blew out my candle and
again lay down to roll sand toss, TO
gaze az the speck of day far above
me and groaD.
Some one might pass that way
aud hear me. The moment this
came into my head ! arose,
and, leaning against the wall and
IooEiBg upward, | began shouting.
Hour after hour / did nothing but
shout | shouted till hoarse and till
/ could hardly stand. Finally, COM
pletely exhausted, tell asleep
When | swoke j. was all dark
above, and | said it is now dark-no
use of shouting. When day light
came again / resumed shouting, aud
kept il up until | became very nOaFse
snd weak, when / gave it up as
worse THAI useless
IL studied all manner Of eombina-
tions 10 be made with my TWO pieces Of
ladder, and two or,tbree times lighted
my candle to LOOK at them, but soon
blew il out again, rs | saw they could
not be made asy longer than they
actually were. The bit Of daylight
above did not reach me, and did me
no good except 10 let me know when
il was day and when night
"It is useless to prolong this part OF
my story. / soon suffered the pangs 4
of hunger and thirst IL was not
hard to bring myself TO crawl 10 the
water and drink of il, foul as it was, ]
but it was hard to undertake 70 eat
Of the dead animals. Several times
| attempted il but gave It up, feeling