Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1876-04-13

but laws ran with almost IncredibIe
speed, leaping high rocks with appa.
rent ease, and at length escaped from
sight altogether. On this occasion be
was covered lightly with q coat oi
hair. In the seventh year the un.
fortunate man was seen, / believe, fol
the last time, having then = heavy suit
Of hair over his entire tody, and q
beard of great length. He was at the
time sotae fifty-six years of age. The
attempts made to capture him, and the
circumstances Of HE condition were
but little noised about by the officers
Of the company on account Of his sfflic.
ted family, but no one finally, expressed
the least doubt Of his indeutity, or that
he had become c-aEed under the terri.
ble conditions of bis sbipwreck. The
story reached the writer through q
daughter Of Mr.. Davis, and was corrobo.
rated by fieers of the company cognizan,
of the cir,um. tauees; SO be relies impli.
city upon it's veracity.
the numerous instances which
have come TO the personal notice of ID.
writer as illustrative of the fact that a
visitation Of the lost feeling almost in.
variaLly produces insanity, and that
generally speaking, the hig her the or
der of intelligence always up to u GER
tain roiuD of the lost person the more
painful, if not fatal, will the insanity
prove, / know Of none better than III.
following.
There was employed as farm hand,
in a certain place where the writer re-
sided, deserter from the United States
Army. He was young man of more
than ordinary ability, aud tolerably
coneersant with prairie life. 1t was
the custom of the farmers of that re-
gion TO cut Lay at some distance on
the prairie in tie rear Of their farms,
stack it an the 81 OF, and haul it to ,h.
barns IN the winter rs required. In
accordance with this established usage,
the Young man in question was dis
patched with ox.s!eds one winters day
after hay. He took with him, for the
sake of company, boy belonging to a
neighboring farm-a little lad Of about
twelve years Of age. aud hot particular.
~ bright. They did not expect to he
absent over three or four hours The
stacks Of lay were distant about two
miles from the farm house, on the prai-
RE, and entirely out of sight of fences
or other landmarks but u well-beaten
track led to them.
About two Lonrs after their derar.
ture. a terrific storm arose, rendering
objects at a few yards invisible bv reas-
on of the swirl Of snow driven by the
fierce winds. Some fear was enter.
tanned about the safety If the lads, but
it was thought that bv that time they
would have reached the stacks, and, by
digging into them, could remain in
safety till the subsistence Of the storm.
At all events, no one could go to their
relief. The evening wore on with no
abat atement, they remained out all night
In the morning the ox-team they had
driven out were found in the cattle.
yard. They had their yoke on, and
had evidently been loosed and turned
adrift. In the afternoon of the dav a
party was organized TO visit the stacks,
and with considerable difficulty pro.
ceeded there. They found the road
entirely obli,erated, and the snow drift.
ed in fantastic shapes over the prairie.
Reaching the stacks. no trace of either
man or boy was found; aud Il further
search of three consecutive davs failed
of tangible results. On the fourth dav
however. ihehoy was found under u
snow drift, frozen stiff. He had all his
clothes on. and was evidently following
the trail Of the cattle when overcom.
by the cold. About one hundred wards
distant, in directly opposite di.
rcction, the shoes. mittens, cap and
outer shirt Of the Tan were found il
the snow, but no trace Of the owner
The experienced prairie men engaged il
the search announced immediately that
he had discarded his clothing in fit oI
insanity, and discontinued tue search
rs useless. When the snow meltet
from the ground in spring. the body OF
the unfortunate man was discovered
sitting at the base of tree on tn.
banks IF stream SIX miles awav. Il
was entirely destitute of clothing, saw,
single garment.