The Grange advance. [volume] (Red Wing, Minn.) 1873-1877, 1876-03-22

circumstances of his condition were but
little noised about by the, officers of the
company on account of his afflicted fam.
,ly but no one finally, expressed the
least doubt Of his identity, or that he
had become crazed under the terrible
conditions of his shipwreck, The story
reached the writer through a daughter
of Mr.. Davis, and was corroborated by
officers Of the company cognizant of the
circu1ns:an :es !; so he relies implicitly up
on its veracity.
Among the numerous instances which
have come to the personal notice of the
writer as illustrative of the fact that a
visitation of the lost feeling almost in
variably produces insanity, and that gen.
orally speaking, the higher the order of
intelligence always up to a certain point
Of the lost person the more painful, if
not fatal, will the insanity prove, know
of none BETTER than the following:
There was employed as farm hand, in
a certain place where the writer resided,
a deserter from the United S ates Army.
He was young man of more than ordi'
nary ability, and tolerably conversant
with prairie life. 1t was the custom Of
the farmers OF that region to cut hay at
some distance on the prairie in the rear
of their farms, stack it on the spot, and
haul it to the barns in the winter as re.
quired. In accordance with this estab
llshed usage, the young man in question
was dispatched with ox.sleds one win.
ter's day after hay. He took with him,
for the sake of company, boy belonging
to neighboring farm "a little lad Of
about twelve years of age, and not par
ticularly bright. They did not expect to
be absent over three or four hours. The
stacks Of hay were distant about two
miles from the farm house, on the prairie,
and entirely out of sight of fences or other
landmarks, but well-beaten track led to
them.
About two hours after their departure,
terrific storm arose, rendering objects
at few yards invisible by reason OF the
swirl of snow driven by the fierce winds.
Some fear was entertained about the safe
ty of the lads, but it was argued that by
that time they would have reached the
stacks, and, by digging into them, could
remain in safety till the subsistence o. the
storm. at all events, no one could 90 to
their relief. The evening wore on with
no abatement, they remained out all
night. In the morning the ox-team they
had driven out were found in the cattle
yard. They had their yolk on, and had
evidently been loosed and turned adrift.
In the afternoon Of the day party was
organized to visit the stacks, and with
considerable difficulty proceeded there.
They found the roa! entirely obliterated,
and the snow driftcd in fantastic shapes
over the prairie. Reaching the stacks,
no trace Of either man or boy was found !;
and a further seach of three consecutive
days failed Of tangible results. On the
fourth day, however, the boy was found
under snow drift, frozen stiff. He had
all his clothes on, and was evidently fol-
lowing the trial Of the cattle when over.
come by the cold. About one hundred
yards distant, i'll directly opposite di.
rection, the shoes, mlttens, cap and outer
shirt Of the man were found in the snow,
but no trace of the owner. The exper.
fenced prairie men engaged in the search
announced immediately that he had dis
carded his clothing in fit Of insanity,
and discontinued the search as useless:
When the snow melted from the ground
in the spring. the body of the unfortu-
nate man was discovered sitting at the
base of tree on the banks of stream
six miles away. TWAS entirely destitute
of clothing, save single garment.