The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1877-08-16
DETROIT. July %

DETROIT, July 70
One OF the saddest mysteries brougL /
tn light for wears was almost literally un-
earth~d ia Crawford county, this State. a
few days ago. and in the most singular
manner possible. Will ~. French. u
Pittsburgh day goods clerk. and Fair
weather Martin. of Chicago. old school
mates, were hunting aud exploring
through that part of the state. On the
evening of the Tth inst. French shot ut a
turkey which Came near their camp The
bird was wounded snd could not fy
away. but halt h-w and half ran along on
the ground be ore him lie had not FOL
lowed il over two hundred feet from
camp when he suddenly found himself
going down into the bowels of the earth
In the uncertain light OF evening he had
fallen into an old shaft or pit. having
mouth only three or four iert across aud
almost concealed by weeds and bushe-,
Hnd being. as was aiterSard ascertainrd
by tape line measurement twenty seven
feet deep When French went down he
bumped from sid. to side. and landed all
IN a hesp ut the bottom, elbows skinned.
knees battered and the rest of his BODY
pretty we'll shaken up. The bottom of
the pit was much larger than the mouth.
being almost ten feet from side to side
Ii had been dug out. as If men had sunk
n shaft down that far and then started
out t. dig drifts. The soil was very hard.
and in some places the shalt had been
cut through rock.
1t may be imagined that the clerk was
not long in raising the alarm. but the
depth of the pit so muzzled his voice that
his compaion searched long to find him
While this hunt was going on French
discovered that he had company
down there. IL was so dark that he
could see nothing, and he was prevented
from knowing the size of the pit. After
finding that he had no broken bones, he
t..lt about him n little and laid his hand
On what he knew to he human skPle-
ton. and u musty odor at once filled his
nostrils. Ills yells for assistance were
no doubt considerably increased by this
discovery, and when assisted out OF the
pit by means of the stout line carried
with the camp equipage he was in no
mood Tor joking. IL was decided to make
AN xaminAtion OF the place 10y day ylight.
and when morning came Martin was low
cred down the shalt. The bushes were
cut away from around the mouth to give
him light. and enough OF it filierrd down
To enab Q him to sre everything.
There was a body there, sure enough
The figure OF "A man sat with its back 10
ths. wall, one knee drawn up and the
OF her leg +xtend-d. The hands rested
on the ground on either side, and the
head had lallen over on the lett shoul
der. Ii was not a skeleton, but a mum.
my. Mot of the hair had fallen off the
skull. and the clothing had mOuld-red
until breath would blow il to dust
There was boot on the right foot only,
the other one lying on the ground some
listancr away. The solrs could be torn
off a. easily as one tears a blottIng pad
The flesh on body aud limbs had greatly
'lrcay-d, leaving knees, elbows, aud 9th
,.r lolnts entirely bare, tut where any
h.-rb remained il had shrivelIrd down
and turned the color OF sheet iron. On
the ground was small heap os dust
which had once been hat. Against the
wa !. within reach OF the mummy, was "A
bun. OF clothing
Wanle Martin was making these dis
c"veties below, French was scouting
around the mouth of the shalt. Lying
almost NJ the edge of IL we're the rusted
haIrrl oi u !. fi- aud the head oi light
axe The stock had rotted from the gun.
aud the handle had d-cayed from the
axe, while the metal itsrlt was NEARLY
eaten with rust. when the unfortunate
be doubtless did. he might have been
carry ing these ticles In his hands, or
the sudden stumble might have dI-lodg-
ell them IRON his pack. or be might
have hung to the bushes at the edge oi
the pit for lew seconds before falling
and sought to tighten his load.
Feeling quite CERTAIN that n clue to the
mystery would be- found in the pack or
about the skeleton, Martin prOcerd-d
very Carefully IN his s-Hrch. The cloth
ing over the bundle OF homes Tell to prc
- as sOon as handled There was large
Russia leather wallet lying between the
shIiv-lpd left arm and the bare ribs. and
tnis was SO far gone that it required the
most delicate handling. Some portions
ui il were lost before It reached the sun
light above, and the odor from il was al.
most suffOcating. la the mass of dust
aud bones Martin made a still more i'm
portant discovery. lie found a memo
randum book, having an almanac in il
and the days OF the week printed on al
ternate pages. The book was we'll bound
and. owing to it's thickness, had stood
the ravages OF time much better than
even the thick soled bootS. The al
manac was ior the year 1866. aud must
be taken a proof that the stivnger irll
y
OF cour S., have an almanac later than the
year IN which be lived, aud would not br
likely tn carry one over u year old at the
most. Many oi the lraves Tell out and
crumbled away, and portions OF mauy
others were lost, but enough were lett.
and enough of the writing could be mad-
out, TO form one OF the saddrst chapters
in the history oi the wild forests OF Mich
igHn. Written with ink were the follow.
ing words, found here aud there through
the book:
Thence west" "shipments;" "acre
tract" Government" trade for a.;
to -" Grand Haven is for -"
John NJ. A demand for about
-" NO. 456 South G
The above parts of sentences were
CLEANED from perhaps the first twenty
leaves in the book. The rest seemed to
have been filled with writing in pencil
aud IN one or two instances with red
lead pencil. Words could be mad out
! nov and then, but the only comple tr
sentence found reads: Southwest cor
ner marked by X on lone pine tree
standing on knoll; stone pile AT foot Of
/ tree"
The unfortunate man had written bis
name on the inside o. the first cover of
th,. book. The pIesencr Oi name could
b. family s-en, tut not even n single let
ter could b. Certainly made out Martin
| thought he first name looked like w a.
liam wb IL Fr-nc irels qut- sure that
| il was oh ,ri,s Turrr was rvId, nIiY
an init al, standing iOr middle name,
an.I 1, Q last name was short enough for
| Wood" Gregg" or Brown. As near