The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1877-08-16

% light for years was almost literally
luearthed In Crawford county, this
State, few days ago, and In the most
singular manner possible. William
H. French, q Pittsburg dryg0Ods clerk,
and Fairweather Martin, Of Chicago,
Did schOOlmates, were hunting and ex-
plOring through that part OF the State,
and taking q summer vacation. On
the evening Of the 9TH inst. French
shot ut turkey which came near
their camp. The bird was wounded
and could not fy away, but half new
and half Iran alongon the ground before
him. He had not followed IL over lW
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 feet across, and almost |
concealed by weeds and bushes, and |
being. az was afterwards ascertained
bv tape-line measurement, 20 feet deep.
When French went down he bumped
from side to side, and landed all In |
heap at the bottom, elbow skinned,
knees battered, and the rest OF his body
pretty well shaken up. The bOttom OF
the bit was much larger than the
mouth. being almost ID feet from side
To side. 1t had been dug out as II men
had sunk q shaft down that lar, ana
then started out to dig drifts. The soil
was very hard, and in some places the
shaft had been cut through rock.
It NAV be imagined that the clerk
was not long in raising an alarm, but
the depth Of the pit 80 mnffied his
voice that his companion had o long
search to locate him. While this hunt
was going on, French discovered that
he had company down there. 1t was
80 dark that he could see nothing. anu
he was prevented from knowing the
size of the pit. After finding that he
had no brOk en- bones, he felt about him
q little, and laid his hand on what he
soon knew to he o human skeleton,
and a musty odOr at once filled his
nOstrils. His 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 for joking. 1t was
decided to makean examination Of the
place by daylight, and, when morning
came. Martin was lowered down the
shaft. The bushes were cut away from
around the mouth to give him light,
and enough filtered down to enable
him to see everything.
| There was u skeleton there, sue
enough, and sight 1t must have pre-
scented In the gloom down there. The
figure of q man sat with his back to
the wall, one knee drawn up, and the
other leg extended. The hands rested
ON the ground on either side, and the
head had fallen over the left shoulder.
1t was not q corpse, nor skeleton but
q mummy. Most Of the hair had fallen
off the skull, and the clothing had
mouldered until breath would blow
it to dust. There was boot on the
right foot, the other one lying on the
ground some distance away. The
soles could be torn off as easily as one
tears a plotting pad. The flesh on the
BODY and limbs had greatly decayed
entirely bare, but where any flesh re
NAMED 1t had shriveled down anC
turned the color of sheet iron. MartiI
and his friend, were, of course, cOnsid
erably excited over the discovery, bu
they took all pains and precautions Il
find O clew to the mystery. On tn,
ground was q small heap Of dust which
had once been hat. Against tn
wall. within reach Of the mummy, wa
bundle of clothing.
While Martin was making these dis
: coveries below, French was scouting
around the mouth of the shaft. Lynn
almost at the edge of 1t were the ruste'
, barrel of O rifle and the head of ligh
ak. The stock had rotted from tn
; gun, and the handle had decayed iron
/, the AK, while the metal itself wa
! nearly eaten with rust. When tn
. unfortunate hunter or explorer fe
. into the pit as he doubtless did, h
: might have been carrying these art
cles in his hands, or the sudde
= stumble might have disl0dged ther
y from his pack, or, still further, b
2 might have hung to the bushes at tn
edge of the pit for few seconds befOI
u falling, and sought to tighten the LOAF
There was no evidence Of q camp fiji
y near by, though the lone man migf
- have had one there.
!. Feeling quite certain that . clew !,
, the mystery would be found In IL
:, pack or about the skeleton, Marti
- proceeded very carefully in his searcl
:, The clothing over the bundle OF BON
:, pulled to pieces as soon as handle
- There was o large Russian leath
y, ~ wallet lying between the shriveled lie
:. arm and the bare ribs, and this was
far gone that 1t required the most del
cate handling. Some portions or
were lost before 1t reached sunligl
of above, and the odor from 1t was aimo
nt suffocating. In the mass Of dust al
r. bones Martin made q still more In
A. portant discovery. He found mer
orandum-book, having an almanac
u It, and the days of the week printed I
ne alternate pages. The book was W,
r. bound, and, owing to its thicknel
O. had stood the ravages Of time mu'
w better than even the thick.soled boo
he The almanac was for the year ia
er and must be taken as proof that {
he stranger fell into the pit In that YET
"a. The unfortunate man had WRIT
TO his name ON the inside Of the III
ce cover of the book. The presence OF
,e- name could be family seen, but n
he even q single letter could certainly
as made out. Martin thought the fl
name looked like Z" William" VIII
On French feels quite sure that II "
IN "Charles.n There was evidently
a initial, standing for q middle nan
ne and the last name was short enou
ak for |" Wood" "Gregg," or" Brown
al AS near as they could make out, thu
ON were not over six letters In the nan
nv The bundle was lifted out with
OF possible care, and In It were found {
20 pairs Of wooden socks, two wool
|id shirts. q vest, the blade Of a razor, b
ne. tons, and small bits Of paper which
". sembled small portions Of greenbac
er. Not one of the articles Of clothing '
he much more than dust, and the slig
ed est breath tore them TO pieces. .
ect book, card, or anything to- furnish
ew clew was found In the bundle, nor
ire the boots, nor about the pile Of bla
Ith ened bones. After half y days h,
vas for clew, the young men made
by other discovery. The bones Of
ZEN skeletons left leg was broken. Il
he was the first discovery. From 7
es. bottom Of the pit, for ten feet up.
OBJ cept In one place, the sides were ful
Id grit and rock In one place, which
Inv Z stratum Of red clay, the poor u
eet had cut inches about Q foot apart
be- IDENTIFY hoping to reach the mouth
ced the pIt by that means. He had