The Louisiana cotton-boll. [volume] (Vermilionville [i.e. Lafayette], Attakapas, La.) 1872-1883, 1877-09-05
The Skeleton in the Shaft.

One of the saddest mysteries brought
to light for yesrs was almost literally
unearthed in Crawford county, Michigan,
few days ago, and in the most singular
manner possible. win H. French,
Pittsburg dry goods clerk, and Fair
weather Martin, of Chicago, old
schoolmates, were hunting and exploring
through that part of the state and taking
a summer vacation. On the evening of
the 7th Of July French shot at turkey
which came near their camp. The bird
was wounded and could not fly away,
but half flew and half run along
ground before him. He had not a1
it over two hundred feet from TIC 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 a
mouth only three or four feet across, and
almost concealed by weeds and bushes,
and being, as was afterwards ascertained
by tape-line measurement, twenty-sevcn
feet deep. When French went down he
bumped from side to side, and landed
all in heap at the bottom, elbows
skinned, knees battered and the rest of
his body pretty well shaken up. The
bottom of the pit was much larger THAI
the mouth, being almost ten feet from
side to side. It had been dug out, as if
men had sunk shaft down that far and
then started out to dig drifts. The soil
was very hard, and in some places the
shaft had been cut through rock.
It 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 companion had long search to
locate him. While this hunt was going
on French discovered that he had COM
pany down there. 1t wasso dark that he
could see nothing, and he was prevented
from knowing the size of the pit. Alter
finding that he had no broken bones he
felt about him little and laid his hand
on what be soon knew to be q human
skeleton, and a musty odor at once filled
his nostrfls. His yells for assistance were
no doubt considerably increased by this
discovery, and when assisted out of the
pit BY means of stout line carried with
the camp equipage he was in no mood
for joking. It was decided to make an
examination Of the place by daylight
and when morning came Martin wai
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 skeleton there, sur<
enough, and sight it must have pre-
sented in the gloom down there. The
figure Of man sat with his back to The
wall, one knee drawn up and the othel
leg extended. The hands rested on tht
ground on either side, and the head hac
fallen over on the left shoulder. It wai
not a corpse, not skeleton, but
mummy. Most of the hair had faller
off the skull, and the clothing haC
mouldered until breath would blow i
to dust. There was boot on the righ
foot only, the other one lying on th'
ground some distance away. The sole
could be torn off as easily as one tears
blotting.pad. The flesh on the body
and limbs had greatly decayed, leaving
knees, elbows and other joints entirely
bare, but where any flesh remained j
had shriveled down and turned tn
color of sheet-iron. Martin and hi
friend were of course, considerably ex
citedsoyer the discovery, but they tool
| all pains and precautions to find clu'
to the mystery. On the ground was
small heap of dust which bad once beel
hat. Against the wall, within reach 9
| the mummy, was a bundle of clothinl
While Martin was making these dis
coveries below, French was seoutin
around the mouth of the shaft. Lynn
almost ut the edge of it were the ruste'
barrel Of rifle and this head Of a ligh
ax. The stock had rotted from the gur