Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1877-06-07
A NIGHT OF HORROR.

nave passed through many a trying
scene in my life, scenes wherein danger
lurked and death smiled grimly. On
water and on land have stood, as it were,
face to face with that dread of the hui
man race On the mighty ocean, when
our fair bark was tossed as if it were a
feather, | could gaze upon the surging
pillows with awe, aye, with veneration-
for there, amid the roaring of the tempest
and the flashing of the waves, saw the
power and might Of the Deity.
Death amid the storm and tempest
the flashes of lightning and the roarir g
of the thunder, had no dread for me.
To die thus, amid the war of elements
would be glorious triumph over slow
death!
Why should l write this sketch? Why
describe a night of horror, the remem-
brance of which, although many years
have passed away, makes me shudder
still? 1t is because il lives in memory,
like some horrid specter. 1t may, howe
ever, tend to withdraw the mind from
that one fearful episode in my life, which,
like dark shadow, keeps out all sun
shine. To test this theory, send you this
sketch, for the memory of that night of
horror
Like drop that night and day
Falls cold and ceaseless, wears my heart away.
The State House clock had struck eight
when the clerks left the office. l re-
manned alone, as | had some important
business to transact, with which the clerks
had nothing 10 do. | locked the front of
the office, and for one hour | was busily
employed at my work. In one corner of
the counting house stood my mammoth
safe-a huge affair. | prided myself on
being the owner of the fixture. | could
stand upright in it. and arrange my books
and papers without STOPPING. 1t was like
a small house or an iron tomb, just as fan
cy might determine. Near the safe stood
an old fashioned, rickety bookcase; a
large, ponderous piece OF furniture. The
safe door, when opened, came within few
inches of it,
1t is necessary to mention this book
case, for, had it not been there, the adj
venture | am about to relate would never
have been written.
| was inside the safe, putting in its
place the last book, when there came upon
my ear the cry of :" firelr followed by the
rush of the engines down the street l
listened for a minute, and was in the act
of leaving the safe, when-oh, horror =
there came crash The old book case
had fallen against the door of the safe,
workings of the huge lock-
| was thus inclosed in a living tomb,
aud as the dread sound echoed through
the safe, | knew it was the knell of my
death. For moment stood utterly con-
founded, and when the true state of my
situation was realized, no tongue can de-
scribe nor pen portray the remoteSt idea
of my feelings. Entombed, encased in
an iron cOflin-all sound dead The shout
| sent forth, as if it could be ever heard
came back in reverberating echoes Then
again all was still-still as death, for my
voice was hushed The few moments
that had passed since my incarceration
seemed as so many years. How would |
die? Raving mad, perhaps, or by imme-
diate sutfocation. Already l felt the pres
ence of the condensed air acting on nv
brain-already felt the blood rushing in
tumultuous waves to my headI To die
thus, struggling for life in an iron vault
was awful.
| calculated the hours, the minutes, and
seconds before the time of opening the Of
fee, and then-then-the key of the safe
great heavens lit was in my pocket,
and there was no duplicate.
Hours and hours must pass away before
the safe could be opened. Opened by
whom? The mar who made it | had
no partner in the business; nv clerks
would not suspect that anything had oc-
CURED, and they would not attempt the
opening of the safe until they had heard
from me. How in Heavens name could
that be! Never, never would they hear
the sound OF my voice againl | was there
deaths prisoner in an iron vault; they
knew it not, nor even imagined such a
horrible contingency could be attached to
the cause OF my absence. Even if it were
so-even when the safe was opened, how
would | appear to them? A lifeless corpse.
or raving maniac.
did not shudder nor groan All COZ
poreal sensation was lost In that of the
brain. felt that death in some horrible
shape was gathering its shroud around
me. In my excited state imagined that
all was over with me. How should |
meet death? Dash my brains out against
the iron-sided prison? No, no; not while
reason remained. If / were to lie down
with my face pressed to the floor, and re-
mann there quietly, shut my eyes and
keep out the oppressive darkness, might
not sleep? If, as Lady Macbeth says,
hell is murky," what was it inside this
safe? "Murky" is too insignificant a
word to apply to the Stygian horrors
which surrounded me- l threw myself
full length on the floor, for, as have al
ready said, the safe was large one, in
the hope sleep or suffocation would end
my mental suffering. Tho density of the
atmosphere must naturally produce the
latter result No, no; here was no at
mosphere, for that was invisible, elastic
fluid which surrounds the earth, and
presses by its weight the assemblage OF
8riform vapors. Here was no air-no
vapor-no motion-no sound-atmospher