The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-12-03
A VISION OF DEATH.
saved by q Vorlineman's Presence of
Mind,


The internal (yet very usefuD COM
pound is so swift and terrible in its
work, and coannihilatory in its effects
that many persons experience a singular
feeling if even in the presence of the
harmless looking fluid. They know that
q slight conclusion would send them
into eternity with the rapidity of the
lightning's flash, and hardly trace of
their bodies be found. Men who are
accustomed to nitro glycerine are sup
posed to have none of these feelings, and
nerve is a necessary requisite. Never
theless, the presence of appalling danger
sometimes illustrates the best Of them,
as will be seen by the following Incl
dent:
At certain factory not a hundred
miles from Bradford were gathered the
members of the firm and some work
men. The gentlemen were intently
watching the process of manufacturing
the explodent, when one of them incau-
tiously dropped his cigar stub on the
floor, which was covered with running
water bearing on the surface small par
GELS ofnitro-glycerine, The latter caught
fire and burned brilliantly with sput-
tering noise. To say that the spectators
were alarmed would be to put it very
mildly. They were simply paralyzed
with terror, and watched the spreading
of the fiery stream with the helpless
fascination with which a victim is said
to look in the glittering eyes of rattle
snake. All around them were cans
filled with nitro-glycerine, enough to
annihilate an army, and every man felt
as though he was the victim of hideous
nightmare which held him powerless.
Flight was impossible; their limbs re-
fused to perform their office, and an
awful death seemed inevitable. The
apparently doomed men saw the little
lake of fire spread slowly but surely on
the floor, and the flames hissed as
though in triumph at the certain death
that seemed to await their victims.
None of the spectators will soon forget
this thrilling episode in their lives, and
money could not hire them to repeat
the experiment. When the fire had al
most reached can filled with glycerine
one of the workmen reused from his4eth-
argy, and taking off his coat spread it on
the floor and extinguished the flames,
when of course all danger ceased. One
of the gentlemen preser t, when describ-
ing his experience, said: /" never knew
before what it was to be sick from fear.
When saw the Internal stuff burning,
and felt that every man of us would be
blown to atoms in five seconds, every
muscle of my body seemed palsied. |
gasped for breath, my head swan, and
I only felt deathly sensation Of nauseau
in my stomach. All present turned an
ashy paleness of the face. Then l vainly
wondered whether there would be any
pain in the deathstroke. The remem-
brance of nitro -glycerine horror, where
the still palpitating heart of one of its
victims was picked up a minute after
the explosion, came to my mind and l
surmised whether my heart would un-
dergo that strange experience after being
torn from my body. The thought OF my
family caused me the most poignant an
guish, and tears coursed down my
cheeks. Then several incidents of my
life, of which cannot speak with pride,
were vividly presented to my minds eye
and induced vague reflections on the sub
ject Of future punishment. Sometimes
in my dreams have felt myself in the
presence of frightful peril. such as lying
in the path of an express train or totter-
ing on the brink of a vastabyss, but was
utterly incapable of moving hand or foot
for my preservation. So it seemed in
this case. could not lift a finger though
there was comparative safety in flight,
paralyzed with terror was liter ally my
condition. After what seemed an eter-
nifty of waiting for my inevitable fate,
my attention was arrested by move
.ment on the part of one Of the workmen,
who took off his coat hurriedly. Then
he bent forward, and, with the utmost
deliberrtion, laid it on the pool
of fire, moving it gently along and
patting it with his hands until
every spark was extinguished. The
reaction from the terrible suspense was
almost overpowering, and l felt weak as
q child, but on going out into the open
air my old time spirits came back very
rapidly. May Inever have another such
experience. ."-Bradford (Pa.) Era.