The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1879-05-10
OUR STORY TELLER.
WONDERFUL ESCAPES.
Human Lives Saved Under Curious
circumstances.

we propose 10 0Her 10 our readers q
few instances of hair7breadth escapes,
by which various human. beings have
been saved from death. ~
: Col Gilmor, relating the story of a
fight in which he-fgured, says in his
Four Years in the Saddle"
Turning half round in my saddle to
( cali on my men, | received sudden
shock, and felt deadly sick, and at the
same instant saw d man trail his gun
and run off. | killed him before he had
gone three steps. His ball had passed
through two coats and struck in pack
of cards in my left, side pocket. They
were, quite new, the wrapper not even
having been broken open. The suits
were each distinct. The bullet passed
through all, stopping at the last card,
which was the ace of spades"
4 Such another literal illustration of
the phrase "Within an ace of death " is
not upon record; but hair-breadth
escapes are common in war. At the
battle of Laon, Stefens saw shell strike
the horse Of a Prussian officer. Enter
ing nears the shoulder, it caused the
poor animal to make cenvulsive spring
and threwits rider, the fragments of the
shell being projected on all sides, while
the rider jumped up from the ground
unhurt, = s&a-a $500 stot
During the, Crimean war, Col. Wynd-
ham dispatched to find out how matters
were going in the first attack on the
Redan, saw soldier walking along the
trench two or three yards ahead of him.
Presently round shot came flying over
hn I'd 4
from sight by the Gust. When it
subsidized, the colonel was astonished to
find himself beside living man, whose
countenance preseLtel curious admix-
ture of fright and Joy, as, scratching his
head, he exclaimed:
Why, dash my buttons, but that was
amazing ghp'
"Ay, ay, my boy" responded the
colonel; "we'd much better be digging
trenches at threepence rod in Nor
folk"
To which his fellow countrymen only
,'eplied: What! are yew tew from
Norfolk?''
Amazingly nigh death, although in
bliSsful Ignorance of the fact, was the
Confederate staff officer arked down
by a Northerner's rifle, and only saved
by The officer commanding the platoon
happening to recognize il him a client
OF the insurance Office of which he was
secretary, and striking up the leveled
weapon with, "Don't shoot we've got a
policy on him."
DIR. Brydon, the sole English survivor
OF the retreat from Cabul, during the
last Afghanistan war, was quite aware
of the narrowness of his escape, but
never could understand how it came
about. After long and terrible ride
he was just congratulating himself upon
having at last got clear of the enemy
when he found himself pursued by a
solitary horseman. He had but broken
sword wherewith to defend himself, and
with this he managed to intercept cut
at his head, directed with such force
that it cleft through the base of his
blade and left only the hilt, which the
doctor hurled in his assailant's face, and
the next moment the Afghan cut
through Brydon's headpiece and the
magazine. he had that morning placed
inside it. Unarmed, half stunned, and
hopeless, he mechanically stopped to re-
cover his fallen rein, when to his surprise
ard relief his foe turned away and
galloped Cd, leaving the doctor to drag
himself to Jelalabad.
The sword of justice is not always
rightly directed, and sometimes comes
near perpetrating murder. A young
New Yorker, named Wells, went one
evening to Booths Theater. Taken
with a fit of coughing, he left the
theater, intending to go home; but
after going some little distance, it came
on showing so fast that he retraced his
steps. As he strobe along, two men
came rushing down the street, one of
them dropping god watch and chain,
which Wells picked up, and then went
after the loser, running into the arms of
a policeman, who marched him off to
the station to explain matters Presently
a messenger arrived in hot haste, saying
the thief was wanted at the Fifth Avenue
Hotel. Wells was taken there and
brought face to face with a man lying
on lounge, covered with blood.
/" Is this the man who stabbed you ?"
asked the officer.
" 1t is" said the poor fellow, falling
back, never to speak again.
Wells was tried for murder, found
guilty and sentenced to be hanged; and
hanged he would have been If a fort
night before the day fixed for his execu-
ton prisoner in Sing Sing had not
confessed on his death bed that he had
robbed the man of his watch, then stab
bed him and run off afterward dropping
the watch as he ran.
Among the Communists tried at Yer
sallles was Jean Baptiste Pigerre, charged
with commanding the firing party who
shot the hostages at La Roauette. He
protested he knew nothing Of the dread
full business, and was not aware that
the hostages had been shot until his
arrest. His denial went for naught.
He had been denounced by members
Of his own party; three of them on trial
with him declared he was at La Ro-
quette. M. Chevrieu, prisoner there
at the time, said he saw Pigerre from
his cell, dressed as National Guard.
trailing a scabbard after him; his face
was fixed in his memory, and Scissor, a
police officer, asserted emphatically:
That's the man."
Only one voice was raisAd in pioerva,s