The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1879-08-14
" a Preclpice.

A party of youLg people assembled q,
the residence of Mr.. George s. Coe, presi.
dent of the American Exchange Bank, OF
this city. on Friday evening last. The
place is situated near Englewooi. n. j..
within fifteen minutes walk of tho well
known resort, the GEORGE" AS the party
left the house on their way to that resort
one of the young ladies ~laughingly remark
ed as sho counted the number of people
taking their seats in the carriages. why.
we must be careful, there are thirteen of
U.S. This remark seemed to strike the
vein Of superstition which pervaded the
party and was the topic Of conversation
until the picnic ground was reached. And
even after the horses were fastened, when
they passed joyously along to the over
hanging rock. which spans the road to the
left, the varied stories Of the ill-fated num-
Der thirteen seemed to haunt the minds Of
all present. According to the statement of
Mr.. Shaw. a clerk in the bank of which
Mr.. Coe is president, the horses were pick
eted on the overhanging rock Of the Gorge,
with their heads facing in an opposite d.
~rection to it. I'VE them continued Mr..
Shaw, .'seated ourselves on the large rock,
some twenty feet in width, which overhanc.
the precipice of nearly five hundred feet,
and INDUCED in singing and other enjoy
ments appropriate to the occasion. The
party believed. or, at least, was made easy
by a story l had told of a time when good
luck had attended an individual who was
the thirteenth member of a convivial as
femblage, and who was none other than
myself. Apropos of this a song was sung,
and almost Immediately after there came
I cannot describe ia sound which terri
fed our souls as the cry was uttered,
There goes one Of the horses over the
Gorge = AS ! arose from my reclining po-
sition l saw the frightened animal break
the rein by which he was fastened and,
backing to the rock, fall, with the wagon
to which he was attached, headlOng over
the fearful cliff. I was for a moment com
pletely paralyzed, but, recovering, rushed
to the verge Of the rock to see only the
flashes of fire fly from the rock as the wag-
on, from time to time, struck it in its down
ward course.
DAVID ANDERsoN's TERRIBLE FALL.
81 had scarcely time to realize what had
happened when a piercing cry fell upon my
ear, snd turning l beheld one of our party
falling with lightning speed down the steep
declivity. The shrieks of the WON and the
suppressed groans of the terrified men re
called me to a sense of duty. l never e1-
perienced such a feeling. l thought that |,
too, was going over the cliff. The excite
ment was so intense that now | wonder that
more of us had not fallen over. A carriage
was sent for a doctOr-another to Mr.. Goes
residence, while another, improvised as an
ambulance, in charge of Mr.. George 5. Coe,
Jr., nephew Of Mr.. Coe, went by the noun
tain path to the rivers side. When Mr..
Coe reached the rivers bank not finding
his friends body, he organized a searching
party. 1t was then about nine O'Clock.
YEARLY and anxiously they climbed up the
declivity, and, aided by the bright light of
the moon, chung to the shrubs and trees
which cover the rocky steep until they al
most reached the table rock on which we
had been seated. Within fifty feet OF the
top, hanging, as if in a hammock, they
found their friend limp in the branches OF
two small trees that grew out less than Tor
ty feet from the summit Of the table rock at
the side of the gorge down which the horse
and wagon had descended. With much
difficulty the party eXtricated the uncon
scious man, and, overcoming danger at ev-
cry step, finally arrived in safety at their
resting place. Mr.. Coe, Jr., the doctor
and other friends who had been notified,
received them. The sufferer, IN adazed
condition, responded in monosyiiabies 10
their inquiries. A hurried examination
disclosed the fact that his right arm ana
right leg had been badly fractured, and maj
he had sustained internal injuries OF a Sc
rious nature.
49, DcrD ArE "A d1S-