Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1879-10-18

for the best; am ready God be with
u.s. And his chin sank slowly upon his
breast. The scene unnerved me. |
turned my eyes once more to the setting
sun, and there depicted in the cloud
formation an old man with a sickle in
his hand.
"Oh, what a solemn scene was before
me ! was ready to sink down with
grief, for now were fitting through my
mind the scenes of my childhood--the
happy days OF youth, the pangs OF de-
spised love, thoughts of the two little Off
springs OF my own flesh and blood, Of
the one whom / had won and one TO
whom was betrothed. All these and a
thousand other things were fitting thro'
my brain.
IL never before felt such a horror
over an approaching calamity. No one
can imagine what a deSolate wilderness
il seems to be where you cannot see
anything but water underneath you,
and that surging and foaming as it were
with natural cOnyusions. To be hem
med in, with such faint prospects of es-
cape, and to be fixed as il were in the
middle OF creation, pinned fast in the
ethereal vault, as il some invisible
power was holding you there, ready TO
drop you at any moment, down, down,
into the seething, yawning gulf OF
water, there 10 drown, and then 10 be-
come food for fish, and all that without
the solaCe OF an attendant and friend,
drove me 10 desperation, and made me
think il would be better for me 10 die
tirst, and let my deluded companion
have the last thread OF safety that was
available under the circumstances.
"Oh, what calamity man can bring
upon himself We had now sunk low
enough to hear the dreadful murmurlng
OF the troubled waters. Ii was the
'Aeronaut's Dead March, ] thought,
Again rallied my spirits as Grimwood
sang out: Here il comes" What
comes friend Grimwoodp a sail, a
craft. Cheer up, Donaldson With
trembling fingers and doubling muscle
| pulled the valve. Down, down We
came: We plunged car deep into the
water! Not moment was to be lost;
night was cloaking its sable mantle about
Us.
"Grimwood thrust his life prescrver
over his shoulders, threw his sealed bot
tie overheard and plunged into the lake,
never looking whether he had drawn
long or short in the lot. But, alas the
vessel had vanished from our sight. In
another moment the car was slowly EN-
crging from the rutiled water. and lazily
the old Lee Ky hulk was lifting itself up
in the sombre twilight. ! now looked
over the car into the water, and there !
saw Grimwood bufieting with the waves
that were tossing him up and down. !
shouted ont, Goodbye, Grimwood,
God bless You" and he must have heard
me. for he raised his hand above his
head and swung il around in recognition
of my call. ] felt like jumping over
board and making an end Of my troubles,
hut my journal must be disposed Of first.
! DO not want 10 20 to llades and leave
no record behind. ! will continue 10
write until the last glimmer of hope
forsakes me- And now, as the balloon
rises it is getting lighter, so that | can
again see to write looked ont again
Tor my struggling companion, but the
shades of night had now so ObSCured the
surface Of the water that ] could not
see anything on its face. Poor Grim
wood, aS well as the vessel, had vanish
ed from my sight, and could see his
manly form no more. ! will now finish
my journal, and submit myself 10 the
waves that must sooner or later swallow
me up unless some miraculous escape
should await me. will, OF course, not
be able TO chronicle the final result Of
this adventure should | he doomed TO
die here, so ! may as well close up this
narrative, sealit up in the waterproof
case and drop it overheard, az | am
sinking down fast now, from gas leakage
and the cooling atmosphere OF the even
ing. MAY God have mercy on my two
bereaft children, and lead them through
the storms of life safely7 And finally,
may it never be the lot OF any acronaut
to undertake that which reason
teaches him should not he un-
dertaken, although the crowd
may ClamOr and the ignorant cry out
Coward since ii is better TO have the
appreciation of one sensible person than
the shouts and huzzas Of the herd, who
ever applaud most when your feats
promise seli-immolation.
ain the end | ask the world to deal
charitably with me. Should my body
be found, give it decent burial, and
write for an cpitaph: Here lies the
body OF a man whose reckless ambition
and fear of being accused OF want Of
nerve has sacrificed his own life and
betrayed another fellow mortal into the
snares Of death, with no higher object
than to serve the interests Of scheme
which, to say the best Of it, is but poor
thing in the progress OF art and refine
ment.'
"Sealed and delived. Amenw