The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1880-05-25

since '4S, said
81 think there has been ravine
here, but it has been filled up by the
rains"
On close examination we decided that
his supposition was correct, and after
some consultation we determined to
commence digging early on the follow
ing morning.
Morning came, and we repaired to the
spot with pick and Shovel. Jack pro-
posed that we should follow the course
of the ravine, which appeared to run
into the body of the hill, rather than to
dig down; for, as he said, we would he
more likely to find the bag in the bed of
the ravine, by following it up, than by
digging down in any one place. The
result was that in few days we had
formed quite cave in the side of the
hill.
We worked at this tunnel for four
days without finding the bag. On the
fourth day Jack proposed that he and
my other partner, Bill Jennings, should
carry the dirt we excavated down to the
river and wash it, leaving me to dig in
the tunnel. In that way they thought
they might make grub'' while search
for the hidden money. l thought the
idea foolish, but, as they entered so
eagerly into my views regarding the
buried bag of dust, made no objections
to the plan, and dug away with re-
doubled energy. In fact, had thought
so much about the object of our search
that had become utterly regardless of
almost anything else. had dreamed of
it when sleeping, unused on 1t when
waking, and it had obtained complete
control of my mind. Day after day we
worked, digging and my companions
washing, yet, strange to say, did not
become discouraged. They said nothing
about the bag of gold dust, and asked
them nothing about the result of their
washing the excavated soil.
We had worked about three weeks
and had formed a tunnel extending
about fifteen feet into the hill, when,
one afternoon completely tired out, sat
down to rest in the cave. / had only
intended to sit a little while, but five
minutes had not elapsed before l was
sound asleep. l was awakened by
crash, and found my feet and legs COM
pletely covered by mass of dirt and
stones. The front part of the tunnel
had fallen in, and, in a manner, buried
me alive. About ten feet of the tunnel
remained firm, and, from my observa-
tion of its structure prior to the accident
was convinced that had no reason to
apprehend any danger in that quarter.
My partners had carried dirt enough to
the river to keep them busy there for
the rest of the day, so 1 had nothing to
hope from their assistance. The ques-
tion that first presented itself to my
mind was, how long can life be sustained
in this confined state? 1 had read a
dozen times statistics in relation to the
amount of air consumed hourly by
human beings lungs, but, like almost
everybody else had merely wondered at
the time and then forgot the figures.
How much would have given then
to be able to recall them The next
thought was, how can proceed to ex-
tricate myself? The question was diff
cult of solution. If l went to work with
shovel and pick to clear away the dirt
that had fallen, it was very likely that
all should be able to remove would be
Immediately replaced by that which
had fallen in from above. This was
pleasant racked my poor brain to
devise some means of iberating myself,
but without effect.
Leaning against the wall in utter des-
pom dency was about to throw myself
down on the ground and await my fate,
when observed that quite a stream of
water, on small scale, was making its
way down the side of the cave. At first
was alarmed, as / thought it might
loosen the earth above and bring another
mass down on my head. The next
moment the thought struck me that it
might be turned to my advantage. Why
should ] not direct it so it would wash
away sufficient earth in its progress to
the outlet of the cave to make an open
ing large enough to allow me to crawl
through ity Even if only succeeded
in making an air-hole, it would enable
me at least to exist until my partners
could come to my rescue.
Carefully examining the course Of the
water. / succeeded In finding the snof