Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1888-09-07

4EOA LI4l1 lEtC 1l AAtu UCtl
covered by rocks or limbs. If such
was the case and the fire refused to
burn, 1 should be hard pressed with
plenty Of raw provisions at hand. /
felt all the gravity of the situation
as i threw on some 6ghtWood and
made q blaze. Tt was q hard fight
for half an hour. Some of the smoke
certainly found way to escape,
but some was driven back.
However, after time the
heat of the fire brought down a great
deal OF WateF-sO much that / could
scarcely keep u fame going, and
about halt past 4 o o'clock the cabin
was cleared of smoke. While could
not for an instant believe that the
mouth Of the chimney showed above
the snow, / was satisfied that some
way had been opened for the smoke
to drive away. may explain here
that q great mass of tree tops lodged
on the roof before the bulk OF that
snow came, and these held the snow
up so that the smoke went sailing
about in q hundred channels.
1 got myself some supper, wound
up the clock and sat down for a
smoke and a think. The hermit had
two pipes and a large stock of tObac-
co, and lonely as was my situation a
feeling of gratitude to God for the
comforts at hand was uppermOst in
my mind. was now perfectly sat
isfied that I was buried deep under
the snow, and that my rescue would
be a matter OF weeks. The first move
was to write out a statement of the
accident, and this placed where it
would be preserved and found in case
Ofmy death. Then I began a daily
journal, and mapped out a program
to be followed. A weeks imprisOn-
ment would be nothing, but
after that it would not do to let the
mind dwell on the situation You
see, the horror of it was the stiffness.
The idea kept coming up thatIwas
buried alive, and it was an awful
thing to think of The hermit clock
was an old fashioned one, with a loud
tick-tatk, and after the cabin got
through settling under the weight OF
the snow every tick sounded almost
as loud as the blow of a hammer.
1t was so warm that I needed only
the smallest fire, and when 1 went to
bed at 9 O'Clock there was no need OF
a single blanket for cover.
I was up at an early hour next
morning, having slept like a log al
night, and while eating breakfast
was startled by sounds which 1 be-
ieved to be the voice of a human be-
ing / thought [ could hear grOans
and means and cries for help, and
when l opened the door the sounds
came to me more distinctly. Itmight
be that the hermit, caught under the
snow, had succeeded in tunneling his
way to q point from which / could
rescue him by digging. and had no
sooner dispatched my breakfast
than / set about making me a shovel
to dig with. I found a hatchet, and
with this sharpened board, and the
the snow / dug from the doorway
heaped up in the fuel room / had
not been digging over half an hour
when L made the discovery that the
first rush Of the avalanche had
brought down a great lot of small
trees, bushes andrOcks, with here and
there a large tree. They had been
piled up helter-skelter, but they held
up the mass Of snow so that with a
little digging 1 could run tunnel in
almost any direction. Great care
was necessary, however, as the bur
den above was very heavy, and the
displacement Of a support might
bring down q great weight of snow
After 1 had run the tunnel straight
out from the door about 20 feet ]
turned to the right, made my way
under a lot Of rubbish, and after 90
ing about 80 feet came upOn the body
of an Indian. Here the limbs and
sticks made q sort of bower, under
which he lay, and I knew that it was
his voice 1 heard calling. There were
no Indians about US except hOstiles,
and just before the snow came
they had killed two men be
longing to our camp. We
had no fear of them after winter set
in, knowing that they stuck close to
| their villages. Here was a redsEin
however, and in full war paint; but
had no sooner found him than I saw
that he was dead, though his body
was still warm. He had been mauled
In q terrible manner, both legs being
broken, his head all bloody from an
injury, and his right arm doubled
under him as if broken. I could see
the butt Of his rife sticking out OIL
the snow, but when I pulled at it ]
found the barrel missing, 1t had
been wrenched off I got his tOma-
hawk and knife, together with powder
horn and bullet pouch, and when
/ had pulled the body along and crept
beyond it, caught sight Of a moe
casin in the snow and dirt. 1t took
me an hour to unearth the body
The life had been crushed out Of him
in a second. The mass of rock which
had come down with him had broken
every bone in his body; and a great
share of his fare had bnar Ground off