The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1888-02-16

table ami several ro!igh stools. aclock.
candles. with len. coffee. SUGAR, pork
and flour III quantities 10 lis. me ses-
eral weeks. | could not have been
better provided for had planned for
the avalanche 10 come. There was Il
lcan-to at the back end OF the hut. and
! looked into this To find il full of fuel.
felt much more hopeful after had
taken the inventory. for | could not
help but feel that IL would be long be-
fore ] saw daylight again.
For several hours after the accident
the cabin sent forth suspicious sounds.
The snow was settling and packing
above il. and raficr> and LOGS cracked
and snapped in way 10 keep me on
thornS. Ii the weight on the roof
proved too great | should be crushed
or slnotllered the moment il fell in. II
was after three o'clock in the after
noon before | felt safe. Bu; very lit
tie snow had come down the chimney.
reasoned from this hat il had been
covered BY rocks or limbs. II such
was the ease and the fire refused TO
burn, ! should be hard pressed with
plenty Of raw provisions 1T hand.
felt all the gravity Of the situation as
threw on some ligh.-wood and made Il
blaze. 1t was 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 Il
great deal of water--so much that /
could scarcely keep flame going
and about half-past four o'clock the
cabin was cleared Of smoke. While l
could not for an instant believe that
the mouth of the chimney showed
above the snow. l was satisfied that
some way had been opened for the
smoke to drive away. may explain
here that 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 sail
ing about in hundred channels
! got myself some supper, wound
up the clock. and sat down for
smoke and think. The hermit had
two pipes and a large stock oftobacco.
and lonely rs was my situation a feel
ing of gratitude to God 10 the cos,-
forts at hand was uppermost in my
mind. | was now perfectly satisfied
that l was buried deep under the snow.
and that my rescue would be mat
ter 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 Of my
death. Then began daily journal.
and mapped out a programme to be
followed. A weeks Imprisonment
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 that was buried alive. and
it was an awful thing to think OF. The
hermit's clock was an old-f,shioned
one, with loud tick-tack. and after
the cabin got through settling under
the weight of the snow every tick
sounded almost rs loud rs the blow Of
a hammer 1t was SO Warm that |
needed only the smallest five, and
when l went 10 bel at nine o'clock
there was no need Of even q single
blanket for cover.
/ was up at an early hour next MORN
ing. having slept like a log all night.
and while eating breakfast was startled
by sounds which believed to be the
voice Of a human being. l thought /
could hear groans and cries for help.
and when ! opened the door the sounds
came to me more distinctly. 1t might
be that the hermit, caught under the
snow, had succeeded in tunneling his
way to a point from which l could
rescue him by digging. and ! had no
sooner dispatched my breakfast than /
set about making me shovel to dig
with. found Ratchet, aud with
this sharpened board, and the snow
| dug from the doorway / heaped up in
the fuel room. had not been digging
over half an hour when | made the
discovery that the first rush OF the
avalanche had brought down great
lot Of small trees, bushes and rocks,
with here and there large tree. They
had been piled up helter-skelter. but
they held up the mass Of snow SO that
with little digging could run tun-
mel in almost any direction. Great
care was necessary. however, as the
burden above wa, very heavy, and the
displacement of support might bring
down a great weight of SLOW.
After had run the Tunnel straight
out from the door about twenty feet,
! turned to the right. made my way
under lot of rubbish, and after going
about thirty feet came upon the body
Of an Indian. Here the limbs and
sticks made a sort Of bower. under
which he lay, and l knew that it was his
voice ! had heard calling. There were
no Indians about us except hostiles,
and Just before the snow came they
had killed two men belonging to our
camp. We had no fear of them after
winter set in, knowing that they stuck
close to their villages Here was a
redskin, however, and in full war
paint; but had no sooner found him
than saw that he was dead, though
his body was still warm. He had been
mauled in a terrible manner. both
legs being broken, his head all bloody