The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-03-20
HOW IT FEELS TO FREEZE.
rant. Zely Rather Liked the Sensa
ton.

From the Neto fOrh ItheS
u.pRrsBURG, March 16.-"Freeze to
18th if YOU want to. You will like it. But
don,t let anybody fetch you to again. That
will almost kill you.
That was the strange remark made by
Cont r L. Zely of Uniontown, who
>,cs vely had declared that in the terribly
s;rorons winter of 1889 40 he was actually
trezen to death, )" which declaration he sup
I.lomented with the above remark.
~The first snow of the season." said the
.ontain. ''fell the first week in October,
$50 The last snow of the season came on
Nov 16. 1910. Between these two dates
.baTe wasn't less than 6 feet Of snow on the
iaval all the time, and where the wind had
frlI sweep 20 feet was no uncommon thing
70 see We had eight months of uninter-
rupted sleighing, and the thermometer for
sTa months was at no time higher than 90
nbove zero, while most of the time it sported
hstween 15o and 90 below.
ssThis was in Maine. l had an interest in
,oroe lumber that year up in the Piscataquis
oonntry. and it was necessary in February,
1S40. for me to go up into that region and
look after my interests. 1t was long
journey, but the sleighing was like glass,
srd had one of the best horses that ever
iived If he hadn't been wouldn't be here
to-day to tell what occurred to me on that
Trip. ~,
xvaather was as cold as 90 below zero could
make it, and was gradually getting colder.
knew l would reach one of those queer
little villages common to the Maine back
woods early that evening. There intended
70 stay all night and drive on next morning
10 the house of the agent of the lumber
property, IL miles farther along. l
raached the village and found that there
was no tavern there. Accommodations
we're offered me at a private house,
hut I was informed that l could not
obtain a drop of water for my horse
in the entire settlement. There had been
no rain since winter set In, and there wasn't
q well or a spring anyweere in the re-
gion in which there was drop of water.
The nearest water was in the Piscataquis
river. nearly three miles distant, to which
what stock there was in the village was
driven every day to drink, and enough
water was carried back in buckets to keep
the personal wants of the villagers sup
piled. My horse was badly in need of
water. and | couldn't think Of letting him
90 all night without drink. So l ate my
E1pper at the village house, and, finding
that I must drive on to the river if my
horse was to have his much needed drink
that night, / made up my mind that
might as well keep right on to the agents
as to drive back to the village after water
ing my horse.
filed with that peculiar frozen mist fire.
ouently noticeable in high. frosty localities.
As we neared the river this haze became
more dense, until finally it was with diff
Guilty that could see anything ahead of me.
1t was almost like passing through a storm
of scaly ice. Suddenly was thinking
that we must be almost on the margin of
the river-there came cracking sound, a
&c nwf
nv horse was fioundering about in water,
which also covered the sleigh, and the robes
and myself up to my waist. In that thick
bank of icy mist the horse had plunged into
the river below where | had been told to
cross, and had broken through the thin ice
that had formed since the ice had been cut
away that evening to give the cattle from
the village place to drink. The water
splashed about by the horse soon drenched
the rest of me, and in less time than l can
tell it, was coated with a rapidly thick
ening armor of ice. | guess my noble beast
must have fioundered at least a minute
in that hole before he knew ex-
actly what had happened. When the
situation did come to HIM he became quiet,
threw his fore feet up, and lodged them
both on the ice with concerted blow like a
trip hammer. The ice was thick, but be-
meath that blow an immense cake was
broken off and carried down under the
edge of the ice below. The horse swan on
ward, dragging the sleigh with it, through
the rapidly freezing slush. Once more he
bounded the ice ahead of him with his pow
erful fore feet, and again the ice yielded.
During all this time was shouting for hello.
Knight. at the first breaking in of the
horse, have turned and leaped back to shore,
but did not collect my thoughts in time.
1t was now too late, and even if it had not
been was SO stiffened by the casing of ice
that / couldn't have moved to save myself
from death. The horse kept on, and strange
as the story may seem, broke channel for
50 feet across that river and drew the sleigh
out safely on the other side. Then he
started off at the top of his speed toward
our destination. He soon struck the road
and away we went.
81 knew that although one danger was
escaped greater was before us, and | urged
the horse on. My sleigh robes and my
clothing had frozen so solid that if l had
been incased in iron l could not have been
more motionless. My horse was naturally
jet black but his icy coating made him
stand out even against that frozen mist like
specter horse. l could not move even my
hands. We were not yet half way to the
agents house when | found myself growing
drowsy. l could no longer use my
voice. The clatter of the horses hoofs and
the creaking of the runners on the icy road
sounded TO me ike UnunQer clasps ana
weird, hideous cries. [ knew that l was
freezing, but / labored hard to rouse
my will and fight with it against my
fate. The stars looked like great Goals
of fire. although before they could be seen
but dimly through the peculiar haze. The
trees, their branches covered with snow,
took on the shades of gigantic and fan
tastic ghosts. Still, l preserved all my
powers of reasoning. Finally, found my
self growing deliciously warm. An indies
cribable languor, attended with pleasant
visions took possession of me. | heard
sweet strains of music, where before only
tumult and startling cries had assailed my
ears. Still, knowing what all this meant,
made one more mental effort to shake off
the deadly spell. That was all.
II don't know how far was away from
my destination when | thus froze to death,
but was after a time made aware that
was being called back to existence by suffer
Ing such torture as the victim of the rack
might feel. Greater agony l could not
Ieel. Suddenly at my feet the pricking OF
million needles assaulted my flesh. Tor
turing me at that spot a moment, until
Wrlthed In agony, it dashed quickly up my
legs, stopping an instant here and there,
as II gloating over my misery, and
Then crawled with awful pain slowly up
ward, until it seemed that tiny jets Of the
name were being blown into my body,
heart and brain. The intensity of this
agony was not constant. If it had been l
must have died again. 1t came in tortur-
ing waves. Each wave was a trife less
furious than its predecessor until at last