Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1890-10-21

An Engllshman Who had beyoms pen
nIIess, discoungcd and homesIck, made
M HE mind In his desperation to stow
himself away and take HE chances. lie
stols Into an ocean stssmship-one Of
the regular liners which ply between
New York and uvergcol-and hunted
for . hiding place. lie knew nothing
about machinery and Ia his Ignorance b~
picked out The most horrible place In the
whole shlp. u looked quito attractive
when the poor fellow picked u out, and
he thought that he MAS lucky to nnd u.
Il was the crank PIC In the hcor of the
engine room Into which the grcst crank
slnks twenty -four times . minute when
the weasel IL at full speed. while the
vessel VAS stIil this crank wss elevated
above this "hole,- aud the unfortunate
man, ignorant of marine engines, didn't
know that In q few minutes u would
descend With terrible effect upon him.
lie crrpt In; the ship started. The
crank, In its frat desccnt, struck HE left
arm With terrible force aud crushed u.
lie could not move. Tor In lees than three
seconds dawn it came again, crushing
more bones aud tearing more ncsh.
just imagine such . fate II you can.
The wr,irhci man drew him.clf Into
the smallest compass be could AMI ex-
pecied death.
livery time tie crank came down u
escaped his head by about an Inch and q
half. lie didn't know the exact di.-
tance, 20 course, but be knew u came
very near, and be- Was In mortal dread
that u would com. nearer.
Mo.t of this account came from the
Iips ~ the stowawsy. For h- lived to tell
IL, ani Il stiii alive. lie must have
tainted away afier enduring this terrible
/ agony for q while. and probably be- dbl
not rrgain consciousness until the ship
VAS twenty eight hour. beyond sandy
Hook. n Was then the middle of the
night, snd on. ~ th. assistant engineers
on that watch heard hesrtrroiIng grosns
proved from the machinery. lie was
borrihe,i. aud the men employed about
the engines. who are super.titlous, wrrs
No, ouly appalled, bat Thoroughly fright
/ enci. an much so that they becsm- lie
morallycd ani almost unable Ia work.
The s..i.,an, engineer wrni Ia the chief
engineer and reported 81 Hun wh,i he
had heard. iIc va. csilci fool for his
pains. Presently hi. watch wss over,
and he "a. relieved. TIL. ne y sssistsnt
engineer heard the grosns, too, aud.
| thoroughly alarmed. he appealed to the
chief engineer, and .ucce~ie,i IN getting
him out of hI. berth Into Oh. engine
room. III. chief heard theu, too. aud
At once stopped the .hlp. The watch on
| deck was called down, aud the machin.
ery va. thoroughly examined by the
light of lanterns. What demorslif~i
"a. sup~rstiiicus m-n about the engines
va. the impo.sibility, ss they brll.,~i,
~ q human being remaining alive amid
the swiftiy moving. gigantic machinery,
| and their natural Inference wss that
ghost. or n~nis we're present and the
ship va. doomed.
Ry ani by o lantern ~as lowered inio
the crank pit. aud bunilc of rag. ws'
discovered n the bottom. On bclng
proJdcd grosn procc-,ied from ihs
rage. They ~cr. llfi~i M, aud In ,beu
| va. q man, limp sni bruised aud bloody,
| Terror aud anguish aud wounds hsd de-
| prIys,i him of .rnss aud aimos, 10 hum an
.smbisnc.. lie could no, talk; bc could
| only utter gfosn., which pIefrrsi %" In
most heart. 20 the hearers, they were 81
plilful. t.uckily for the poor siovasay
the surgeon 81 the .hlp 80. humine
| and .killful man. Tie sali arerwan'
| that he VA. bound Ia ave that man u b.
| could, .o as a. fini out how b. got inio
the pit. sni va. not Killed Al oncr shen
the engine began Ia move. The surgeon
attended him nigh, sni day. llc va.
Obliged "a amputste the arm, or !, would
have mortified. u ws az dreidfully
crushed. Tie other wounds sni bruises
he healed. go that the miu was able "a
walk To the hospital when h. got io
Liverpool. There be VA. cur-i 81 every
thlng .xcrp, the shock Ia IN. nerves
which b. received. That Will never h
got over. do Ill. bcsi, u. says, ths
thirty hour. be- spent In tia, torture pit,
With the great crank crushing Into hl'
nc.h tw,nty flour time. . minute, c,n
never b- got out ~ HI. mlnd. That
horror Il SCARED Into hl. soul for the ~
malndcf IL al. life.