The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1891-07-09

than he The doctor examined ray feet snd
said they wCrs frozen. and called for spirits OF
tuTPeutine. ! told him my feet were not fro
zen; that had been nowhere to freeze them.
III said:
"Dou't you contradic. me, sir. know what
ails your feet"
lie bathed them in spirits Of turpeutine and
that made them mach worse After the doctor
had gone / induced the nurse TO bring me a
dish OF water. in which put my feet and was
At once relieved, but as soon as they were taken
from the water would at once become dry aud
burn rs hard as ever, and the only way ! could
get sleep was to have my feet in water now
felt well, with the exception Of my feet, aud
began 10 crave something 20 cat / weighed
about Sd pounds. / judged this from the fact
that when / arrived home ! weighed - pounds.
Ny weight before / was taken prisoner was
$50 20 10 pounds. Ny diet at this time cor
sisted Of 4 cup OF tea aud q slice Of toast.-iust
enough 10 aggravate me. One day the Pay
| muster came and received some money. My
/ only wants uow seemed % be water to put my
| feet IN and something to eat. The water I re-
celyed, bat to satisfy my hunger / was told
! would kill me. and 1t seemed 10 me was will
ing todie If could only get well filed uP. had
heard that there was \ sUtler on tho ground
/ somewhere. and watched my opportunity and
stole out and found my way 70 the store. /
invested largely IN apples, peanuts, and mo-
| lasses cookies.
! AFTER EATING ALL WANTED,
filed my pockets with cookies and started
/ had 10 go up one Eight Of stairs 10 get 20 the
! ward in which ] belonged. had reached the
middle Of the stairway when the doctor put ia
an appearance at the top. He looked at ms q
/ moment and said:
Boy, what have you been doing?"
Ny reply was =" have been getting some
\ thing to cat, SIR
! lio then said, You have killed yourself sir,
/ that is what you have done " /; and after rob
biug Inc Of my cookies said. Go in there now
and Tic down and die"
] sIid, A" j will 90 no such thing sir" Not
| that would not lie down, but tnat would
not die.
To the astonishmont Of the doctora and others
1t did not hurt mo particle, and the result
was i received more tea ami toast from the
nurse. My feet were still burning. aud I could
get no sleep ouly as slept with my feet in cold
water
One day about tho middle of January there
| came an officer IN the hospital aud announced
that those who thought they were able could
20 home on - day furlOugh. / received my
iurlOugh and got ready. / expected trouble
with my feet, bat could make no other prepa-
ration than to thoroughly wet my socks in cold
| water. This did, and started for the dcros
/ On my arrival there my socks were dry aud
0
shoes and seeks oil and stepped into a puddje
| OF ice-cold water near tho railroad track
l'where remained in perfect pace with my
mind staid on" the furlOugh I had in nv
pocket until the train started. 7 wet my socks,
Jumped aboard, and VIC started was happy
| tall my feet became dry and then took or
shoes and socks, rubbed my feet and expCctO-
| rated on them, aud kept still Just as long as
possible in my seat. / did not want if possible
10 attract attention. When could stand 10 no
longer j went % the driukiug-Water tank in
tho car and found it nearly empty There was
5uhcleht, however, 90 thoroughly wet my feet
and socks; THAT lasted until the train stopped
at a station j was already at the door when
IL stopped, aud jumped at once into a puddle
Of water. IL had been raining and showing a
great deal and at most OF the stations 1 c0uld
IND water TO steD into, and when the trains
would start would jump on again. Some Of
the trains had no water tanks, and the pas5en-
gers was supplied by a train-bOy. who went
through the with q tin bucket; but the
only way / could get water from him was 10
call for a drink, take a swallow. and throw the
rest on my feet We were two days and one
night going from Annapolis Nd, to Syracuse,
y. 1. On the afternoon Of the first day we
had long ride between Baltimore aud Phifa-
delphid. There was no water on the car, and
my feet were burning Up 20 this time had
attracted very littic attention, but I realized
~" NAti4O sl9 Nptls4lR NNEu must entertain
that car Of passengers. / rubbed my feet,
walked around near the door Of the car, and
did all ] could to keep still. held out as long
as l could. and then let loose
WITH An ISDIAE wAE-wHooP,
and then sat down and had good cry for the
first time IN eight months or since / was taken
prisoner. 10 wouldn't do for An AndersOnyilIe
prisoner 20 cry while in confinoment-that is,
II he wanted to live Ny war-whoop and cry
ing Of course, attracted tho attention of the
passengers and they came one two three or
more at a time and inquired what the trouble
was. / told them as best could. They seemed
to symrathize with mo, but could not help me.
Ono man offered me tho contents Of his whisky
flask to pour on my feet. thanked him. but re-
fused. had all the fro in theIa that wanted |
without adding more. Thus matters went that |
night aud the next day with little variation |
until we reached Syracuse, at / p. IN. Here
was to change ears 10 reach Fulton, which |
was i've miles from my home. The last train |
had gDne for the night. So / went to the old |
Syracuse Hotel and engaged room. / was
very tired and sleepy, not having slept a |
moment since starting It was a cold, stormy /
night, and was assigned to q small room on /
the top floor. | gave the porter % cents and |
told him 10 bring mo pail OF water. I ar |
ranged the clothes so that could lie cross /
wi5o Oi tho bed, put my feet in the water and i
went to sleep, and did not wake ill o o'clock |
the next morning. i then took the first train /
FOR Fulton. On my arrival | saw a man with a |
horse and cutter, who lived in the neighbor- |
hood OF my people. and IS soon as no saw me- /
lao said, Are you Bob McCully2" i told him /
/ was. lie said: I" | have Just come from your
home, and your folks think you are dead. l
Your brother and brOther-n-law are now in Il
Oswcgo telegraphing to Washington. Baltimore.
New York and otnor places for your body. Get I
IN this cutter quick aud will take you home" 4
l asked him ii my mother did not get the letter
from tho lady in tho hospital that was alive, /
aud would DO home sOon He said the only /
word that had reached them was from VIM. Il
Gore. who had just come homo ard reported /
that had died on the boat. We lived i've I
miles from the village, and this man drove his 4
horse as fast AZ il could 20 till we reached home
rs we were driving into the yard my mother
was in the wo0dshed, and hearing someone
drive up. looked out Of tho door, when this
man said, Here, Mrs. McCuliy, is your dead
boy" She did not utter q word hut went at /
once into tho house and closed the door / !
went IN az soon a. possible, and found her sit
ting in a rocking-ehair.
sHE sEESHSGLY HAD LOST HER MIND.
as she stared at me in q bewildercd manner. |
said, Mother what is the matter; don't Won
know me. am not dead, but alive and rsght here
before you" | kissed her, bat she did not return
1t until some time after, and then said that shs
was unconscious of anything that had occurred
alter she looked out Of the door. As soon as
the excitement was over, this good neighbOr
started for O5wegO to lind my brotheran broth
erin law, To notify them that my b0tv hud |