Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1892-07-08
HORRID BEDFELLOWS
1AaAkTuLAs CRAWL ALI OVER !
SLEEPING TRAVELLER.

SLEEPING TRAVELLER.
. IRE" Camper Who woke one Morn.
"s :" f~~i . Ppisonous Reptile ~.
p'"rins hts Anatomy. while A.oths,
""ae BED u the Mans Upright Hair.
Joseph Grandel.nyer, well knowr
mining man Of Nevada. has rs,ssed
through many startling experiences dur.
VIZ residence Of twenty eight Year, in
tne Tar west. but is perhaps the only
man who can boast Of having had !
round bakers dozen Of deadly tarantulas
Tor bedfellows and surviving the terri.
Ole experience without material iniurv
u happened number OF wears avo. bnt
even now It causes cold shiyers TO CHASE
up Mr. Grandelmyer's spinal column
wnen ms mind reverts to that particular
Fevent. However, surrounded by ! cir.
Gle OF friends at the Palace hotel few
evenings since. he was induced to relate
the incident.
In 1884 came to San Francisco. >
said the gentleman. and with the hone.
lulness Of youth determined to make nv
fortune had little money saved up.
but was raw tenderfoot. and whatever
! put my money into failed to pan ont,
Finally ! concluded to ssrike out for Ne.
vada 1t was new section Of country
then, that had been explored to very
limited extent. and when made known
my intention many and urgent were the
requests for me to refrain from being 90
foolish as to encounter dangers in such
. wild and almost unknown country.
Nothing daunted, however. and not
allowing myself to be dissuaded from
my purpose. one day in the summer Of
1854, after inducing three acquaintance
70 Join me, set ont for the land Of sage.
brush. My particular object in going
was to better my fortune by any method
! could Two of the party were pros
pectors, and the fourth. 4 Dr. Heath,
went along to spy ont good location
for hog ranch.
well. after crossing the Sierras at
Walkers pass. we found ourselves in
Owens valley. which is now in lnyo
county. Dusk was approaching. and
when, after riding distance in the
teeth of cold wind, we found ourselves
at deserted adobe hut by the roadside
we halted, unpacked and unsaddled our
animals, and prepared to camp for the
night.
TERRIBLE AWAKENING.
There was feed for the horses in abun-
dance, and while one staked them out
'he others began preparations for supper
and made the beds ready My friends
preferred sleeping under large oak tree
near, but ! chose spot adjoining the
old adobe house. where | spread my
blankets close to the wall where the
wind would not reach me. After hasty
meal we all retired to our respective beds
On the ground and readily dropped of to
sleep.
i presume it was within an hour Of
iaybreak when awoke with sudden
start. A peculiarly dreadful feeling
worse than any nightmare. took posses
sion o. Inc. felt paralyzed and was
afraid to stir. There was something
moving on my face. 1t was not large
object. but as it moved about the trail
left seemed to scorch my face, | felt
the thing traverse my face from the left
eye down over my nose and mouth.
Then it crossed to the other side and ex-
plored in the region of my ear Then it
was gone.
Il knew it was not snake gliding
over my face. but some animal much
maller, though what it was was utter
ly unable to conjecture. ! was wide
awake, of course. but such an uncom-
Portable horror held me fast that was
unable to move muscle and gazed help
Iessly up at the stars. Once tried to
;all out to my companions. but not a
,ound could muster lay there rigid
IS log, maybe for one minute, maybe
for five, when | again knew that the
'ame thing, or something like it, was on
my hand, which rested outside the blan-
xet. and cold chill ran up my arm and
through my whole body Still was
absolutely powerless to move a limb. and
lnvoluntarily closed my eyes. almost ex-
pecting to feel them closed in death. so
dreadful and indescribable was the SEN
,ation.
HORRIBLE SUSPENSE.
Next ! knew it was climbing up
over my throat, then to my chin and
about my nose. An irresistible impulse
caused me to open my right eye, and |
Jaw by the dim light the fiery eyes of a
big tarantula looking into mine, with
its hairy body on my face, not two inches
awayl
Knowing that death or at least pain
full injury might result if ! moved my
body, Immediately dropped the eyelid
and had the satisfaction of feeling the
sprawling spider crawl over that eye to
my forehead and into my hair, where it
prepared nest and finally settled down.
no doubt as snugly as bug in rug
You may think you can imagine my
feelings but you cannot. For a full
half hour, should judge, endured all
the suspense and torment that comes to
most mortals in lifetime. and allowed
another spider to slowly crawl up my
leg, not knowing at what time | would
feel those black fangs sink into my flesh
But, thank God, that did not hap
pen, or should probably not now be
alive. Ages after that, so it seemed,
DR.. Heath arose, and. after dressing,