Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1893-10-21

was, 1 confess, quite unnamed at the
prospect Of the tormcnts l must endure,
il. as / had every reason TO expect, the
metal around me should become red
hot. Ny weakness. II weakness 10 could
be called, prepared me, however, Tor
seeking strength i'm prayer; and /
prayed. with a feryor long "a stranger
to my breast, that God would grant
me fortitude 10 bear the trial He had
prepared for me; and thank God
/ did not pray Ia vain. Composed and
I relieved. ! now stood up. ana summoned
all my resolution to look my danger
in The face.
The thermometer had by this time
risen to 1l2 degrees: but / knew, from
The experiments % FOnlyce and
Bankes, that the living fibre could for
a short time bear a heat more than
twice as great without permanent in
jury. A ray Of hope lighted the gloom
of my heart, as / ran over in recollec-
ton the various instances, with which
my professional studies had rendered
me acquainted, Of living bodies bearing
great degrees Of heat. / recOllected
the clse of the girl at Rochefoucault.
who had gone into an oven where the
thermometer stood at 2SS degrees. 1
called to mind Sonnerats account Of
fishes living in the hot springs Of the
ManillaS, i'm water at a temperature
of upwards $50 degrees; and taxed my
memOr 10 reCOlleCt the names Of the
plants which the anna writer mentions
as hourishing i'm the island Of LucOn,
with their roots in a thermal rivulet
50 hot that the mercury plunged in its
waters rose to ia degrees. ! consid-
cred that, perhaps, the cause Of the
heat now surrounding me was no more
than the reverbcratiOu Of so great a
body Of flame as that overhead on the
metal, and that as the flame diminish
ed in volume, which 1t plainly did
every minute, the heat Of the copper
might be expected to abatc. But the
continually rising temperature Of the
air, indicated as it too plainly WAS by
the thermometer which l held in my
hand, soo deprived me Of the vague
comfort of such a surmisc. | next en-
dcayored to form some estimate Of the
heat the metal must acquire before
the contained Dir would rise to a tenn
perature Of $50 degrees. which | sup
posed 1t possible that | might he able to
bear; but what with anxiety and con
fusion, | could make no approximation
TO aE answer. These various processes
Of thought had, however, restored a
certain degree Of presence of mind, IA
may be Judged from the fact that,
dreadful rs the prospect was which
had before me, | was calm enough
to make several memoranda on my
tablets, with the purpose Of attaching
then to "A weight 10 be tied to the end
Of my handkerchief, and flung out in
the hope of letting it be known where
| was. These C1blets / have now be
fore me; | have preserved them ever
since, as a memorial of moments such
as ! trust have fallen to the lot Ct no
other human being. l transfer the
memoranda verbatim. Ii win be seen
that many Of the words are but nalf
NfAtttlls lllAA AllAA III 0blllE ItsAN'N tAAll'
words have been omitted; but if any
one would try the experiment of writ.
ing IN such a situation, l dareSay bis
composition would be scarcely more
correct. | began thus:
l am Doctor -- Of - II any II
finds this. come to the copper in the
new building, where | am burning to
death for want of Il ladder, Half-past
II O'Clock. Haste. Haste, CTwo such
memoranda rs this l had already flung
ont by weights attached to my sus-
pendcrs, but they seem to have fallen
into the hamesD
My will is in the upper left-hand
drawer o. the bookcase. Let George
- have the arrangement of my pape
- have the arrangement Of my
papers l wish all the papers relating
TO -'s business to be burned with
several other memoranda relating to
my private affairs, which l omit.
l ann wrapped in Il cloud Of steam
from my wet clothes. The thermome-
ter stands mt $50 degrees. 1t is nov
% minutes to I o'clock. The air is
su1oclingly hot; 1 ann drenched in
Precipitation, l viii note all 1 can.
10 m. to 1 Ole Therm. 1877 degrees,
13 M. 139 degrees. 10 m, 1913 degrees!
This is horrible. I can see the mercury
mounting in the tube. The moisture
from my clothes has all eNhaled. They
are now as dry as finder, ana hot and
hard to the touch.
> minutes past l o'cock. Thermome-
ter 10 degrees. Have taken of both
my coats and laid them over the hole
the rush of mir from it agitated the
hot otmos pherel, and made it in
tolcrable.
5 M. past / o'c. Therm. III degrees.
My watch burning hot Have taken IL
ont Of my fob The pencil case begins
to feel hot i'm my fingers, Strange TO
say my body is still cool. rs theory
about the rad dation) of heat must be
err Ooneousl
Is m. past I o'c. Therm. l95 degrees
Us I'M. past l.. Therm.2o0 degrees.
have laid of everything but my boots;
,.,u1J n,f hp1r the touch of anything.