Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1893-01-28
Vow Drowning Feels.


''It's all rot about what fellow
thinks when he is drowning" sale
Plumper as he drew bead of red fire OF
the end of his cigar after late dinner
II have been there myself 1t make:
me tired to read those accounts in The
newspapers. and to hear it preached
from the pulpits about the flash Of
consciousness, as they call it, which
comes to man just as ne goes under
water for the last time and gives up
the ghost. ! believe when man sinks
ne has several moments of conscious
ness and his mind simply keeps work
inc in the same direction it did when
he first went down.
"l'll tell YOU how it was with my
self. While in New York 4 few sum
mers ago left my wife at the Hoffman
and ran down to Scabright, on the Jer-
sew coast, TO see man. Took bath
of course from the Octagon beach. Not
much surf, water warm, and it was Ge,
lightful to get outa little way from
shore, cross my arms under my head
and lie there at full length atop Of the
waves. know perfectly well what |
was thinking about. l had taken lit
tie nier in September wheat the day
before. Would sell whenever it struck
scventy-six cents. Dead sure thing.
Broker said couldn't possibly lose, but
had better put up 10 per cent. margin
as a mere matter of form. What
should | do with the proceeds? That's
what occupied me- Buy the girl at the
Hoffman a diamond ring Surprise her
with it. How she would smile as
handed her the box
"'Hello! Who's therc?' | yelled as
| felt pretty heavy stroke on my right
shoulder l supposed some other swim,
mer was out there with me and had
accidentally given me a kick. Didn't
change my position at all. Yes, the
dear old girl had been begging me for
that ring q long time. How pleased
she will look as she goes up to the win
dow with it for inspection-turning her
hand to the light to get the different
sparkles I'll tell he it's forty carats
fine. She doesn't know carat from a
cat. And | chucklcd with the fun OF
the thing and and took big breath TO
swell my chest above the water line.
"'What's that%
'Another rap on my right calf by
something underneath me. In an in
slant | was pulled below the surface,
and realized that l was being
dragged down and out to sea. | made
one desperate struggle to keep up, took
in a quart OF water or SO instead of the
necessary cubic inches of air, felt a
choking sensation for moment-a
gasp or two, and l limbered. | was
gonel Dear old mamma. Yes, wheat
was bound to go up | stood by the
ticker. Down she started-l5s -}-s-9-s.
~! Hang the stuff! Close it out.
The tape had turned into beautiful
snake, which was slowly wriggling out
of my hands, while l tried to poke its
head through a diamond ring. Dear
old mamma That was all. l was
drowned.
''Thc next thing l knew was lying on
the sand in the hot sun. a ring of
men and women stood around me
Two doctors were pumping my arms
up and down over my head to restore
respiration. Somebody was chafing
my feet to get up circulation. | was
gasping, choking, struggling, fighting,
and the pain of it was terrible
Drowning wasn't bad at all, but the
coming back to life was terrible. |
came out of it all right. Talking il
over with the two bathmates the next
morning, they said l had been struck
bv shark or some other big fish
which saw me lying motionless on the
surface of the water 1t mad first given
me a nudge on the shoulder TO see
what | was, and then made a bite al
my leg, caught its teeth in my bathing
suit and dragged me under. They
said they saw me 60 down and made q
rush for me. The fish had brooken
loose. and l was as timber as a rag on
the bottom. Now this just illustrates
what | said at the tirst-that fellow
makes Il very easy drown of it, and SC
far from suffering a review of his
past life in one lurid moment of con.
sciousness goes Off smoothly and
dreamily into the world"-St. Louis
GLOBE Democrct.