The morning call., 1893-09-24
u CLOUD OF STEAM FROM WET CLOTHES"

my mind that. perhaps. if 1 called through
the aperture of the stopeock mentioned
above, my voice might be heard. The
opening was In the very bottom of the
vessel, and had to kneel down on the
rubbish TO apply my mouth to it, My
knees did not come in contact with the
metal, and my hands were defended by
thick gloves, thoroughly wetted, so that
till ! brought my face close to the aperture
l had no suspicion of the dreadful truth
that i was now TO learn--the copper was
so hot that | could not bear it against
my skinl 1 started to my feet, every
pulse flying with CONSERVATION.
dared not think Of nv situation / rushed
desperately ND the sides of my prison.
might S well have tried to scale the vault
Of the sky. l shouted, | screamed for
assistance-the cracking grOwl of the con-
fagratiOn was my only reply. | sat down
on the little pile Of rubbish that formed
the center of what l now felt was fast
becoming brazen furnace, and en-
deavOred TO think. l put my hand to my
forehead; | was bathed in cold sweat.
/ pulled the thermometer j had been using
in temperiDg my patients bath out Of
my pocket; 1t stood at 105 degrees!
placed the bulb of il on the metal. when
the mercury rose with a rapidty that
threatened TO burst the tnbe, and took il
away, terrified at what / saw. and afraid
TO witness the whole truth. After sitting
for some moments trembling and inactive
| burst into tears. / was. l confess. quite
unnamed at the prospect Of the tOrments
| must endure if. as | had every reason to
expect, the metal around me should be-
come red hot. My weakness, if weakness
it could be called, prepared ne, however.
for seeking strength in prayer, and
prayed with fervOT long stranger to my
breast that God would grant me fortitude
to bear the trial he had prepared for me,
and L thank God / did not pray in vain.
Composed and relieved l now stood up
and summoned all my resolution to look
my danger in the face.
The thermometer had by tLis time risen
to 112 deg. but | knew from the expert
ments of Fordyee and Bankes that the Iiv-
ing fber could for short tiD4e bear a heat
more than twice as grea at without perma-
nent INJURY. ray Of hope lighted the
gloom OF my heart as l ran over in recOi-
lection the various instances with which
my professional studies haO rendered me
acquain ted-of living bodies bearing great
degrees of heat. / recolected the case OF
the girl at Rochefoucauld who had gone
into an oven where the thermometer stood
at 2S8 deg l called to mind 'SOnneraps ac-
count OF fishes living in the hot springs Of
the Manlllas In water at a temperature of
upward of 80 deg, and taxed my memory
to recolect the names of the plants which
the same writer mentions as flourish
ing in The island of Lucon, with taeir
roots ia a thermal rivulet 80 not that
the mercury plunged in its waters rose 10
ia DEG. l considered that perhaps the
cause of the heat now surrounding me was
no more than the reverberati0n of so great
body of fame as that overhead on the
metal, and that as the fame diminished in
volume, which 1t plainly did every min
ute. the heat of the copper might be ex-
pected to abate. But the continually rising
temperature of the air, indicated as il too
plainly was by the thermometer which
held in my hand. soon deprived me Of the
vague comfort of such a surmise. | next
endeavoTed to form some estimate OF the
heat the metal must acquire before the con-
tanned air would rise to a temperature of
$50 deg, which | supposed 1t possible that
| might be able to bear, but what with
anxiety and confusion, l could make no
approximation TO an answer. These various
processes OF thought had. however, restored
certain degree of presence of mind.
as may be judged from the fact that dread
full as the prospect was which ! mad before
me, / was calm enough to make several
memoranda on my tablets, with the pur-
pose of attaching them to weight TO be
tied to the end of my handkerchief and
flung out in the hope of letting 1t be known
where was. These tablets / have now
before me. 1 have preserved them ever
since as memorial of moments such as L
trust have fallen to the lot OF no other hu-
man being. / transfer the memoranda
verbatim. 1t will be seen that many of the
words are but half written, and that in
some places entire words have been
omitted, but if any one would try the ex-
pertinent OF writing in such situation L
daresay his composition would be scarcely
more correct. began thus:
l am DR.. - OF street. Ii any one