Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1893-10-19

portable; it was like stirring boilins.
water with it. So great was the pain
that | had almost tainted; and when /
felt the sickness and giddiness that
precede i Swoon. l was almost grateful
for it; us | knew that if | fell on the
metal below me, | would in all prob
ability be deprived of life during my in
senSlbihty. But the symptoms of faint
ing left me-a prey to only more acute
feelings Of bodily agony. | stood with
| busters rising on my shoulders, and the
1 process OF decomposition by fire actual
1 ~ beginning on the skin of my legs
The whole fluids of my body had been
drained in secreting perspiration. and
i'll supplying my lungs with the moist
ure necessary to enable them 10 pre-
serve the temperature of the system
1t is my firm belief that had fluids
remained in my body sufficient to SUP
! ply the necessary serum. | would have
/ been one blister from head to foot.
! EXcruciating is Il weak word 10 express
my agony.
! III this state my eye fell on the veins
| of my arm, where they appeared dis
! tended with their sluggish current in
The red light, The flame drew back.
md left me for Il moment in darkness
/ darkness made visible by the lurid
glare of the copper, which, round the,
surface of the StOpcock, now shOne with
Il re,. neat strong enough to make the
outlines Of my holTid prison discernible
A dark thought crossed my mind-a
! thought engendered by the devil. but
hlrdly in Il hell more frightful. The
! heavy rolling flames swung back again
on the burdened night-Wind, and threw
a tiickering glare upon the singed mass
| of clothes on which | stood. l drag
| ged up the trousers, and thrust Il deS-
perate hand into the pOcket-the stuff
of which it was made was smoking
| With the heat of the loose silver it
contained-but it WAS not money l was
! in search Oft was my knife! l grasp
ed i'll half unclasped tit burned the
finger and thumb of my right hand as.
! if | had closed them on coal of fire.
| flung the instrument of Self-deStruc-
ton from me, and cried aloud to God
not to leave me in temptation.
/ [ did not cry in vain-there were
voices above mel heard them dis
tinctly-I heard footsteps ON the plat
form-they were gonc-no, they We're
returning-they were coming to my
rescue. Good God! how shall l describe
| the awful sense of Il present Providence
the almost OyerpOWering hOpe-thC
! agOnizing dOubtS-and then the JOY,
| the gratitude, the delirious ecstacy
which | experienced within the next
half minute, as in the pauseS of the
! flames roaring for it still poured
through the building like Il raging
river, the voices of my deliyererS
sounded louder or fainter, or Gker
imaginary sounds, or voices of real
beings, until at length that ladder,
which was to me the welcomest sight
that ever the sun shOne on, was lower
ed down by hurried and tremulous
hands, amid the shudderS of those who
never expected to see more Of the poor
sufferer below than 4 heap of steam
| inc blood-stained cindcrs? or how shall
| attempt to describe the establishment,
| the pity, the honest pleasure OF those
benevolent men, when they found that.
although speechless for in all my
fauceS was not as much moisture as
would have enabled me to swallow the
smallest crumb of bread. and my
tongue lay in my mouth little better
than Il piece of dry SPONGE, | was
nevertheless able to climb UP out of
that torrid atmosphere, into which no
fireman would venture to descend? /
cannot do either, and will not much
! longer dwell on this part of the nights
adventure; suffice it to say, my last
missive had fortunately reached its,
deStina ton, and brought my delivererS
| to my assistance. They carried me IN
| blankets to the hospital; here | re
ceived all the aid that medical service.
could bestow, until sufficiently recover
ed to be transported to my own lodg-
ings, where I remained suffering for
six weeks and upward from the effects
of Il degree of heat such as perhaps no
other human being ever endured and
lived
[ am quite satisfied that had the.
thermometer not been broken, and had
/ possessed any means of SuSpending
it for [ could not have held it in my
hand much longer, it would have
shown a temperature much higher than
in the experiments of either Blagden
or Bankes. | am sure a few minutes
longer would have been certain death,
so that I may safely say l have endur-
ed the highest degree of heat of any
man on record. Ny bodily tempera-
ture, except on some portions of the
scarf7skin, at no time rose above ITO
or 112 degrees, and during the latter
"a Of my sufferings it was a great
relief to my hands to place them on any
part Of my person. In fact, | have no
doubt there was at one time a differ
ence of $50 to 100 degrees between the
temperature of my body and that of
the surrounding air.
-Strees, Dublin,
July ), 1891