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

before the hot metal touches me, Oh
my Dearest
232 degrees. Whoever finds this, take
it to Mr.. - of - street, and leave
al to his discr (ertionl. The thermome-
ter burns my hand-I have dropped it,
and it Gsl broken The heat increas
tesl The smell of the metal is suf-
locating. ! must soon stop.
The heat has increased very lmuchl.
can hold the tablets but Il little long
err. My yitals are drying up. The
persp dratlonl i, com,u4 slowly. / am
blistering all over, Good God. what
have l done3l lcrused. Have mercy
On my soul Tor Christ sake-O God,
have mercy Oh my SOIL, l die. forsiv
ing al my en- lemics).
With almost the last effort / was
capable Of making, l put the tablets,
with Il heavy piece Of mortar 0Dut for
the mortar | woull have been burned
TO the knees where l stood. into the
end of my handkerchief. and flung il
with all my force out of the mouth Of
my fiery prison. The agony | endured
in moving my naked arm so rapidly
through the hot air was almost insup-
portable; it was Ike stirring boiling
water with it. SO great was the pain
that [ had almost tainted; and when |
felt the sickness and giddiness that
precede a swoon, | was almost grateful
for it; rs l knew chat if l fell on the
metal below me, l would in all prob
ability be deprived of life during my in
s~cnsibiity. But the symptoms Of faint
ing left me-a prey to only more acute
feelings Of bodily agony. / stood with
blisters rising N my shoulders, and the
process Of decomposition 10y fire actual
ly beginning on The skin of my legs.
The whole fluids of my body had been
drained in secreting perspiration, and
in supplying my lungs with the moist
IRE necessary to enable them to 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 a weak word to express
my agony.
In 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,
and left me for a moment in darkness
darkness made visible by the lurid
glare Of the copper, which, round the
surface of the ~stOpcock, 10Y shOne with
"a req neat strong enough to make the
outlines Of my horrid prison diSccrnible.
A dark thought crossed my miud-a
thought engendered by the devil, but
hardly I'm a hell more frightful. The
heavy rolling flames swung back again
on the burdeued night-wiud, and threV
a pickering glare upon the singcd 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
contalncd-but it was not money l was
in search Oft WAS my knife. | grasp
ed It'll half ~unclaSped Tit burned the
finger and thumb of my right hand as
if | had closed them On Il coal Of TIRE,
[ flung the instrument Of self destruc-
ton from me, and cried aloud to God
not to leave me in temptation.
1 did not cry in vaiu-there were
voices above me- heard them dis
tinctly-I heard footsteps ON the plat
form-thcy were gOne-no, they We're
returning-they were coming to my
rescue. Good God, how shall describe
the awful sense Of a present Providence
the almost oyerpowcring hope-the
agonizing doubts-and then the JOY,
the gratitude, the delirious ecStacy
which l experienced within the next
half minute, rs in the pauses of the
flames roaring for it still poured
through the building like n raging
river. the voices Of my delivererS
sounded loader or fainter, or hker
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 Il heap Of steam
ing blo0d-stajued cinders2 or how shall
l attempt to describe the establishment,
the pity, the honest pleasure Of those
benevolent men, when they found that,
although speechless (for in all my
fauccs 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 a piece Of dry SPONGE, l was
nevertheless able to climb up out of
that torrid atmosphere, into which no
fireman would venture to descend? l
cannot do either, and viii not much
longer dwell on this part Of the nights
adventure: suffice it to say, my last
miSsJve had fortunately reached its
destination, aud brought my dcliyerers
10 my assistance. They carried me IN
blankets to the hospital; here l re-
eeived all the aid that medical service
could bestow, uEu sufficiently recover
ei to be transported to my own lodg
fngS. where I remained suffering for
,,l ,,-s,..v1 from Tho affa9ts