Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1893-1895, 1894-08-24
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TANTALUs OF THE DESERT.
Tho Ever Present Mirage That Increases
the Suffering of the Thirsty.

desert Of Cocopah, and who were after
ward reported as having perished, suc-
cecded. after terrible suffering and harl-
ship, IN making their way to the Lost
Horse mine, in the Pinon district.
Charles L. Millard has arrived in this
city from the desert north Of Indio. He
VAS one of the party The other men,
ksTs cf TIE party were Nathan Millard,
tao fatbor of Charles; Diamond
George Simonds, and the West In
dian, Leon Eugene. Young Afillard told
a reporter graphic tale of his expert
ence in tho desert:
AT Mesquite Lake we found the de-
serted cabin of johnson, the cattleman,
who has cattle there in the season. A
light spring wagon was standing there
We took it, leaving our heavy wagon,
with q note explaining the situation
We left also our seine, fodder and q
large quantity of food The next day
we struck out for the railroad, going
due north. We expected to find water at
short Intervals and took only half bar
rel with us
There it was that first noted the
mysterious movement of the sand hills
and even mountains We would notc q
large range of hills at some point OH
the horizon and look the next day to see
where it was. Often it would be in an
entirely diiTeren5 direction. The sand
is continually shifting, often so silently
aud lightly as to be unseen, but surely
just the same. This, have 10 doubt. is
one reason why men get lost Another
is the mirage, which is continually de-
ceiving person. In every direction
whether Oh level or rolling ground, we
saw little cool lakes, fringed with
palms Sometimes we saw solid rock
hills, with trees and lakes at their feet.
Invariably there was nothing to cause
the. Illusion, except possibly the low
bushes that were seemingly magpified
by the rays of heat and light.
At noon on the day after we left
the lake our water was exhausted. Then
for 2 IS days we went thirsty. l was
surprised to see that my father, an old
man, stood the torture better than l.
Diamond George, too, seemed not to
suffer The negro and l, though, were
greatly affected. l will describe as
closely as / can how l felt.
After the ordinary sensations of
thirst my tongue began to swell, and
the most intolerable feeling came over
me of pain wherever anything touched
me. If my clothes happened to rub me,
was seized with an irresistible desire
to throw them off to the last stitch. Ny
father cautioned me to keep my senses,
and l argued with myself continually,
but nevertheless / would find myself
: tearing my clothes off. The most intense
mental anguish, of course, accompanied
the feelings Of physical discomfort.
dreamed of water, thought Of water,
talked of water, and always before me
saw the cool little lakes just few
yards off the road or just ahead. My
tongue swelled, filling my mouth and
feeling like a dry sponge. l could not
talk, but if could 4 would have cursed
those fresh little lakes that Knocked me.
The thought of eating filled me with
sudden disgust and ugly temper. In
spite Of that, tried to force myself to
eat something in order to allay the suf
fering, but no sooner had l touched
food TO my dry tongue than l flung it
away involuntarily. To my tongue food
was as tasteless as sawdust.
In the evening of the third day,
when felt myself going mad, with OBJ
jeots taking on the most grotesque shapes
and the noise of the wagon sounding as
If miles away, we saw the smoke of
passenger train rushing across the des-
ert Without word father and Dia-
mond George began piling food, barrel, |
traps and everything out into the sand. |
The sand was heavy, but they urged the
horses through, and we reached the |
railroad at Flowing Wells. Never shall |
forget the first drink of water. was
sick for two days-out of my head, they |
said.
Zone of the horses was sick, and |
we had to wait at Flowing Wells nine |
days. The trains whizzed by, never stop
ping, and our grub began to give out |
Wehad started from Mesquite Lake With
l50 pounds of flour. AT Flowing Wells
we began to divide it with our poor
horses. At night the horses gnawed the
telegraph poles clean through and the
bottom of the wagon, where they had
licked up the -four AS soon as possible
we started for Indio, pushing the wagon,
Tho horses being too weak to haul it,
.At Walters Station we We're over
sal<eu BY a sandstorm. We tied wag-
On theer TO the section house and crawl
90 under. The next morning we were
nnnqf fwo feet Of sand and had to bur
row Qpt The horses were wading
around as if in a snowdrift After great
Ifipuia'ion we reached Indio and got
food and water and good rest.
noticed many peculiar phenomena
~ fft region, among which were the
electric storms have seen fash after
nash q lightning, followed by peals Of
thunder although the sky would be
perfectly cloudless " - San Franoisoo
ExamineF.
Tired Baby.
Chiidren Of Rostonian parentaRe ara
y rraaoofa,,e