The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-04-29
ALMOST DROWNED.
Sensations That a Man Who Tells
About 1t Went Through.

AbOuI ~ w GnL 4nTOuS0.
To stand helplessly on the river shore
and witness the struggles OF a drowning
fellow-being is a narrowing experience.
and little less heartrending to contem
plate, but in matters of this kind. like
many otheas, things are not what they
seem" At any rate, death by drowning
IS not as horrible as it may seem to the
onlooker. The the thought of being
dragged along the muddy bottom of the
river and found later in some out-of-the-
way, willow tangled spot is what adds to
the horrors OF such adeath The dread
of such a fate is really worse than the
fate itself | once left this world by
that route as nearly as one can and get
back. 1t was an accident, and was some
twenty years ago.
A companion and myself were bathing
in the Ohio. river At the point VIII ere we
were large raft of logs was dashed to
the bank, and for quite long while we
amused ourselves by jumping from the
raft into fifteen feet of water to see who
could bring up the largest number of
white Rravels each time. We went down
several times with varying success. The
last time I made the effort / filled my
lungs with air and leaped far out into the
river and went to the bottom head first.
CROPPED about for a handful of gravels
and spent more time in the search than
should have done. The water was warm
however, and had no fear of drowning
When l could stay down no longer,
started swiftly for the surface, and when
within foot or so of the top of the water
my companion, not knowing exactly
where l was, jumped headlong into the
river. His head struck me squarely be-
tween the shoulders and knocked the last
ounce of air out of my lungs, and a deluge
of water at once took its place. The
weight of his body falling on me produced
a terrible shock, and l sunk to the bot
tom of the river like a stone. That is
where | got my experience in drowning.
When the water rushed into my lungs
and stomach, it felt for all the world like
a pleurisy pain, which has also given me
q tussle in later years, but was over in a
second. Then my body settled quietly to
to the bottom and my arms fell limp at
my side.
In my half-conscious condition I could
see all my relatives and acquaintance
crowding about and looking down on me
with fearful faces. All the events it
seemed, of my prosy career passed slowly
in review, and the good, bad and indiffer-
ent acts stood out before me in bold re-
lief Even little school-boy tricks
claimed attention. ! knew ! was drown
ing and remember thinking, why. this
is not so hard after ALP ! wondered
where my body would be found, and
shuddered at the thought that it might
never be found. l also wondered whether
| or not my companion had become alarmed
and ran away and left me to my fate or
whether he was diving here and there to
find me- Then pictured my burial and
how the clods would resOund on my coffin
when it was lowered into the chilly
grave, and my fate would be pointed out
to others by anxious mothers as warn
ing.
At the next, stage I could hear bells
softly ringing in the distance, together
with little tinklings and chirrups sound
ing in my ears. Then l began to see
pretty pictures The eolors of the rain
bow danced before my eyes and inter
mingled and formed into all sorts of odd
shapes. | had no pain and no fear of what
was expected to follow. | seemed to be
enchanted at the scene before me. Every
thing was light and calm, and moved
about without any visible impelling force.
II was like looking into a large mirror
with every beautiful thing that the most
vivid imagination could conjure up re-
vealed thereby.
The last stage which I entered in
creased the beauty of the surroundings.
All discordant noises ceased and were
superseded by the softest, sweetest music
that could be thought of. Apparently l
| had been transported 10 d pIdCe HOouou
| with bright, calm sunshine. 1t was
neither too hot nor too cold, but seemed
to rise from the ground and float off into
space like thistle down. Higher and
higher went until / seemed to look down
ON the world from great hight, and then
came a blank The next thing l knew |
was lying on the raft, with my companion
looking down on me with q pale face.
| After several unsuccessful attempts he
ia cd in finding and getting
me out OF the water BY vigorously roll
ing me over a log he had succeeded in re
Iindling the spark of life that remained.
For the next half hour think suffered
a great deal more than for the same
| length of time before or since. l shall
never forget how it feels to drown, but
would not advise any one to try to find
out for himself. Resuscitation IS too
painful.