Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1894-06-07
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ieuIIy -IosS5d IN the DIanKeL.
One jolt sent me flying upward, and I
struck my head against the framework
with such force that the blow nearly
stunned me. At another time l was
nearly rolled out beneath the wheels. I
was compelled to hold ON to the sides Of
the sac1ing for dear life, and my hands
were battered q good deal. To make
matters worse, a giddiness and nausea
were coming over me-a virtual seasick-
ness-and 1 kept asking myself why /
had been mad enough to embark on such
q fOolhardy undertaking.
Suddenly turning my eyes to one Of
the two supporting cords at the head Of
my hammock, saw, with feeling of
extreme horror, that through friction
with part of the radial axle frame it
had been cut more than half throughl l
was hanging by mere tilamentl II that
broke, death was certain. / must either
be thrown between the wheels Of tho
carriage and frightfully mangled or
dashed to pieces on the permanent way.
I Immediately sought some means Of
escape from the doom that stared me in
the face. could find none. To hang on
by the remaining cord at the head Of
the hammock was impossible, as direct
ly the other was cut through there would
be no support to my feet, which ! could
not place over the side Of the sacking
without their coming in contact with the
mechanism Of the coach. For the same
reason I could not grasp any Of the
framework above, as the only parts on
which 1 could lay hold were the levers,
which were constantly moving from
side to side and would infallibly crush
my hands to pieces
The cord was wearing thinner and
thinner, and knew that few minutes
must put an end to my existence. There
was absolutely nothing to be done but
await my fate, which did, not with
that calm composure that is supposed to
mark the hero, but in unspeakable ter
ror. My life was literally hanging on q
thread, and could only lie there trem-
bling, in a cold sweat, watching until
my fragile support should give way.
Suddenly the engine whistle gave a
long scream, and knew that the brake
was being applied and that our speed
was rapidly slackening. What could it
mean? A distance signal must be against
us. If only the train would come to a
standstill, could escaped
We were fast reducing our speed,
and was greatly excited with the hope
that lay in this proyidential occurrence
when another short whistle told me
that the line was now clear. felt the
brake removed
Now was the time or neverl knew
that the train would not move any slow
er during the time that I could hope to
continue in my position. We were 60
ing 5 to 20 miles an hour.
Whipping out my pocketknife, ]
reached up one hand and cut through
the thin strand that supported one side
of my hammock. At the same moment
closed my eyes and let myself go, di-
recting all my efforts to the end that
my fall should be in the center of the
track. Twas conscious of fearful blow
on the back of the head and remember
ON more until my senses returned.
When opened my eyes, was lying
between the lines with no train in sight.
found that had received number Of
severe contusions, that my left shoulder
was dislocated, and that l had sprained
my right ankle. This seemed to be the
extent of my injuries. In great pain
managed to limp to cottage few hun
dred yards from the line, where an agri
cultural laborer's wife was extremely
kind and attentive. She sent her boy
to fetch the local surgeon, who soon pu
my shoulder right and plastered ant
bandaged me all over. He then drove
me to the nearest station, where I tele
graphed the news of my safety, ant
awaited the next train back to New
York.
When I reached town, a great man,
Of the officials of the line were on tn,
platform to condole with me on my acci
dent and congratulate me on having es
capped with my life. There had beel
great excitement and apprehension
When the train had arrived at Bostol
and it was seen that an accident ha'
happened and that I was missing,
search for my body had been made aloni
the whole line My disappearance ha
been considered very mysterious.
My engineer friend, who had been ex
tremely anxious about me, helped m
into carriage that he had in waitin
to drive me to my home.
"How, in the name Of heaven, di
you escape with your life?''he asked a
we drove out Of the station.
"I'll tell you all about it when W
get home" replied; "but, first of all
I was right and you were wrongp'
"My dear fellow" he said laughing
ly, but in all sincerity, 81 am extremel
glad that you have at least that satisfat
tion out of the melancholy business.
congratulate you heartily. "-Exchang'
A Reason For Incidence.
Our public school and university sy
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