The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1894-02-23
nc qua AwsLs.


Asa Was 1elsesa olt % It n Q DkAs
~ battered CeAaitisa.
A tall man who q face Of most 20.
culiar appearance sat In . big chair
in the lobby Of an uptown hotsl and
contemplatively smoked . cigar. .Hls
NOSE appeared to be scraped oa. and
there was Q big dent In his forehead
~ II somebody had, in q playful mo.
ment, carved out a chunk to retain q
memento.
The tall man cat and smoked alone
70. half an hour or 90, and then q man
sat down near him, and then another
and another. until finally there was
. little knot Of men around him and
they were all listening to the story he
was telling. This was 1t:
II suppose there are fifty people Q
day who ask me how It Is have 90 lit
tie nose and such depression In my
forehead. I rarely tell any person,
but, as 1t Is nothing to be ashamed of
and you have all expressed a desire to
know, I believe I will reveal a few
OF the secrets Of my past life. When
l was good deal younger than am
now got broke In a town in Southern
Illinois, and while there made the nc
gnaintance OF a man who kept big
boarding house. There was no very
good water in the town, and he CON
cluded tllat he would dig well. I had
never dug well, but I made out to
him that well digging was second ma
ture to me, and struck him for
job. He was a little dubious, but he
finally concluded to let me try 1t. We
got one Of those fellows who walks
around with q forked twig and tells
where water Is, and he made tour
OF the. premises and decided ON the
most available spot. Then I got a
rope and two pegs Of wood and marked
out q circle, borrowed q pickax and
spade and began to dig.
THE soil was sandy ON top and the
thing was easy for awhile. reasoned
with myself that could get enough to
get me out Of town by the job, and I
was happy. Things took very diff
ferent turn soon, however, and I struck
rock. 1 firmly believe that there is
no rock In the world that is as hard
a pudding beside 1t. got a drill and
some blasting powder and went at 1t.
I went down thirty feet and there
was no sign OF water. The man who
manipulated the forked twie was cock
sure that there WIS water in the earth
beneath that spot, and kept on blast
ing. One day I drilled O very deep
hole, put In q sending big charge Of
powder, and spent an hour tamping In
brick dust Then went up and SOW
that everything was all clear, and told
the man who was working the wind
lass to watch out, aud then gave the
signal to pull up rs fast as he was
able. I went down and lighted the
fuse.
Just as 1 touched the match to the
fuse yelled to my man to pull me
up. He began working the windlass
and assembled quite rapidly. I had
almost reached the top when the dod-
gasted blast went of. As have re-
marked, 1t was a cOrker. A big chunk
and drove me up into the air as If I
had been fired out Of cannon. As
was coming up my nose and forehead
struck on the edge Of a pinch oak
plank that lay across the well, and
were Immediately reduced to their pres.
ent proportions. The fellow at the
top stuck to his post and kept turning.
AS my head came up he saw the blood
and yelled: My God, he's kilt! Then,
with great foresight, he let go the ham
dies Of the windlass, and I didn't do
q thing but drop thirty feet down on
that mass Of jagged. stone. That part
of the business broke a leg, an arm and
two ribs for me.
after awhile they fshed me out,
and was in bed for weeks. When I
got out was worse of financially
than I had been when 1 began the well,
and was short nose, q big chunk
Of forehead and lot of manly beauty
into the bargain. I have dug no wells
Binee that time."-Buffalo Express.