Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1894-11-10
DAzED ON TIE DESERT.
A Man Dies of Thirst Within One Hundred
and Fifty Yards of Lake of Fresh Water.

a Man Dies of Thirst Within One Hundred
and Fifty Yards os Lake of Fresh Water.
On tho burning sands of Cocopah dos
ert, beside lake that appears to be of
tho coolest and tho purest Of fresh wa
ter, lie the bones of an American who
died of thirst, and around him arc five
or six holes of two or three feet i'll depth,
which he dug with his finger nails in
frenzy of thirst. His fingers are worn
off at the ends, and only his whitening
bones are left to bear witness to the
tragedy.
Jose Garcia, who makes living by
peddling from one little camp to anoth-
er on the desert, has returned from a
trip which began on Aug. 20. He left
hero at that time and engaged a guido
at the now placer camp at Los Picachos,
below the boundary line, to take him to
a mining camp in the Cocopah noun
tains in the heart of the desert. The
guide was named Quirino Sosilio, a
half breed, and with them went also
Frank Gotta, Mexican. They left Los
Picachos il the afternoon, travelled all
night. and by tho next morning were
far out on the desert By some miscal-
culation they were without water, and
though not lost they were bewildered as.
10 tho nearest way to q we'll and spent
the next two days i'll travelling without
water, becoming almost insane from
thirst. On the evening Of the third day
they found water They We're then on
the northeast side of Great Salt lake, or
I.aguna Salada, that lies between tho
Cocopah mountains on the east and the
Painted mountains on the west. The
lake is about six miles wide and 20 or
80 in length, varying in size according
70 the season, indicating that it is fed
by the gulf of California. 1t is very
shallow and saltier than the waters OF
the ocean.
The three men proceeded southwark
between the lake and Cocopahs for a
distance of ten miles or so and there en-
countered two Mexicans and white
man. The two former were named Mar
garlic Angulo and Felipe Moreno and
the Americans name was not learned,
but from the description he is thought
10 be Fred Wassum, who left this city
Tor the Cocopah placers some weeks ago.
Garcia continues the story as follows:
1.-THE men came from Los Picachos by
way of Mi and had been without wa
ter for several days, and one of them,
margarine Angulo, was already crazy.
He was as deaf as post and wandered
around like drunken man. He paid no
attention to my guide, and we had to
lay hold of him'to make him drink. In
a few hours he was all right The 9TH
ers were in their right minds, but in a
terrible condition, and as l saw their
swollen tongues my own began to swell,
for had passed through the same tor
ture only two days before, and even now
my tongue swells while I think Of it.
We gave them water, and they soon re-
vived and continued on their way They
were burdened with dry washer and
many tools and moved slowly, SO we
left them, my guide giving them direc-
tions where to find the next water.
ga few miles farther we came upon
the bones of a man lying stark on the
sand about 20 yards from the lake.
There was no flesh left. The coyotes had
found the body. One leg was gone, but
the rest of the remains We're there. The
head lay toward the north, face upward.
| The wliskers were dark and turning
gray, and the hair was the same. The
man had worn a blue jumper, red
wooden undershirt, one boot and brown
SLOUGH hat I found cheap clasp purse
in his jumper pocket which contained
this paper, which is piece of an en-
yelope or paper sack, addressed James
Moore, paymaster A. T. and S. F.,
Topeka In the purse was also part of
q greenback. There was nothing else to
identify the body. The boot was about
q No. 8, and the man did not seem to
have been large.
81 examined the fingers and found the
ends worn off, and there were five or six
holes in the ground around the body,
made by scratching for water. One Of
the holes, farther away, seemed to have
been made with pick and shovel.
There were no tools around the man, no
canteen and no sign Of food. AS we pro-
ceeded traced his barefoot tracks for
more than five miles, coming from the
direction of Yuma or New River and
going toward Coyote Wells. The tracks
were irregular and frequently crossed
and sometimes went into the lake.
About $50 yards from the body, away
from the lake, we found reservoir Of
fine fresh water. We found the body
on Sept II. y
AS the body is in Mexico nothing can
De done by the officers here, and it will
IN all probability rest where it was
found. Coroner Woodward will take
steps to ascertain who the man was.-
San Diego Cor. San Francisco Examiner.
Why Alsace-Lorraine Remains French.
There is no liberty, as we understand
the term in Alsace- Lorraine. The ma
tives are permitted the exercise of their