Courier Democrat., 1894-02-15
HE quo a WELL.
And Was Hoisted Out Of 1t In a naa.
" battered Condition,

u de-
" Battered Condition,
A tall man who face of most m.
e. ar appearance sat In a big chair
IN the lobby Of an uptown hotel and
contemplatiyely smoked cigar. His
nose appeared to be scraped off, and
there was n big dent in his forehead
as II somebody had, in playful mo.
nfent, carved out chunk to retain n
memento.
Ihe tall man sat and smoked alone
for half an hour or so, and then man
sat down near him, and then another
and another, until finally there was
a little knot of men around him and
they We're all listening to the story he
was telling. This was it:
suppose there are fifty people q
day who ask me how it is have so lit
tie nose and such a depression in my
forehead. rarely tell any person,
but, as 1t is nothing to be ashamed of
ana you have all expressed desire to
Know, l believe l will reveal u few
OF the secrets of my past life. When
l was q good deal younger than 1 am
now l got broke i'll a town in Southern
Illinois, and while there made the ac-
qualntance of man who kept q big
boarding house. There was no very
good water in the town, and he con
cluded that he would dig we'll. I had
never dug well, but I made out to
him that we'll digging was second ma
ture to me, and 1 struck him for q
job. He was little dubious, but he
finally concluded to let me try it. We
got one Of those fellows who Walks
around with a forked twig and tells
where water Is, and he made a tour
of the premises and decided on the
most available spot. Then I got a
rope and two pegs Of wood and marked
out a circle, borrowed a pickax and
spade and began to dig.
"The soil was sandy on top and the
thing was easy for awhile. J. reasoned
with myself that could get enough to
get me out of town by the job, and 1
was happy. Things took a very diff
ferent turn soon, however, and I struck
rock. I firmly believe that there is
no rock in the world that is as hard
as tnat rock was. Pharaoh's heart was
a pudding beside it. I got drill and
some blasting powder and went at it.
l went down thirty feet and there
was no sign of water. The man who
manipulated the forked twig was cock
sure that there was water in the earth
beneath that spot, and kept on blast
ing. One day 1 drilled q very deep
hole, put in sending big charge of
powder, and spent an hour tamping in
brick dust. Then I went up and saw
that everything was all clear, and told
the man who was working the wind
lass to watch out, and then I gave the
signal to pull up as fast as he was
able. I went down and lighted the
fuse. /.
"Just as 1 touched the match to the
fuse 1 yelled to my man to pull me
up. He began working the windlass
and I ascended quite rapidly. I had
almost reached the top when the dod-
gasted blast went off. AS I have re-
marked, it was a corker. A big chunk
of rock hit the bucket on the bottom
and drove me up into the air as If I
had been fired out of q cannon. As I
was coming up my nose and forehead
struck on the edge of 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 han
dies of the windlass, and didn't do
a thing but drop thirty feet down on
that mass Of jagged stone. That part
Of the business broke leg, an arm and
two ribs for me.
"After awhile they fished me out,
and was in bed for weeks. When l
got out I was worse off financially
than had been when began the well,
and I was short a nose, big chunk
Of forehead and lot of manly beauty
into the bargain. / have dug no wells
since that time."-Buffalo Express.
Special Rates to The A1idwinter Fair
st. Paul. Minn.,- Dec. 15-The Great
Northern railway has put into effect
special rate from this aso city to San Francis.
and return $9s.9O. Choice Of routes re-
turning.