People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1894-02-09
MYSTERY OF THE WAR.
Discovery OF Bomb in a Tree That
Nearly Wrecked n Mill.

Discovery OF Bomb in Tree That
Nearly Wrecked a Mill. 8.
Mr.. l. ]. Navra, secretary OF the W.
y. Athens lumber company at Strader,
La, arrived in Now Orleans lately,
and in conversation with Pickayune
reporter related singular incident
that happened at the saw-mill one
day lately.
While saving through log twenty
feet in length and thirty inches in
diameter, the men noticed sparks
flying from the log. These increased
so rapidly that the men determined
to arrest the action OF the machinery
and investigate the phenomenon.
: They found that the saw had come
in contact with thick piece of iron.
and so great had been the resistance
or friction that electricity was pro-
duced, yielding the abundance Of
sparks. They Immediately set about
removing the iron, when to their as
constituent they found it to be a
bombshell that had become imbedded
in the log; their surprise was still
greater when, upon examining the
shell, they found it to be loaded.
They removed the powder by pick
ing it out with a pen-knife slowly
and carefully, for the wor men were
sensible of the narrow escape from a
serious accident had the machinery
come in contact with the cap of the
shell, which was intact.
The curious incident was wit
messed by Mr. W. j. Athens. presi-
dent OF the mills; Mr.. F. w. Bands,
superintendent, and Mr.. Navra. The
most peculiar circumstance attend
ing the discovery was that the she'll
was found in the center of the log,
and the closest investigation failed
to explain by what possible manner
1T could have entered the log. as
they could find no trace of an aper-
ture. The log was of cypress. and
had been taken with many Others
from the bayou, whittier they had
been RATED to the mill for the pur-
pose of being sawed. 1t was covered
with the bark peculiar to the cv-
press, and the shell was so deeply
imbedded in the center of the lower
end, and the wood had grown so
completely about it that no one
would have ever dreamed that it
,harbored such dangerous missile as
a loaded she'll.
The town Of Strader is situated
about forty miles from New Orleans,
on the Illinois Central railroad. and
the news flew fast over the COM
munity and attracted many visitors
to the mills There were many con-
lectures as to how the she'll found a
home in the log, but the most plaus-
ible theory advanced was that the
cypress tree in which it lodged
stood near some Southern battle
ground during the late civil war,
and in one OF the many fierce engage
ments of that sad era it was thrown
by one of the contending armies.
and, missing its aim. lodged in the
tree.
Nearly thirty years have passed
away since then, and naturally the
tree, increasing in dimensions, grad
ually closed entirely over the aper-
'ture caused by the entrance of the
ball, while the bark grew in thick.
ness from year to year till not a tree
remained to tell the story of carnage.
And now, after being in the heart of
the old cypress so many years, it has
come to light in the busy saw-mill-|
a type OF the new and progressive
Southland told again the war story
OF the old South, a story that resem-
bles the history of the she'll in this,
that as it lay buried in the heart of
the ancient cypress, so, too, that era
lies forever buried in the hearts of
the people.
None OF the gentlemen could &C.
count, however, Mr.. Navra said, for
the shell being loaded, and consid-
cred it one of those strange phe-
nomena that have attended the his
tory OF some Of the old forts, notably
the ancient Fl. McComb, in which a
gentleman recently lost his life by
the explosion of an old bomb that
every one thought had laid there so
long that it might he touched with
IMMUNITY. In the case of the she'll
at Strader, however, Mr.. Navra
says that it was, indeed, fortunate
dispensatiOn that the saw first struck
it on the side about one inch from
the outer edge, without coming in
contact with the cap, as there would
undoubtedly have been several of the
workmen injured and perhaps loss
OF life. He intends sending the she'll
to the city as a curiosity.