Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-06-13

under Wnlcn There were enough eX-
ploSiveS to blow the hotel into atoms
Just suppose slat had given way or
some other ca Sualty had occurred, why,
I'd have gone to glory quicker than
} I'm telling you people. and 1 didn't
sleep there that night, you can rest
assured, and l put some miles that
day between your humble servant and
those caps and dynamite.
! "On another occs sion out in Ohio. I
had one of the naIIowest escapes that
ever experienced in all my life. !
had been travelling through the country
examining several mining properties,
and had occasion to stop off at a little
out-of-the-way place which was near
some mines in the interior Finding
L could get no conveyance to take me
TO my destination, l hailed a fellow
who was driving what appeared to me
TO be load of straw. l asked for a
, lift, and being invited to get up on
seat beside him, did 50, thankful that
| did not lave long tramp before
me. He was putting away Industrious
~ III Il cob pipe. from which he knock
ed the ashes every now and then. /
learned during the course of the first
few miles that he was wagner
at one of the large mines near the
one that | was to visit. In the most
unconcerned way in the world he told
me that he had then a load of dyna-
mite cartridges that he WIS hauling to
the mine, and that the straw was
packed between them on account of
the roughneSS of the road. | was
scared almost out of my shoes! l was
afraid to knock the pipe out of his
mouth for fear some of the sparks
would cause the dynamite to become
ignited. So l said, with all the calm
ness l could summon under the cir
cumstances: Let's get down and have
a stretch, old man, and pull at my
whisky flask That fetched him, and
you may believe when l got him down
l got that pipe out of his teeth in
short order. He was as scared as my
self when l explained matters, and he
DIDN'T smoke a pipe nor anything else
the rest of the journey.
"Once out in Arizona / had occasion
to visit some mines where a great
amount of blasting was being done.
| got in the Shaft and was in the mine
just at the time when nearly every
one had gone to dinner Now, l knew
it was customary for the men in max
ing blasts to lay their explosives just
about time for going to dinner, and
light a long fuse before leaving the
nj
me that there was no blast to be made
at that time, so ! entered narrow
passageway between immense bowl
ders of rock that led in another part
of the mine. We had traversed part of
the long passageway and has just
come to a turning, when all OF a sud
den we were met by deafening
blast, and l was thrown violently to
the ground. l regained consciousness
ito find myself in the office some min
utes later. There had been fuse
lighted just before the men went TO
dinner in a distant part of the NINE,
and the superintendent had gone IN
entirely ignorant of the fact. The con-
cuSsiOn of the ain, coming as 1t dld
with such great force through the mar
row passage, had been OF sufhclent
force to knock me down, and had
been thirty feet farther L would not
have been here tonight, for about that
distance in front of me lay an enor-
nous bowlder that would have crushed
me into jelly"
The crowd of eager listeners who
had been hanging ON every WORD OF tue
speaker came out of the trance Vi
amazement and anxiety they had peeh
i'm all Through the narrative ana SHY
cred when he had finished. MI. Rl0chle
said he had experienced many close
shaves in his career, but the one ClaI
he had just described was enough 10
cause a man to lose all desire TOT the
sensation of fear, or daring either, lor
that matter -Washington Post.
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