The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-03-31

/ AAe"A- a AlAAE man, lAILEA a NuAAAEA anu
/ opened door and stepped in. The next
thing I knew I was failing down Down.
I Down! And before / could catch my
breath or put out my hands 10 save my
self / had landed with an awful thud-
I far, far below, in a net work Of ropes, iron.
I pulleys and machinery. And then I
T knew what had happened. Instead Of
/ opening the directors door. had walked
into the shaft OF the freight elevator.
next to IL. And here / was down in the
I cellar. All this l realized the first sec
I ond. and that l had fallen down six sto-
ries.
"of course shouted. but no one an
sWered. Then most horrible thought
4 came over me. Suppose I should not be
! heard at all. The building was practi-
Z cally deserted. Below me, hemming me in
| my tight quarters, was the freight ele-
vator, and not soul in the cellar or any
where around. I lifted Up my voice and
shouted 1 cried help, help! help! so
many time that j grew hoarse and had
to stop to rest Ny hands in the DARK
ness had found a rope and to this I
chung. And then came pain. My feet
were numb, but after the first minute
they began sending shivers up my legs
to my spine. Again / shouted. And
again! But there was not even dark
echo TO my cries.
Meanwhile the directors had met up
stairs and were transacting their bust
ness. One of them. in passing the open
elevator shaft door. had closed and locked
it. Several times they spoke Of me and
wondered where l was. Finally a most
important point was reached, one that
required a full vote. And the president
stepped out into the hall with the re-
mark "Ill so downstairs and take
look for Clewss't And as he passed the
closed doors he heard my cries for help.
What's the matter? he shouted
down.
IL fell was all I could answer
from my pit as l began to grow faint
with pain and the relief of being found.
Then came the long work of getting
me out of my wedged position. The
| freight elevator was of iron and could
not be taken apart, and the position
occupied above it prevented them from
reaching me. Finally l gathered all
my strength together and held fast to
the elevator rope while they pulled me
up to the top floor. That was the only
| opening. Then they lifted me out; and
| for weeks lay in delrium, with my feet
| cut into ribbons from striking the iron
and the ropes. Even yet l feel the eff
fects.
"But the horrible part of the story
the part that drove me into delirium-
was the rats The building was alive
with them; and as stood in that awful
position 1 had to fight them off with
both hands. 1 did not dare to faint!'
Lieut. H. c. Duval, the right bower of
! Chauncey Depew, who distinguished him
self so nobly in the Brooklyn strike, tells
| this story of an athletic escape from death
"a story worthy the Manhattan Athletic
Club
1T happened in Brooklyn four years
ago." says Mr.. Duval, and in the same
quarter of the city where the great strike
was enacted. 1t had been showing heav-
nd said n my x1ifa let n take
spin She agreed and we started up
across Brooklyn's lovely nights and out
into its unmatched suburbs The day was
bright, our horse keen and we were in
excellent spirits
Just as we shot around a corner a
coal cart backed toward us; and before
we could get past, the driver opened his
shute-door and the coal came rafting
out with whizz-z and a whirr-r. IT
startled even us a little and as for the
horse it drove him clean crazy. Away
he dashed as fast as a perfect set of thor
oughbred legs could carry him. l tried
to pull him in, by my left rein broke;
and so we went dashing along, turning
corners as his highness pleased and skim
ming past vehicles making the closest
kind of shaves all the time. BY my side
clinging to me was my wife nearly faint
ing with fright
81 can't stay him. 1 cried. Don't be
afraid and before she could prevent me
/ was climbing over the dashboard and
right on the horses back Straddle l
went of the horse, harness and all. Lean
ing way forward l caught the bride, gave
it a yank-and ell would have been well
but for an awful swerve as we dashed
around a corner Off into the snow 1
went right under the horses feet and the
cutter went over me. AS my wife felt
the cutter bump over my body she gave
an awful shrek of horror and jumped
out, too.
Meanwhile 1 sat up and rubbed my
eyes just in time to see her come bounc-
ing out. She sat up and began rubbing
the snow out of her face Are you
hurt?' / called as soon as l could get
| near her. And then we both laughed
heartily and started after the horse. He
poor fellow--fared worse that we, for at
the corner he ran into tree and broke
so many of his ribs that We had him shot
But there were no tears at his funeral
We were too busy rejoicing over our own
narrow escape from HARM"
Deacon" s. V. White, the Wall street
man who got religious title from his
connection with Plymouth church and
his friendship with Henry Ward Beecher,
considers himself a mascot. Il have been
in danger of my life thousand times"
he declares, land every time l have not
| only come through the danger unscathed,
but have brought all the others through
/ in the same way.
II remember being once in a hotel in
/ Cleveland when the cry of fire was raised.
1t was after midnight and the guests
were wrapt in slumber. / was on the
top floor and when dashed out of my
room into the hall l found the flames
sweeping up the elevator shaft and lick
ing the stairway. Fortunately there was
a small winding iron fire escape, and down
this 1 climbed as fast as l could. At the
third story it grew too hot to be COM
Portable, and seeing a nice awning be-
low. 1 jumped down into its friendly
arms
"As it happened, 1 knew the location
! of the rooms very well, and | instructed
the firemen where to place their ladders.
And every one escaped-not a soul miss
! ing.
Another time 1 was travelling in the
west. We were in Mississippi and cover
ing ground at rapid pace. All of sud
den the train seemed to go off the track,
and then came an awful confusion, with
upset cars, steam and fire from the en-
CINE and shouting. 1 climbed out OF
car window and looked for my friends in
another car. Pretty soon they climbed
out, too. And when we were all gathered
together upon a little hill into which