Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-12-19

erA.E found ...m~,if about 10 meet death
would 10 possessed by an overwhelming
Gear, sid III, obstryant JersaymaH when
arT.a.ea 4, upon this subject. but my
own experience docs not warrant TINS con-
i7"s-fTl OF any more than ordinary nerves
anfi bravery, and / have not done any
S1inE 70 indicate that / am NOR" taan an
th'Iar- person IN tarse respects; but four
times ! have been ign iUlMircnt peril Of my
III. and each time under circumstance
which led ne To believe that death Was bur
e matter OF seconds.
The First Peril.
The first great peril OF nay life &C.
CURED IN Perth Alnboy forty-one years
age. when / was less than 5 years old;
bur ! remember all about it a. well rs if
j. were 81 occurrence OF recent date. /
was playing about an unfinished frame
building with = boy OF my own age, named
n-.ompt We we're Ginning about the
footing and fen through the floor beams;
J went down through the floor beams of
Tie nrst story and struck, head foremost,
O. q pile OF bricks in the cellar. In the
second or two Of my fall / Was fully con-
ro!cus of my peril. bat I recall no feeling
81 terror. only = vague hope that l should
not be hurt. l was unconscious when J.
was picked ID, ana when ! came 10 rec
membered my last sensation and felt OF
I"y arms and legs 10 see if they were
broken. and was content when ! found
Ihat they were whole and that | had re
Celved 10 worse harm than a sore scalp.
The next occasion of deadly peril was
IL ls53, when i was traInpiuE through the
Adirondack region with stephen ;. AN
Setback. of New York. ! never knew Just
where the scene OF this adventure lay until
recently. when in looking over q new map
OF that country | traced our rout" from
Troy 10 Fort Edward. then to Fort VIII
liam Henry, and up LaGe George TO Ticon-
deroEa and Crown Point. into the Adiron-
daCks to EltZabethtowE, 10 the foot of
Mount Marcy. and then the tramp back 10
Troy, - miles over the old plank road
riat led past SchroOn lake. There, On the
map, ] found the Wash Basins, aud rvcog-
Eizrd il as the place OF my deadly perm.
Another Peril.
w had caught a ride from a farmer.
TWO and told him that We were sight
teers, he stopped his wagon, and, pointing
TO Il path that led into the piney woods TO
ihe right. said
II you want to see a sight AXE that
path
We thanked him. and without asking
any questions. plunged into the woods. /
was in the lead. \ quarter of a mile from
Ike road l suddenly emerged from the
woods and before | had time To look about
Ine / found myself sliding along the face
of a rock which sloped gently away from
the woods. The rock was covered with a
coating OF pine needles, which were rs
smooth as glass. Anyone who has tried
climbing over earth paths under the pine
trees knows how the feet Will slide on the
dead pine needles. | slid along surely but
not rapidly. and could not stop my prog
res. As / slid ] braced my feet and
looked ahead. Not more than ten or ilI-
N.er leet ahedd ] Slw tlIt the rock
ended in midair, and that before me lay a
deep valley. To make any move to stop
myself seemed TO lie merely to make disas-
ter more imminent, and 1 did nothing hut
brace my feet more firmly. as if | were be
ting driven forward on slick ice by IL strong
wind. As | drew near the edge of the
rock | confidently expected that | would
continue my course right over il and lie
dashed to death. and Yet ] had no thought
of terror. AT the very brink the surface
of the rock turned upward Il little, and
this arrested my progress when my very
toes We're even with the edge. AS l came to
a standstilt til" scene before me was so
striklnS that all thought OF my GInSer
left me.
u was on the edge of n little table rock.
which. | think, must have been $40 feet
above the bottom of the valley. and it was
q sheer drop from there below. From the
left came 4 stream of water, and this
plunged in a fail. perhaps a hundred feet
high, into 4 basin or rock. which was as
round and perfect as 4 WashbOwl. From
the edge of this basin the water poured
of the same sort. and from there the water
ran in n white, broken stream in rapids
which extended in the bottom Of the val
ley to beyond where l stood. An Old wa
ter mill stood beside the second basin.
and hills shut in the valley just n few
hundred yards beyond. Had l fallen over
The edge Of the table rock [ would nave
cropped into The rocky rapids.
Peril From Disease.
My last deadly peril was from typhoid
fever, but unlike many such cases. i had
been sensihly i'll only a few days when the
crisis came, and ] had hardly lost any Of
my physical yigor. One day the doctor
came; and taking my wrist, stood beside
my bed for many minutes feeling my
pulse | had been in bed but three days,
Int knew that 1 was desperately i'll.
With the doctors finger On my pulse I
could feel is beatinGS. and ! wondered
why the doctor stood there so long hold
ian my wrist. Then l became aware that
the pulse were gradually falling. and that
probably death was near. / became as
y1st.f. interested ~. flf4l~Efp- fLa .,sfr,,,aa
OF my hearts workings as the doctor
could have been. Slowly my pulse faded
away. heating 1T longer intervals and with
less strength At each pu!satlou. and al
Though my min seemed a clear as ever,
J though of nothing but this. and other
WISE felt as IF | were simply sinking into
ceased entirely. Still the doctor held my
hand and his thought and mine were con-
contracted upon the question Of whether 1t
- had no sense of care rs 20 whether II
returned or not. by and by il did return:
IEr-t one pulsaiiOn. then another ut a long
Interval. and then another and another.
each 1t a shorter interval. and each
s~ir"ngor than he last; PERHAPS it was
when The doctor laid my hand down and
started 10 10 away. While my pulse re-
turned l seemed TO awake gradually from
away I was as fun of life as ever was.
What am | TO do for MYSELF I asked
Nothing he REPLIED. Afterward he
told me that persons Of my temperament
seldom recovered from typhoid. and that
he had expected me 10 die as he held my
land. I'll" moment tho pulse returned he
knew ! was safe. and he did not return TO
treat me.
: haye been nearly drowned. run over
and run away with hy horses and had
som" other narrow escapes, hut thcs. Were
the only occasions wh.n ! faced death
when ] had time to think about my peril,
sfd the recollection of my feelings at
these times does not bring TO NE anything
OF horror.