The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-01-17

TO the Rev. Henderson, who, after many
unsuccessful attempts, finally succeeded
in getting Il around the horse, after
which ne threw the end back 10 the men.
Immediately this was tossed over strong
limb Of tree, brought down and made
fast 10 a projecting root. By this means
both horse and rider were saved from go
ing down until ropes could be gotten from
the nearest store. a sort of pulley ar
rangement of the rope, with the united
strength Of the men gradually raised the
horse and rider until they were almost
upon the surface Of the quicksand. And
by noon on Thursday they were, much to
their ioy, once again upon terra hrma.
And it may be imagined that the identity
of both were we'll concealed by the wear
ing Of a mud coat The parson was ex-
hausted from the strain upon his enrves,
audit was necessary to take him home at
once for medical treatment, but the horse
seemed none the worse of Tor his quick
sand bath.
But while this experience had within 1t
a eoodlv share Of terror, it was not half
so formidable as that of the young min
lister. Jack Harvey. the bride room-elect,
who in speaking of it, said: I was rid
ing along swiftly, making excellent time,
until about half way TO Burnside when
I reached the worst part of the path.
Here it was dark, full of briars, bull
PUSHES and decidedly marshy, therefore
no route for a wheel. Nevertheless, /
had started and determined not to give
up until l reached Burnside. But man
proposes-well, you know the rest. While
speeding over or through the Doggy
places, bouncing up and down and nearly
being thrown off as I came in contact
with the hard roots of underbrush, ran
over something, the movement of whose
body threw me off my wheel several feet
forward.
Being unhurt, I raised up quickly and
retraced a few steps to see, if possible,
what it was. But scarcely had done so
when my mistake was realized by my life
suddenly becoming in jeopardy. Strange
sounds echoed through the air, and worse
still, the atmosphere was stagnant with
the musk Of an alligator. l knew then
what l had done, and what the result
would be I had run over and doubtless
injured a young alligator; the Old mother
had heard its cry, discovered what was
done and the letting out of its musk was
proof conclusive of its fury, which in no
way could be quoted until either she had
caught and killed me or I killed her. That
she would prove the victor was quite pos
sible, as l was unarmed, and no man can
equal them. in feetness. There was but
one thing TO be done, and that was fly for
my life, and this I did. But in a few min
utes 1 was chased and like mad, by this
splashed, the rushes rustled and cracked,
and ere I had gotten scarcely any distance
she was upon me. There was no riding a
wheel then; no time to think, or do any
thing except fight for my life. And this
was done. The wheel was kept in front
of me, used as a shield, and protected me
until it was cutched in the things jaws
and torn away from me. Fortunately the
rubber on the bicycle tangled for a min
ute the allgator's teeth.
so. taking advantage of that, did the
only thing there was for me to dO-took to
my heels towards the nearest tree, which
I began to climb. The alligator was at
my feet in a twinkling and, rearing up,
made dash at my leg and gouged a
piece out of it before I could tear it
away. The pain was excruciating. and it
was only with the greatest difficulty that
l finally manged to climb above the reach
of the mad beast, who, seeing her failure
to kill me, stood guard at the base of the
tree to see that 1 made no escape"
And thus the young minister was found.
The men took in his terrible situation at a
glance and realized that there was some
work ahead of them The only firearms
in their possession were two revolvers
the effect of which were little more than
toy pistols upon the knotty head and
! body of the alligator. Preparing them
/ selves for the bloody conflict by collect
| tied each revolver, fourteen shots in all
| at the things body, but not bullet tool
| effect. The alligator dashed her tail anC
! dashed at the twelve men as though de
! termined to devour all at the same time
! And they, throwing down the pistols
| grabbed the sticks, lodged, fought, slash
| ed and battered away for fully two hour:
| before they felt in the least rewarded
BY this time they were almost exhaust
| ed, and. happily so, was the alligator :
| few more hard ticks and it's head wa!
| crushed in, which blinded her so that thu
men had but little trouble in killing her
| The alligator is the largest and was th'
most ferocious ever seen in this part o
the state, measuring seventeen and hal
feet from tip to tip. The battle was tht
most bloody and dangerous ever expert
| enced here, and that they escaped is moth
| ing less than a miracle.
Jack Harvey was taken home, where h
is still suffering from his wounds, from
which hopes are entertained for his re
| covery but not for several weeks yet
The bride-elect is suffering from thu
! nervous shock brought about by the mar
row escape and illness of her lover.
The guests, weary after their long wait
excited and disappointed, have at last re
| turned to their respective homes. Ant
| the marriage is indefinitely postponed
| And thus endeth for a time that which
would have been one of the prettiest wed
/ ding ever celebrated in this section of tn