The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1897-08-26

Cayuga Bridge, bound, incapable Of
moving an inch, with the hideous and
absolutely certain prospect of being
cut literally to pieces by the next train
that passed. For the second time that
night almost swooned as realized
my situation; but by powerful effort
of will I recovered myself, and tugged
desperately at the ropes that bound me
until they cut almost into my muscles !;
I shrieked, and wept finally like q
child. made mad endeavors to roll
myself into another position, and then
recollected that careless movement
might precipitate me into the food be-
low-bound hand and foot, to sink like
a stone
"a shudder ran through my frame,
and lay motionless again; but not for
long, for the light of the great-almost
fearfully bright-moon overhead, the
ripple of the water deep below me, the
breeze that came in light puffs, and
then died away again, giving place to
a death.like stiffness, occasionally
broken by the scream of some distant
night-bird-all was unbearable, and
caused me the anguish of death. And
then the rails! the rails! My thoughts
were torturing me, and yet l could not
escape them. The wooden beams of
the bridge vibrated perceptibly from
the movement of the water below, and
1 thought that 1 could already feel the
approach of the train, and my hair
bristled with the horror of it. The
breeze now blew somewhat stronger,
and imagined that I could already
hear, far away in the distance, the
putting and painting of the locomotive,
and my heart stood still, to beat with
redoubled force the next moment
'There are certain things, gentle
men, which are absolutely incompre-
hensible to me: one of them is the fact
that I was able to survive that night.
One thought stood ever clear in my
mind: must endeavor by some means
to shift my position-if possible, to
one between the metals-if I did not
wish, possibly even in the next mo-
ment, to become the prey of the most
awful death one could conceive. And
1 succeeded! I strained every muscle,
every sinew, till could strain no more.
l wound and twisted myself, and
painted until 1 thought my head must
burst, and after superhuman exertions,
which appeared to last an eternity, and
perhaps lasted but minute, found
myself in the hollow between the rails.
WAS I saved? ! had no time to
consider that, or to rejoice over the
fresh chance of life which was now
offered to me, for my whole being con-
centrated itself in intent listening. Far
away in the distance | could now hear
first of all indistinctly, and then
gradually increasing as it drew nearer
and nearer-the regular, monotonous
painting which heralds the approach of
locomotive. The fearful stiffness of
the night gave way, as each minute
passed, to the more fearful noise, to
the clanking and laundering of the en-
gine us it raced on towards me Mt the
headlong speed of American trains.
Now thousand feet more--now five
hundred-all the horrors of hell pos
sessed me; but l lay without moving o
muscle. Once, indeed, l Itriedto scream.
1 could no longer hear my own
voice; how, then, could the people in
the train be expected to hear me? And
now for an immeasurably short space
of time blaze of light beat down upon
me, and a blast of hot air rushed over
me, then everything became dark, and
1 heard thunder as if the heavens
were crashing in. Close, quite close,
Mt scarcely hairbreadth's distance,
rushed the enormous mass over me. 1
was saved!
"Already half-unconscious, L was
still sensible of deafening Gathering
and roaring above me, and I saw shad-
ow-like masses flying past; still one
moment more of deadly anguish-one
of the coupling-hoo hanging some-
what lower than the rest, had caught
and dragged me several yards, tearing
finally a large piece out of the breast
of my coat-then all objects seemed to
whirl around me, the moon, the bridge,
and the lofty cliffs, in one mad dance,
and became insensible.
When l next woke found myself in
my own bed, and around me we'll
known faces. And now to be brief:
1 had been found on the morning after
that awful night by plate-layer who
had recognized me, and had brought
me back to Auburn. For fortnight
1 lay delirious with brain fever, hover
ing between life and death; but my
strong constitution pulled me through
The first time after my recovery that
I had occasion to use looking glass,
/ saw what traces those moments had
left on me-"
The doctor ceased speaking; but his
pale face, the look of horror, and the
great beads of sweat on his forehead
all showed how keen his recollection
was of that terrible experience. We
also had listened to his narrative with
breathless attention, and it was some
time before we could shake off the i'm
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