The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-08-06
WHEN FACING DEATH
sENsATloNs OF A ANW+lLE IN PERIL
OF HIS LIFE.
A Jsrseyman Who Had No Fear When
Death seemed Imminent, Only n Sort
OF Curiosity-!Twice In Peril From Fall
ing aud Once From Pistol.

1 hUUi uIf lHt NAnNAAAANHN VI ltiNtn WIN
| is suddenly brought face TO face with death
! while in the full possession of his faoultiesy
| There are evidences that persons who are
| suffering great pain, as from injuries,
welcome death because IL brings relief
with its near approach, and those WHOM
disease has exhausted seem 20 know'no
more of their coming dissolution than that
they are sinking 60 rest.
~ cun imagine that person who was
in full possession of his faculties and sud
denly found himself about Ia meet death
would be possessed ny an overwhelming
fear, - said the obscryant .IerseyInan when
appealed 20 upon this subject, "but my
own experience does not warrant this con-
clusion. / do not believe that | am pos
sessed Of any more than ordinary nerve
and bravery, and have never done any
thing to indicate that / am more than an
average person in these respects, but three
times have been in imminent peril of my
life and each time under circumstances
which led me to believe that death was
but matter of seconds.
1.-The first great peril Of my life occurred
in Perth AmbOy 4 years ago, when | was
less than years old, but | remember all
about il as well as if IL were an occurrence
of recent date. | was playing about an
unfinished frame building with IA boy of
my own age named Lecompt. We were
climbing about the frame on the second
floor when l lost my footing and fell
through the floor beams.
II went down through the floor beams
of the first story and struck, head fore
most on a pile of bricks in the cellar. In
the second o. two of my fall / was fully
conscious Of my peril, but l recall no feel
ing of terror, only vague hope that
should not he hurt. | was unconscious
when was picked up, and when l came
to l remembered my last sensations and
felt of my arms and legs TO see If they
were broken and was content when found
that they were whole and / had received
no worse harm than a sore scalp.
THE next occasion Of deadly peril was
I'm 1853, when was tramping through tho
Adirondack region with Stephen y Van
Schaick of New York.
1--WE had caught Il ride with a farmer,
and, having been with him for mile or
two and told him that we were sightsee-
ing, he stopped his wagon, and, pointing
TO path that led into the piney woods to
the right, said:
If you want to see sight take that
path
1--WE thanked him, and, without asking
any questions, plunged into the woods.
was in the lead a quarter of mile from
the road l suddenly emerged from the
woods, and before had time TO look about
me found myself sliding along the face
of rock which sloped gently away from
the woods The rock was covered with
coating of pine needles, which were as
smooth as glass Any one 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 progress.
AS ! slid l braced my feet and looked |
ahead. Not more than 10 or 10 feet ahead !
/ saw that the rock ended in midair and I
that before me lay deep valley. To |
make any move TO stop myself seemed TO !
be merely to make disaster more immi- |
nent, and did nothing but brace my feet !
more firmly, as II | were being driven for |
ward on slick ice by a strong wind As / |
drew near the edge of the rock confident J
ly expected that / would continue my |
course right over il and be dashed TO death, /,
and yet l had no thought of terror. At |
the very brink the surface of the rock J
turned upward n little, and this arrested |
my progress when my very toes were even |
with the edge. AS i came TO standstill |
the ccene before me was so striking that |
all thought of my danger left me.
81 was on the edge of n table rock which ]
think must have been 800 feet above the |
bottom of the valley, and it was sheer |
drop from there below. From the left |
came stream of water, and this plunged |
In fall, perhaps hundred feet high, in
TO basin of rock which was as round and |
perfect as washbowl. From the edge Of
this basin the water poured over in anoth-
er fall into second basin of the same sort,
and from there the water ran in white,
broken stream in rapids which extended in
the bottom of the valley to beyond where 1
stood. An old water mill stood beside the
second basin and hills shut in the valley |
Just few hundred yards beyond. Had I
fallen over the edge of the table rock l
would have dropped into the rocky rapids |
my third peril was at the hands of a
lieutenant Of the Pinkerton
force who was guarding the railroad yards
at the Port Johnston coal docks at Ba-
yonne during the great coal handlers
strike In 1887. For some reason he had
taken great dislike to me, and when /
sought to enter the yard to see his captain
he stopped me.
"'I want to see the captain, said.
"a He is not here he said.
"'Ho is, answered. Il see him there
pointing to the man | wanted a hundred
yards down the track.
+" Get out of berer he exclaimed and |
dropped his hand 10 the hilt of his revolver |
." / stepped hack two feet to the limo be- |
tween the tracks which marked the edge
of the yard and stood facing him. His |
hand worked on the hilt of his pistol, and !
every moment expected him to draw and |
fire. a boy had been wantonly shot only
n few days before by Il pinkerton nun at
Weehawken, and other acts of violence
bad been committed by these men. We |
faced each other for perhaps five minutes,
during which time | expected every mo. |
ment to be my last, hut | had no feeling |
except one of curiosity to sec what he |
would dare to do Finally he turned and |
walked away, and also left. Two years |
later | met one Of his men TO whom had |
done some slight favor.
That lieutenant meant to XIII Won |
that day, he said.
Yes | knew st, replied
so did j, he said. and when he drop. |
IL I h