The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1898-02-10
DROWNING.
An Experience Which Shows That 1t Ts
Not Pleasant Death.

1 NOT q Pleasant Death.
Drowning is pleasant death" is
a remark constantly made by those
who never gulped down salt water
into the delicate tissues of their
lungs. AS a lad 1 was bathing in
rough weather on the beach of q wa.
tering place in northern France. saws
Arnold White in Cassel's Family
Magazine. Swept out to sea, strug
gled, sank, became insensible and
was saved by the courage and skill of
a gallant Frenchman, who wrote his
name that day in my mothers New
Testament as memorial of the res
cue. This was all. The circum-
stances were ordinary. A thousand
such may occur. Psychologically,
however, there are points of interest
which arise principally from the
fact that L remember all that hap
pened during period of time which
may have been four or five minutes,
but which appeared to be as many
hours.
Almost Immediately entered the
water, the much resoundine roar of
the waves struck me as desolatiao
and sorrowful-full of forebodiDr
and terror. Ashamed of this fancy.
I instinctively but foolishly fought
my way seward, and was promptly
out of my depth; not because | in
tended to run any risk, for T could
not swim, but because the strong
current had scooped out hollow in
the sandy bottom, which had six
Feet of water on the top of it.
Tumbled over by the waves, the
concentrated agony of the moment
when the water closed over my head
for the first time cannot be describ-
ed. 1t was the bitterest point of the
struggle. Cruel and omnipotent
force, without warning or reason,
surrounded me and my frantic and
determined efforts to escape only
increased the pent up passion to
cease holding my breath and to in.
hale once more. I felt instinctively,
as l writhed in the cold, black wa
ter, that If once succumbed to the
temptation to expel my breath,
which almost burst the ribs in nv
angry efforts to retain it, the end
would come; that I should be COM
PEELED to breathe inward while GOV.
cred with the pressing salt water.
At this time 1 must have given way,
and the dreaded stream of air bub-
bles rose to the surface.
A few weeks before had watched
the drowning of cat in the clear wa.
ter of running stream. The ami
NAL was tethered to a stone and had
fought with upturned face for liber.
ty. When the bubbles rose in a sill
~ar FOUNTAIN from tho corneps of it's
mouth, it stood at the bottom sway
ing in the gentle current, turned
over, and, after one final struggle,
gave up the ghost. This scene came
wildly before me. l thought Of this
Wretched cat, and was half amused
to think that my case was the case
of the cat. There was no fear; the
actual circumstances filled my at.
tention, and the piteous longing to
escape and the inability of my ef,
forts suddenly became subordinated
to the feeling of intolerable pain.
Eyes, chest, limbs, were all one
solid pain. Just then l touched the
sandy bottom with my fingers and
knee, and hastily snatched a hand.
full of sand and water to thrust in
my mouth to end this struggle for
air. All l wanted was to end the
pain. No thought of death, except
as an interesting and immaterial
factor in the situation, came over
me. 1t Is true that l remembered
that l should be missed when
dinner time came and | was found
missing, and thinking of the home
people l thought of a blue tie
had left on chest of drawers
IN my bedroom, which 1 had in.
tended to put on. Then, sudden.
ly, found my eyes above water
for second, and 1 saw two blurred
figures near. On this l sank again
and was conscious of relaxing effort
and sinking out of a conscious state
to one in which one dreamed with.
out knowing what the dreams were.
From this l awoke in great pain in
the center of a crowd on the beach.
whittier my rescuer had borne me.
Klondike Blll's Revenge.