Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1898-09-03
FIELDS OF ADVENTURE.
THRILLING INCIDENTS AND DARING
DEEDS ON LAND AND SEA.

Wv IHNS NV SS"
A Terrible Experience In II Cnban Forest
In the Coils of u Huge COnstrictor-
Saved by u Boyish Habit-Hair Turne,
Gray In Single Night.
Five years ago James +. Burns wa
working as plumber in Colorac,
Springs, and thanking his stars tina
he was able to earn So. 80 week. To
day he is worth between eight and tel
millions of dollars. He is the Presi
dent of the Portland Mining Company
the richest concern of the kind il
Colorado, perhaps i'll America. Ant
he is thirty-fve years old.
Twice before he was rich man, an,
twice he lost all he had. His thir,
fortune, he says, nothing can wres
from him.
1t was in Cuba that he hada terrible
experience, and if you hear him tell o
it, see the beads of perspiration tina
form on his brow, the agony in hi
voice, you can understand how real il
the memory of it.
1t occurred in Cuba, about fifteer
miles from Cienfuegos, where the
foliage and underbrush are denser than
on any other part of the island. Hean(
some companions were looking for ,
suitable place in which to start sugar
refinery. One night, when the hea
was almost unbearable, he left the ten
and went to spot about hundred
yards distant, where there appeared tt
be better breeze. He made his BET
and fell asleep. 1t was just before
daylight that he felt that he was awake
although he was really having night
mare, to which he was more or less
subject. You shall read his OWL
words:
81 felt that I was in the baseme EN-
of building twenty stories high, and
that it was gradually sinking upon me
Every avenue of escape was cut off.
The walls appeared to he cutting into
the earth like knife. Hay there par
alyzed with fear and the sense of help.
lessness. 1 could not move hand o.
foot.
"The stone floor above me seemed
to sink an eighth of an inch at time.
Nearer and nearer it came until |
could touch it above me. l shouted.
There was no noise, no creaking,
nothing but horrible silence and
the sinking of the building.
II could no longer stand erect. ]
lay on the ground and waited, now
and then shrieking in terror. I saw
the old farm. 1 saw my mother
standing at the kitchen door.
"The building seemed to settle
more swiftly. I stretched myself
prone upon the floor. 1 could feel
the weight upon my head and chest.
No human being can know the awful
agony of it. L felt myself plunging
into the abyss of death and-then I
awoke.
"The wakening was more frightful
than the dream. I found myself in
the coils of a huge boa constructor.
The monster snake had wound coil
after coil about my body and was
slowly and surely crushing the life
out of me.
81 tried to raise my voice. The
pressure about my lungs made my
voice as weak as babes. could
see the Shiny thing forming another
coil and drawing tighter and tighter
about me.
"a boyish habit of curling my left
arm under my head for rest while I
slept saved my life. My left arm was
free. The other was in the coil of
the snake. I reached for my hunting
knife, which was in my belt, forcing
my hand over and around the body of
the snake. 1t seemed hours before 1
could reach it. Then it was but the
work of moment to sever the con-
strictor's body. Even then I was not
free. 1t was half IN hour before
cut the coil from my body. was
drenched in blood.
'When went to sleep that night
there was not gray hair in my head.
That morning it was as white as you
see it now."
Burns left Cuba soon after that ex-
perience. As he expresses it, he
found that luck was against him and
the extortion of the Spaniards was
more than he could stand.
Some Shark Stories.
A good shark story comes from the
West Indies. IA large steamer" the
diver relates, chad struck ON a reef
and then slipped off into deep water,
taking down with her the mails and a
valuable cargo. There were some
papers that were particularly wanted,
and was in the chart-room under the