The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1898-01-01
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An E.Aperi .ce ..lich s,Ao..s Tia. \: 40
Not . Pleasant Death.

L.AJW.;' III.
An EAperi .ce ..aich s,Ao.:. TIA \: A
Not . Pleasant Death.
"Drowning is a pleasant death" il
a remark constantly made by those
who never gulped down salt water
into the COLGATE tissues of theil
lungs. AS a lad l was bathing il
rough weather on the beach of a Wa
tering plac,'in northern France, says
Arnold White in Cassel's Family
Magazine. Swept out to sea, Istrug
gled, sank, became insensible anf
vas saved by t;le courage and skill o.
a gallant Frenchman, who wrote hi
name that day in my mothers New
Testament as n memorial of the res
cue. This was all. the circum
stances were ordinary. A thousand
such may occur. Psychologically
however, there are points of interes'
which arise principally from the
fact that l remember all that hap
pened during aperiod 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 resounding roar o.
the waves struck me as desolatins
and sorrowful-full of f%orcbodinf
and terror. Ashamed of this fancy
I in%stinctively but foolishly fought
my way seward, and was promptly
out of my depth; not because I in
tended to run any risk, for l coul'
not swim, but because the strong
current had scooped out a hollow il
the sandy bottom, which had sil
feet Of water on the top of it.
Tumbled W. by the waves. tn
concentrated agony Of the momen
when the water closed ove1 my hea.
for the first time cannot be describ
ell. 1t was the bitterest point Of tn,
struggle. Cruel and omnipoten
force, without warning Or reason
surrounded me and my frantic ant
determined efforts to escape OIL.
increased the pent up passion t.
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 l succumbed to thu
temptation to expel my breath
which almost burst the ribs III my
angry efforts to retain it, the en-
would come; that / should be com
PEELED to breathe inward while GOV
cred with the pressing salt water
At this time l must have given way
and the dreaded stream of air bub
bles rose to the surface.
A few weeks before had watche.
the drowning Of a Cat in the clear wa
ter of u running stream. The ami
NAL was tcthered to a stone and la.
Fought with upturned face for liber
~. When tho bubbles rose in u sill
yer fountain from the corners Of it
mouth, it stood. Mt the bottom sway
ing in the gentle current, turne'
over, and, after one final struggle
gave up tho ghost. This scene cam
wildly before inc. thought of TIL
wretched cat, and was half amuse
to think that my case was the a
Of the cat. There was no fear; Il
actual circumstances filled my a.
tentjon, and the piteous longing I
escape and the inability Of my Q.
forts suddenly became subordinate
to the feeling of i%ntolerable pain.
Eyes, chest, limbs, were all ON
solid pain. Just thon l touched til
sandy bottom with my fingers an
knee, and hastily snatched a hanl
Jul of sand and water to'thrust j.
my mouth to end this struggle TO
air. All l wanted was to end til
pain. No thought of death, excel
as nm interesting and immateri,:
factor in the situation. came owe
me-. 1t is true that l remembers,
that / should be missed whe,
dinner time came and l was foun'
missing, and thinking of the HON
people l thought of a blue tie
had left on a chest of drawer
IN my bedroom, which I had in
tended to put on. Then, sudden
ly, l found my eyes above waite
for a second, and l saw two blurre.
figures near. On this I sank agai,
and was conscious Of relaxing effor
and sinking out Of u conscious stat
to one in which one dreamed with
out knowing what the dreams were
From this l awoke in great pain i,
the center of a crowd on the beach
whittier my rescuer had borne me.
Klondike Bills Revenge.
MANY n,nnsinp incidents Occ,1r i,