The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1898-08-19
IN THE COILS OF A SNAKE
Close Calm Cuba BY a Man who
is Now a millionaire.

NoA Noo olLAS -. Dull lis was
working as a plumber in Colorado
Springs, and thanking his stars he was
able to earn $3.50 a week. Today he
is worth between $ 5000, 900 and $40, 0OO,-
900. He is president of the Portland
Mining company, the richest concern
of the kind in Colorado, perhaps in
America. And he is IS years old.
Twice before he was a rich man, and
twice he lost all he had. His third
fortune, he says, nothing can wrest
from him.
1t was in Cuba that he had a terrible
experience, and if you hear him tell Of
it, see the beads of pe%rspiration that
form on his brow, the agony in his
voice, you ear understand how real
is the memory of it.
1t occurred in Cuba, about fifteen
miles from Cienfuegos, where the foli-
age and underbrush are deeper than on
any other part Of the island. He and
some companions were looking for a
suitable spot in which to start a sugar
refinery. One night, when the heat was
almost ~unbearable, he left the tent
Inc went to a spot abount a hundred
yards distant, where there appeared
to be a better breeze. 1t was just
daylight that he felt hat he was awake
although he was really having a night
mare, to which he was more or less
subject. You shall read his own
words:
Il felt that 1 was in the basement
of a building twenty stories high, and
that it was gradually sinking upon me
Every avenue of escape was cut off.
The walls appeared to be cutting into
the earth like a knife. 1 lay there par
alyzed with fear and the sense of help
foot.
1.-THE stone floor above me seemed
to sink an eighth of al inch at a time.
Nearer and nearer it came until l
could touch it above me. I shouted.
There was no noise, no creaking, moth
ing but a horrible sileE,ce and the sink
ing of the building.
II could no longer stand erect. I
lay on the ground and waited, now n
then shrieking in horror. l saw the
old farm, I saw my mother standing,
at the kitchen door.
1.-THE building seemed to settle more
swiftly. 1 stretched myself prone on
the floor. I could feel the weight upon
my head and chest. No human being
can know the awful agony of it. I felt
myself plunged into the abyss of death
and-then I awoke.
THE awakening was more frightful
than the dream. I found myself in
the coils of a huge constructor! The
monster snake had wound coil after
coil about my body and was slowly
and surely crushing the life out Of me.
II tried to raise my voice. The pres
as weak as a babes. I 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 a 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 I
could reach it. Then it was but the
work of a minute to sever the con
strictor's body. Even then I was not
free. 1t was half an hour before I cut
the coil from my body. 1 was drenched
in blood.
"When I went to sleep that night
there was not a gray hair in my head.
That morning it was as white as you
see it ow."
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.
His experiences would fill many pages
of this newspaper. But the manner in
which he gained his present wealth is
most remarkable. 1t is known to every
one in Denver. Burns had drifted west
and five years ago he was working in
Colorado Springs as a plumbers help
err. 1t is interesting to know that he
was a good workman. One day he hap
pened to overhear a young man talking
to another. The accent was music to
Burns ear.
Excuse me-" he said, ARE you not a
vim from Portland myself" said
down Eastern You talk like a. Maine
man."
From Portland" said the other. He