Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1900-06-07

Why ONE MAN NO LONGER HAS A
DESIRE FOR LIQUOR.
His story Of the Terrifying Expert
ence That Made Him and the Dri2k
Habit, which Brought About the
Incident, Part Company.

Thanks, ! don't care if I do-not,"
said one man in the crowd Of half a dozen
who were invited to indulge in n pota
ton.
why not?' inquired the host. you
drank enough when We worked together
five years ago down yondcr in the Cum
berlond mountains handling timber for
that Michigan firm"
"As the childron's books say" respond
ed the man of temperate will, listen,
and l will tell you a story. When you
went away and left me there alone, what
ever there was in the country that was
cndurablc went away, too, and ! began
TO take all the time at my disposal for
my drinking time. You left in October.
you remember, and at Christmas I re-
solved to celebrate my loneliness by n
drunk that would make me forget my
surroundings for three or four days at
least. My plans were carried out to the
letter, the festivities beginning the third
day before Christmas and going right
ahead until Christmas night, when | got
out Of the house and started up the
mountain. All know is that got out
and wandered away among the rocks and
cliffs. When / recovered consciousness,
| was lying on smooth stone, and7t was
dead dark around me and somewhat
warmer than when | last remembered.
| dozed off several times after my first
awakening. and | did not know where ]
was. At first / did not care. but after
awhile my thirst became SO strong that
1t brought me TO full sense of my stu
alton, and brought with it the purpose OF
getting something 70 qucnch that thirst.
II thought il was the darkest night |
ever saw, and when ut last got 10 my
feet | was afraid to move lest | might 20
off the stone and land somewhere 1000
feet down the mountain. Then | looked
for matches and found none. As for
stars, there wasn't a giimmcr Of one in
the sky, and if there was n moon it had
retired for the night. | calculated that it
must be near daylight, and though |
could hear my watch ticking | could not
see its face. Being afraid to move and
not comprehending the meaning Of the
thick darkness, lay down again, intend
ing to wait until daylight.
Il lay awake half dreaming for some
time, then went to sleep, and whom |
awoke again several hours must have
elapsed and it was still as dark n he
fore. | rubbed my eyes now and getting
TO my feet began cropping my way about
the stone on which ! stood It was evil
IDENTIFY not more than 20 feet in diameter,
for as | cautiously felt my way around
it | soon came to an edge over which |
feared | might fall. At last, without any
apparent reasoning process, the thought
came to me with sudden and dreadful
conviction that the darkness was not the
darkness caused by the night, but that !
was blind. My God" | shrieked, 4 am
blind and with that | threw myself
down on the hard stone and clawod at il
as if it were something | could get hold
Of to lead me. In an instant more my
mind was a clear as il | had never
been stupefed by drink and | sat with
my face in my hands and cried like ba
by. Then ! prayed as | never prayed,
but it was such wild. tempestuouS, re-
bellious prayer that it could not have
helped my cause.
Then | sat and listened, hoping that
had been missed and that the men.
knowing my fondness for the mountain.
were searching for mo The stiffness OF
the mountain had always impressed me-
but never as il did now, when | was
sightless. | tried to catch a sound Of the
wind in the trees, but there was no
breeze apparently that morning, nor was
there any sunshine. for | had not felt its
warmth. Four or five times ! shouted for
help, but ! was two miles at least from
the nearest house, and if any one were
coming that way at all it would he near
enough for me to be seen rather than
heard.
Fear made me less impatient than
would otherwise have been, for | was
well aware that any slip off the stone
where | was meant a fall of 30 feet at
any point and 800 on the side toward the
east, and | sat as still rs | could, each
moment feeling the growing sense of fear
md utter helplessnesS. For hours, il
seemed to me- ! sat. afraid to move as l
had moved at first, and then came a
change in my feelings. Why should
fear to move? Why should | fear to
fall? Why sholi | not move and fall
and die? What good on earth was
without my eyes? Who would support
me? Who would want the bother of NE;
Death were preferable to darkness such
as covered me then and | would throw
myself from the rock and let my body rot
among the rocks if no one came 10 find
me.
"As | rose once more to my feet l
heard a sharp yep, and the next instant
my dog was licking my hand and tum-
bling all over me in the most enthusiasts
fashion. For the moment | was SO glad
to see him-I mean was so glad that he
had foun, me-that forgot my infection.
But it was only for ar instant. As put
out my hands to him and felt his familiar
mead and furry ears l knew could never
see the old fellow again, and burst into
uncomfortable weeping, Go, 60, Jack,
old man. said to him when | could; go
quick and tell the people that | am here
blind, and they must come to me. Go
quick and | pushed him away. But he
would not 90. On the contrary, he began
barking until the place rang with noise,
and as l tried to quiet him | heard A
shout, then another as the dog barked
more wildly than ever and then lot OF
voices. \ second later the light of a
dozen lamps fell upon me coming around
the jutting rock and | fell over on the
dog in dead faint.
1T was 81 hours until | knew any
thing and six weeks before | recovered
from the subsequent attack of brain fe
, yer. Then they told me had wandered
that night into cave in the mountain
and not showing UP the next day they
; had gone searching for me. They Were
unsuccessful the first day, but taking the
, dog as an aftcrthouGht on the following
day they had hunted me ont and found
me about a quarter of a mile from the
caves mouth, traced there by the dog
Since that experience | am pretty sure
you will understand that the liquor habit
d.. or that which brinES il to Il man is not s