Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1900-02-15

was not very deep-three feet at the
most. Being. hoewver, so very shert
in stature, i had to lower myself very
cautiously, and to empty all my lower
pockets into my topmcst coat pocket
before / touched the bottom. 1t was
lucky | thought Of this. because other
wise all my matches would V been
spoiled, to say nothing OF my 'haccy
and some bank-nOtes l had on me. 1
had plenty Of matches, hut the air was
so damp and foul they weren't much
use. However. / was able 10 MAZE
IL that at the bottom Of the shaft a
tunnel had been driven in one direc-
ton, while opposite 10 this it sloped
somewhat, owing, perhaps, 10 the fall
OF dirt from the surface. And, lying
huddled up upon this slope was the
head and trunk of n man, his legs be-
ing almost hidden in the deeper water!
We'll, of course, the conclusion |
came to straighway IA that the poor
chap had fallen down the shaft, and
that he must be no better than a mass
of bruised flesh and broken bones. But
when | plucked up nerve 10 handle
him. / found he wasn't nearly so badly
damaged as | expected. You see, |
hadn't taken into account the three
feet or SO Of water TO break his fall"
II can understand that" / remarked,
but the real marvel is that he should
have escaped ~suffocation, stunned, as
he probably was"
well, yes. there was water enough
to have drowned kim had his head
sunk into it," assented Dicky. But,
fortunately for him, it didn't. take
| ~ Lao TaIl ~, Faaf fret nn6 thai his
shoulder blades dropped backwards
upon the slope where the water was
the ~shallowest."
probably the correct explanation.
All trick-diving into nets, etc, from a
great height is done upon the principle
of striking the net with the shoulder
blades. AS for the fall down a forty
foot shaft not proving fatal, such es'
capes are common enough. / remem-
Der at Mount Arthur. in Tasmania, a
drunken miner falling down q seventy
foot hole, one dark night, into less
| than two feet of water. He was res
cued next morning, sober, and none
the worse for either fall or immersion.
Author.
Anyhow, all / could discover as
wrong with him was a broken arm and
q general shock TO the system which
rendered him perfectly helpless. He
let out another moaning yell while I
was examining him. which satisfied
me that, though he might be in great
pain, he had still plenty Of life left in
him. / tried talking to him, blu could
get nothing more Ineligible than a
sort of grunt in reply. 1t did not occur
| to me that he might have been drunk
when he fell in, and that even the
shock had failed as yet TO sober him.
| found that out afterwards.
THE question I had to answer Just
then was: How could l get him to
the surface! And a pretty hard ques-
ton 1t was, too. i at once gave up the
idea of leaving him there while l beat
up the neighborhood for help. He
couldn't survive much longer In that
foul we'll, and there might not be an
other man within miles Of me. Sue
ceed or fail, / must trust entirely to
myself.
"If you will believe me, doctor, l
don't think / ever felt more grateful to
| God for the strength of my arm and
grip than ] did at that trying mo-
ment. l thought saw how, with His
help, / might save that poor, crushed
creature. #|@ "
without further delay, I seized the
rope and climbed up, handover-hand,
to the surface. Then / hauled up the
bucket and detached it, as being use
less for my purpose. What l needed
was q good length of fairly-strong
cord. and this / procured by the SIM
| pie expedient of untwisting the strands
| of about ten feet of rope, which l cut
Off. There was still plenty Of slack:
that is, the rope was still considerably
longer than the depth Of the shaft.
Then I descended.
Now, had the injured man been suf-
ficiently conscious TO hold on TO the
rope, even enough TO keep his body per-
pendicular, I could have fixed him UP
by simply rigging a loop for him to sit
in. But he wasn't; he was Just as
limp and helpless as a baby. So / had
to pass a couple Of slip-knots around
his chest as well, and then lash him to
the rope by near Of the strands. 1t
was an awkward job in the dark, amid
the water and mud. but I managed 1t
somehow. j then climbed again TO the
surface, and prepared for a long,
steady haul upon the windlass."
SIT must have been a severe strain,
even upon your muscles!" I ~interiected.
"Well, 1t was, sir" he assented, "be-
cause 1t lasted some time, and the
hardest part vas at the finish, when /
had to steady the handle with one
hand while / pulled the swaying body
upon the mullock- heap with the other.
Anyhow, l got through right enough;
and, having freed him from the rope
and wrapped him up in my jacket,
/ started along the pathway at a run,
shouting occasionally as I went. Pres
| emily I struck a log-and-canvas shanty,
showing clear signs of recent occupa-
ton, though deserted then. / particu-
larry noticed a couple of empty brandy
bottles alongside a bunk, and then /
guessed that the man ! had pulled out
of the shaft must have been on the
booze. / hurried back 10 the mine and
carried him to the hut. / could find no
more brandy, but there was plenty Of
tea and enough food TO last for some
days, and / had to bring him round up
on what l could find. / fixed his brok.