Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1900-11-09

I'VE have q mystery here and must
solve It," said the professor as he re7<
covered from his surprise. 'Let us get
the body down and make an inyestiga-
ton" a
1t was neither d body nor q skeleton.
The coid had preserved the flesh to Q
certain extent, but the action Of the
water running down the ravine had
also worn it away. The face was we'll
preserved, and the hair was as firm
as in life. 1t was the remains Of a
man who had weighed perhaps 100
pounds, but had no difficulty in de"
taching, it from the rock and lowering
it down. What remained Of the cloth
ing proved that the man had either
been fisherman or a sailor, but his
nationality could only be guessed at.
at some time or other" said the pro-
lessor as lie looked about. ''this ravine
has been a creek Of cons: le:atle size
flowing down to the sea. This man
came up the creek from tho beach. bat
we now find wall of ice blOc..::::!,-, it
up. The ice has formed since he
came. There should be a boat frc -:eD
up in the wall between us and ',:e
sea-"
We had nothing to make tore! If,
and, retracing our steps 10 Ii point
where we could climb out Of the ra
vine, we left the mystery to be solved
another day. There was much discus
sion around the campfires that even
Of VI
to see if the ravine had once upon a
time opened to the sea. We soon
found that it had. Its mouth had been
in small bay, but storm had filled
it with powders and damned back the
waters flowing down. Between the
sea and the spot where we found the
body the ice was from SO to 70 feet
thick. If the sun melted it for a few
feet in the summer, the rains and
SHOWS of winter speedily replaced
what had been lost We found this
ice as clear as glass and as hard as
iron, but powder was brought from
the brig, and holes were drilled, and in
a couple of days we had blasted out
great rift to half it's depth.
Everybody had suspicion of what
was frozen in down there, but yet the
discovery gave us shock. When but
30 feet of ice lay between us and the
bottom Of the ravine we could see
through it well enough to make out
the hull of ship standing on an even
keel. 1t was the hull of brig, with
masts gone, but otherwise intact. We
could even make out the ropes which
| had been frozen stiff as iron while
they streamed along her decks, but
there were no bodies of dead men In
sight. To blast out the remaining
depths Of ice and clear the ravine was
| a task requiring more aid than We
could spare and more powder than We
| had aboard. We had to be conten,
| with what we could see.
Years before-perhaps half century
/ "a merchant vessel had made tina
| little bay in distress. Wave and tide
had carried her up to the creek, an6
wave and tide had blocked her exit
| Then she began to freeze in. No mar
can say how long it took for the ice tt
feet above her decks, but decades must
| have passed. If one Of her crew go1
away up to the ravine why not all OF
! them? And yet no other body or re
mains were to be found on the island
This man, v...o may Lave been the cap
tain, probably started out by himself
! to see if there was chance of escape
but in making his way up the ravine
he persisted of cold and hunger. There
was scarce hope for the others. II
they left the hulk they were forced t.
return to it for shelter and food. There
came a day when food and fuel were
exhausted, when avalanches of snow
covered the decks and the cold of win
ter froze the marrow of their bones
and they hid away in forecastle and
cabin and died with open eyes staring
into the darkness. Upon our return
to London the case was reported and
made much Of in the papers, but nc
government or individual has ever
gone farther than we did. A hulk lies
there full of dead men-a hulk which
sailed the waters of the frozen seas
! half century ago, and there it will
| lie until time is no more and chaos
reigns again. 1t might be blasted out,
but Of what use? The solving Of one
mystery Of the sea more or less would
,, count for but little. ~-.>za.xn,. xxs.,,