Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-03-04
"BISM4RCk'Sv VOYAGE.
The ped Rover" OF the willamette ur
Against it-Nerve Suffers.

xne Eed ROFSr OF IAS H1Il1MGLLe y
Against it-Serve Suffers.
J, The recent smallpox scar
moved the authorities to secure
pest house. A small house o
] the Willamette river a couple c
!, miles below Corvallis, belonging
| to B. F. Hyland, was given owe
for this purpose, and Deput
/ Sheriff Henderson placed thing
: in readiness for the prospectiv
I inmate, James Whitferd.
Mr.. Whitford has been up OF
Smiths island, about four mile
south of this city, and for a tim
| he wrestled with smallpox un
assisted. The attention of tn,
J authorities was called to his cas-
and Hermann Breyer was induced
! to undertake the task of convey
ing the patient from his lonely
cabin on Smiths island to the
pest house and care for him.
Hermann IS. nervy. He ha:
never had the smallpox, moi
much else, for that matter, and
: had no fear of taking anything
that did not belong to him. Her.
mann listened to the counsel Of
his cronies, who persuaded him
that if he got the Manila Itch
and died they would see that it
wonldn't cost him a cent. He
had all to gain and nothing to
lose.
In due season Hermann reach
ed Mr.. Whitford's cabin and got
everything down to the river
bank preparatory to embarking
for voyage down the river to
the pest house. Then he started
for the river in company with
the patient. Mr.. Whitford
claimed that he was unable to
walk as far up the river as the
boat was, and asked Hermann
if he could not pull the boat
down the river to meet him.
Hermann declared that he could
and went on up to the craft.
Hermann is no sailor. He
reached the boat and cast of.
Then trouble began. He lost
command of the boat on the an
cry waters Of the majestic Will
lamette; he forgot the German
language, the Lords Prayer. the
Ten Commandments, and his
democracy, and after desperate
struggle landed On Gerhard's
island-to Hermann an unex-
plored land. Such a predica-
ment! Hermann had possession
of an island and Mr.. VVhitford
had the smallpox, They were
separated by waters that would
not open a passage for them as
the red sea did for the Israelites.
Count Won Bismarck was sea-
sick and would not again attempt
to reach his patient.
Word finally reached town of
the state of affairs and Hermann's
friends were afraid he might go
wild on the island before assist
ance could reach hi1n. But this
fear was a groundless one. On
the other hand there were many
expressions of sympathy for Mr..
Whitford, aud it was feared that
exposure might prove serious
matter to the sick man. How
ever, he got back to the cabin
and managed to get along alright.
Hermann finally turned up at
Henry Gerhard's, and, from a
safe distance, called to know if
he could pass the night in an
unused hog-pen. Henry told
him where there was a small
cabin that he could occupy. |
"Bis" got some straw for bed
and slept over night in the hut.
Food was placed where he could
secure it and his condition was
not serious by any means. The
events above chronicled trans
pired Friday and Friday night.
Everything was finally straight
ened out and Saturday afternoon
the veteran sea-dog, "Bismarck,"
navigated his bark proudly past
this city on his voyage to the
pest house. All OH board were
as we'll as could be expected.
A comedy of errors" appears
to have followed in the wake of
everything that was attempted
in behalf of Mr.. Whitford. To
start with, Deputy Sheriff Hen
derson started out with a rig to
hunt nurse. When a number
of miles south of this city. his
team ran away and generally
raised the mischief. ''Samp"
finally tied his unmanageable
team up and had himself brought
to town by countryman.
Friday morning Mr.. Hender-
SOr, went dowr, TO the nest house