The Savannah morning news., 1903-07-12

On June /, a searching party found
the body of former Supt. Egan of the
Rocky Mountain division of the Great
Northern Railway, who was lost while
hunting in the mountains not far from
Kalispell, Mont, last November says
Field and Stream. This is the final act
of deplorable tragedy of the wilder
ness where an able man who could
not we'll be spared passed into the
great unknown.
The body was found within twenty
five minutes walk of the railroad track
and the safety of civilization. There is
more or less mystery connected WITH
Mr. Egans death, for he was man
competent to run what is probably
the hardest division of a great trans
continental railway This proves him
to have been a man of large mental
ity. so that one familiar with the
problems of the wilderness can out
wonder why he did not camp where ne
was when night overlook him, running
no risks -
snow storm was raging on the
night that he became separated from
his companions, but even that would
have caused him nothing more than
little hardship and the inconvenience
of a night in the woods under uncoh-
Portable circumstances, II ne mad gaue-
ed the situation as one would expect
| a man of his mental makeup to do.
! He was clad warmly and when found
had plenty of matches in his pockets
| and acres of timber suitable for build
| ing a fire on all sides of him. He also
had a full box of shells and lot OF
loose ammunition in his pockets. but
his gun and compass were both miss
ing.
Mr.. Egan may have been lost and
may not though all signs found by
the searching party tended to show
that he was bewildered and nearly eX-
hausted, so that he had thrown away
his gun because it had impeded his
progress-the worst thing he could
have done.
The probabilities are that he became
lost in the storm that was raging ana
tried to reach the railroad, wandering
in a circle, no doubt, until exhausted.
| This would not take long in a man
who was not in hardened physical
condition, and Mr.. Egan probably was
! like most business men, unfit for long
| travel over rough country because of
continuous Office work
If this hazard is right then he prob
ably wandered as far as his strength
lasted and finally fell and persisted
miserably and alone in the storm
swept night. When the body was
| found the head rested, face down, on
a small log. and a small fir tree lay
across the back. 1t is possible that the
! small tree was blown down and struck
! him, throwing him with such force
| that he became unconscious, though
those who found him do not lean to
| this theory. If that was what happen
! ed, then there was no help possible,
but il brings out with grim force the
! folly of one man hunting or travelling
| alone in the mountains at any time. If
he had had a companion and met with
such an accident, the chances are
| hundred to one against this causing
| death. for the second man would I'M
| doubtedly escape and be able to rem
| der aid. 1t is a sad thing to lose a
| good man, and it becomes pathetic
when trivial accident kills him when
it could so easily have been avoided.
| However, whether the above is cor
rect or not will never be known, and
the one great lesson that stands forth
| in the deplorable death of this able
man can be easily shown.
If Mr.. Egan was lost and knocked
| down while he was not sure of his
! ground. then / know exactly what his
! sensations were, for | have been lost
and understand how the whole coun-
! try looks changed, even when one
knows every feature of it. How man
will wander in d circle unable to rec
ognize a single thing, yet still with
the hope, almost the surety of being
able to take care of himself and win
out in the long run. That was what
caused MIR. Egan's death undoubted-
| ly, for there was no need of his run
ming risks by wandering in the storm.
Let us look at the case. Here was a
| strong, healthy man. warmly clad,
with supply of matches in his pock-
cts, fire wood all about him, with a
gun and plenty of ammunition in his
! possession, and only twenty-five min
utes' walk from his car, not more than
mile and Il half, if we figure distance
on basis of three miles per hour,
which is ordinary walking time on or
| binary country roads.
Now, if Mr.. Egan had even used his
cartridges in firing distress signals. a
shot at regular intervals. and contin-
| ued to travel, some one would have
heard the shots and gone to him, for
men were searching for him even
while he was wandering in the storm
But he threw away his gun. yet car
ried his cartridges. which was equiv
alent to suicide under the circum-
! stances
If he had done the sensible thing he
would have gone into camp at the first
available place after he found he was
lost, and stayed there. This was pos
sble from the mere fact that he was
! in a wooded country with plenty of
| matches (Which every man should
! have always when he goes out), and
/ could have built a big fire to keep
| from freezing and to show as a sig
nal if any one happened within seeing
! distance. Any man can build a rude
shelter to break the force of the snow
storm, and if it is re-enforced by a
! good fire, such as Mr.. Egan could cas-