The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1905-09-14
INACOTTON-CAR
By ALBERT w. TOLMAN.

he could grasp no slack in his frantic
| clutchingS, and his course was not ar
rested till he struck the hard wooden
floor. The sudden shock doubled I'D
his finger tips and drove back his
hands. His head came down upon the
planks with q stunning crack that
made him for the moment half-in-
sensible.
When the car was being loaded Mt
Memphis, there had been found in n
shipment one bale considerably broadA
than the others. 1t was placed at OF ;
end of the seventh row from the door.
and bale Of ordinary size was put at
the other end. The space between the
two was of necessity left vacant, as il
was not broad enough to admit an
other bale. This formed the cavity
lEto which, two weeks later. Daniel
HarriSan was unlucky enough to fall.
For perhaps thirty seconds the young
lriShman remained inactive, recover
ing from the effects of the blow upon
the top of his skull. His cap had been
pulled on so tightly that it had not
fallen off when he plunged downward;
hence it slightly broke the force of his
fall. With returning consciousness,
however. he began to feel a shooting
pain in his temples.
The second finger. too, on his right
hand had been severely sprained. and
the nail split down to the quick, so
that it was bleeding freely. The full
weight of his body resting upon the
crown of his head strained the neck
raise himself on the palms of his
hands.
The change Of position had a very
unexpected result. All the contents
Of his pockets poured down upon the
floor under his nose in a jangling cas-
cade. He could hear the copper and
silver coins and his jack-knife clinking
together on the planks. His watch
slipped from its place, and hung dang
ling in his very face.
The situation had ludicrouS as we'll
as an unpleasant side. How should
he ever pick up all that loose change
from the floor? Evidently the first
thing, however. was to restore his
heels and his head to their normal
positions.
Harrigan did not anticipate any spe-
cial difficulty in doing this. But when
he strove to bend his body over, so
that he might stand upright, he found
that the cavity was too confined 10
permit it, His shoulders almost
touched the bales on each side, while
the one over which he had just crept
projected so far forward that the open
space was barely eighteen inches from
front to back. 1t was, if anything. 4
little larger at the bottom than at the
top, and this increased the difficulty
o. his undertaking.
He tried to push first one bale and
then the other little farther away, to
gain more room. but all to no avail.
His efforts finally convinced him that
his only way Of escape was to lift him
self upward and backward. until he
/
the cotton.
The checker lifted himself ut arms
length on the palms of his hands, and
tried to stick the tips OF his toes into
the space between the two bales be-
hind him; but he could not reach back
far enough.
He ran his fingers up ard down the
rough burlap, seeking some loose place.
but finding none. So long as he could
push with his hands against the floor
he could raise his body; but once at
arms length, he had nothing to press
against, as the bales afforded no hand
hold. His strength was of little SER
vice, for it could be eXerted only
through a few inches of space.
BY this time it had dawGed upon
Harrigan that lie was in very serious
dilemma. The blood had flowed into
his head and arms in such abundance
that it had become positively painful.
He seemed to be growing all pulse.
Once more he explored the surface
of the bales with his fingers, but found
it absolutely unyielding. Those who
know cotton only as soft fluffy sub
stance can have no conception of the
hardness it assumes under the com-
press. No. there Was 10 chance TO
get hold of the burl&p; but in one
place, where there was slight hol-
low, he was able to press his finger
tips down OIL the edge Of steel band
Insignificant as the leverage was. il
enabled him to raise lis body. Cau-
tiously he worked his way up and
backward. His knees were almost OH
the top of the bale; another effort. and
ne would be safely out of his predica-
ment. But as he pushed with all his
might on the sharp top Of the steel
band his fingers slipped of. Down he
fell. and again his hands rested on
the floor of the car.
Harrigan at last realized that his
life was actually in peril. If ne coald
not get out now, when his strength
was practically unimpaired. what
chance would he have later! With
numb fingers, swelled by the inraSh-
ing blood, he fumbled once more up
and down the cotton. He found the
band on whics he had raised himself
before, and strove to repeat his at
tempt; but he fell heavily back. this
time striking on his head.
A train rumbled by. shaking tine
ground and making the car tremble
| under him He heard tWn hrn l. en- pN