The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1906-01-19

oPeSt"i "iiHCuity III uOIHS ,tuls. DuI
when be strove to bend his body over,
80 that he might stand upright, be
found that the cavity was too con-
fned to permit it. His shoulders
almost touched the bales on each side,
while 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,
little larger at the bottom than at the
'op, and this increased the difficulty
of his undertaking.
He tried to push first one bale then
the other little further away, to gain
more room, but not any to avail. His
efforts finally convinced him that his
only way of escape was to lift himself
upward aud backward, until be could
regain position on top of the cotton.
The checker lifted himself at 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 be could not reach back
far enough
By this time it had dawned upon
Harrigan that be was in very ser
lous dilemma. The blood had flowed
into his head and arms in such abun-
dance 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
is 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 no chance to
got hold of the burlap; but in one
place, where there was slight hollow
be was able to press his fiinger-tips
dow on the edge of the steel band.
Insignificant as the leverage was,
1t enabled him to raise his body.
Cautiously he worked his way up and
backward. He knees were almost on
the top of the bale; another effort, and
he would be safely out of his predca-
ment. But as he pushed with all his
might on the sharp top OF the steel
band his fingers slipped off: Down he
fell, and again his hand rested on the
floor of the car
Harrigan at last realized that his
life was actually in peril. If he could
not get out now, when his strength
was practically unimpared what
chance would he have later? With
numb fingers, swelled by the inrush-
ing blood, he fumbled once more up
and down the cotton. He found the
band on which he had raised himself
before, and strove to repeat his at.
tempt; but he fell heavily back, this
time striking on his head
A heavy, painful drowsiness was
creeping over the treight-handler, a
strange, dull apathy that frightened
him. His strength was gradually eb-
bing away. The blood surged through
his brain strongly that it theatened to
deprive him of consciousness. Insensi-
bility was coming on, and insensibilty
meant DEATH
Hsrringan's toes were almost on the
top of the bale over which he had
crept. He had only to raise himself
little more than two feet to have his
shoe-soles touch the ceiling just behind
tho ham he had crawled under. By
u, >sn4 ia, b ck of his heels hard
againt this became be could get sufti-
cient leverage to help himself out
The distance was thrilling, but there
seemed absolutely nothing he could
grasp to lift himself with.
Again he felt bindlv along the bale
in front of him, and thrust his fingers
into the spaces between it and the
adjacent bales on each side. When
cotton leaves the compress the burlap
on the edges that have been lowest in
the press is tight to the point of burst
ing, while that about the upper edges
is much loeser. Fortunately for
Harrigan, the two corners turned to-
ward him, as the bale stood on end,
were those around which the covering
was loose. This apparently trivial
circumstance saved his life.
The corners gave him something
to grip. Numbed and swollen though
his fingers were, be found that by
pressing them hard against his palms
he could gather in very respectable
handful of the bagging. This gave
him purchase enough to life his weight.
Raising his hand very gradually
not daring to breathe, inch by inch lie
worked himself up and back in angony