The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1906-11-02
Irish Cook Goes Crazy In the
Mountains.
cRAWls DOWN OIsusED WELL AND HIDES
AN INDIAN RESCUES HIM BY
THREATENING TO BURY
HIM UNDER ROCK PILE


Francis and Henry Desmond of Chi
caeo, who have been hunting and pros
pecting around the head of Lake Che
Ian for some weeks, report that dur
ing the time they were in that Sec
ton their cook, an Irishman named
Burns became insane and could not
be found for three days. They sup
posed that he had wandered away from
camp and got lost, or had deserted,
the latter theory being formed be-
because of the fact that Burns had been
unusually quiet for several days, hardly
speaking to any others Of the party.
He was discovered by a dog belonging
to the party in an abandoned shaft
about four miles west of the camp,
where it is supposed he was trying
to starve himself to death. When
found he refused to come out. One
of the men started for camp to get
a rope and in the meantime flask
of liquor and some food were low
cred into the shaft by means Of
small cord. These he refused to
touch, telling the men to go away and
leave him there, as he never wanted
to see daylight again. When asked
how he got into the shaft, which was
about forty feet deep, he would say
nothing except that he wanted to be
left alone.
Wouldn't Come Up.
When the messenger with the rope
arrived and it was lowered into the
pit, Burns would not try to fasten it
about his body, but instead tried to
pull it out of the hands of his friends
at the mouth of the shaft. The rope
was pulled up and Mr.. Francis volun-
teered to be lowered into the shaft
to see if ne could not rescue the
crazy man in spite Of himself. No
sooner had he swung into the mouth
of the shaft than Burns began cursing
the whole party in such fierce man
ner, declaring that he would kill any
one who came down, that Mr.. Francis
concluded he did not want the job.
A council Of war was neld at the
mouth of the shaft. No one desired
to get into the shaft alone with a
man who was violently insane. 1t was
finally decided to try to distract the
cooks attention from the idea of starv-
ing himself to death and persuade him
to use some other means of self de
struction. Burns was asked If he
would shoot himself if ne mad gun.
He answered no; that he had mighty
good gun with him, and that it was
loaded. He was going to starve to
death. and that was all there was to
it, The men above began to abuse
him. trying to get him so mad ne
would want to come out and fight,
but TO no purpose.
Finally an Indian named "Jim" told
the Irishman that the men were about
to go away; that he was the friend Of
the men at the mouth Of the shaft,
and they had told him to roll rocks
into the mole till he was mashed as
fiat as a f1apjack. as they could not
bear to leave a man starve to death
in a hole in the mountains.
The Indian began throwing small
rocks down the shaft, some of them
striking Burns. This was too much
for the cook. While he was resigned
to starving to death, ne did not want
to be mashed to pulp, and, yelling
to the Indian to stop throwing rocks
at him, he signified that he was WIFI
ing to come up. He was directed to
send up his gun first, and then he
was hauled up on the rope.
Afraid of the Rocks.
Burns was quite weak from lack Of
nourishment and did not make any
further trouble. He was put in mis-
blankets and the Indian was put on
guard with a pile of rocks by his side,
and the cook was told that if he did
not do just as Indian Jim told him
he would surely be stoned to DEATH
For hours Burns never took his eyes
off the Indian, finally falling asleep
from sheer exhaustion. When ne
awoke food was offered MIN, but he
still refused to eat. The Indian went
to the rock pile and picked up an arm