The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-11-02

to be used in the care of his invalid
wife and the education of his four chill
dren.
Hedger came to Haskell county be-
| fore the boom of 1886 and settled on a
quarter section of raw land which has
since been the home of himself and
invalid wife and their. four children.
After their arrival in the county good
| times followed and Hedger and his
family prospered. Then came the
drouth and hard times and if the fam
lily did not suffer for the pare neces-
saries of life they were often on the
verge of want.
Crop after crop was planted and
claimed by the hot winds and drouth
and out of charity as much as anything
else his neighborS elected him county
superintendent He filled the office
with satisfaction to his constituents
and credit to himself and then oppor-
tunity knocked at his door and bade
him risk his life and he was neither
"feaSting nor sleeping.
At the request of Harry N1chols,
county superintendent of Finney coun-
ty he set out on the morning OF NO
vember 81 last year to visit number
of schools in F'inney county, which ad-
Joins Haskell county on the north.
While at a school house in the eastern
part of the county boy dashed up
to the door and announced that two
caved in. But here is Mr. Hedgers
own story written by himself for the
State Journal:
Mr.. Hedger's Own Story.
Santa Fe, Kan, Oct. 20, 1907.
Many thanks for your congratuIa-
tions, but indeed 1 don't think there is
material for a story that Will amount
to anything unless the facts be dis
torted and discolored out of any SEM
b1ance to the truth, as was done in one
of the papers which l have received,
and this 1 could not wish.
ie n
visiting a school in southeast Finney
county, which L was employed to do by
superintendent Nichols, the word was
brought to the school house that two
men were buried in a well about two
miles distant by cave in of the banks.
did not see the boy who brought the
word but when told of it by the teach
er, Miss May Swartz, asked her if she
thought 1 could be of any service and
she said she supposed they needed all
the help they could get, so getting into
my buggy, 1 drove to the place as
rapidly as possible, and on arriving
Num-, who had been unscrewing the
pump at the bottom of the we'll. had
been buried in the SAND which had
caved and filled the hole about f1ve feet.
Mr.. Num- was buried entirely and Mr..
King to his armpits. Mr.. King was
begging the men. four in number, who
stood around the top, to come down
and dig him out. On arriving and
nearing +. hlnS plSdOlHSS, L dShSo
il anyone was preparing to go down.
All shook their heads. Well says l,
are you set of blamed towards to see
a man die begging for his life without
trying to get him out? One of the men
said 1 guess that's about the size of it. |
partner, but that bank is cracking and |
ready to cave again, and am not go-
ing down in that hole, as I have wife |
and child dependent on me for their |
living Well, 1 said, am the heaviest |
man in the bunch and that old rope |
looks ready to break, and don't like |
to risk my life any better than the rest |
of you, but I will draw straws with the |
rest of you as to who will go down. Il |
also told them I had four almost the /
same as motherless children to sup |
Dort). but they refused to do this; then
told them 1 would undertake the job,
lid not like to trust the rope which was
Did and spIfced in several places ana |
ooked ready to break again on the
lightest provocation. They said they
lad sent for a new rope which one Of
he neighbors had This was brought
n a very few minutes, and fastening !