The Adair County news., 1909-03-03
HUAS 1T
SECOND SIGHT?

fected by influences we don't see.
Some people calls em spirits; others
calls 'em TRANSMISSION, or something like
that, Of thought | don't know what
they are. But one thing 1 do know,
and that is something a good many
people that know a lot more than l do
poohpOOh. l know these things that
influences us are there. Can't nobody
fool me on that point, and why I know
it is this:
The biggest thing ever was let into
was the hurricane that swept Calves
ton in 1893. l happened to be in Chi
cago during the great fire of 1871, as 1
was there running a tug on the river
and lake, but it was nothing but stage
spectacle show compared with the Cal
weston flood. I'm not going to tell
about that, only an incident that oc-
CURED in connection with it which has
made me dead sure ever since that
something or other we don't see often
steps in and gives us pointer.
We were some time getting our
bearings after the storm was over, and
it was week before we began to rec
Onnoiter the gulf to find out what
wreckage from the harbor might be
floating around there. l was part own
er of q trim little steamer that wasn't
wrecked, and | decided to go out to
see what 1 could find. There was
oh fn 1x-ocr 11orh E
saved anything there was no money
left to pay us for doing it. Anyway,
wanted to see what was out there.
The water was full of driftwoOd and
wreckage, but there was nothing of
any value, for most everything had
been split into kindling wood. Most Of
the stuff we saw was wreckage from
cabins that had lined the shore Pref
ty soon one of the men sighted gov
eminent buoy over to the southwest
1t was out in deep water and had evil
IDENTIFY broken loose from it's moor
ings. The man who discovered it, and
the others, for that matter, thought we
might turn an honest penny by going
for it and towing it in.
Now, they were right about it. We
might go farther and fare worse.
There wasn't any sense in letting go
of haul that was sure pay to hunt
for something that probably wouldn't
only owner that could be counted on.
Nevertheless l refused to go for the
buoy. "Keep her straight ahead" I
said, and why / said it l don't know.
AS have remarked, the thing to have
done was the other thing.
1t wasn't long before we saw among
the wreckage dead ahead something
that looked like raft. l brought a
glass to bear on it, and after eXamin-
ing it awhile l concluded it was the
floor of some cabin that the storm had
wrecked. But what startled me was a
boy on it. He was sitting with his
head hanging down on his breast,
clutching the planks with his hands.
ran up to within sixty yards of the
raft The boy didn't change his posi-
ton, and I didn't know whether he
was dead or asleep till rang the bell
to stop her. Then he Strengthened up
and stared at us with his hollow, hun
gry eyes. He had on no clothing but a
shirt. indicating that he was in bed
when the storm swept down on him,
and was either alone or the others with
him had been lost He sat there without
change Of position, staring at US while
we lowered a boat and pulled for him.
When we reached him he had strength
enough to climb into the boat, but be-
fore we could get him into the ship he
tainted.
! Not having a morsel of food aboard,
/ l headed for land On the way we
! hailed fruiter and got some brandy
/ and a can of condensed milk. A few
spoonfuls of the milk had a very
! strengthening effect on the boy. This
/ sufficed till we reached quarantine,
! where l turned him over to the doc
! tor. In a week he was all right again.
! Then, his people having been discov-
! cred and notified, an uncle came for
him and took him away.
He was the son of an FISHERMAN
/ who lived on Grand isle and when the
storm came was alone in his fathers
cabin 1t tore the hut to pieces, but
left the boy on the floor unhurt. Then
came the waters and floated him on
his raft. But how or when he drifted
away is a mystery. He could. not
have been in the turbulent waves dur
ing the storm or he never could have
kept his place. But think of the little
fellow drifting for seven days without
food or water at the mercy of the sea
There are more things to be explain
ed in this case than any I have ever
met with. How did the boy come to
be left on the floor of a cabin wrecked
over his head by hurricane? How
did he escape the frightful waves that
hurricane stirred up? How did he
survive so long without food or water,
shelter or. surviving, have the
strength to hold on while danced
about on tie gulf? You may search
accounts of either land or sea disaster,
and in neither will you find so remark
able an escape as this which purtains
to both land and water. The explana
ton is that truth is stranger than fc-
ton The incident was an actual oc-
currence.