Golden Valley chronicle. (Beach, Billings County, N.D.) 1905-1916, 1909-07-23
wAS 1T
SECOND SIGHT,?

Copyright. 1868. by American Press Asso.

lSopyt iSuS, lSUc, ny American IfaSS ASSO.
clat;On.l
1'm only a pilot, but there are things
l know as we'll rs the biggest science
man. And this | know-that we're af.
fected 10y influences W" don't see
Some people calls 'em spirits; others
calls en- TRANSMISSION, or something like
that. of thought. l don't know what
they ARE. But n thing do know,
and that is something a good many
people that know Il lot more than l do
r%oo!pooh. / know these things that
Influences MS 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 Tie hurricane that swept Calves
ton In 1S03. l happened to be in Chi
cago during the great fire Of 1871, as l
was there running a tug OH the river
ana lake, but 1t Was nothing but stage
spectacle show compared with the Gal
weston flood. I'm o going to tell
about that, onl: 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 a pointer.
We were some time getting our
bearings after the storm was over. and
1t was a week before we began to rec
"nnoiter the gulf to find out what
wreckage from the harbor might be
floating around there. l was part own
er Of a trim little steamer that wasn't
wrecked. and l decided to go out to
see what I could find. There was a
coed chance for salvage, though If one
saved anything there was no money
left to pay us for doing 1t. Anyway, l
wanted to see what was out there.
The water was full Of driftwood and
wrecka@e, but there was nothing Of
any value. for nest everything had
been split into kindling wood. Most Of
the stuff we saw was wreckage from
cabins that had lined the shore. Pref
~ Soon one Of the men sighted n gov
ernmcnt 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 1t, and
the others, for that matter, thought we
mi:rht turn nm honest penny by going
for 1t 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 a haul that vas sur pay to hunt
for something that probably wouldn't
pay ut all. The government was the
only owner that could be counted on.
Nevertheless I refused to go for the
buoy. keep her straight ahead" l
said. and why I said it I don't know.
AS I have remarked, the thing to have
done was the other thing.
1t wasn't long before We saw among
the wreckage dead ahead something
glass t. bear on 1t. and after cxamin-
ins 1t awhile I concluded 1t was the
floor Of some cabin that the storm had
wrecked. But what startled me was 9
boy on 1t. He was sitting with his
head HANGING down on his breast.
clutching the planks with his hands.
I ran up to within sixty yards of the
raft. The boy didn't change his posi-
ton. ard ! didtt krow whether he
was dead or asleep till I rang the bell
to stop her. Then be Strengthened up
and stared at US with his hollow. hun
cry 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 n 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 be had strength