The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1917-05-04
A NARROW ESCAPE.
Presence of Mind In the Face of =
Terrible Danger.


Terrible Danger.
One Of the strangest incidents r
ihe sepoy rebellion Is told BY VIII
liam Forbes Mitchell in his 'Rem.
iniscences of tie Great Mutiny."
AIr. Mitchell, who was sergeant Of a
highlaud regiment, had The misfor-
tune during a battle to lose the
greatcoaf which every soldier car
ried folded in what was known as
q 'Crnnean roll and strapped to
the shoulders in such a manner tha,
it crossed the breast:
Many man owed his life to The
fact that buulc's became spent il
passing through Z Sc rolls Il hap
pened that in /. : eat of the fght
my roll was cut rig through where
the two ends were fastened togeth-
er by the stroke OF q keen edged
tulwar, which was intended to cut
me.
AS the day was warm, was rath-
er glad to get rid of it, but by 10
O'Clock at night there was differ
ence in temperature, and when |
was relieved from patrol duty and
wanted to lie down to sleep | felt
the cold, wet grass anything but
comfortable, for a kilt is not the
most suitabn arlicle of dress on
cold November night in upper In
dia.
My company was sncamped in
and about the tomb Of The first king
Of Oudh. A large inclosure sur
rounded the building of the tomb
itself, and on the inside of this
were small rooms built for the ac-
commodation of pilgrims. When I
entered the inclosure | noticed
these apartments and asked permis-
sion to sleep in one of them, but
was refused. / had to make the
best of my position, but was too un-
comfortable to sleep.
It struck me that some of the Sc
Ipoys might have dropped their
blankets in their hurried departure.
With this hope l went into one of
tho rooms where a lamp was burn
Ing, took it off the shelf and walked
to the door of the great domed
mosque or tomb.
peered into the dark, but could
see nothing, SO 1 advanced slowly,
holding the lamp over my head,
looking cautiously around until /
was in the center of the great vault,
where my progress was INSTRUCTED
BY a big black heap about four or
Eve feet high, which felt to my feet
IKE loose sand
/ lowered my lamp and discover
Cd ! was standing ankle deep IN
lsoss gunpowder. About forty hun
dredweight of it lay under my nose,
and q hasty glance around showed
me twenty or thirty barrels of the
same substance, over a hundred
eight-inch shells, all loaded and
with fuses fixed, and profusion OF
spare fuses ana slow matches lTirp
about.
| took Il -, 7}nrer at d g'a,e
There = NJ l-7eas i.s
In gun u Il aasetl lea
III my aa' sil ea. st3ol
or end, ~ oc d t.
gether Gd 4 3a bco6s
cut ali ore~ ~ nci3}a.
cloth noi par IL ~ pcs
ct with ahe .o -. aeas6 n
light, aud sae ext paact mi1h
be my .s, re1 - accsaangin
wick alreadv t',roa,eer. T. serd Il
smolderipc red 'op 10 - feet, witt
consequence To- dreadful - cor
template.
Quick as thought l pat my LETT
hand under tie down dropping
fame and, clasping It firmly, slowly
turned to the door.
Fear so oyercaIe all other sem
sation that | 1T no pain of the
burn until | was onts;de. Then il
was sharp enough. l poured the oil
from the lamp into my burned
band. Then ! kaelt down and
thanked God
Next I sargcred to CAPTAIN Drw.
con and told Mn. lie did not be.
heve me aad told re | hGl wakei |
NJ rom n dream. | showed him the |
powder st.li eking on my wet
feet He ias,aatiy reused the sleep
ing men sd qeenehel every spark |
of fire or To premises.