Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-11-19
FAMILY TRAPPED ON SCORCHlVG DESERT
SUFFERS TERRIBLE MISADVENTURES
BECAUSE NATURE CHANGED SIGNPOST|
RY LINTON WELLS

desert. Of how they Numbered and
blistered cursed and prayed and
hattled when for 18 hours trey "
without what you can get so easily
by turning on the kitchen faucet.
The story is told by Mrs. August
Kaufman, dry eyed, and scared with
tragedy as she sits on the porch of
her humble home in Pasadena t.
which she has just returned after
the fateful auto trip that was tic
have been a pleasure jaunt to Casa
Grande, Ariz.
My husband, our three children
and I (said Mrs. Kaufman had
started to drive to land we own in
Arizona. We were told of short
cut across the desert. Right away
| the sand began to fri@hten me-
nothing but sand and strange hills
hot and white. And it was Wednes-
day.
The heat was awful. We had
only a little water left. Bye and
bye, we came to a sign post, point
ing toward water. We kept going
In the direction the sign said.
years before three prospectors,
| themselves nearly done to death by
| the desert, had planted a crude sign
post there so that others might not
suffer thirst. Meanwhile the ele-
ment had affected fateful change
in the sign though this was I'M
known to the Kaufmans. When
erected it had read:
az MILES TO WATER"
All morning we drove. The sun
kept getting hotter but we never
come to any water like the sign
said. We went about ten miles, l
guess. Mr.. Kaufman said maybe
we had got off the road, so he de-
cided to go in another direction. All
afternoon he kept driving, but we
never saw any water. Then Mr..
'Kaufman stopped and looked at me.
L felt that something was wrong
and told him.
Starts Screaming
When he heard me say that, he
inst sat and looked at me, and his
face turned gray. Then he scream
ed-oh, my, how he screamed! AND
right away he seemed to age from
80 to SO. He kept screaming, we
are lost, we are lost" and cursing
the Lord. And then the children
got scared and began to cry and
had to cry too. :,
T put my arms around him and
said: "Papa all your life you have
been a doubter and you've sinned
against the Lord. You're out here
now and we're all lost and maybe
that's the Lords way to punish you.
But lust trust Him and everything
will. come out all right" Course
was talking to him in German. Papa
was silent for awhile then he said
Mama I guess you're right. I'm
a sinner and should believe in the
Lord. I do believe in the Loro.
Pray to Him to help us" And we
all knelt down and asked the LORD
to help US.
Well after that we felt better, ana
mana said we'd keep on moVlhs
R1lt we could go but very SLOW anu
if was getting dark, so we decloeo "
stop. Nearly all our water was gone'
and the children were crying 1or
drink.
didn't want him to go, ana
begged him on my knees TO stay
hut he said, Mamma, I've got TO
%, If YOU and the children are TO
be saved from dying"
"Don't worry about dying" told
him. I'm ready. It's so easy TO
die, and if we're going to ole 1 VAIN
YOU here" But he wouldn't listen;
He took oranges and lemons anu
kissed me and the children. Inen
we all knelt down and prayed 10 the
Lord. After that papa started
out, and he told me he'd be PACK
soon. But I knew he never Woulo
come back. $3.50
had a little water left in the radiator,
and a little to eat-fruit and canned
food-so we went to bed that night
first praying to the Lord.
Thursday morning when we woke
I'D we felt fine, but after the sun
came out it got so awfully hot, 1t
was terrible. By noon all the water
was gone. and the children were cry
ing. Then I started giving them
lemons, but they didn't like them.
mixed some honey with the lemons,
and they ate 1t, but didn't like 1t.
Thew kept crying for water, water,
water. All, it nearly broke my heart
because I couldn't give them any.
Attacked by Bees
And then about 4 o'clock Thurs
day-and it was awfully hottie
bees came. 1 don't know where they
came from, but there were millions
Of them. The children were all over
with honey and the bees just stung
them nearly to death. I beat at the
bees to keep them away from the
children, but it only made them
worse, and they stung me.
Pretty soon I dropped down and
prayed to the Lord: ooh Lord, why
hast thou forsaken me?" I prayed
in German.
The bees wouldn't go away, and 7
couldn't do anything. Then thought
of the oil in the machine, SO I took
some from the engine and washed
the children's faces. They looked
awful-all swollen up until I could
hardly recognize them, all covered
with the dirty oil. And they were
crying with pain and thirst. But the
oil drove away the bees.
That night it seemed as though
the Lord was going to answer my
prayers, for it Numbered and light
tened all night long. I prayed for
rain, but no rain came. And it was
still terrible hot. and the children
were crying. I took the clothes all
of the children and myself and we
M