Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1922-10-20
SAVED BY RABBIT
Miner Tells of Miraculous Escape
From Death.
As instrument Of Preserving Man
From Dreadful End, Animal Was
Honored by Community.

This true story of the almost mi
raculous rescue of man imprisoned
In the shaft of a lead mine was told
to the writer, Cora Cole Mccullough,
by member of her family. We quote
1t from Our Dumb Animals (Boston).
says the Literary Digesl.
Many years ago 1 was living in Mon
tana. A shelter had been built and IL
created a demand for silver rock.
owned an interest in lead mine that
had been sunk over thirty feet. Think
ing the time had come to make 1t
available, / decided to go there ana
get some ore and have it tested. / did
SO, and reached the place just in time
to take shelter in the mine from q
terrible hail storm. / lighted my can
die. went to the bottom, and went to
work I had not been there more
than five minutes when l heard a
noise that sounded like cannon. The
rock over my head shook, and in
moment the shaft caved in. You can
imagine my feelings better than l can
describe them, when l found myself
buried alive.
l tremble even at this distant day,
when l think OF that moment. The
roof of the shaft was made of rocks,
and when they came down they did not
pack so tightly, but that the air came
through. There was nothing | could
do to release myself. l knew that Ii
relief did let come from the outside
I must perish No one knew that
had gone there. road ran past the
mouth of the shaft, but it was not
travelled much, and l was not likely
to attract attention by calling. Never
theless, / shouted at intervals all day.
The following morning | commenced
calling again, and all day, whenever
I thought l heard sound, / shouted.
When night came again, all hopes OF
being released were abandoned. l will
not dwell on the agonies l endured.
The morning of the fourth day Of
crawl into my grave
/ lighted my candle and saw rab-
bit. There was only one aperture large
enough to admit him; closed it to
prevent his escape. l saw in him food
to appease my hunger, and my hand
was raised to kill him, when thought
occurred to me that prevented the blow
from descending.
I had two fishing lines. Their united
length would reach the road. l took off
CHI irf inf cty. hnr
together, and then to the fish line. /
then tied the end made OUT of my
shirt around the rabbits neck and let
him out. He soon reached the end of
the line, and / knew by the way he
was pulling that he was making
desperate effort to escape. Soon the
Juggling ceased, and as / knew that
gnawing was one of rabbits accom-
plishments, I thought he had gnawed
himself loose. About three hours af-
terward / felt the line pull, and some
one called. / tried to answer, but the
feeble noise I made died away in the
cavern. then pulled the line little
to show that / was still alive. All
grew still again, and knew the per-
son had gone for assistance. Then
came the sound of voices. I pulled
in the line and it brought me food. II
took all the men who worked In the
shaft nine hours to reach me.
A very large pine tree that stood
near had been the cause of my mis-
fortune. 1t had been dead a number
Of years, and the storm had blown 1t
over. The terrible blow it struck the
ground had caused the caving In of the
shaft The rabbit had wound the line
around bush and tied himself so
short that he was imprisoned outside
as securely as 1 had been inside. He
was taken to town, put in a large cage,
and supplied with all rabbit delicacies
the market afforded. He, however, did
not thrive, and the boys, believing he
''pined in thought" voted to set him
free. He was taken back to his old
neighborhood, and liberated. He not
only saved my life, but became the
benefactor of all the rabbits near, the
miners refraining from shooting any,
for fear # might be nv rabbit