Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1925-02-25

piled, and Doctor Francis confirmed
the opinion with a nod.
1.-THE sunken eyes denote that; the
rigidity of the jaw, which is iEmo-
bile, indicates rigor mortis has set in
the rigidity of death"
The physicians were asked how long,
in their opinion, Collins had been dead.
They consulted a moment together,
then Doctor Hazlett replied:
"Rigor mOrtis seldom sets in at least
II hours after death, and usually not
until "a hours after death. We have
no hesitancy in saying that from the
condition Of the body, as described to
US by Mr.. Bremen, that Collins has
been dead at least "a hours"
Father Told Son Is Dead.
Just as the report was made that
Collins had been found dead, his aged
father, Lee Collins, alighted from an
automobile on his return to the scene
from Cave City.
The old man was taken down to the
mouth of the shaft, and there Doctor
Hazlett told him as gently as possible
the sad truth. Tears filled the IA
theirs eyes, and he bowed his head 81
lently for moment.
He apparently is a man of deep re-
ligious conviction, for although he
wept softly and steadily and choked
up continually as he talked, he APP
peared TO resign himself to the trag
edy that has fallen upon him.
hn x.-ith in,
voice, tits a consolation to know that
he's with the angels. Those were his
last words to his brother, Homer, you
know. When Homer went down there
the last time he said, Homer, If the
men don't get me out of here, the an
gels will. Yes, the angels will get me
out if the men don't, so don't you
worry
THAT was his dream coming true.
He had dreamed a dream like he was
caught in the cave like that just two
days before he went down that last
time.
A Vision of Deaths Claws.
"He said it was like some great big
claws reached out and caught hold of
him and then suddenly he found angels
all around him. 1t seemed sort of
vaguely as though he was caught in
the cave, just like he was, and the
angels brought him out"
Now he made a palpable effort to
straighten up and seemed to succeed.
When he was composed he concluded:
81 can never thank the world or that
millionaire lady in Chicago enough for
all they have done for me. You know,
that millionaire lady in Chicago, she
to help Floyd.
'Floyd guided her through one of
the caves once, may have been Nam
moth or Crystal cave, 1 don't know;
but she remembered it and when she
read he was in trouble hung up down
in there, she sent the doctor to try and
save him. (He was referring to Mrs.
Emmons Blaine of Chicago.)
Il want to thank the world for what
they've all done. l can never forget
Mr.. Carmichael"
Stepmother Is Stricken.
SIN u9qM J9IL5 lg9L5 seM oIouL
Serbia buckingham Collins, stepmOth-
er of the boy, learned of his death.
Mrs. Collins has been i'll for several
days and the news made her weep.
Il begged him not to go down there
that last time," she said 81 begged
and begged him, but he said that his
past efforts had been dangerous and
fo Io+
been in vain. Oh, if l could only have
kept him at home that last day!"
Then Mrs. Collins told again of the
angel dream that Floyd had two nights
before he was entrapped
He also told me of the extreme
dangers of this cave. He said that he
had two or three more days of work
to do and that they were the most
hazardous labOrs of his whole career
in the caves. It was Their l begged
him not to try it, but h. persisted,
and-Oh! If could only have kept
him home that last day."
Great Words From a Great Man.
And Carmichael, the dauntless, tire
less builder, who sunk the great res
cue shaft in such short. desperate
effort to bring oct live man, observed
in his quiet way:
while l have always thought the
world was composed of pretty respect
able people, it took this experience to
bring it home to me that just about
80 per cent of the human race is pure
gold"
And on the building of the shaft, no
word for his part, but everything for
the men he commanded:
Starting as we did with grape
vine, no organization, 1 want to say
after about twenty-odd years in con-
struction work that l have never even
heard of a job done with as few
bitches by volunteer labor-never saw
set of men anywhere who gave more
generously and whole heartedly of