Newspaper Page Text
1 filing Experience of k II• iter
in ;i Georgia Swamp {.’old.
A pale, haggard looking man sat
in a seetioji of a sleeping ear ye*-.-
'■‘idav the train pui.T'l. out from
Atlanta (or tho North, lioside
him sat a .-ircing, Henriled individu
al who watched his slightest move
ni-ui, and every few minutes ;d
--: inisiered some medicine lrora a
Lottie, which lie kept ready on the
m! in front of him. The move
ments of the invalid (for such ho
v. ientiy was) soon attracted the
aitcntionot every one, and as the
prospect of making a lonjr journey
wig) :> maniac in tiie car does not
recommend itself to the average
•. zvvlcr, questions began to be ask
vd and an explanation of the man’s
conduct was demanded.
He refused to answer any ques
lions for fear of exciting his pa
? lent, but he referred all questions
o the conductor who. he said, was
acquainted with the facts, and
v rule! set rest any fear as to his
charge’s sa uty.
The conduct or was evidenlly a
man with a keen eye for dramatic
>ilualionp, and was willing to make
tiie bestofhis opportunities. When
lit* had gathered most of the men
ti the smoking end of the car, lie
told them the Tory of their fellow
passenger.
•‘That gentleman there,” he said,
•■is Mr. Rul'us Gale of New York
He is a man who has always been
devoted to hunting, and he is luc
ky enough to have the time and
money to gratify his tastes. He
lias been down in Hie everglades
of Florida all winter indulging in
his favorite pastime. About a
month ago lie started north, but
hearing there was good sport to be
bad ;n Liberty county, Georgia, he
determindd to have one more hunt
before he closed the season. He
went over to Dorchester, and had
his hunt; since that day he has
been :ti his present condition. lie
told i lie story what happened to
him once, and the telling of it af
fected him so badly that he has nev
r been allowed to repeat it though
it > evidently on his mind all the
time. When Mr. Gale had been
iu Dorchester several days, a ne
gro reported having seen two doer
on riie borders of the Midway
fcwa nap. He determined to have a
shot at the in in spite of all tho ad
vice to t. ■ contrary. The gentle
man with whom he was stopping
told him that the Midway swamp
was a dangerous place, ten miles
broad cal 150 miles long, infested
with snakes; he told him how, be
fore the war, slaves had run away
•and hidden i; it, and would come
out and give themselves up rather
than stay ihe.,". he told him to be
in the swamp after dark was al
most sudden death to a white man,
But all this Ini no effect on Mr,
Gale; lie was determined to go
thete and hunt those deer. Early
ihe next morning he started with
his two dogs tor the place where
they had been seen. He found that
j' was impossible to get through
i-io underbrush on horseback, so
he :ied his horse to a tree and fol
lowed his dogs on foot. Before
long the dogs Bt-nicl: the trail and
their baying echoed and re-echoed
among the great trees. The trail
evidently ran into the swamp, but.
the ba\ ingof the dogs was so ex
cited that he felt sure that they
were close to th 3 animal they wore
in pursuit of, and followed the
sounds without thinking of where
lie was being led. Suddenly the
bay slopped, and then as he hurried
forward lie heard the sounds of a
desperate conflict. As lu ; :w
nearer he heard the dogs :,.•• ing
savagely, giving occasional veils of
pain. Thinking no deer could cause
such a commotion, he began, to ad-
vance more cautiously; soon all the
noise of f.be fight stopped entirely,
and he knew that something had
happened. Finally, as lie looked
out from, behind a tree,he realized
what had taken place. Stretched
on tiie ground was Hie body of his
favorite dog, and on top of it, rend
ing and fearing its tlesh was a big
panther lashing his side with his
long tail/ a little way off lay tW
other dog completely disembowel
ed in the last agonies of death; two
bullets from Mr. Gale’s rille settled
the panther, and then he advanced
into the little open space where the
fight had taken place. After bury
ing his dogs and skinning the pan
ther, lie looked about to see what
direction he should fake to get
back to his horse. While lie was
bus} 7 with the panther heavyr clouds
had rolled up, and now the sun
was hidden so that he felt some
doubt as to the direction he should
take/ lie thought, however, that he
knew the way he came, so he
struck out bravely 7 enough for home
Before he had gone very tar he
found the ground getting softer and
became convinced that he was go
ing in the wrong direction. Sever
al times he changed his course, but
all bis efforts seemed only to lead
him deeper into the swamp.
Soon it grew dark and the distant
mutterings of approaching thunder
filled the air. The deep shallows
of the trees added to the darkness
and he began falling into mud
holes and striking against trees
which he was unable to see. Sud
denly with a great roar the storm
broke.
‘‘Tiie skies and the earth seemed
joined by a sheet ef wafer tnrough
which ihe forked lightning darted
like great serpents of fire. Blinded
and dazed by the force of the storm
110 still staggered forward. The
weight ot his drenched clothes seem
ed t > hold him back, and the fear
of the falling frees drove him on.
Every instant lie was in danger
of being struck down and crushed.
The branches of trees whirled past
him and big pieces of bark struck him
in the face as the force ot the wii.d
drove them along.
“Suddenly something sirnefe him on
the head, tie felt himself borne down
by an irresistible weight and lost cent
sciousness. When he came to himself
the storm was over; be could hear the
distant mutterings of the thunder, but
over his head the stars were shining.
Beside him lay the bough of a tree
which mast have struck him as he fell.
The deluge of rain had filled the
swamp with water, and he found he
was lyiEg in a pond. Painfully be
and again b-gau to stagger about
ifl search of a resting place. At hot
the ground under his feet grrv? firmer,
lie had reached a little rise in the
swamp and tell exhausted. As Lis
body touched the ground, however, E
telt something crawl from nnd°r him.
He put out his hand and felt the cold
ho ly or a snake sdp from under Li .
fingtrs. Again be sprang up and
went a little further, only to sink again.
Then on all sides or him be h*ard a
rushing and hissing, and realized th.w
the waur having driveu all thesn-T.ei
bom thtir helps, they Lad sought she]
ter on this high gmun 1. via wai
afraid tc move, almoA afraid ro
breathe, for tear that he might be bit.
ien. He felt the slimy thipgs craw!
over h m and twine about bis legs,
and yet he had the nerve to kpes per
fectly still. One serpeLt even drew
its folds about bis neck and nestled its
head under bis float. Hour after hour
bo lay there till the day dawned, and
with the light the snakes began to
leayehim. When at last ho felt him
self tree he sprang to his feet with a
wild yell and rushed back into the
swamp. Insane with fear he ran on,
fortunately in the right direction, for
he was found lying in the road in a tit
by some gentlemen from Boichester
who had gone in search of him. Since
that Uay he has had seysral fits, and
h s been suffering tmm nervous pros
t atiou. He ie perfectly harmless, bur.
i‘ he is left alone for a moment the
seen* at the snakes come back to him
aid he suffers terribly, lie is going
to Philadelphia to try the rest oure and
I take it, gentlemen, that anybody else
who had gona through what ho has
would need some kind of cure.”—[L.
M. W. in Constitution.
Bared His Arm.
SedalD, Mo., June 2” —The tele
graph yesterday contained the particu
lars of a man front Arkansas who off
erod to be bitten by a mad deg belong
i..ig to Dr, Smalls ot this place, for five
hundred dollars, but the doctor backed
out. But the Arkansas naan was not
to be put off in this manner. Having
been knocked out of the coveted five
hundred dollars he determined, never
theless, to prove his faith in madstooes.
Seeking Dr. White for a witness he
proceeded to Dr. Small’s residence.
Thete he gained access to the rabid an
imal.
The dog was writhing horribly,
foaming freely and snapping viciously.
It was in tho midst of a terrible con
vulsion and evidently in the last stage
ot rabies. The rash man boldly bared
his arm, deliberately stepped up to the
furious animal and received a bite.
The animal buried its venominous
fangs in tbe flesh of the man’s arm,
bit out a chunk ot flesh, leaving a gap
ing, ghastly wound. The dog died in
convulsions fifteen minutes later. Tb<
man repaired to Dr. White’s office and
applied the doctor’s mad stone. It
adhered several times. The man had
his wound bound up, and expressed
himself as satisfied that ho would re
cover speedily and safely.
• Though the dog was dead this was
not the end of Dr. Small’s propositions.
Acceptances began to pour in,
not only by mail, but by telegraph,
up to date he has had to pay several
dollars in receiving telegrams. Amorg
those who telegraphed was a woman
in Kansas City who wanted to be bit
ten. She asked if women came under
the rules of the proposition and want
ed to come on the next train if so. J.
W. Dickbon of Kansas city, the own
er of a madstone, wrote by mail and
wanted to be bitten. He wanted tiie
dog taken to Kansas City, and offered
to put up a forfeit of one thousand to
bind him to be bitten. In case D .
Small would not or could not take th
dog to Kansas City be signified his
willingness to come to the dog affi
f ring his madstone with hioi. Mr
Dickson claims to have cured 1,320
people bitten by mad doga with l e
single nradstone in twenty years. His
stone was brought by his father Irom
Ireland, and can be traced back, he
says, to the year 1719. He further
wrote to Dr. Small and returned tho
challenge.
Tho naan who was bitten is well
and hearty new, but fea.rs are enter
tained for hie future. Dr. Small thinks
his mind is a r fected. —[Athens Banner.
Few Millinery Si ass
James T. Comer,
Maysvllle, GEOrGIA
Has Employed A First Clasd
\~J Vte Cr' . vVrWA/w'v, VWWvVS/Wv
A
Vw\# tVvk
With a New Stock of Hats from New York and Brltimore of the latest
styles, from the finest to the cheapest. Also fine Dress Goods, Ribbons and
Laces, Kid Gloves, Embroideries, Corsets ef ad kinds, in (act a Complete
stock ot fanev notions. Shoes, iaata ana Clothing. ’Tobacco, Staple Grocer
ies, and Harness and Leather. All Kinds of
*
Drugs and Patent Medicines,
COMER’S GUARANTEE CHICKEN CHOLERA CURE,
Standard and Pacific lvorocene, Machine and Castor Oils, by the bottle r
gallon. Agent for Athens Factory goods, and many more. A. D. ff-one's
Georgia Test and Acid Work’s Pare Bone, Fetman’s Soluble Bone and K“iu
ical Guano. The best line of guanos in the united states, prices as cheap as
the cheapest. Breeder of fifteen varieties ot fancy Ducks, Chickens and Geese.
Eggs for sale.
G-uaaelSs Power & So.,
a —.HARMONY - GROVE.— *
DEALERS IN **
Plantation Supplies.
awi (tu3.v*o x
We Keep in stock a full supply of good and fresh goods. We can not be
surpassed in Quality and Dnranility. VVe buy at lowest market figures; we
defy competition in prices. We want only a living profit on our sales. VVe
do not claim to ha Vanderbilts, nor do we wish to accumulate their fortuoe-,.
We are receiving dailv, a full supply of our Customers every day wants.
Country Produoe Taken in Exchange at Highest Market Prices.
Hardman & C omp’ny,
HarMONy GrOVE
0
DEALERS IE
HardwarE & Cntl’rY.
Oar Line of Stoves, Tinware, Agricultural Implements, E‘e,, can not bo
found in better Quality and Durability, Elsewhote. We also keep a good line
ot guns for the tall trade. Cali and examine our stock and prices. l'J