Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 93, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 July 1898 — GAVE HIMSELF UP TO DEATH. [ARTICLE]

GAVE HIMSELF UP TO DEATH.

Feeling] cf u Knn vVhc Fell Into aa Abondouetl Slinft. P. D. Smith; an old book man. tells a most interesting story of bow it feels to be buried alive, says the Los Angeles Record. For one hour he lay at tiie bottom of a deserted mine shaft and was only saved by a dog that whined and howled at a neighbor’s house. Just after a recent storm Mr. Smith went prospecting in Deer canyon, a branch of the Big Tejunga. in the San Fernando range. He was removing some timber about the top of an old shaft, when the rotten wood gave way and carried him to the bottom of the shaft. A heavy load of timber and earth followed. Strange to say. he was uninjured and lay free from immediate danger in the dark, damp space left by the boards. Gloomy were the thoughts that filled bis mind as he lay there and thoughts of his past life and the friends he would never see again, for the shaft was one which had been covered overhead and lost to the knowledge of the neighborhood for years. Moreover, it was a mile and a half from the nearest house. Once or twie& he shouted, but his voice sounded sepulchral as it echoed in muffled way between the overhanging walls and reverberated in his cars. For one hour he lay there in this cramped position, while glo6my thoughts passed in frightful procession through his mind. Fortunately, his little dog was with him. “Boss” is a particularly intelligent dog, and after the accident to his master went to the nearest hous£ and acted so strangely that Mr. Walton, the owner, followed him to the shaft. There he found and rescued him.