A Night of Horrors.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 1454, 14 September 1885, Page 4

A Night of Horrors.

On the:nigJit of the 31st December nit.-, at AUihii^, 1 a village near Oastle-town-Berehaveri, • happened an incident, whioV, : foT suffering and horror, has not l»een sHirpassed m the most thrilling narrative of th« present daU On New dear's eve night Sergeant : Michael? -Blake. of ;: A.llilu«\s I'olice Station, wiis'. returning to the hare racks, a'n«l, •as the evening was rather dark, being about sjyea o'clock, he took a short cut across some fiei<K m which unfortunately fop him. was an ol'l disused «h:tft of Hie Allihies copper mine, which has no protection whatever, as the paling which once encircled it has long since rotted away. The pathway leads close by the month of this shaft, l>ut being well acquainted with the place the sergeant apprehended no ilangiT. He stopped for a m mien i to light, his. -pipe,-, his cover fell, and m gropijtg; for it his eyes bring d:*xz!ed with the jjlare of the match, ho .t'irnbli'd. :headlong into the pit. When about half way' down the back strap of his coat caught a projecting rock, and he hung for a momont, but the strap ' rokt* almost im mediately, and then he fell, to th« ho i torn, which was covered with rotton matter of all descriptions, as this pit had been the receptacle of all the carrion of the neighbor ood, such as dead dogs,; horses, etc., for the past 15 or 20; years. luto this mass of putrid mitter the unfortunate man fell,' and found when he atteui|.teil to move that his right f »re-ann had been broken, and his left ankle dislocated. As, m all probability. n<» person wonld pass, that way until morning, the p°or man had to con template fearfn? fact that if he did not die m this horrible hole hj would have at leust to spend the night there. Bnt matters got worse, for soon a horde of rats collected, who, thinking the man legitimate prey, attempted m •at him alive.. The feeling of Sergeant Blake at this period may be better imagined than described. The agony of his mind must have been something dreadfnl With an old bone which he found m the place he defended himself, but the attempt was only pa'tiaHy succ s'ul, as, lying on his back and neily disabled, heconkl but. use his left hand, and he frequentlyfound the rats runiug across his face, and. he f uhd himself obliged to shut his eyes fro exclude the filthy matter ' with, which these vicious animals weve rtiekin*. When daylight came the only intimation that the poor man had of its iippearnnce was a light which looked like a star fai\ above his, head. He began now to shout with all his might, ar.d a young lad named Dennis Harrington, who lu-aid the noise and fancied that a dog had been recently thrown into the pit, commenced to throw down stones to put the animal out of pain. This was certainly not what, the poor man below expected, and this must have heightened the nfyony of his mind. When the lad had satishVd himself with throwing stones he went away and happened to meet a woman who wns looking for her husband (he not having returned the night before.) He told her of the noise m the pit. She immediately went to the place and shouted down, and on rociving the answer that it was Sergeant Blake who was down there she wont to the baracksand tolcllhepoliceVhohad been looking for the sergeant all night, that he was down theKilogue shaft. They immediately proenred ropes and all necessary appliances for the descent of the shaft and relan.se of the poor sergeant. But no one could be found to make the descent vn f il an old miner named James Kelly, who had worked m the mine twenty years ago, came up and volunteered to rescue the mon below. , H/» was lowered into this black hole, aud on reaching the bottom he fastened the rope round Blake's body, . who whs hauled up to the surface more dead than alive at about one o'clock p.m., eighteen hours after his fall into this loathsome deu. The rope was again loweied for brave Kelly, who fastened hitrselfand was hauled up. A litter was prepared for Blake, who wns conveyed' into Allihira. Blake is rapidly recovering from his injuries. — Cork Examiner.