A MAN WITH A CHARMED LIFE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6147, 30 July 1881, Page 7

A MAN WITH A CHARMED LIFE.

A man stoppj at the Commercial Hotel, Newcomerstovi| on Sunday, who made the journey from tittle Falls, N.Y., on foot. He is on his did to the Daytons Soldiers' Home, and hislistory ie indeed remarkable and should pI;A him in the class as one of the battle-scafjd heroes of the Republic. His life is m<4 like a dime novel romance than real hisfcjy. He enlisted in the United State regulararmy in 1543, when only fifteen years old, anl /after serving in the war with Mexico re-eililted in IS4S, '53 and 'SS. He participated id the battle of Bull Run and other severe ngagements in ISGI-2-3, and was taken pts ner by the rebels at Vicksburg, June 'A 1869. He_ served over five months in S lisbury Prison, over eleven months in Aic :rsonville, and several months in various other rebel prison pens. At Andersonville ha ivas shot in the mouth by the notorious keeper of that pen (Wurtz), and carries the bullet in. his head at this time. In 1565 he dscaped from the rebels under Kirby Smith, Inear Brownsville, Texas, and swam the Eic Grande under fire from his

I pursuers, receiving a severe wound in his right hand, vjnich tore off three fingers and the thumb. ,Oa reaching the opposite shore he was captured by the "Greasers," a band of Indians and half-breeds who knew nothing but. murder, .rapine ancLplunder,. and, was a prisoner with them till last September. Puring all the fifteen years he was a captive he suffered untold hardships, and his repeated attempts to escape were rewarded by his body being literally peppered with bullets. In his attempts to escape he was shot fourteen times, and now carries in his body two fourounce silver balls, four load balls and one copper ball. The latter he received while attempting to escape on the 16th of last September. On that day the band ef Indians having him in charge were captured by the Mexicans and all condemned to death. He appealed to Consul-General Foster for protection aa a United States citizen, and just as the Mexicans were adjusting the rope around his neck, Consul Foster's orders for his release reached him, and he was spared. He was sent to New York on a United States steamer, and as he conld find no relatives living at Little Falls he started for this State on foot. He showed your reporter a four-ounce silver ball which Pr. Mott, of New York, extracted from one of his wounds. The wound made by the copper ball, which he received last September, is in his left breast, and the flesh and skin, as well as his finger nails, are copper-coloured. The from the , wound I'are coloured greeo. from the verdigris contained in the fluids, and the physician told him that the acid firiids of thebodyjwould gradually convert the ball into verdigris, and it would .thns be expelled from the system, although the wound would nevpr heal.—Cleveland Leader.