A Sportsman in 



up, perhaps for all night. The train was loaded with 

 passengers to excess, so much so that many had 

 to stand between the occupied seats. It was not a 

 pleasant situation. Some countrymen after awhile 

 made a rough raft of fence timbers and boards and 

 poled out to the train, offering to take passengers ashore 

 for a dollar apiece. I secured a place on the raft with 

 all the baggage I had, a pretty good-sized hand-bag. 

 Too many availed themselves of the opportunity 

 offered, and in consequence when about fifty feet from 

 the land the raft broke apart, and let us all in the water. 

 Fortunately it was not very deep, but pretty nearly up 

 to one's shoulders, so we all waded to the land with our 

 hand-bags thoroughly soaked. No teams of convey- 

 ance being at hand we all walked on to Titusville, con- 

 veying our bags after draining out what water we 

 could. 



It was dark when we arrived at our destination, 

 and we found the water running through the streets up 

 to the sidewalks and in some cases over. It being in 

 the very height of the excitement, the little town was 

 crowded with a great many more visitors than it could 

 accommodate, and the only hotel there could hardly 

 feed its guests, and no rooms or beds could be obtained. 

 The sitting-room and halls were occupied for sleeping 

 places, without cots or mattresses. There was a large 

 barroom, crowded full, where the tobacco smoke was 

 so thick that it could hardly be seen through. The 

 exciting subject of conversation was Oil! Oil! Oil! 

 Great strikes and the expression of hundreds of thou- 

 sands of dollars were as plentiful as flies in the dog 

 days, and one would suppose from the somewhat rough 

 crowd present that it was composed of millionaires in 



