The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1873-06-30
.RArTLING RIDE.
. po,, Ride in a skiH Ono Hun
"" W., and Forty Miles In Two
...Oye. a the Falls and Along

w. and Forty Miles In TWO
dreu nvs. the Falls and Along
rnne Inc ths Central City (Col) Coach.
Clear Creek is miniature river that
rms though the canon of the same
n.me , 1t descerds upon down grade
ol 400 feet per mile, with here and there
" ,sII over a rocky precipice fifteen Or
twenty feet in height. Large boulders,
nrtv or fifty feet in diameter, and
weighing thousands OF tons' impede its
dsshing progress every two or three
Inndred wards, while its curves are 30
sbsrp and so frequent that the stream
can nowhere be seen for distance OF q
thousand feet. Granite cliffs two and
three miles high project over it on
either eide, and give a frightful and ro-
mantle and dangerous appearance to
tberushing torrent beneath :,
Inst below Black Hawk on the side
~ The stream a small reservoir has
Nam constructed in which is kept an
ori;nsry skih. Last Sunday, two little
CONS Of Martin F. Walker, aged re-
susc,iyely ten and twelve years, got in
~ the boat and were splashing the
wster With a stick, when the fastening
Gave wsv and the boat went drifting to.
wards the rapidly running current.
TIE little boys soon discovered their
danger, but were powerless to avert it;
thew clutched hold of the sides of the
boat and with pallid countenance
awaited their doom. Soon the boat
was caught by the current and began
descending at a fearful rate. On she
went, the boys hats blew off and their
hair stood straight up lover Black Hawk
rapids they went like an arrow, clear
ing a distance Of over sixty feet at
single dash. Lighting again On the
torrent surface the boat seemed to
have gained new impetus and shot
by the boulders and around the rocky
points with the celebrity OF sunbeam.
At distance of about six miles below
the starting point, conductor Gibbons,
who was standing on the rear platform
of the down G. c. train, saw the boat
coming and Immediately stopped the
train. All hands repaired to the waters
edge and did everything in their power
to arrest the flying boat, but past them
she went like bullet from riflei and
was out of sight in a moment. The
conductor then ordered the engineer to
put on a full head of steam
and follow as rapidly as possible
which he did, constantly sounding
the alarm OF danger. He did not get
another glimpse of the boat, but the
alarm brought the employees at Beaver
Creek Station to the lookout, and
quickly making slip moose soug ght
to throw it over the bow OF the
boat as she came under the bridge.
This they succeeded in doing, but could
no more hold it than they could a thun'
der-bolt, and over Beaver Creek Falls
she went with the speed OF the lightning.
The falls are about thirty feet high and
at the foot are number Of large bould-
ers, but the velocity of the boat was
such that it cleared them easily, and
struck the water some twenty feet be-
yond. From here no mortal eye saw
the boat, or its living freight, until 1t
reached point one hundred miles be-
low Denver. Through Golden into the
Platte river, and under the Denver
bridges she went unnoticed, nor slack
ened her pace until she lodged in drift
at the distance below Denver above
mentioned. The Platte does not run
very rapidly, but the boat had acquired
such a wonderful speed in its descent
from the mountains that it far outrode
the current. A Mr.. Walsh, who lives
on farm near the drift where the boat
lodged, discovered the boys still in the
boat, which was nearly full Of water,and
took them to his home. Their were re-
stored to their overjoyed parents the
following evening, alter having accom-
plished the most perilous journey in the
Quickest time ever before made by any
human being who escaped alive. The
distance travelled was one hundred and
forty miles in two hours, but how it
was ever done, or how the boat escaped
being dashed to pieces upon some OF
the huge boulders or rocky cliffs which
everywhere intercept the course OF
Clear Creek, is nothing short Of a pro-
vidential miracle. Probably not again
in thousand years could the journey
be made with the best appliances and
by the mest skillful mariners.