The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1875-11-17
LANfBERTvILLE Nj. WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER II. 1875

walk to the lower mill. A guest cannot well
decline an invitation where little personal
suffering or fatigue is to be shared with his
, host. So walked over the mountains and
} through brush in 4 blazing sun, hot ard dusty,
} for nearly three miles, and the horses were
sent down by the regular routes.
RIDE IN THE FLUME.
! Upon my return found that Mr.. Flood and
Mr.. Fair had arranged for a ride In the tlume,
and ] was challenged to go with Them In.
! deed, the proposition was put in this way
they dared to me go. Thought il men worth
$685. OoO,0 900 or $50, o0o 600 apiece could afford
to risk their lives could afford to risk mine
which isn't worth half SO much. So accept
ed the challenge, and two "boats " were Or
dered. These were nothing more than pig.
troughs with one end knocked out. The
"boat /" is built like the f1ume, v shaped, and
fits into the flume. 1t is composed of three
pieces Of wood two two.inch planks 16 feet
long, and end-board which is nailed to the
back end The boat is the size of the fiume,
being about p feet across the top. The for
ward end of the boat was left open, the rear
end being closed by the board against which
the water was to rush to mpel us. Two mar
row boards were placed III the boat for seats,
and everything was made ready. Mr.. Fair
and myself were to go in the first boat and
Mr.. Flood and Mr.. Hereford were to follow
US in the other. Mr.. Fair thought we had
better take third man with us who knew
something about the flume. There were
probably so men from the mill standing in the
vicinity waiting to see us Off and when it was
proposed to take third man the question was
asked If anybody was willing to go. Only one
man, red faced carpenter who takes more
4 kindly to whiskey than to his bench, volun-
teered to go. Finally everything was arrang-
4 ed. Two or three stout men held the boat
over the hume, and told us to jump into it
the minute it touched the water, and to g hang
on to our hats The signal of .all ready y
was given, the boat was launched, and we
jumped into 1t the best we could, which was
not very well, and away we went ike the
wind. One man who helped to launch the
boat fell into 1t just as the water struck it,
but he scampered out on the trestle, and
whether he was hurt or not we could not wait
to see. The grade of the fume at the mill is
very heavy and the water rushes through It at
railroad speed The terrors of that ride can
never be blotted from the memory of one of
the party. To ride upon the cow catcher of
an engine down a steep grade is simply ex-
hlaratng, for you know there is wide track,
regularly laid upon a firm foundation that
there are wheels grooved and fitted to the
track that there are trusty men ut the
brakes, and better than all, you know the
power that impels the train can be rendered
powerless in an instant by the drivers light
touch upon his lever. But a flume has no ee-
ment of safety. In the first place the grade
cannot be regulated as it can upon railroad ;
you cannot go fast or slow at pleasure, you
are wholly at the mercy of the waters. You
cannot stop you cannot lessen your speed ;
you have nothing to hold to you have only,
to sit still, shut your eyes, say your prayers,
take all the water that comes-filing your
boat, wetting your feet, and drenching you
like plunge through the surf-and wait for
4 eternity. 1t is all there is to hope for after
you are launched in fume boat cannot
give you q better idea Of a flumc ride than to
compare it to riding down an old-fashoned
caves-trough at an angle of As degrees, hang
ing in mid-air without support of roof or
house, and extending distance of 10 miles.
At the start we went at the average speed Of
a railroad train. The reader can have no idea
of the speed we made until he compares it to
a railroad The average time we made was
about 80 miles an no Ira mile in two minutes
for the entire distance. This is greater than
the average running time of railroads.
INCIDENTS OF THE RIDE.
4 The red-faced carpenter sat in front of our
boat on the bottom as best he could. Mr..
Fair sat on seat behind him, and l sat be-
hind Mr.. Fair in the stern, and was of great
service to him in keeping the water which
broke over the end-board from his back.
There was great deal of water also shipped
in the bows of the hog trough, and l know
4 Mr.. Fairs broad shoulders kept me from
many wetting in that memorable trip. At
the heaviest grades the water came in so
furiously in front that it was impossible to
see where we were going or what was ahead
of us but when the grade was light and we
were going at a three or four minute pace the
view was very delightful, although ii was ter
riblc for this reason. If you are going at a
. 3O-pace behind trotting horse you become
perhaps somewhat excited, but the road is
clear before you, and you hold the lines which
is your protection. In the ride which would
like to describe, but which nobody can des-
cribe, was perched up in boat no wider
than chair, sometimes 20 feet high, and
sometimes 10 feet high. When the water
would enable me to look ahead l would see
this trestle here and there for miles, SO small
and SO narrow and apparently SO fragile that
/ could only compare it to chalk mark upon
which, high in air, l was running at a rate I'M
known on railroads. One circumstance dur
ing the trip did more to show me the terrible
, rapidity with which we were dashing through
the fiume than anything else. We had been
! rushing down at pretty lively rate of speed,
when the boat suddenly struck something in
J the bow, nail, lodged stick Of wood, or
! some secure substance which ought not to
have been there. What was the effect? The