The Portland daily press., 1883-08-02
Some Big Fog Stories.

Speaking of fogs reminds me that the 9TH
er morning ran across stranger from Col
orado--that is, we ran against each other
and he has introduced me to local charac-
ter who knows all about them. The stran-
ger is bonanza king on small scale; the
character lords Il over the row boats belong.
ing to certain islander, and am the ruler
of waiter to whom have promised large
fee-each of us Is a monarch of some degree.
The character is the Oldest inhabltant as
well, and INDUCES to the full his prerogative
of conveying to tourists vast quantities of
interesting, not to say startling, information.
The strangers assertions are weighted wi th
the Wild and breezy picturesqueness of the
boundess West. AS for myself, I believe
that my feeble utteranees do not greatly
tend to the dscredit of the profession.
This much by way of introduction.
Quoth the character a day or two since,
just after we had opened court, so to speak,
In his boat house: II guess you young fell
lers think this is putty bad weather, don't
YEP.
SITS the - weather ! ever seem" re-
marked the stranger, gloomily.
''N'yit faint nothin' TO what twas in
TO-" asserted the character proudly. 'The
fog we had then igds fog, tell ye! was
rowin' that season myself. One mornin' |
took out a Teller n girl in my big boat. ]
swapny, sir, the fog come up so thick't ]
couldn't see EN- three feet away, N they
couldn't hear me speak. How dye think |
found out when thew wanted to git ashore?
Wal, the teller chawed holes in the fog try
in to find the girl an kiss her till he got
nigh enough to me, soft l cols,d stick one
Arf Hor INT, L. liz, 4
through that. Wust trouble" added the
character, meditafively, was when we'd
take the horn down for minute The
fog'd git inter it'n we'd blow the chunks
down our throats."
The stranger looked enviously at the char
acter, gulped once or twice, and asked:
Few ever see any underground fog, ole
hosp"
The old boss was constrained to admit
that he never did; but
"Ohi that's all right" put in the stranger,
his face Frightening visibly; "le' me toot my
bazoo. This yere underground fog comes
into mine when you git about down to
hard pan-fact is, the - stuff is what
makes bed rock. When I opened the Belle
of Hospital Gnlch it gave me heap OF
trouble. One day it come down one side o.
the shaft whites l was goin' up in the buck
ct ON the other. 1t druv the air all to my
side aud knocked me silly. Then it went
down below and froze the bops, froze 'em,
pardneri inter the rock. We had to
blast 'em out. How's that for fog, Ell,
pard?n and the stranger Bit off a chew, and
gazed at us sterrly but triumphantly.
There was moment of silence.
''You see that ledge, bout half mile
out?" asked the character, at last. "No,
We can't, though, can ye? Wal, they was a
schooner went ashore there last summer In
a fog storm. We couldn't git no boat out
the sea was SO high, an we couldn't see 'em
for the fog only when we fred cannon
and the ball cut It. Now, there they was,
half mile away, mind vel How dye think
they got offr'
The stranger considered moment, and
then despairingly inquired: How'd they
fetch it, pard?"
''They shovelled road through the fog
and walked neutrality-suspicious. Phil
adelphia Times.