The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1883-11-17
An Arroyo.

An Arroyo, In New Mexico, is q dry
stream. You only need to be in one
while fierce storm is raging to know
what that means. These drv-streams
abound in Colorado and New Mexico,
along the foothills.
We had been visiting an Indian village
few miles from Santa Fe, and had
turned homeward. It was beautiful
day. The blue sky with its fringe of
dark clouds resting on the far off noun
tains, seemed like placid lake with its
dark wood shore. We were driving over
sand hills and through dry sand valleys.
The miles wore away under our horses
feet. Two Government ambulances,
filled with tourists, with four mule teams
and soldier drivers, led the way. The
sky had become overcast. The black.
angry clouds were very near, Up toward
the mountains we could hear roaring
like the tossing of the pine branches by
the strong hands of the wind. The sep-
arate drops-the scouts of the storm
begin to fall. A heavy rush of rain is
up the hillside above us. A tiny stream
of water coated with angry bubbles
comes to our carriage wheels as we
cross a smooth bed OF sand between two
hillocks. One of the Govermont teams,
q hundred yards ahead, has turned
sharply up the hillside. The driver of
the other ambulance halts his mules on
the brink of a raging torrent of water
twenty feet wide and four or five feet
deep. We look and the track we have
Just left in the sand is trampled by as
angry q horde rs ever wantonly crushed
heneaththei feet an enemy's field OF
grain.
The arroyo Is booming on all sides.
The dry stream in ono minute is tor
rent. 4 The storm increases on the hills.
The stream is, for time, absolutely inn
passable. The water in its haste has
laid violent hands upon the adobe soil,
and the many tiny grains Of sand, and
even the rough rocks, and has become
see the solidity of the torrent in order to
realize its power. A steady stream of
this yellow mass is moving by Every
few moments q strong tidal wave, a
foot or two in height, breaks the monot-
ony of its movement. 1t is no wonder
that any one caught in the sweep of
such q tide is In great danger. There
Is no child's play In facing Storm
filled arroyo. But there is danger in
delay as vol as in haste. The storm
threatens to pass up the mountains
toward the head of the river into which
the arroyos empty. The river must be
crossed If we reach Santa Fe
The first force of the storm has passed.
One driver turns his team to a place
where the stream has Sroadened to fifty
feet The first mules into the water are
almost thrown down. Their feet are
driven from under them by a strong
wave. The driver holds the reins with
firm hand. The whip is applied freely.
The ambulance rocks as the yellow wa
tiers lap the wagon-box. But that team
is through its part of the trouble.
The second ambulance, watching a
inllfof the torrent, also crosses. The
soldiers and the gentlemen OF the party
now leap out and stand on the opposite
bank to see our experience and lend q
helping hand if there should be an ae-
cident.
Watching our opportunity, we dash
into the waters. "Use the whip;
wave Is comihga' is the encouraging ory
from our friends on the shore. The
wave catches the hind wheels Of the car
riage and splashes up toward the top,
shaating us through and through; but
we, are safely across. The river mile
beyond is still passable. To be in an
arroyo is an exciting experience. We
are glad to have had 1t. But one does
not care to be there again, taking un-
certainties into account -DcnUer 7C0L.
Cor. Chicago AdUGnce.