Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1885-07-31
HAMMOND's GREAT LEAP
One Hundred and Fifty i've Feet Down from


HAMMON D's GREAT LEAP.
One Hundred ana Flfty.flya Feet Down from q
Chi into the Rio Grande.
~ hen the news OF Prot. Hum 81
fatal leap from the parapet of the
Brooklyn bridge reached here, writes
4 San Ar tonio, Tex, correspondent to
he ildtlelE lsi0 u INES, we were talk
ling over the affair in the Gold room. =.
Sam Graham, ex-sergeant Of rangers,
called attention to a parallel incident
which attracted a great deal of atten-
ton on the frontier at the time, and
gave the name Of Hammond $ Leap"
TO lofty canyon wall on the bank OF
the Rio Grande, about six miles west
from where the alkaline waters of the
Pecos empty into it. The track Of the
Southern Pacific railroad runs close to
the river here, and as you WhirI by the
trainmen point out the spot where
Robert Hammond made a sheer leap
Of l55 feet to the muddy waters of the
Rio Grande below. The leap was
made in tho early summer of 1882,
when the railroad was in process of
construction. The painted red men,
from q safe hiding place on the Mexi-
can side, watched the Dusy scene with
wide-opened eyes, heard the ..big thun-
der'' of the blasts with loud beating
hearts, and stole back TO the Santa
Rosas. The only animate beings that
di3S4DOtt' seem to mind the noise ard
tumult were those pestiferous= little
varmints, the yinegaroan, the devil.
horse, the :arrantula, the centipede
the singing lizard, and the rattle
snake. They remained and disputed
the ground inch by inch. with the in
vaders. They caused a great deal OF
trouble and the nayVies feared and re-
spected them. It was a singing liz
ard or scorpion that caused HAM
| mond's leap. HAMMOND was navy,
born in England, and at the time he
made the leap about 26 years of age.
He was of rather slender build, but
wiry and muscular, and Jack Harris,
the contractor for whom he worked,
considered him his best churr -driller.
Harris camp was at the head OF a
deep canyon, about one mile south of
Vinegaroan. He was engaged in MAX
ling fill and two wide cuts, and
! worked gangs day and night.
Hammond worked in the day gang,
and the big wall tent he shared with
six or eight. others was about three
hundred yards from the edge of the
lofty WALL. against whose base the
'sgreat river'' dashed and tumb!ed.
At this particular point the river is
/! quite deep. One night the sleeping
| occupants Of Harris camp were arous-
/ ed by a series OF startling yells which
|. came from Hammond's tent. Before
they could collect their senses and
settle in their minds whether or not
the camp had been attacked by In
dians, Hammond dashed from the
tent, and, although held by his CON-
panions, tore himself away. and, yell
ing at every jump, made giant bounds
toward the river. The drillers and
! blasters IN the cut stopped their work
and ran up on the bank to see what
was the matter. They saw Hammond
as he dashed toward them and heard
his agonized yells. A cry of horror
! burst from their lips as the yelling
man reached the brink of the preci-
pice and withouta seconds hesitation
leaped out and shot down like plum
met to the boiling flood 155 feet below.
They heard the loud splash made by
his body when he struck the water,
and then, with blanched faces and
, hushed voices, hurried down to the
river level to search for the poor fell
lows mangled body. What was their
surprise to meet the supposed dead
man alive. uniniured. He was SILVER
ing with cold, however, and the muddy
water dripped from his clothing.
"What was the matter?' cried the
group of searchers in chorus.
lone of them Internal stinging liz
ards got in my ear and nearly drove
mo crazy" answered Hammond, but
he popped out when | struck the wa
ter: BY the way, boys, what do you
think Of that jump?'
lit ought to have killed you," said
one man.
! 1T oidn't though cried Hammond,
with a laugh. III make it again for
a $40 bill."' ..'
The next morning Jack Harris had
| the distance measured, and the tape
line, held close to the cliff edge, mark
ed 1855 feet and a few inches when the
other end touched the water. Ham
! mond did not appear to suffer from
his terrible flight through the air. He
worked for Harris until the latter's
contract was finished, and then went
into Mexico to work on the Mexican
Central. He was in his underclothes
that night, and hls feet were protected
only by thin socks. He struck the
water feet first. and described the sem
sation experienced as similar to
that if the feet had been smartly slap
| ped with a broad strap. While in the
and the increased velocity, as his body
neared the water, was not perceptible.
u. - England's Great Guns.
The Woolwich correspondent of
! The London NeWs writes: The new