The Portland daily press., 1885-06-06
Hammond's Great Leap.
One Hundred and Fifty-fve Feet Down
from Cliff into the Rio Grande.

[san Antonio, Tex. correspondence of the Philadel
phia Times.l
When the news of Prof. Odlum's fatal leap
from the parapet of the Brooklyn bridge
reached here we were talking over the af-
fair in the "Gold room" Sam Graham, ex-
sergeant of rangers, called attention to
parallel incident which attracted great deal
of attention on the frontier at the time and
and gave the name Of Diamonds Leap
to lofty canon wall on the bank of the Rio
G.ande, about six miles west from where
the alkaline waters Of the Pecos empty into
it. The track of tie Southern Pacific rail-
road runs close to the river here, and as you
whirl by the trainmen point out the spot
where Robert Hammond made a sheer leap
of l55 feet 10 the muddy waters of the Rio
Grande below. This leap was made in the
early summer of 1882, when the railroad was
in the process of construction. The painted
red men from safe hiding place on the
Mexican side watched the busy scene with
wide-opened eyes, heard the 'big thunder
of the blasts with loud beating heart and
stole back to the Santa Rosas The only an
innate beings that did not seem to mind the
noise and tumult were those pestiferous lit
tie varmints, the vinegaroan, the devil horse,
the tarantula, the centipede, the singing
lizard and the rattlesnake. They remained
and disputed the ground inch by inch with
the invaders. They caused a great deal of
trouble, and the navvies feared and respect
ed them. 1t was a singing lizard or scorpi-
on that caused Hammond's leap. Ham
mond was navy, born in England, and at
tbs time be made the leap about 26 years of
age. He was of rather slender bald, but
wiry and muscular, and Jack Harris, the
contractor for whom he worked, considered
him his best churn driller. Harris's camp
was at the head OF deep canon, about one
mile south of Vinegaroan. He was engaged
in making a fill and two side 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 300 yards from the edge of
the lofty wall, against whose base the mud
dy waters of the "great river' dashed and
tumbled. At this particular point the river
is quite deep. One night the sleeping occu-
pants OF Harris's camp were aroused by
series of startling yells which came from
Hammond's tent. Before they could collect
their senses and settle in their minds wheth-
er or not the camp had been attacked by In
dians, Hammond dashed from the lent and,
although held by bis companions, tore him
self away, ard yelling at every jump, made
giant bounds toward the river The drillers
aud blasters 10 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 aud heard his agonized yells
A cry of horror burst from their lips az the
yelling man reached the brink of the preci-
pice and without seconds hesitation leaped
out and shot down like a plummet to the
boiling flood 1856 feet below. They heard the
loud splash made by his body when it struck
the water, and then, with blanched faces
and hushed voices, hurried down to The rv-
er level to search for the poor fellows man
gled body. What was their surprise TO meet
the supposed dead man alive, uDinjured,
He was shivering with cold, however, and
the muddy water dripped from his clothing.
s'What was the matter?' cried the group
of searchers in chorus.
zone OF them internal singing lizards got
in my ear and nearly drove me crazy an
swered Hammond, but he popped out when
/ struck the water. BY the way boys, what
do you think of that jump"
SIT ought to have killed you," said one
man.
SIT didn't though cried Hammond with
a laugh. sI'll make 1t again for 10 dollar
bill.''
The next morning Jack Harris had the
distance measured, and the tape line, held
close to the cliff edge, marked 155 feet and
few inches when the other end touched the
water. Hammond did not appear to suffer
from his terrible flight through the air. He
worked for Harris until the latters
contract was finished and then went into
Mexico to work on the Mexican Central.
He was in his underclothes that night and
his feet were protected only by thin socks
He struck the water feet first. and described
the sensation experienced as similar to that
if the feet had been smartly slapped with
broad strap. While in the air he felt no
difficulty in breathing, and the increased
velocity as his body neared the water was
not percepiible.