Connecticut western news., 1885-07-01
EXTRAORDINARY LEAP.
Jumping Down a Lofty Can
 yon on the Rio .Grande.
A Man Who Dashes Over a Preoipioe
 155 Feet High Escapes Unhurt,

When the news of Professor" cd lum's fatal leap from the parapet of the Brooklyn bridge reached here, says letter from San Antonio, Texas, to the Philadelphia Ttnaes, we were talking over the affair 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 gave tho name of "Ham- mond's Leap" to a lofty canyon wall on tho bank of the Rio Grande, about six miles west from where the alka- line waters of the Pecos empty into 1t. The track of the Southern Pacific Railroad runs close to the river here, and as you whirl by the trainmen will point out the spot where Robert Ham, mond made a sheer leap of 155 feet to the muddy water of the Rio Grande below. This leap was made in the early summer of 1882, when the rail road was In process of construction.
 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 muddy waters of the great river" dashed and tumbled. At this partic- ular point the river is quite deep. One night the sleeping occupants of liar ris' camp was aroused by a series of startling yells. which came from Ham, mond's tent. Before they could col lect their senses and settle in their mind whether or not the camp had been attacked by Indians, Hammond dashed from the tent, and although held by his companions. finally tore himself away, and yelling at every jump, made giant bounds toward the river. The drillers and blasters in the cut stopped work and run up on the bank to see what was the matter. They saw Hammond as he dashed to- ward them and heard his agonized yells. A cry of horror burst from their lips as the yelling man reached the brink of the precipice, and, without a seconds hesitation, leaped out and shot down like a plummet to the boil ing flood, 155 feet below. They heard the loud splash made by his body when 1t struck the water, and then, with blanched faces and hushed voices hurried down to the river level to search for the poor fellows mangled body. What was their surprise to meet the supposed dead man alive and uninjured. He was shivering with cold, however, and the muddy water dripped from his clothing.
 "What was the matter?" cried the group of searchers in chorus.
 "One of them stinging lizards got in my ear and nearly drove me crazy, " answered Hammond, "but he popped | out Wu6u l 6GEuCh GuO HdLoE. oy buc way, boys, what do you think of that jumpp"
 "It ought to have killed you," said one man.
 "It didn't though" cried Hammond, with laugh. I'n make it again foI $10 bill"
 The next morning Jack Harris had the distance measured, and the tape line, held close to the cliff edge, mark ed 155 feet and few inches when tht other end touched the water. Ham mond did not appear to suffer from his terrible flight through the air. H. was in his underclothes that night and his feet were protected only hy thin socks. He struck the water fee first, and described the sensation ex perienced as similar to that if the fee had been smartly slapped with broad strap. While in the air he felt no diff ficulty in breathing, and the increased velocity as his body neared the wate was not physically perceptible.