The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1885-06-10
v.bs-t Eammond's Great Leap CT
One Hundred and Fifty-FiVe
Feet.
l,Y,ven to Madness by a Singing
Llzzard ard Unframed by the
Jump.

the brooklyn plldSe 'e"eiio" i'e'N
we were talking over the affair in
he "Gold Room Sam Graham,
Sergeant OF Rangers, called at
Dtent,on to a parallel incident which
,tuacted grea. deal of attention on
| the frontier at the time and gave the
name Of "ftalnmond's Leap" to a
I ofty csnYon wall on the bank of the
ER,o Crande, about SIX miles west
/ gom where the alkaline waters of
HEhe Pecos empty INTO it. The track
l Of the Southern Pacific Railroad
uns close to the river shere, and as
YOU whlrl by the trainmen will point
out the spot where Robert Ham
nond made sheer leap of I55 feet
20 the muddy waters of the Rio
| lJrande below. This leap wa, made
the early summer of 1852, when
lhe railroad was IN process of con-
suuction. \ great deal of heavy
rock work was done along the Rio
Grande after the road crosses the
IPecos and about ten thousand nav
gies were concentrated about Vine
garoan, now a city of the past, whose
only monument is vast pile of
empty bottles. The contractors es-
labhshed great camps convenient to
hheIr work and the white tents dotted
Phe mesa top in every direction,
making the encampments of one Of
the largest army of workmen that
ever built railroad.
Hammond worked in the day gang
nd the big wall tent he shared with
ix or eight others was about three
hundred yards from the edge of the
|ofty wall, against whose base the
muddy waters of the 'great river"
dashed and tumbled. AT this par
hcular point the river is quite deep
ple night the sleeping occupants of
Harris camp were aroused by
Ferries of startling yells, which came
nom Hammond's tent. Before they
could collect their senses and settle
n their minds whether or not the
amp had been attacked by Indians
Hammond dashed from the tent, and
iithough held by his companions,
hnally tore himself away, and yelling
at every jump, made giant bounds
toward the river. The drillers and
elasters 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. \ cry
Of horror burst from their lips as the
Yelling man reached the brink of the
FeclPlce, and, without a seconds
HESITATION, leaped out and shot down
axe plummet to the boiling flood
''S feet below. They heard the
QUO splash made by his body when
Sruck the water and then. with
oianched faces and hushed voices,
urried down to the river level IT,
sarch Tor the poor fellows manoied
0ooV' " hat was their surprise to
meet the supposed dead man alive
smhlured. He was shlvering with
1old, however, and the muddy
sater dripped from his clothing.
What was the matter:" cried
ae group of searchers IN chorus.
"one OF them Internal lizards cot
: nv ear and nearly drove me
aazy' answered Hammond, ,.but !
: popped out when | struck the
aa'er. By the way, boys, what do
0u think of that jump
1t ought to have killed YOU. said
sae man.
y e'dn't though crned Ham
%eau with laugh, ..I'H make it
gun tor = ten dollar bill
nc RsNS morning Jack Harms had
Instance measured, aud the tape