News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-08-05
THE KING OF ALL KITES.
1T CARRIES A MAN 10 MILES.
Amos Evers Fools with a Giant Toy, and is
Whisked Sky High Across Seven Rivers
and two Ranges ofthe Aueehaniess

STOUT Olleu paper, anu UylnS tlem with
thick cord. A worthless cur or a cat or
two was usually attached to the tail or
''bobs, " and great was the delight of the
Inhabitants when the frightened animal
kicked and squirmed as the kite mount
ed into the clouds.
1t was determined this year that all
previous efforts in kite making should
| be outdone, and three weeks work was
| begun on a monster affair. The dimen-
sions will give an idea: Extreme height,
| 8 feet inches; width across the top,
feet 3 inches; width across the bot
| tom, feet; extreme width across the
middle, 5 feet inches. The framework
was built of tough hickory shaved thin,
and stayed with 5inch copper wire. A
| double thickness of heavy muslin was
stretched on each side of the frame, and
| the place for fastening the flying cord
was doubly braced with yellow pine
| scantling a quarter inch thick. Into
this was screwed a ring bolt, which was
clar1ped on the other side with an iron
pin. The ring itself was inches in di-
ameter, and capable of bearing four or
five hundred weight. The kite complete
weighed ninety.six pounds. T. ke tail
was made of a sixteen-foot rope weight
ed with lead. Instead of the usual fly
ing cord 200 yards of closely wound
MANILA rope, very light, but as strong
as a double link chain, were procured,
and on Thursday afternoon of last week
the kite was pronounced complete and
ready for voyage in the air.
Sam Weatherbee was the man who
| originated the idea, and when every
+ini I.
crowd to liquor at Bragg's bar. The
party consisted of Weatherbee, Amos
Evers, Bill Oaks, or Blind Bill Oaks, as
he is better known; Ed. Walton, and
Spence Maynard. They, drank pretty
freely for ore than an hour, and it
was then proposed that trial should
be make of the kite to test its powers
before the great fly came off the next
morning. The wind was blowing pref
ty fresh from Smiths Gorge, and after
one or two unsuccessful efforts, the
huge frame caught the wind as three
men ran with a rope down a steep in
cline toward Laurel Fork One of them
carried the coil Of rope over his should
er, while the other two paid out the
line. As the huge kite rose in the air
it required The utmost strength of all
| three to hold it, and finding this diff
cult task, they took half turn around
a tree stump. and in that way gradually
gave the kite more rope, until it was
seventy-tive yards in the air.
Just then Evers came out of Bragg's
bar-room. He was very drunk, but
walked fairly straight line. There's
a drink waitin' fur youse fellers," said
he, with a hiccough. "Better git in
thar and git it, an" Then, suddenly
espying the kite and the cord wrapped
around the stump-"Why, you We got
her up, haint yer2 Jes' gimme the end
O. that rope. I'll hold her while you
Ticker"
Nothing loath, the three men assent
ted, and after giving the rope another
turn gave up the slack end to Evers and
| they gone than Evers took one turn
off the stump, and the rope began
to run through and burn his hands.
He braced himself against beg stone
and managed to get a loop over
the stump again in such a manner as
to form what sailors would call couple
of half bitches. This stopped any
more rope from running out. But Evers
| believed he could do better than that
| Taking up The slack, he wrapped it
around and around his body under the
armpits, and made it fast in front of his
chest in three or four tight fiat knots,
''kem out yere, SAM" he cried.
''Kem out yere, till larn ye how to fly
a kite"
This is what the party heard in the
| barroom, and they lounged toward the
| wit 81
the threshold the laugh turned to cry
OF amazement and horror. They saw
Amos Evers stoop and push the rope off
! the stump altogether. In another in
slant they saw him whisked up into the
air as though he had been a feather in
stead of a man weighing 140 pounds.
He was just about heavy enough to
make the kite maintain its equilibrium.
AS he was jerked upward he gave vent
to an unearthly yell Then his
companions family heard him cry,
"Help Help Fur the Lords
sake, boys" but they heard no
more, for the unfortunate man was then
nearly thousand feet above their heads
! They saw him kick and struggle and
grasp the rope in front of him. Higher
and higher he was borne, and fainter
and fainter became his shrieks In less
than five minutes he was a mere strug-
Cling speck outlined against the blue
sky. The kite was still visible, and was
rising steadily 1t must have been 60
ing at terrific rate of speed for poor
Evers was stringing out behind like
pennant from ships mast. In few
minutes more the outline of his form
could no longer be seen, and at the eX-
plration of fifteen minutes from the
time the kite was let loose he had passed
out of sight, going in an easterly direc-
| ton toward Rich Mountain, spur of
the Alleghanies
On the following morning a party
started out in the direction the kite had
| taken. They returned at nightfall
without any tidings of the man who
had been SO strangely snatched away.
Two days passed, and nothing was
heard of Evers. Three days, four, five,
six days, week, and still nothing. 1t
was then generally conceded that the
man had been lost, and consolation was
offered to the widow in the shape of a
small keg of whiskey, a new 'sled
wagon" and a mule. But yesterday
morning Amos Evers turned up as large
as life. Two gentlemen accompanied
him into the place. He sat down on a
cracker barrel in the grocery, azd tod
his story in a few words, and without
any effort at self-gloriication.
after | got jerked off my feet, he
said, 81 didn't know where l was for a
mlnnit, but when the rope began to
tighten it knocked all the rum out o.
my head. L guess | hollered some
Seems to me l was mile high afore
tried to do anything. First | thought
I'd cut the rope, but finding | was LA
BILE to drop too fur concluded to hang
on and see eff | couldn't ketch q tree
top; but | wuz heap to high fur that
After while begin to lose my breath
like, an then | concluded something
had to be done, so begin climbin' that
rope with the idee of Dustin a hole in
the kite. Must a taken me five or six
hours to climb twenty yards, COS it was
pitch dark, when | feels the kite a
wobblin' us though it had lost the
hobs 1 wur afraid to go any higher
fur fear she would drop too sud
dint, so l slides back little way,
and then she got stidy again. Finally
l says to myself, Better die
quick and be done with it, and 1
starts to climb agin. The old kite wob-
bled fearful. | felt that l wuz a goin'
down amazin' fast. felt myself swish
through big buttonwood, but
couldn't git no hand hold, so KEEP on
climbin'. The nearer l got to the kite
the more she wobbled, and the more she