Morning journal and courier., 1889-05-02
TALBOT,S HIDE 1O DEATH.

Down a Raging Torrent and Into the Stormy Sea on q Saw Log.
 LFrem the San Jose Mercury.l
 Rev. w. H. Bsugh returned from Santa Cruz yesterday. In an interview he said:
 "The storm now raging at Santa Cruz is 8 remarkable one, both for the height to which the seas have been driven by the winds and tides, and for the great quantity of water which has fallen in the torrents of rain. It has been fully a week since the people have been able to walk on the beach, and day by day during that time the storm had steadily grown fercer and the waves risen higher. Wednesday night the rain fell in great sheets, which the wind blew with such violence that the drops rattled against the windows of the house like hailstones. The sea rose to the floors of the Neptune baths, and encroached upon the land as far as the sidewalk in front of the Seaside Home; the winds, lifting the white caps from the waves in great masses of foam, bore them in heavy spray to the verandas of the house, while out at sea the waves and clouds were huddled and driven together confusedly by the tempest.
 "The fascination of the sight is felt by everybody. I never saw so many people in Santa Cruz looking at the ocean before. They throng one of the wharves, not daring to venture upon the other because it is part- ly submerged beneath the waves. In the meantime the river, which descends from the
 
 height by reason of the torrents of rain that have poured down into it for 8 week. The river rose very suddenly-so suddenly in- deed that it would seem 8 rain cloud must have burst upon the western slopes of the Santa Cruz mountains and let all its waters descend with rush to the hills. At the confluence of the river and the ocean there is an angry whirl of conflicting waves and currents formed by the strength of the sea and the rush of the river contending for the mastery. The tumultuous pillows, broken and chopped to fragments in this contest, and tossed and driven by the loud, roaring winds, form an awful spectacle of waste and ruin.
 "One could scarcely imagine ship striv- ing successfully to make her way through the dangers; and if a stout boat had ven- tured into it the people on the shore would have watched her course with bated breath. Yet into the very iercest of this fury the watchers of the storm yesterday morning saw a man ride recklessly on no better craft than a log.
 "The man was first noticed by the people who were standing on the bridge which leads from Laurel street to Branceforte. He was then seen to be coming down the swollen stream on 0 log with balance pole or pad- dle in his hands. He was recognized as J. H. Talbot, who was known to be an experi- enced logger and who had come out from the East about two years ago. Talbot had been accustomed to ride logs down the spring floods of eastern rivers, and it was evident from his action that he intended to feel the thrill of those swift rushing dangers again. AS he saw the crowds on the bridge he began to sing, and leaped about on the log, dancing to show his skill.
 "The crowd, fearful of the danger that awaited him, shouted to him to make his way to shore. But he answered only with a wave of his hand and reckless word of bravado. In few minutes the current bore him away from the bridge, and the excited crowd ran down to the railroad bridge below, urging Talbot at every moment to make for the shore and abandon his ride.
 'tJust above the lower bridge Talbot pad dled his log up to the bank and showed some signs of landing. But the very moment when the log touched the bank he suddenly grew bold again, and, pushing off. started once more down the stream, which was now growing more and more troubled by reason of the waves that were coming up from the bay.
 f'Not far below the bridge is large rock, and here again Talbot guided his craft in safety, and might have stepped of and been secure until boat could reach him. To the advice of those who called to him and im- plored him to desst and save himself he an. swered again with defiant words, and let himself and his craft be borne outward into the bay.
 herS aHiio tue tuInuit ol sHe waves n6 seems to have seen for the first time the dan gers into which his rashness had brought him. He rode the log with skill and cour- age, he fought for his life gamely; but he was as powerless to guide himself as straw driven about by whirlwind. He called to the shore to the watchers to bring him 8 boat, but even as he called the forces around him had carried him into such dangers as no boat could survive. Still, such was his ex- perience in riding through all manner of ed- dying and bubbling waters that, despite the way the log was rolled here aud there and pitched up and down in the waves, he kept his perch.
 ssThere is narrow neck of land at this point that, jutting into the sea, separates the eoean from the bay. Through this strip