Daily Yellowstone journal., 1890-04-18

ny waller. rae fish was flashing the
water into foam, and its eyes wero
fastened with a wicked glare on our
frail craft. There was not much time
to lose. A few moments and We would
be lost. Then | thought of something.
The fish was within fifty feet of our
boat. Snatching the anchor | hurled
It at the approaching terror. True to
my aim, the heavy iron struck the fish
on the lower jaw. Thinking evidently
that it vas something good TO eat, the
fish attempted to swallow the anchor,
but the ilukes caught IN his gullet.
and leaping half way out of the water,
the huge fish turned and started down
stream. Quick as lightning gave the
anchor rope three turns around the
sampson posts" and us it pulled taut
we began Ia move through the water
with great speed, The now frightened
iisu made the most desperate efforts To
release iSeiI. The anchor was evi-
IDENTIFY lacer@uug It's throat and ii must
be suffering great pain. First 10 one
side, then To another, down to the bot
tom of the river, then %springing five Oh
SIX feet IN the air, cacOrted the fish.
The yellow water was blood streaked
foam from bank 10 bank. and the
waves rolled up the bank with "A wick
ed swish As may well be imagined.
u craft vas moving through the
water in a terrific manner. Sometimes
we would sail through the air, two
feet above the bosom of the river, and
again be two feet below the surface.
Talk about your lightning express and
fast veslibule trains-they are snails
compared to the speed we were going.
"All at once smoke began issuing
from the starboard side of the boat. A
new danger confronted US. We were
going 81 fast through the water that
the friction had set our craft on fire.
Some Of the men ORGANIZED a bucket
brigade i~nstauter and soon had the
flames extiuguished. but they We're
kept busy putting oIt the fire hat
was continually starting in different
parts of the hull. When the bottom
caught the firemen had to bore holes
through the flooring in order 10 pour
water on the blaze! Why, gentlemen,
there was such a terrible friction that
the water was scalding hot-so hot
that for twenty feet on each side of the
boat we could boil eggs and potatoes
by simply throwing them overheard.
The suction Was " intense that what,
ever We threw into the water would
remain close To the boat and our cooh
got dinner that way. Why, he boiled
a ham IN the river in exactly seven
minutes. All We had 10 do was 10
throw the stuff in, keep time on it. and
then haul II out with a long pole. We
went past Memphis SO fast that ths
boiling river furnished steam for all
the factories IN town Tor over two
hours. i think | am safe ia saying
that we were towed by that fish for
fully fifteen hours.
1t was the fastest ride | ever took.
and l have had several fast rides in my
time. As | say, we had been dashing
along for about fifteen hours, when
suddealy the anchor rope broke
When it snapped it made a report like
the explosion OF IA ten pound cannon
Oh a Fourth Of July morning. Re.
lieved of his drag weight, the fish dart
ed ahead and was soon out of sight.
Our boat had such Roadway hat she
ran two hundred miles before stop.
ping. \. ilalboat. you understand, is
not lifted W with AUTOMATIC brakes,
and we iaS no way OF c.iec.ing her
speed until the momentum vas ex.
hausted. 1t is a mighty lucky thing
for US that the rope did break. Had il
not parted we would have been scalded
TO death, sure. The heavy three inch
oak planks GU: of which the boat was
built were worn down to the thinnest
of tissue paper. We We're going So
fast that the water acted just like a
jackplane on the wood. A few hours
longer and the boat would have been
a mere bunch Of shayings, aud in the
boiling water we would have suffered
q horrible death. indianapolis News