The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-06-24
ghe aasiehta daily Eagle: Eraan orina, gnm a. se2

! should be before they would send down
a single log. made up my mind to go
down the fume.
ibid you ever see one Of those log
I fumes Of the Sierras?''
/ | replied that had seen fumes which
/ came down from the mountains TO the
Columbia river, carrying wood for the
steamers and also lumber, and that l
had seen those long fumes which car
ried water from distant heights for
mining and irrigation purposes
Well" said he, these log fumes are
stronger. They are quite common, and
they are from two miles to ffty-fve
miles long. They are constructed in
the shape OF Y out OF two-ineh plank
securely bolted together and placed
! firmly on trestle. The sides of the
fume are about two feet high, and the
water about ten inches deep that usually
pours down The decline is quite steep,
say eighteen or twenty inches to the
Thousand, but in some places much
more than that. This hume ran some
thing like twenty-three miles, and the
town was almost a mile below Us. Ny
ride was TO be nothing like that which
the millionaires J. G. Fair and j. c.
Flood, in company with an eastern man,
once INDUCED in down q fume fifteen
miles long. They took every precau-
ton and made everything as secure
as possible, having at their disposal a
well constructed boat. But they were
upset, thrown out, and escaped by only
a hairs breadth with their lives. With
the same motive it would have been the
very extravaganza OF folly for me to
have e.tertained the idea of going
down this fume. What madness was
it then for me to deliberately determine
on making that terrific descent, IN
certain whether the line of the hune
was continuous or not? The sagging
of rock, the rotting of timber, the
fall of a tree across it-any one Of fifty
possible things would be enough to hurl
me into eternity and thoroughly thwart
my purpose.
But there was my pardner, whose
case was every instant becoming more
and more critical He was growing de-
Iirious, having bruised his head in the
the bare idea of his death. went out
and examined an old boat which had
been used to take trips down this fume.
1t would serve my purpose. l was
ready 70 start. Leaving my pardner in
the care of one Of the men, after telling
him that | would soon be back with the
doctor, / came out of the rough log
cabin again IN company with the other
man, who was to turn on the flood
gates at the reservoir when l would be
ready.
Night had come and wind from
the south arisen. I noticed a mass of
clouds was rolling around a corner Of
the mountain and its outer edge had
touched the line of the fune. And at
the same instant there touched my ears
the faint, muf1ed echoes of thunder.
Following upon this came a sharp re-
port, which was preceded by an ugly
thrust Of lightning, which seemed to
cut through my path. l adjusted my
boat and told the man l was ready.
The old reservoir gate creaked as the
man worked at it. A thin stream of
water came at first sweeping beneath
my boat. l was firmly fixed within
watching the white line as it shot ahead /
Of me. The stream increased. It /
touched my boat. The next instant |
the full tide struck me and away 1
I shot. 1t fairly took my breath /
away for the first few rods. The veloc- /
ity and the fall gave me sinking SEN /
sation and my brain began to reel, .
while everything began to run together /
in universal chaos about me. knew .
only enough to hold on tight while (
l spun, like q projectile
hurled from a lannon's mouth. Ont of .
this dazed condition of mind and sick
ness OF heart was jerked by a sudden
jump of my boat. The line had sagged,
causing an unevennesS. But the de-
cline was so great that the waters
plunged across and my boat leaped the
break and struck the other end OF the
dume, making the water spout up for
sixty feet. Then there was tremen-
dous jostling for moment. I received
a splash of the water full in the face,
which revived me. Thereafter the
perils, known and unknown, and the
terrible rush only stimulated my facuI-
ties.
Il was now swinging along like light
ming IN the full light OF the moon. The
panorama of trees, of
forests, of rocks. ofyawn-
ng chasms-all stood out with terrible
The fume went straight
for awhile, then it curved and sI1irted
he edge OF a precipice which over
ool1ed what seemed a bottomless ABYSS.
Ahead was an enormous rock. Against
il ! appeared 10 be rushing, when, like
4 fash, the boat seemed 70 strangely
wade it and cling to its perpendicular
;ides, for the fUme was bracketed
against the dead wall and beneath
here was only Al unfathomable depth
Il darkness. On to the solid but steep
sides Of the mountain the boat came
rightiul drop; il seemed straight
Town, as though the bottom had fallen
'ut of everything in general and the
3Ume IN particular. Ny! how the water
dashed and tore when the boat struck
he more moderate decline across
n awful chasm 1t shot, and
what a roar rose, borne up bv the
chilling winds which struck me there
or an instant, making NY teeth chat
er. Once or twice after ! started ! had
.eard the boom Of distant thunder,
nto this thunder cloud NY boat went
With its own roar. The moon was OBJ
cured and the cloud was SO dense that
could see nothing. II was simply tae
,lackness OF darkness The gloom aD-
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