St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1893-08-26

up. the thought came to me tina, never
had l been in q position of such utter
helplessness and dependence. Lest
the figures given above should fail to
convey the exact idea, let me suggest q
comparison which occurred to me
while crossing this span.
The Pulitzer building in New York il
just about one mile from the Battery,
and the height from the ground to the
foot of the flagstaff il, IL my memory
serves, $50 feet Now pile six Pulitzer
buildings one atop the other and start
from the battery in . little bucket,
smaller than an ordinary clothes
hamper, and 60 to the top of that mass
suspended on q single rope, and il you
as a man will not recognize your insig-
nificance nothing will ever bring you to
that realizing sense.
full grandeur Of the scene and all ner-
vousness disappeared, strange to say,
right at thc most dangerous part of the
journey. Four hundred feet below mo
l could see train of those most abused
and yet invaluable little burros slow
ly and painfully climbing the mar
row trail laden with supplies and tim
bers for a ncighboring mine. Two miles
down the valley lay Telluride, looking
like child's plaything, and still fur
ther away miles and miles of dazzling
mountain peaks against the blue sky
of Colorado-bluer than Italy ever
dreamed of, and about me the most
unique and picturesque colOrinGs peep
ing ont from the uncovered patches OF
the mountains
The day was absolutely perfect. the
sun warm, and, despite the constant
danger Of loaded buckets breaking
away and dashing all of us to the abyss
below and needless Of the possibility Of
many things which might happen. I
thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful
view. I am free to confess, however,
to feeling as though an intense strain
had been removed when l finally
crossed that gigantic tower and found
myself only q hundred feet or SO from
terra firma. and only then did I discov-
er that my hands had been clutcheil on
that bucket with . deathlike grip and
were wet with perspiration, while with
my feet had been exerting . tremen-
dous pressure against the front end
We soon came in sight Of the upper
terminal, and upon arrival there I
found the men had decided to remain,
accepting the slight reduction. and
there would be no party to reward me
for my trir-if indeed any reward other
than the trip itself were necessary.
Let me add. however, that the mouth
of the mine was still q mile and half
further up the mountain. and that the
ore is brought from the mine to the top
of the tram by burros, each carrying
two sacks weighing one hundred and
twenty-five pounds each. Well. my
mission being fruitless, We reentered
our buckets on the down trip. feel
perfectly sure that had the order been
reversed and the down trip come first
wonld have backed ont At any cost, but
my up journey gave me confidence. and
il was with considerable equsnimity
that gased down to the tiny terminal
two thousand feet below.
As Mr.. Green entered his bucket re
marked to the man who fastened It in
place: ''Get that good and tight, my
boy"
He answered: Il am . thousand
times more anxious about this thing
than you, and will not breathe freely
till you're down."
then learned from him that since
he opened the tram twenty-five thou
sand buckets had passed = given point.
with only three runawayk ! did not
then 60 into the detail of the damage
done. but climbed into my bucket once
more, figuring the number Of times
three goes into twenty-five thousand.
Arriving ut the high tower again. and
entering upon the fourteen-hundred-
foot span, . horrible swaying of tho
bucket commenced. and finally it came
to dead stop right at the worst place on
the line. The stoppage was but mo-
mentary. and was done purposely to
give me the Snll benefit.
There, on the same span, were the
tiny buckets, with two other boys, and
the Thought came to me Of the hor-
rible results Of . runaway At that par
ticular time. for, while the first bucket
Mansfield was but six hum
dred feet ahead, it was at the same
time over two hundred feet below me,
and I could just see him waving his
hand to me by peering over the front
end of my cab. Well. we reached the
ground again safely, and then looking
back once more I fully understood
where we had been and wopdercd At
the foolhardincss of it al, but I
take great deal for the cx-
perience, Just the same.-D. J. Flynn,
in n " Railrnad Men