Waterbury evening Democrat., 1893-06-26

up, the thought came to me that never
had been in position of such utter
helplessness and dependence. Lest
the figures given above should fail to
convey the exact idea, let me suggest
comparison which occurred to me
while crossing this span.
The Pulitzer building in New York is
just about one mile from the Battery,
and the height from the ground to the
foot of the flagstaff is, if 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 go to the top of that mass
| suspended on single rope, and If you
as man will not recognize your insig-
nificance nothing will ever bring you to
that realizing sense.
BY this time / had entered into the
full grandeur of the scene and all ner-
vousness disappeared, strange to say,
right at the most dangerous part of the
| Journey. Four hundred feet below me
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
down the valley lay Telluride, looking
like child's plaything, and still fur
Their 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 out from the uncovered patches of
4 the mountains.
The day was absolutely perfect, the
sun warm, and, despite thu 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,
| thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful
view. am free to confess, however,
| to feeling as though an intense strain
had been removed when + finally
crossed that gigantic tower and found
myself only hundred feet or so from
terra firma, and only then did discov-
/ err that my hands had been clutched on
| that bucket with deathlilxe grip and
| were wet with perspiration, while with
my feet had been exerting a tremen-
dous pressure against the front end.
We soon came in sight of the upper
| terminal, and upon arrival there /
/ found the men had decided to remain,
accepting the slight reduction, and
there would be no party to reward me
| for my trip-if indeed any reward other
than the trip itself were necessary.
Let me add, however, that the mouth
| of the mine was still mile and half
further up the mountain, and that the
l ore is brought from the mine to the top
of the tram by burros, each carrying
J two sacks weighing one hundred and
twenty-five pounds each. Well, my
y mission being fruitless, we reentered
| our buckets on the down trip. 1 feel
| perfectly sure that had the order been
reversed and the down trip come first I
| would have backed out at any cost, but
my up Journey gave me confidence, and
| 1t was with considerable equanimity
that gazed down to the tiny terminal
two thousand feet below.
As Mr.. Green entered his bucket re-
| marked to the man who fastened 1t in
place: "Get that good and tight, my
boy"
He answered: 'I am a 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 a given point,
with only three runaways. l did not
then go 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 at the high tower again, and
entering upon tie fourteea-hundred-
foot span, horrible swaying of the
bucket commenced, and finally it came
to dead stop right at the worst place on
the line. The stoppage was but mo-
"pentary, and was done purposely to
i've me the full 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
containing Mansfield was but six hun
dred feet ahead, it was at the same
time over two hundred feet below me
and 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 wondered al
the foolhardiness of it all, but
wouldn't take great deal for the ex
perience, just the same.-D ]. Flynn
in n. Y. Railroad Men.