Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1895-04-05
IN AN ICY DOWNPOUR.
FIERCE HAlLsToRM OUT OF AcLEAR
SKY IN AUGUST.

An Adventure ON tho Plains Of New Mex
ico-Hailstones Large as Chestnuts That
Cut Like Flint-More Than Two Hun
dred Sheep Killed In . Few Minutes.
"Traveling last summer by blackboard
eastward over tho plains that skirt sne
Penasco valley in New Mexico, T" said an
amateur ranchman, "our trail for long
distance lay through sheep grazing
country. 1t was o still, bright day, III
which, owing to the rarefied air due to the
high altitude, the August heat was not op-
pressive. Early in the afternoon we pass
I'd a flock of about 2, 200 sheep pasturing
so near the trail that we exchanged a
buenos dias with the Mexican shepherd.
We gave the shepherd a handful of tobac-
co and q light for the cigarette which he
proceeded to roll from little square of
cornhusk that he took from pouch in
his ragged coat. He thanked us, and as
we started to drive on remarked, with an
expressiye gesture toward the western
mountains dimmed by pearly clouds like
a mist:
ava a Hover, senores' ct is going to
rain.)
ssThree miles ahead of us was an adobe
hut and corral which might afford us shell
ter should it rain, which from all appear
ances we thought unlikely But the rain
came and quickly. When we left the shep-
herd. the sun was shining in undiminlsh-
ed splendor, and the whole sky, except
that behind the mountains, was clear. Be
fore we had got half way to the hut rain
drops were falling thickly as our first
warming that the sky above had become
overcast, and that from the direction OF
tho western mountains a dense cloud like
a black mist, rent by lightning flashes,
was advancing toward us with the speed
of whirlwind. My companion, Lon
Tompkins, an old timer, was driving, and
he gathered up the reins and put the whip
to the horses.
"'We'll make the best run we can for
that 'dobe, he said, but the rain will
catch us with all we can do
I'm minute more it was raining hard
with dense downpour that hid alike the
adobe house and corral ahead and tho
shepherd and his flock behind. Then came
O brisk rafting upon the blackboard, "a
pelting of our hands and faces as if by
bird shot, and hard white drops like pearls
were rebounding from the backs Of the
horses, stingiEg and driving them forward
like blows of a whip. It was the cutting
of hail.
"'Now it's neck or nothing said
Tompkins as he grasped the reins more
tightly and braced his feet against the
dashboard No need to urge forward the
horses. All effort was directed to keep
them under control as they gathered and
sprang forward with increasing speed I'M
der the sharp blows of hailstones that now
were driving down as large as chestnuts
and all the time coming thicker and lar
ger.
Another minute and the horses were
crouching and quivering and leaping from
sidc to side under the rain of ice Jumps
that bruised our hands and faces like the
striking of pebbles. 1t was appalling tho
weight and force with which they fell.
The horses were getting beyond control
just when, ahead and to the left, we saw
looming through the ice torrent the tow
ering shape of trees. They were nearer
than we thought. Tompkips refined the
horses sharply to the left. A dozen mad
plunges onward, thump, and the sharp
grinding of wheel hub against tree
trunk, as tho blackboard careened and
nearly threw us out, and, 10, we were in an
oasis of safety, out of the fury of the
white downpour, beneath the broad spread
ing branches of the grove of great cotton
woods that tower about the muddy water
hole at Las Alamosas.
Tho horses quoted down the instant
they passed beneath the sbeltering branch
es, and stood painting and steaming, their
ewes swollen and bloodshot from the cruel
pelting of ice Our broad sombrero brims
had somewhat shielded our faces, which.
nevertheless, like our hands, wero bruised
and swollen. Tompkins hands had suf
fered most, as he had been compelled to
expose them in handling the reiDs. But
drenched and sore as we were, it was with
content and thankfulness that we leaned
against the tree trunks, with leaves and
twigs and scattering hailstones sitting
thickly down upon us, while from the up
per branches showers of broken foliage
and CHANGING hail were flying outward to
minglo with the icy downpour. All the
while there was the almost ceaseless crash
and roll of thunder and flashing of light
ming.
In our haven of safety we remained
until the thunder died away and the hail
stones ceased to fall. The rain, subsding
into gentle patter, stopped as suddenly
as it had begun, and the commotion of
the elements rCccued TO the west, where
flashes of lightning broke from rain
cloud which still yelled the distant noun
tains
"A glorious burst of sunlight broke
through clouds at the zenith, sending
them flying all ways and revealing sky
as blue as turquoise
1.-The river will be too high to ford be-
fore tomorrow, said Tompkins. Shall we
go on and camp on its bank or go back to
Penasco?'
1--WE decided to go to Penasco, where
there was hotel, and turning round
took the back trail. The Mexican shop
herd who had warned us of the shower
was moving about with his dog, and we
could sec as we approached that como of
the sheep were feeding, while others re-
manned still on the spot where they had
huddled at the beginning of the storm
When quite near we saw why these sheep
were not feeding. They lay upon the
ground, fully 200 in number killed by
hail. OF the sheep that had gone to feed
ing many were bleeding at the nose, and |
their swollen eyes bore signs of the cruel |
battering they had sustained. The Next |
can had sheltered himself and his dog nm