Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1896-06-02
CHAPTER III

After some days Bill resumed work
upon his spring bucket idea He finally
succeeded III getting the model TO work
by putting a rock in the down bucket,
but for obvious reasons this was not sat
isfactory Then he planned n plankway
from the window 40 yards down the
hill to the spring and car on wheels
At this stage in the evolution of the idea
he was interrupted by something new,
which consigned the self acting labor
saving, travelling buckets To the com
panionship of his other unfinished con-
trivances. The cyclone had caused in
tense excitement The destruction TO life
and property and the hairbreadth es-
capes Were absorbing topics and the re-
ports Of other cyclones, gathered from
newspapers, were eagerly discussed and
magnified. People began to think of cy-
clone retreats rs refugees i'll stormy times.
One day Tom offered to bet the seed
cotton in his patch that Bill could fix
up something that would puzzle any
cyclone in the world, and thus the train
was fired in the brain Of the family
genius Something was needed that
could be reached quickly without ex-
posure to the elements. In the recent
storm negro had taken refuge in eel
lar. but the house had fallen III and
taken fire, and the negro had lost his
life. So the refuge must be apart from
the house to insure complete safety.
Thus Bill III the solitude OF his work
shop reasoned.
The rough plan of his water railroad
caught his eye, and an old dairy near
the bottom Of the hill flashed into his
recollection. Then the true plan was
perfected in his mind.
The Gunner dwelling was upon the
site of one of the great antebellum
homes that disappeared when Sherman
marched through Georgia, and the spa
cious dairy dug out of the hillside and
fronting upon the little ravine that ran
down to the spring was monument 10
the old family which had dwelt there.
Bills idea was IA covered passage lead
ing from u window down the hill and
by sharp curve into the dairy. Burn
ing with the fever Of the scheme, he
communicated his plans TO Tom and Sc
cured at once his powerful ally.
The two boys picked cotton at 40 cents
per hundred for neighboring planter
and secured money enough TO buy the
necessary lumber, and Bill went to work
upon the structure. The diameter Of the
chute was determined by measuring
Nanky Gunners chair seat, and a
weeks hard work completed the struc-
ture. 1t was feet wide and 8 feet high,
inside measurement. The upper end
rested in the window and the lower en-
tered the old subterranean dairy, the
rest Of the opening there being closed
with stout boards and dirt
For a long time Bill debated upon a
travelling railway to run down the pas
sage he had constructed, but the idea in
~Dlved new difficulties, such as pulleys,
wheels and ropes, and consequently q
considerable outlay Of money-some-
thing not obtainable, for the boys had
bankrupted their resources in the pur-
chasing Of lumber. Besides the fever OF
the idea was hot upon them At this
juncture Tom offered suggestion II
was the nearest approach to an inven-
ton he had ever made.
BILL" said he in his hearty way,
"folk as es gittin erway f'om ercycleone
amt expected ter move erbout in style
like they We're er-gwine ter er quiltin
ALI they wants ter do es ter git mp an
git tell the things blows over. Now hit
do seem ter me thet ther way ter fix
thet ar thing es ter grease them bottom
planks thar an wen ther time comes
ter be er-movin jes' git en- an scoot down
ter ther bottom. Hit amt gwine ter be
much used, an reckon we kin stan hit !"
Bill surveyed him admiringly.
"Tom, - said he, ''er inventor hissef
CANT beat ye on thet.
And 80 it waR One day when they hac
the premises clear they removed the toy