Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1896-06-11

To memory leave no briefest space
From earliest ray of dawning light,
For all too soon comes on apace-
All, God!-the night
Minnie Leona Upton in Century.
DOWN THE FLUME.
The snow lay deep in the CGur
d d'Alenes-yes, more than that, the min
ing camps were "snowed in. " / had not
been long in the camp and it was all
new to me, SO 1 naturally tied to Gov
| ernor Bill, foreman of the Last Chance,
during the exciting days Of the great
snowstorm. The miners gave him that
name because he had gone to college
with a governor Of one Of our eastern
states. He was educated for the bar, but
drink made him miner. and now that
he was reformed the company made him
a foreman. When the storm commenced,
the mills We're all shut down and the
water which furnished the power was
turned from the various fumes.
The day following the one Of the
heaviest snowfall it was reported at the
lower end of the gulch that an immense
snowslide had occurred during the night
at the upper end. procured pair of
snowshoes and hurried to the scene. The
manager and Bill were experimenting
the working Of scores of miners-in fact,
all the available men.
What the matter, Bill?'' inquired.
"The men at the upper mill are buried
in this mountain Of snow, ]" he answered.
''Whatl How many?''
-Four. You see, the miners at the
boarding house there below escaped, but
those who slept in the loft of the mill
at the head of the gulch had no chance
to leave. "
Those who have visited the Ceur
d d'Alencs will recall how steep the buttes
rise from the narrow gulches AT places
you can scarcely scale them, and even
the hardy pines can barely gain foot
ing.
The wind was now blowing in gusts,
carrying clouds of snow from the buttes
above, swirling down the slopes, eddy
ing through the gulches and banking the
white powder at the very feet of the
miners. Shovels were powerless, but the
men worked on III the firm belief that
they would reach their comrades. Rut
no one knew whether the old building
had stood the strain and that the poor
fellows were alive.
Its no 60, Mr. Bardon, Bill de-
spondently said. 'There il no telling
how long the storm will keep up, and
even if it soon subsidies it will be days
before we can reach them. Moreover,
they cannot live long in that small
building without air .
II fear you are right, Bill. But it is
all we can do " slowly replied the man
ager.
There was a momentary lull i'll the
storm, when the governor remarked,
with an anxious face; Look at the
streak down the butte That must have
been the path of the slide. "
Yes, it originated on the smooth
fume " A binding rush Of snow from
over the mountains shut out the view
THE wind keeps the fume bare near the
top Of the slope, " added the manager
after we had shifted our positions, for
the snow was drifting about us.
All day long the men toiled, and all
that night reliefs were working, but
progress III the shaft was slow, as the
snow continually caved in or was carried
III by the wind. During the following
day and night there was no let up in
the work. To me affairs looked more
hopeful, for the storm had spent its
fury and was now subsiding. That
night asked Bill how deep he thought
the snow was where the men We're work
ing.
ITS hundred feet if an inch, he
replied, "and we have not made more
than 40 Thirty more feet should bring
US to the roof, but, you see, it becomes
harder the deeper we get.
Evidently Bill did not take as hope
full view Of affairs. l had moved my
bunk to the Office building, and early
the following morning was aroused by
loud knocking at the door. 1t was the
governor He looked very determined
and hu1riedly said that he had planned
a scheme, side issue, during the night
and wanted me to join him. Bill had
not slept or eaten much since the slide,
50 worried had he been and anxious tG
rescue the buried men. He had several
hundred feet of small, strong rope with
him, and after a hurried breakfast at
the officers mess five of us set out on
snowshoes.
Which way, Bill?"
''To the flume, was all he said
/ did not urge him; it only irritates
strong man to ask him to disclose his
plans in time Of action. Idecided to fol-
low and await developments.
The ascent Of the precipitous butte in
the gray Of morning was 10 easy task
but by taking somewhat circuitous
route, which followed "hcgback, " we
avoided the sleeper slope and before long
reached the exposed portion of the
wooden fnme.
"And now, (" said Bill, ''we'll move
down as far us we can along the flume
We did so, and after travelling short
distance below the point where the snow
first covered the planking we dug sew
eral feet and cleared the boards.
The scheme had gradually unfolded
itself to me. | saw it all now Bill was
going to have himself lowered down the
fiume and. if possible, through the "a
inch metallic conduit, which prolonged
the hume at short distance from the
mill. Then he would trust to luck at
getting through the turbine and into the
building And this was the man who,
during the tumultuous troubles of pre-
ceding summer, had stood loyal to the
company. and with a few brave men
had kept these same miners at the lower
end Of the gulch away from he COM
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