Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1896-06-12
VOL. 52.-NO. "a

we O1u uOG Iueu KNOW WnaG enoC
that would have on the flume. Thi
sluice, which furnished water powe,
! for the mill, did not descend in direc
line, but took diagonal course across
the slope.
Bill reached the turbine safely, but
had no room to spare the conduit. Ht
told the men below that he felt very
peculiar while making this part of the
descent, fearful that by some chance he
might be fastened there.
On reaching the turbine he fred a
shot, but no reply of any kind was
made Then he fired two in succession.
and soon the joyful answer, in the
shape of hanmering on the metallic
pipe, greeted his ears. The men, poor
fellows, thought the first shot was a
breaking timber and listened to it grim
ly. They had braced the building as
well as they could, and were awaiting
their fate. When the two reports sound
ed, they felt sure it was signal, and
Emma Joe Che last worked at the EN-
ma mine) said: Grouse up, boys Here
is rescue sure
At first, they afterward told me, it
had not occurred to them that any one
came down through the conduit They
thought shaft had been sunk and that
the first object encountered was the con-
duit. They ran to it and hammered
dull reply, and there was no mistake as
whence it came Bill could only kick
with his boot.
Weak and exhausted they worked
with desperate eagerness, and after
some time removed the turbine. Down
dropped Bill among them.
"Thank God, it's Governor Billp'
said Emma Joe. And then these rough,
reckless men sobbed with joy.
"What's that, Bill?'' Joe inquired.
''It's the snow settling. There is
Chinook above. Come, hurry, you fell
lows, and we will leave this place. -
The first man to go attached the rope,
pulled at it and was hauled upward.
And the snow continued to settle.
Then two more were rescued and the
rope returned.
$50 ahead, Bill"
"No, you, Joe. Hurry!"
''Why, old man, SO anxious?"
"Just because the fellows above want
to see you, Joe,'' he almost pleaded.
Joe afterward said that Bill looked pale
at this time and assumed Indifference
'The heavy snow might crush the
fume, Bill. "
SIT won't crush it. -
"Well, then, here goes. Goodby."
When Bill replied, Joe said that he
smiled like woman.
Joe barely passed the point where the
wooden fume Was united to the conduit.
The normal strain was separating them,
the angle between them was becoming
sharper and sharper, but he bent his
body and thus passed through. Then
with a horrible feeling he thought of
Bill. "And this is why he hurried us, -
he groaned.
This was the reason. Bill noticed the
break when he descended, and he knew
what the creaking sounds from the con-
duit meant, but he never told the others.
When Joe reached the surface he barely
whispered, "Hurry and lower the ropel'
Too late!
The weight at the ropes end lodged.
Joe knew where.
And then the miners dug with frenzy,
for Bill was the pride of the camp.
When the shaft, sunk through the snow,
reached the mill, it was crushed. The
strain upon it due to the watered snow
had been too great. Governor Bills body
was found revolver in hand, and this
told story. Two DAYS later there was
as impressive funeral at the Last
Chance camp as was ever seen on the
frontier. They buried him, not in wormy
earth, but deep in the fragmentary rock
Of played out stope of the mine.
They will tell you now among the
Occur 'Alene mountains of the govern
or hero of the Occur d'Haleine, ''heart
Of breath. '-Lieutenant Herman Hall
in Golfers Weekly.