The Coalville times. [volume] (Coalville, Utah) 1894-1923, 1896-09-25
DOun the Flume.


ING camps were showed In" ! had
not been long In the camp and II was
nil new 10 me. ~ I naturally tied 10
Gov. 1911. foreman NJ the Last Chance.
during the exciting days " the great
snowstorm The miners gave him that
name hpcnuse h1 had gone 10 college
with governor Of one ofour Eastern
states. lie was educated for the bar
but drink made him miner. and now
that he was reformed the company
made him foreman When the storm
sammcnccd the mills were oil shut
down and the water which furnished
thc power was turned from the various
fumes
The DAY following the one Of the
heaviest snowfall II was reported M
the lower cnd " the gulch that nn IN
mcnsc snow slide had occurred during
the night NJ the upper end. procured
q pair " snowshoeS aud hurried TO the
scene. The manager aud Bill were ~.
pcrintcndlng the working OF scores OF
miners In fact, all the available men.
Whats tile mnttcr BillF IN
aulrcd
'The men at the uppcr min are
buried In this mountain Of snow lac
answered.
What How manyr'
-Four. You see the miners nj the
boarding house thcrc escaped, hut
those who slept In the loft Of the min
at the head Of the gulch had no chance
Co leave"
Those who have visited the Occur
d'Alenes will recall how steep the
buttrr rise from the narrow gulchcs.
a. places You can scarcely scale them.
aud even the hardy pines can barely
gain footing
The wind was now blowing In gusts.
carrying clouds ~ SNOW from the
buttcs above. awlrlng down the slopes,
eddylnR through the gulchcs ana bank
ing the white powder nl the very feet
OF tine SINNERS Siurels w"rr power
less but the men worked on In the arm
belief that they would reach their com.
rndes Hut np onr knew whether the
old building had stood the strain. nnd
TINT The poor fellows werr alive.
"lts no go. Mt Bardon,' Bill de
spondently said. There h no telling
how long the storm VIII Keep up nnd
even " II soon subsidies. u VIII De- days
before We eau reach them. Moreover
they cannot live long In that smnll
nNiluihE WITHOUT Nll
II fear you nrc right. iiill Hut II Is
all we can do" slowly replied the
manager
There was momcntary hull In the
storm. when the governor remarked,
with mn anxious face: Look ~ the
streak down the butte. That must
have have been the path of the slide"
yes. u originated ON the smooth
numc." A binding rush Of snow from
over the mountain shut out the View.
'"rhc wind keeps the numc bare near
the - OF the slope added the man
ngcr. rftcr We had shifted our posi-.
lions. flr the SNOW was drifting about
us.
Al day long the men tollcd. aud all
that night rcllcfs wew working but
prnuresa In the shaft was slow. M the
snow continually cuvcd In or WIS ear.
ricd In by the wind. During the fol.
lowing day and night there was no let
up la the work 10 me affairs looked
more hopeful. for the storm had spent
its fury aud WINS now suhsldlng That
night asked liill how deep he thought
the snow was where the men were
working.
Its u hundred feet II nn mch" he
replied. "and We have not made nnrr
than forty. Thirty more feet should
bring US To the root but. you see, Il
becomes harder he deeper We get"
Evidently Hlll did NOT take NJ hope
ful view of affairs Ind moved my
bunk to the Office building. aud early
the following morning ! was aroused
by u loud knocking at the door u was
the governor lie looked very de-
tcrmlncd aud hurrlcdly said that he
had planned a scheme, n side Issue,
during the night nud wanted me Ia
Join him. Iilll had not slept or eaten
much since the slide, 80 worried had
he been aud anxious TO rescue the
buried men. lie hnd several hundred
feet OF small. strong rope with him.
aud after hurried breakfast ~ the
officers mess i've of Us set out ON
snowShoes.
(which way, Billf"
'"ro the iiume," was all he said,
| did not urge him; u only lrrltntcs
a strong man TO ask him To disclose hls
plans In time OF action. | decided Ia
follow and await developments.
The ascent of the preclpitnuH butte
IN the gray of morning was no easy
task, hut by taking n somewhat cir
cuitous route, which followed a hog
back" we avoided the sleeper slope
and before long reached the exposed
portion Of the wooden tlumc.
"And now" said BILL wen moy,
down as far rs we can along th,
flume."
We did 40. aud after travelling d
short distance below the point whcr,
the snow first covered the plnnkng
we dug several feet and cleared III,
boards.
The sceheme had gradually nm
folded itself To me. | saw II all nov
Bill was going 10 have himself l0wcrc,
down the nume and II possible
through the twenty.four-inch metallic
conduit, which prolonged the iiumc a
a short distance from the mill rhci
ne would trust TO luck nt gcttin,
through the turbine and into tho build
ing And this was the man who, dur
Ing the tumultuous troubles OF the pre-
ceedlng summer. had stood loyal Il
the company. and with a few brave
men had kept these same miugrs ut TN
lower end Of the gulch awaysfpm tn
company's worksl Here he was NOW
strainlng mind and body to rescue
them.
An AK opened the pnssagoway ang
revealed n dark space OF about tw,
feet by four feet In dimensions hi
fastened the rope under his arms an,
dashed his revolver 10 the inner side %