Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1897-08-21
The GuMBo oF MONTANA.
a Soil Which Has tho Staying Qualities
OF Glue.

a Soil Which Has tho Staying Qualities
OF Glue.
II. NJ. Parchen and Henry Kloin have
returned from trip to Cascade county.
Everything went we'll ON the trip out,
but returning they encountered heavy
thunderstorm with fall Of rain, and
in few minutes the road was made al
most impossible Tho soil is thick clay,
of the order known i'll como localities
IS gumbo, and when q little water
comes in contact with it a substance not
unlike glue is the result. The wheels
soon became so weighted with the stuff
that travel in tho wagon was impossible,
and it was resolved to take chances
afoot. There is n peculiarity about
gumbo that it sticks like fly paper to
every thing that ono doesn It want it to
remain attached to, and it somehow
won't stick to the ground long enough
to step ont of it. The members of the
party first tried tiptoeing along. Grad
ually tho sticky substance accumulated
under the balls of their feet until they
were lifted far from the surface Of the
ground, and still it accumulated moro
and more. Gumho is not as light rs
some other substances either. Each foot
that Il pedestrian raises from the ground
adds several pounds to his burden Of
woe. There is limit to Il mans carry
ing capacity. When he has acquired a
silt Oh each foot that weighs 1875
pounds or so, he feels like stopping to
rest or rid himself of tho burden, or
both.
Mr.. Parchcn was the first, it is said,
to try TO kick himself loose from his
appendage of mud Posing himself on
ono heavily laden foot, he kicked out
with the other with all his might, but
one can't kick gumbo from his shoes.
The stuff has been known to resist tho
efforts of tho pick. Mr. Parchen had
not calculated ON that. When hokiclled,
the momentum of the heavy weight
carried him forward on that foot, and
to save himself and recover his balance
he was forced 90 thrust his other foot
forward with considerable vehemence.
That foot, too, was heavily laden with
the same sort of mud and the momcn-
tum of it had y similar effect.
AS each foot became heavier by the
accumulated weight of gumbo each
other foot became heavier, too, so that
the increasing brake upon the pedes
trian's speed was compensated for by
the increasing momentum furnished.
The accumulation had grown TO alarm
ing figures, if expressed i'll pounds,
when Mr.. Parchen encountered IN up
grade aud was saved. He secured I'M
PIGMENTS fitted for the purpose and
managed to scrape off the bottom of
his shoes. making !. nice new surface
for more mud to cling to.
The experiences of the other MEM
bers of the party wero similar. They
all ploddcd along the line of the Great
Falls and Canada railway into the city,
which they reached at midnight. They
were in n bad plight. Their horses had
been turned loose, and they reached
home later with balls Of mud clinging
to their tails rs big as footballs and
smaller spheres of mud hanging pend
ent from their names. Mr. Woods took
hunting dog with him. and the ami
NAL lay down i'll the mud to roll. So
much of it chung to her that twas with
difficulty that she dragged herself into
the city .-Helena independent.