The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1900-08-25
Inc Trouble at Van DoIl's.
BY c. T. JACKSON.

N~S 'NahJ cittc VI the 0DDf
.ors shack at Van Dorn's listening
Tue drip OF water from great drifts ,
ono" mat crested the cabin and On
ing over the valley and all the countr
wnich, buried by the four DAYS Anr
ohzzard. glared in white sp,cndor tn.
panied the troubleman's eyes. Va
oorns camp was the temporary fern
aus OF the new railroad. Since III
sose OF tracklaying in the previou
november, the operator and Jimm
Wardwell, lineman and genera, man :
charge of the newly constructed lin,
uad hibernated together in The hi,
yards. Dii1
Ane last mile of the line was n on
around the base Of a mighty hill an,
lhe cut made curving terrace wit,
Inc Root river below on the one sid,
anu the rocky wall on the other. TIL,
Instance to the last station was fou,
uhes' II one went straight over tb,
aigh ridge that the track skirted
Today the ticker had tovouslv told
'he TWO men that their Information was
shued. Then an engine and snow-plow
nao pushed through the cut and 70
tne siding at Van Dorn's, where the OK.
pectant men greeted the crew with n
cheer and a boiler of hot coffee A
construction train, with men and ma.
.efiai' was due in few hours, and the
ualn-despatcher had wired instructions
10 mold the snow-plow at Van Dorn,s
until the construction train should bavo
arrived. The instrument on the t.h,o
was still clicking merrily some further
message, but the ticker suddenly stop.
peu, ana no assuring response flashed
oack. The operator watched the sound-
~ tested the instrument carefully. and
then whistled to Jim and the snow
piow crew, who sat around the stove
trouble on the line, Jim, somewhere
Line Is dead. Now what do Won SIM
pose Is up? Circuits broken between
oere and Elwood. Something moro
about the work train he wanted to cav
Jimmy, lad, here's your first Job this
season-trouble, trouble, and the iron.
peman must hunt 1t up."
NOW Jimmy was a young lineman
Oh MS first season, and at the announce
ment OF trouble" he was in a fervor
70 be up and doing, as lineman must
Iroubleman" is the term applied to
tne men on each division who hasten |
20 repair the wires wherever trouble oc- |
ours. Although Jimmy was division |
superintendent as well as lineman. from
ole at Van Dorn's was scarce, and there
Dad not been enough to take the bow
one hundred yards from camp all win
ter. BY way of pastime, he had i'm
proved himself in the art of clicking
keys, although he had been a fair oper.
ator before.
You can't do much with II, lad. If
IT'S break" said the operator, '.but
lust locate the trouble, and when the
crew gets In, there'll be help to raise
the wires through those drifts. No
need to worry, for the train will have a
clear run from Elwood."
so Jimmy tramped gaily down the
cut with his lineman's kit and q pocket
relay, which linemen seldom carry as |
few Of them understand teiegrapbv or 1
have need to tap the wires. Halfway
around the curve, where the rock wall {
rose almost to the top of the pole. the S
young man found his trouble. A branch
or a gnarled oak on the hillside had {
split from the trunk and had borne f
the wire down into the cut and buried Y
II In the snow. n
can't do much with that" said C
Jimmy, "but I'll climb the pole and c
look over the country" a
While he was strapping the steel p
spurs around his ankles, he noticed that Ii
the hillside snow frequently overhung iC
he rock wall, and was dropping in
'odden masses into the cut. When he
lad climbed to the cross arms of the
,ole and glanced up at the shining
ields OF the hilltop, four hundred feet "
lbove him, small cottonwood tree e
halfway up the slope cracked sharply 80
n the silence. and crows flew cawinr w
rom the leafless branches. in
1T looks queer!' said the lineman. m
1 do believe the whole hill is coming III
ownp' h,
Far up the dazzling bluff beat n white M
urf of heavy snow. 1t grew swiftly to to
crumpled, rolling wall, with the tan ha
led brush and timber disappearing th
eneath 1t. Along the wall about Jim 81
~ great drifts were falling sulIenly co
ito the cut; but 1t was not until the gi
1shing snow was sweeping about his nj
ole that the lineman dropped from his til
erch, to be buried beneath the dirty do
which ended its wild career w
4 the icebound river below. All traces mi
the railroad track were obliterated TEL
The young lineman was senseless for an
little while. When he recovered con-
.iousness, he perceived nothing but
lgue darkness about him. His body
as numbed by the pressure of the
ow, but his arms and head were free. I'll
Is head struck the trunk of a tree ne
hen he struggled to sit up, and all ste
'out him the tangled branches held file
ok the snow until he could drag his tn,
used body along the side of the wall, me
here lie saw dimly that the brush and to
nber had fallen to form the narrow chi
eyice which had saved his life. an,
A stealthy creaking and settling of are
; mass, with occasional slight falls by