The suburban citizen., 1900-01-27
A FIFTY-MILE SLIDE.

among the rocks and boulders. The
grade grew sleeper and sleeper; there
was no stopping now till the foot Of it
was reached. Any obstruction in the
hume meant an upset and a horrible
death on the rocks below.
Faster and faster the boat few along,
and almost before 1 had time to won
der whether the hume was clear be-
yond the bend, we dashed around the
corner, the box rubbing and grinding
against the outside edge Of the fume,
the stern riding high in the air and
hanging far out over the canon.
A hasty glance ahead reassured me.
The hume was clear throughout the
mile Of it through which the eye could
follow and, as 1 had learned, nearly
to the foot of the grade. With a sigh
of relief I settled back and began to
enjoy my ride.
First noticed that my progress
was not in one continuous swift fight,
like that of sled, but in succession
of wild rushes. The boat, or box,
would run faster than the stream till
the water backed up in the space un-
der the boards on which I sat- Then
it would check and settle, till it seemed
almost to touch the bottom of the
hume. Then the hurrying stream Of
water behind would force itself dnder-
meath, lift the stern and send the craft
with q wild, dizzying rush down the
slope till another check came. 1t was
like sailing through the air. Above
me, on one side, lowered the cliff. On
the other 1 looked down into the
depths of the canon, and could see
the birds darting about far below me.
The stiffness was almost oppressive.
There are few song birds in California,
and the only sounds which came to
my ears were the subdued roar Of the
creek in its rocky bed far below, the
rushing sound of the water in the
hume, and the low murmer of the
pines, which covered the mountains
all around me.
But now was coming to the head
of the 'big grade" about which the
foreman had warned me. I sat
erect, for had been half reclining in
my boat, and looked anxiously ahead.
The grade is about four miles in
length, and only short half mile of
it is visible from the hume-tender's
station at the top.
Frank Horn, the tender, was stand
ing on the platform in front of his
little cabin as Iglided by. He assured
me the big timbers had all gone by
safely and the fume was clear.
''Ihen give me a full head Of
water" 1 called out; "Im in hurry"
He turned and ran toward the gate
which admitted the water from
feeder into the fume. / did not turn
to see whether he obeyed my order,
for I was now fairly started down the
"big grade"
1t is we'll named. 1t seemed to me
that the narrow ribbon of water was
running down a slope of fully forty
degreas. Before had gone a hun
dred yards the velocity of my boat
had grown to be something APP
palling.
/ pulled my hat down over my ears
and sat crouched as low as I could in
the bow of the boat. The wind
whistled as the boat few down the
slope, rocking and swaying and grind
ing against the sides of the Aume as
if trying to leap out into the canon
below Almost before I could realize
it we shot around a projecting point
OF the cliff, and then 1 had a clear
view of the Aume for more than q
mile. My eyes rapidly ran over its
length, and at the first glance it seemed
all clear. / had risen to my knees to
get a better view, and was just settling
back when, faT down the slope,
caught CLEAN of yellow light, which
seemed to spring from the cliff and
stretch across the hume, out over the
canon. realized in an instant what
it was, and what it meant to me.
One of the large timbers had jumped
from the 6umc, where it swept around
hollow in the cliff. The end had
been thrust by the force of its
momentum into spot of shallow soil
and it had stuck there.
Just then heard a rushing sound
behind me. The "full head" of water
1 had called for was coming. The
next moment 1 felt the rear end Of the
boat rise; it swung out over the edge
of the hume till for a moment
thought il would plunge over the side