The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1902-04-11

! Elective rub looks just like any 0ther
kind, but the novels always call them
reflective when they are followed by a
good story.
"Don't tell me about cyclones or
earthquakes, or any such make-belleve
/ dangers. can stand anything but
! that ripping, splitting, cracking
sound Of n snow avalanche breaking
loose from its moorings, and the swish
and roar and boom when it gets under
way and the swapping Of trees and
crashing OF powders and trembling
Of the whole earth as II nears the bot
tom OF the mountain, and the sickness
that comes over a fellow when 1t flirts
past within a few feet Of him, kicking
snow I'm his face and making play
thing Of rocks as big as house and
telling whole forests at time.
IL was wrecked twice In one night
by snowslldes In the San JIan, and
Il was just for "A joke, | guess, that
one or the other didn't mash me into
dust, or preserve me In ice. Worst
night | ever put In on this earth, |
can tell you. 1t was somewhere In
February, 1891. along about that time
the big Saguache slide buried the rail-
road under rocks and snow half mile
long and a hundred feet deep. We
were without any mail for ilfty-two
days, and II was seventy-three days
before we got "A train after that slide.
Same winter, too, that the big Ida
no slide came down from Kendall
mountain and brought so many trees
with II that the whole town Of Silver
ton was kept in firewood for two
years. Piled It right up in the town
limits and smashed into stove size, too
| was up on Kendall mountain on my
uncle's mine. the Tltusvllla- We had
couple of fellows u/therc to look
after the big stamp MN through the
winter and every few weeks Charles
Price and would go up and see how
they were getting along.
"It was too far to tramp back and
forth to the buDkhOuse, so Dave Purdy
and VIII Kane, the two fellows who
were guarding the mill. had fixed up
an assay office for bedroom. That
day when we got to the mill II began
to snow. and we stayed all night. SO
we built up a roaring fire in the assay
furnace and piled back on our blankets
In the other end of the room.
"The snow fell almost in blankets,
It seemed, and the wind howled awful
~. Several times we heard the roar
and smash. and felt the building shake
as snOwslldc went down some other
part of the mountain, but we thought
we were safe No slide had ever
touched that spot.
II have looked over the ground
since. and | know just how 1t hap
pened. but 1t was more than a sur
prise that night when part of an
avalanche stopped over from the gulch
on our right. We were just getting
TO sleep when we heard that internal
crack and boom and roar right above
us, and smash! bang! and away down
the gulCh II went with half the assay
office. Took the furnace and our fire
and all the roof. and just left us lying
there in the snow with our bedding.
And scared! That's when my hair got
up and stood on end.
1.-TWO or three trees away up the
mountain had just cut off a slice of
the slide that filled the gulch. and had
turned IL over into the little gulch
where our assay office stood. That's
what caused our wreck.
"Wcll, we held a council right quick,
dug up n lot of matches and some
candles. and after we saw what had
been done To our house we declared
we couldn't stay there any more. We
took OUr blankets and candles and
matches, an old shcetlron stove and an
old canvas tent and moved up to the
big mill iifty feet up the side OF the
mountain. We climbed TO the crush.
ing room, near the top of the mill.
There we put up our tent to keep out
the draft all we could. Then we nailed
comforter overhead. got the stove
to going and fixed up pretty comfort.
able. We were still scared half To
death. for we could hear every little
while slides going down the mountain
some near by. some 50 far we could
only hear the roar
Then we got to telling stories
Purdy was an old mule skinner and
he used to tell the most hlood.curdling
stories ever heard lie wouldn't
hurt a flea. hut according to his tales
he had killed and skinned at least
! forty Indians. lie was telling us about
m Indian fight, and he had just killed
two reds and was Sklnning them when
Kane. who had been trying to see out
at the window, fell inside on the tlooi
and yelled:
"Merciful Powers. boys, here come:
one from above
"Purdy commenced praying for for
giveness for being so mean to tn,
Indians. and the rest OF us were 10,
scared TO speak or move. The slid,
came down from behind the mill an,
nit the bottom of the gulch with
roar worse than anything | eve
imagined. II slid part way up tn,
side OF the other mountain. slewc,
around and started down of The creel
yulch. tearing out the whole lowe
half OF our mill. boilers. engines. tei
1f the stamps, and the whole blessc,
works. That old mill danced aroun