The Weiser signal. [volume] (Weiser, Idaho) 1890-1904, 1902-01-16

quickly over the whole immense mass
of wheels, handles, bolts, bars and levers,
paused for an instant, as if making up
his mind, then said decidedly, There
it u.s." and, stepping quickly forward
selected small wheel amid dozen 9TH
ers, all furnished at the circumference
with handles like those of pilot S
wheel, and, giving it a quick wrench
turned it half way around.
AT this instant startling shout fell
upon our ears There was thunderous
CHATTER behind us, and, turning, we saw
three gigantic Martians rushing for
ward.
'Sweep them Sweep them - cried
Colonel Smith as he brought his disn-
tegrator to bear. Mr.. Phillips and | in
stantly followed his example. and thus
we swept the Martians into eternity,
while Mr.. Edison coolly continued his
manipulations of the wheel
The effect of what he was doing be-
came apparent in less than half a min.
ute. A shiver ran through the mass of
machinery and shook the entire build
ing.
Look Lookl' cried Sydney Phillips,
who had stepped little apart from the
others
We all ran to his side and found our
selves in front of great window which
opened through the side of the engine,
giving a view of what lay in front of
| it. There, cleaning in the electric
lights, we saw the Syrtis Major, its wa
tiers washing high against the walls of
the vast power house Running directly
out from the shore there was an i'm
mense metallic gate at least 400 yards
in length and rising 300 feet above the
present level of the water.
This great gate was slowly swinging
upon an invisible hinge in such man.
ner that i'll few minutes it would evil
IDENTIFY stand across the current of the
Syrtis Major at right angles.
Beyond was second gate, which was
moving in the same manner Farther on
was third gate and then another and
another as far as the eye could reach,
evidently extending N an unbroaen Sc
rles completely across the great strait.
AS the gates, with accelerated motion
when the current caught them, changed
oNoSphOh W. OCiSlu q oD6CbdClo buub d.
most stopped the beating of our hearts
The great Syrtis seemed to gather it.
self for moment, and then it leaped
upon the obstruction and hurled it's wa
tiers into one vast foaming geyser that
seemed to shoot thousand feet sky
ward.
But the metal gates withstood the
shock, though buried from our sight in
the seething white mass, and the baffled
waters Instantly swirled round in TO-
600 gigantic eddies, rising to the level
OF our window and beginning to inun-
date the power house before we fairly
comprehended our peril
We have done the work, " said Mr.
Edison, smiling grimly. "Now we had
better get out of this before the flood
bursts upon us.
The warning came none too soon. 1t
was necessary TO act upon it at once if
we would save our lives. Even before
we could reach the entrance to the long
passage through which we had come
into the great engine room the water
had risen half way to our knees. Colo
mel Smith, catching Alma under his
arm, led the way. The roar of the mad
dened torrent behind deafened us.
As we ran through the passage the
water followed us with wicked swish
ing sound, and in five seconds it was
above our knees; in ten seconds, up to
our waists.
The great danger now was that we
should be swept from our feet, and once
down in that
been little chance of our ever getting
our heads above its level Supporting
ourselves as best we could with the aid
OF the walls, we partly ran and were
partly swept along, until, when we
reached the outer end of the passage and
emerged into the open air, the flood was
swirling about our shoulders.
Here there was an opportunity to
clutch some of the ornamental work
surrounding the doorway, and thus we
managed to stay our mad progress and
gradually to work out of the current
until we found that the water, having
now an abundance of room to spread,
had fallen again as low as our knees.
But suddenly we heard the thunder
OF the banks, tumbling behind us, and
to the right and left, and the savage
growl OF the released water as it sprang
through the breaches.
To my dying day, l think, shall
not forget the sight of great fluid col
umn that burst through the dixie at the
edge of the grove of trees, and, by the
tremendous impetus of its rush, seemed
turned into solid thing.
Like an enormous ram, it plowed the
soil to depth of 30 feet, uprooting
acres OF the immense trees like stubble
turned over by the plowshare.
The uproar was so awful that for an
instant the coolest of us lost our self
control. Yet we knew we had not the
traction Of second to waste. The
breaking of the banks had caused the
water again rapidly to rise about us. In
little while it was once more as high
as our waists.
In the excitement and confusion.
deafened by the noise and blinded by
the flying foam, we were in danger of
becoming separated in the food. We no
longer knew certainly in what direction
was the tree by whose aid we had as
CenQed from tha alaotr;ooI cL: Wy