The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-01-12


shared my seat with a quiet, wei &c
dressed man - middle age. Some E'fYE
trivial circumstance engaged Us, =
in conversation, and I learned
that my fellow passenger was an as
sistant superintendent in a Maine pulp
mill.
On his watchchain hung q wooden
charm, a dogs head, carved with such
grOtesque and peculiar ugliness that I
had difficulty in keeping my eyes away
from ii. Whenever he looked out Of
the window my glance returned to the
charm. At last could restrain my
curiosity no longer, and with an apoI-
ogy made some comment on the
strangeness of the ornament. He took
my inQuisitiveness in good part and
was kind enough to tell me the story
of the charm.
Yes" he said, its a queer looking
piece Of wood It was carved for me
twenty years ago by a friend who had
a knack for that kind of work. It's
the only thing have to remember him
by, and SO 1 think a good deal OF it.
But I've another strong reason for re
calling the birch Snag he Whitfield it
from, and it may interest you to
hear it.
when was between % and 90 years
old I was at work in a mill on the Ken
nebec river. Ny regular position was
that Of foreman of one of the depart
ments, but as I was very handy with
tools, I often did odd jobs to accommo-
date the superintendent.
''One August morning there was
trouble with the wooden CRATE that
kept drift stun from getting into the
penstOck, which is, as you know, the
great tube Of iron or banded plank
conveying the water from the millrace
to the wheel. In the last high water
a log had broken one Of the upper
spruce bars.
THE mill was running overtime to
I'LL extra orders, and the company did
not wish to close il for half a day IN
less ii was absolutely necessary. So
1 was asked TO repair the damage with
out shutting the gate at the head Of the
race. I looked at the break and saw
that it would be no very difficult task
to patch it while the water was on
provided the crate were swung back
against the side of the conduit. So I
sent for my tools and went to work.
1t was a drOwsy midsummer morn
ing. Dragon flies and swallows were
darting over the surface Of the river
and from the stubble fields on each
side came the shrill rasping sound of
the grasshopper. In the street above a
group Of little girls were laughing and
playing. Several hundred feet up the
river, under grove of leaning viii
lows, was a swimming hole. where a
haI-dozen boys We're dispOrting them
selves.
If had not been interrupted three
or four times by messengers from my
department in the mill, I should have
finished the job in less than an hour
As 1t was, it was almost noon before
the break was repaired to my satisfac-
ton. The hot sun beat down on nv
head as I worked away at the grating.
below the smooth, brown water rar
steadily into the fiume
With my back to the race. I was
putting a few final touches on my work
close to the water, when sometime
happened that for a minute frightened
me horribly. There came a sharr
clutch at my sleeve.
I Whirled round in surprise. and
saw something like a lean brown arm
rising from the water. / shook IL OF
/ and another arm rose slowly and DELHI
erately and seemed to make a mechan-
zeal effort to grasp me, while the first
as slowly sank out of sight.
They were the long roots Of water
soaked stump that had lain for months
/ perhaps years, on the river bottom. and
had now been swept by the current to
the head of the flume. 1t was against
just such unWelcOme visitors as this
that the crate was designed to be a
| barrier.
Now appeared a huge octopus-Iike
body, revolving gradually in the flood
It hung for a moment at the opening
of the penstOck, and then disappeared
down the dark cavity, its roots scraping
against the sides and top as it rolled
over
I snatched d bOat-hOOk that lay or
the embankment and made an effort tc
! Tx its steel tooth in the Shiny stump
For a moment I thought I had sue
ceeded. 1 leaned over a little farther:
the earth crumbled under me, and I fell
head foremost into the race!
As fell caught with my hands al
| the lower part of the grating. MY
! weight swung it out into the current
which Immediately whirIed it to: and
there hung, my body failing off into
the penstock, dragged down by the
clutch Of the water
Ny position was a terrible one. ]
was holding on merely by the tips OF
my fingers, which were hooked round
one Of the wooden bars. The current
lashed my body from one side Of the
pipe to the other. If 1 loOsed my grin
in the slightest I should be swept To
death Below me was the thousand
feet of steel tube, through which ar
irresistible torrent was shooting; and
at its end was the great wheel, revolv-
ing with the swiftness Of light, and
ready to lacerate and mangle whatever
might be hurled against it.
The penstock was perfectly
l straight, and about eight feet