The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1902-06-04

and more Frequent. We were ROW al
ordered TO ret into our saddles and be
ready for Il stampede, which III a!
probability would Immediately follow
the first severe peal OF thunder.
The breeze had now perceptlble
freshcned and we could hear the roal
Of rain rapidly approaching, The
steers all about Us were getting on
their feet and uAcaSily moving about.
The suspense was becoming painful.
Suddenly Il binding tiash lit ap the
entire scene. almost instantly followed
by i crash OF thunder, which rum
bed directly overhead and slowly died
away. Big drops OF rain came down
and presently it fell in torrents. llert
and there throughout the biz bunch
of cattle could be heard 4 fierce bel
low. ending in vicious snort.
AT last the expected happened
when binding flash occurred sinful
taneously with report like L cannon.
y movement among a numbered steers
on the edge CT the herd began An
other flash Of tightening Showed forty
or fifty leaders running at full speed
westward. followed by the entire
herd. 1t was a magnificent spectacle.
The flashes Of lightning were almost
continuous. and the piunging, crazy
steers could be plainly seen as they
madiy tore across the prairie. their
neadS lowered, tongues pr01rudlng
and their tails nearly erect and sway
ing from side to side. and the earth
trembling beneath their tread.
".lt the first break OF the leaders
every man had put spurs to his horse
and with drawn revolver Was in pur-
suit Of the flying column. .ASwc SLOW
ly gained upon them We drew closer
to their sides, and the first manabreSt
Of the half dozen steers in the extreme
lead began firing at the ground, close
TO their ho0fS. The others now drew
near and u general tuSiliade commenc-
ed. The leaders began 10 Swerye to
the right or nr"thward until the
course Of the frantic animals had been
turned almost to a right angle from
their original direction, and it looking
as if further danger from the canon
had been passed.
But we had not included the fool
Mexican in our calculations. Instead
of coming with the rest Of the party,
he had evidently become confused,
and had worked around on the oppo-
site and wrong side Of the leaders, and
the first thing we were aware OF was
the crack, crack. crack. Of his gun
somewhere on the other side OF the
leaders. This attack on the part OF
the 'greaser' counteracted all our pre-
vious efforts. The steers turned abb
ruptly toward US and straight toward
the canon. We were utterly power
tess to stem the tide of the maddened
bruteS, and it was nothing but sheer
luck that prevented half adozen Of US
from being knocked down, horses and
all, and tramLled to death.
''As soon as possible we got out of
the thickest Of the steers and followed
them toward the canon. which we
knew must be near at hand. The
frequent flashes Of lightning still con-
tinued, and we could see the Scanty
line Of sage brush not twenty rods IN
front of the swiftly moving sea Of
surging steers. On they went with
fearful momentum. a flying. reslStIeSS
mass. We reined in our horses, and
before they had fully stopped the ad-
vance guard Of steers had gone over
the brink and disappeared. Over fol-
lowed the others by hundreds, until 1t
seemed as if the entire herd were
doomed to destruction. Fortunately,
however, the greater bulk ofthe steers
seemed to scent the danger ahead and
slackened their speed, which gave
some Of those. nearest to the brink OF
the canon al opportunity to turn,
and the remainder of the herd divided
a part going north and the remainder
south along the bank Of the canon.
1T was an awful sight to look upon
and when | saw those steers by the
hundreds shooting over the edge CT
that Deaths Valley like a hue missile
fired from a cataput l was forcibly re-
minded of Victor IIugo's famous word
picture in Les MiSerableS' of the fatal
dash Of the French cavalry brigade
into the hollow road Of Ohain at the
battle Of Waterloo.
In the morning we began round
ing up the scattered survivors OF our
herd, and it was almost four days be-
fore we finished the work. The young
Mexican who caused all the 'vamoSed'
on the night or early morning OF the
disaster and was never heard of again.
Before we left the vicinity OF the
canon I visited tAe pioca where the
steers plunged over. The air was
fairly black with buzzarGS, and when
| leaned over tie brink Of the rocky
wall of the canon and looked down
upon the results Of the stampede l
could see a strange tumble Of hoofS,
horns and carcasseS. completely block
ing the narrow channel Of the stream.
4 few weeks later we arrived at
our destination and when we had
made careful count OF the herd we
found L little more than 1900 steers
missing ''-WaShington Post.
Should ue Caught.