The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-11-02

They finished cutting on section sew
enteen during Thorpe's second week.
1t became necessary to begin on sec
ton fourteen, which lay two miles to
the east. In that direction the char
acter of the country changed some
what.
The pine there grew thick on iso-
lated islands" of not more than an
acre or so in extent-little knobs rising
from the level of a marsh. In ordi-
nary conditions nothing would have
been easier than to have ploughed
roads across the frozen surface of this
marsh. The peculiar state of the
weather interposed tremendous difficult
ties.
The early part of autumn had been
characterized by a heavy snowfall inn
mediately after a series of mild days.
A warm blanket of some thickness
thus overlaid the earth. effectually pre-
venting the freezing which subsequent
cold weather would have caused. All
the season Railway had contended
with this condition. Even in the woods,
muddy swamp and spring holes caused
endless. difficulty and necessitated a
great deal of "corduroying." or the
laying of poles side by side TO form
an artificial bottom Here in the open
some six inches of water and unlim-
tied mud awaited the first horse that
should break through the layer of snow
and thin ice. Between each pair of
islands a road had to be "tramped."
Thorpe and the rest were put at this
disa greeabIe job. All day long they
had TO walk mechanically back and
forth on diagonals between the marks
set by Roadway with his snowshoes.
Early in the morning their feet were
wet by icy water, for even the light
weight of a man sometimes broke the
frozen skin Of the marsh BY night a
road of trampled snow. of great ter or
less strength, was marked out across
the eXpanse. Thus the blanket was
thrown back from the warm earth, and
thus the cold was given a chance at the
water beneath. In a day or so the
road would bear a horse. A bridge of
ice had been artificially constructed.
on either side of which lay unsounded
depths. This road was indicated by
row of frs stuck in the snow on
either side.
1t was very cold. All day long the
restless wind swept across the shiv-
ering surface Of the plains, and tore
around the corners of the islands. The
big woods are as good as an overcoat.
The overcoat had been taken away
When the lunch sleigh arrived, the
men huddled shivering in the lee of one
of the knobs, and tried to eat with be-
numbed fingers before a fire that was
but a mockery. Often it was nearly
dark before their work warmed them
again. AL of the sideways had to be
placed on the edges of the islands
themselves, and the logs had to be
travoyed over the steep little knobs.
A single misstep out on to the plain
meant a m:red horse. Three times
heavy SHOWS obliterated the roads, so
that they had to be pIoughed out be-
fore the men could go to work again.
1t was a struggle.
Railway was evidently worried. He
often paused before a gang to inquire
how they We're making it." He
seemed afraid they might wish to quit,
which was indeed the case, but he
should never have taken before them
any attitude but that of absolute con-
fdence in their intentions. His anx-
iety was natural, however He realized
the absolute necessity of skidding and
hauling this job before the heavy.
choking SHOWS of the latter part of
January should make it impossible to
keep the roads open. So insistent was
this necessity that he had seized the
first respite in the phenomenal snow
fall of the early autumn to begin work.
The cutting in the woods could wait.
Left to themselves, probably the men
would never have dreamed of object
ing to whatever privations the task
carried with it. Railways anxiety for
their comfort, however, caused them
finally to imagine that perhaps they