The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-12-28

work; a man who has lifted his utmost
strength into a peavey knows that
Any but the Fighting Forty would have
grumbled-
Collins. the bookkeeper. came up to
view the tangle. Later a photographer
from Marquette took some views, and
by the end Of the week a number of
curiosity seekers were driving over
every day to see the big jam. A Ger
tain Chicago journalist in search of
balsam health of lungs even sent to
his paper a little item This. unex-
pectedly, brought Wallace Carpenter to
the spot.
The place was an amphitheatre for
such as chose to be spectators They
could stand or sit on the summit of
the gorge cliffs, overlooking the river,
the fall. and the JAM
At last Shearer became angry.
We've been monkeying long
enough" said he. Next time Well
leave a center that will go out. Well
shut the dams down tight and dry pick
out two wings that'n start her.
The dams were first run at full
speed and then shut down. Hardly a
drop of water flowed in the bed of the
stream. The crews set laboriously TO
work to pull and roll the logs out in
such fiat fashion that a head of water
should send them out.
This was even harder work than the
other, for they had not the floating
power of water to help them in the
lifting As usual, part of the men
! worked below, part above.
Jimmy Powers, curly haired, laugh
ing-faced. was irrepressible. He bad
gered the others until they threw bark
at him and menaced him with their
peaveys. Always he had at his
tongues end the proper quip for the
occasion, so that in the long run the
work was lightened by him When the
men stopped to think at all, they
thought of Jimmy Powers with very
kindly hearts, for it was known that
he had had more trouble than most,
and that coin was not made too small
for him to divide with needy COM
rade.
Thorpe approved thoroughly Of jim
my Powers; he thought him a good in
fiuence. He told Wallace so, standing
among the spectators on the cliff-top.
He is all right" said Thorpe. 81
wish had more like him. The others
are good boys, too"
Five men were at the moment tug
ging futilely at a reluctant timber.
They were attempting to roll one end
of it over the side of another project
ing log, but were Continually foiled,
because the other end was damned
fast. Each bent his knees, inserting
his shoulders under the projecting pea
vey stock, to straighten in a mighty
effort.
It was a fine spring day, clear-eyed
and crisp. with a hint Of new foliage
! in the thick buds of the trees. The
air was SO Dellucid that one distin-
guished without difficulty the straight
entrance TO the gorge, mile away, and
even the West Bend, fully five miles
distant,
Jimmy Powers took off his cap and
wiped his forehead.
You boys" he remarked politely,
think you are boring with mighty
big auger."
MY God!" screamed one of the spec
tators on top Of the cliff.
At the same instant Wallace Car
penter seized his friends arm and
pointed.
Down the bed of the stream from
the upper bend rushed a solid wall of
water several feet high 1t flung itself
forward with the headlong impetus of
a cascade. Even in the short interval
between the visitors exclamation and
| Carpenters rapid gesture it had
doomed in sight, twisted a dozen trees
from the river bank and foamed into
the entrance of the gorge. An instant
later it collided with the tail of the
jam.
Even in the railroad rush of those
few moments several things happened.
Thorpe leaped for a rope. The crew
working on top of the dam ducked
instinctively TO right and left and be-
gan to scramble towards safety. The
men below, at first bewildered and not
comprehending, finally understood, and
ran towards the face of the jam with
the intention of clambering up it. There
could be no escape in the narrow can
yon below, the walls of which rose
sheer
Then the flood hit square. great
sheet of water rose like surf from the
tail of the jam; a mighty cataract
poured down over its surface, lifting
the free logs; from either wing timbers
crunched, split, rose suddenly into
wracked prominence, twisted beyond
the semblance of themselves. Here
and there single logs were even pro-
jected bodily upwards. as an apple
seed is shot from between the thumb
and forefnger. Then the jam moved.
ScOtty Parsons, Jack HyIand, Red
Jacket and the forty or fifty men had
reached the shore. By the wriggling
activity which is a rivermans alone,
they succeeded in pulling themselves
beyond the snap of deaths jaws. It
was a narrow thing for most OF them,
and miracle for some.
Jimmy Powers. Archie Harris, Long
Pine jim, Big Nolan and Mike Mo-
loney, the brother of Bryan, were in
worse case. They were, as has been
said, engaged in .-fattening'' part of
the jam about eight or ten rods below
the face of it. When they finally I'M
derstood that the affair was one of
escape, they ran towards the jam, hop
ing TO climb out Then the crash came.
They heard the roar of the waters,
the wrecking of the timbers; they saw
the logs bulge outwards in anti ,ipatio1
of the break, Immediately they turned
and fed, they knew not where
All but Jimmy Powers. He stopped
short in his tracks and threw his bat
tered old felt hat defantly full into the
face Of the destruction hanging over
him. Then, his bright hair blowing
in the wind of death, he turned to the
spectators standing helpless and para
iyzed. forty feet above him.
1t was an instants impression-sh
arrested motion seen in the flash Of
hghtning-and yet to the Onlookers it
had somehow the quality OF time For
perceptible duration it seemed TO them
they stared at the contrast between the
raging hell above and the vet peace
able river below
Yet afterwards, when they attempted
to recall definitely the impression. they
knew ii could have lasted but a frac-
ton Of a second.
so long. boys" they heard Jimmy
Powers voice. Then the rope Thorpe
had thrown fell across a caldron OF
tortured waters and of tossing logs.