The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1902-02-27

pipe to the other. If loosed my grip
in the slightest / should be swept to
death. Below me was the thousand
feet of steel tube, through which an ir-
resistible torrent was shooting: and
at it's end was the great wheel, revolv-
ing with the swiftness of lighl, and
ready to lacerate and mangle what
ever might be hurled against it.
The penstock was perfectly
straight, and about eight feet in diam
eter. For the first hundred yards q
gradually decreasing portion of its top
was above ground. just where it dis
appeared beneath the earth was an
open manhole, covered by a heavy wire
screen. For the remainder of its
length it was buried at an increasing
depth beneath the surface, tillit passed
through the foundation wall of the mill
and came out in the lowest basement,
to pour its flood into the wheel-pit.
There was another open manhole few
feet from the end of the pipe.
"As | clung to the grating, with my
face barely above the surface, could
see the little twigs and chips drawn
into the current and sucked down the
smooth incline. / tried to pull myself
up to the grating in the hope that I
might climb out of reach of the water
that was dragging me down.
"But so slight was my hold that !
could not get sufficient purchase to DO
this; and l was afraid to relax my grip
in the least for fear that ] might be
swept away before ! could regain it.
at was plain that this state of af-
fairs could not last very long. The
strain was in nowise violent or rough.
but it was steady. Far behind me down
the long tunnel l could hear the water
falling on the wheel. My fingers were
growing numb. Little by little the
strength was leaving them. / could
not hold on much longer. Would no
one come to rescue me? thought of
my wife and children, and clung with
renewed energy. shouted. But who
could hear me. imprisoned as / was
in the mouth of the pipe?
Suddenly steps approached outside,
and through the top of the grating
above me / saw a red-whiskered face
looking down. 1t was the Scotch en-
gineer. I could see the little beads of
sweat standing out on his forehead,
and two or three wisps of thin red hair
plastered down on his flushed skin.
"'Heaven preserve us!' heard him
say. IT'S Bickmore! Hold on, man,
and I'll save ye!'
''He waved his hand to encourage me,
and disappeared. / heard him run
ming swiftly toward the mill. Then
the sound of his footsteps died away.
"At the upper end of the channel
that fed the penstock was the heavy
wooden gate, operated from the en-
gine-room by a system of rods and
levers l knew that Sandy was hurrying
to close this gate and cut off the flow
of the water into the race.
"But he had come too late.
mot five seconds after his face dis
appeared my numbed fingers lost their
grip, and l was swept like feather
down the penstock.
"The stream was only about four
feet deep, and flowed with very little
sound or turmoil. ] managed to keep
my head above Che surface, and occa-
sionally my feet touched bottom as
was borne along. But to stop my
progress was simply impossible. The
current was too strong and too swift.
Occasionally / was dashed against
the iron sides of the pipe and involun-
tarily threw out my hands to clutch at
them. Vain effort! for the sides were
smooth and Shiny; and even had /
been able to arrest my course, my arms
would have been torn from their sock
cts by the resistless power that was
hurrying me along,
"Overhead a square of light flashed
by. | had already gone hundred
yards and passed under the open man
hole. Through its frame l caught
what / felt was probably my last
glimpse of blue sky The branch of
poplar hung above the opening, and
saw its green leaves bright in the sun.
Then darkness came again.
"On through the cylinder / rushed.
l do not know how long it took me to
traverse that thousand feet. 1t was
probably in the neighborhood of two
minutes. ! remember looking back and
seeing the round, white, grated mouth
of the penstock growing steadily
smaller and farther off. And every Sec
ond tht roar at the other end was be-
coming louder and louder. From the
utter darkness in front the roar of the
beaten water doomed up the narrow
tunnel. In a few seconds all would be
over.
"The end came before had expected
it. With a shock that drove the breath
out of my body, was flung against
something rough and sharp and hard,
something that seemed to clutch me
with several arms, bruising and
wounding me. knew nothing else, for
at that moment lost consciousness.
"When came to myself, was lying
on heap of paper waste in the base
ment of the mill. Half dozen of the
workmen were around me. felt sick
and weak. My clothing was torn in
several places, and was covered with
bruises. But to me the miracle was
that was still alive and that my bones
were whole.