The Jennings daily record., 1902-12-23
TRAPPED in AN ICE JAM.
By Laurence J. Yates:

| slippery edge as he went down, hung
suspended by his arms for second,
then. his hands loosing their hold, he
dropped just in time to escape being
crushed. For the lightly poised block
had been started downward by his
weight, and crashed against the lower
one as he struck III a heap below. He
was caught like a squirrel in box
trap in a narrow, irregularspace among
the blocks, about three feet wide, five
feet long and six feet high.
For Il moment Hardman did not re-
alize the gravity Of his situation He
felt sure that he could cut himself out
with his jack knife. or at least make q
| hole through which he could signal to
camp for help by thrusting out his
coat and waving it. The sunlight fil-
| tering in through chink gave promise
of this. and helped to relieve the semi
darkness of his prison.
He inspected his camera in leis-
urely fashion. glad to find that it had
not been in the least injured by the
fall. took out his knife and then looked
at his watch 1t was 10 o'clock; the
tide was due at three minutes of 10.
|
tiOn flashed upon him: the tide would
set the whole jam in motion, perhaps
demolish it. If he did not escape he
would be ground to powder One
| movement of q cake would anuhilate
him.
For an awful moment sickening
terror clutched him, but shaking it off
he began to make 4 calculation. He
had just one hour and fifty-seven min
utes i'll Which to cut his way out and
| get ashore. Could he do it? A tunnel
large enough for the passage of his
body must he made through more than
thirty inches OF hard, brittle ice by
means of Il rather slender knife blade
Selecting the most vulnerable point
OF attack. the slight crack between the
cake that formed Size cover of the trap
and the one that formed the lower
wall. he began chipping away the ice.
At first he worked with feverish anN-
| iety. but gradually his usual coolncss
| returned.
When he had cut steadily upward to
depth Of ten inches. he noticed that
he was letting the hole get smaller
| the deeper it went into the ice. If the
| dimensions We're allowed to decrease
| any more he saw that the hole would
be much too narrow for his exit by
| the time the cake was pierced. So.
beginning at the bottom. he enlarged
the tunnel until it seemed to him that
| its necessary conveyance would still
leave wide enough opening when the
| surface was reached.
Soon operations We're again delayed.
He was obliged to stop and cut foot
holds in the almost perpendicular side
| of the lower wall that he might raise
himself enough to work with advan-
tage.
AT last. Judging that he had cut
half way. IIardman looked at his
| watch again. 1t was seven minutes
| past eleven. He had been siXty-seven
minutes in cutting the easier half.
Only fifty minutes remained; it seemed
useless to go on.
Time and tide wait for no man,"
| the trite old adage struck him with
new and appalling force. But he must
and would get out in time. His de-
| Spair gave way to resolution and he
set to work with renewed vigor strik-
ing so forcibly that the blade threat
ened to break at every jab
Although surrounded with walls of
ice, Hardmans whole body dripped
with perspiratiOn. Every muscle in
his arms and shoulders ached intol-
erably with the strain of clinging to
the vertical wall and picking away
the relentless ice overhead. Showers
of chips poured down upon his face.
half binding him. and he worked in a
great measure by guess. Yet slowly
the tunnel was cut upward inch by
inch until he estimated there could be
no more than three inches left.
AT this point he was seized with
lurking fear that another block from
above would slip down and double
the thickness of the cover In a frenzy
of haste he struck recklessly The
blade snapped short off ut the handle.
Not daring to look at his watch.
| Hardman opened the small blade, and
| eteadying his nerves. began again.
very carefully now. A dozen strokes
and the knife pierced clear through
the cake. There was nothing on top
He listened for the roar of the ex-
| DSN'Su 'iuN. puI tiic OiiIS SOuuuS lle
| heard were the soft tapping of the
waves at the foot Of the jam and the
hoarse scream of Il raven wheeling
in the still air high overhead
Cutting out the opening to a size
sufficient. he thought, to permit the
egress of his bcdy, Hardman grasped
the upper edge and raised himself until
the top of his head was above the
level of the ice Then the breadth of
his shoulders refused to let him 20
farther.