Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1903-03-02
TRAPPED IN AN ICE JAM.


ing how insecure was its position. In
stantly his foot slipped and he fell into
| the crack between. He clutched at the
| slippery edge as he went down, hung
suspended by his arms for a 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 in q heap below. He
| was caught like squirrel in a box
| trap in narrow, irregular space among
the blocks, about three feet wide, five
feet long and six feet high.
For 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 n
hole through which he could signal to
camp for help by thrusting out his
coat and waving it. The sunlight fill
tering in through a chink gave promise
of this, and helped to relieve the semi
darkness Of his prison.
He inspected his camera in a 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 70
Then all at once the peril of his posi-
tion flashed upon him; the tide would
set the whole jam in motion, perhaps
demolish 1t. If he did not escape he
would be ground to powder. One
| movement of cake would annihilate
him.
For an awful moment a sickening
terror clutched him, but shaking it off
he began to make a calculation. He
had just one hour and fifty-seven min
utes in which to cut his way out and
get ashore. Could he do it? A tunnel
large enough for the passage Of his
body must be made through moro than
thirty inches of hard, brittle ice by
means of rather slender knife blade
Selecting the most vulnerable point
of attack, the slight crack between the
cake that formed the cover of the trap
and the one that formed the lower
wall, he began chipping away the ice
At first he worked with feverish anX-
iety, but gradually his usual coolness
returned.
When he had cut steadily upward to
n 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 1t seemed to him that
| its necessary conveyance would still
leave wide enough opening when the
| surface was reached.
| Soon operations were again delayed.
He was obliged to stop and cut foot
holds in the almost perpendicular side
| himself enough to work with advan-
| tage.
At last, judging that he had cut
| half way, Hardman 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 q
new and appalling force. But he must
and would get out in time. His de
spair gave way to resolution, and ht
set to work with renewed vigor, strik
ing so forcibly that the blade threat
ened to break at every jab.
Although surrounded with walls o1
ice, Hardman's whole body drippet
with. perspiration. Every muscle IL
his arms and shoulders ached intol
erably with the strain Of clinging Il
the vertical wall and picking ava!
the relentless ice overhead. Shower:
of chips poured down upon his face
half binding him, and he worked in ;
great measure by guess. Yet slowl.
the tunnel was cut upward inch b.
inch until he estimated there could b.
no more than three inches left.
At this point he was seized with
lurking fear that another block iron
above would slip down and doubl
the thickness OF the cover. In frenz.
of haste he struck recklessly. Th
blade snapped short Off at the handle
Not daring to look at his watch
Hardman opened the small blade, ant
Rteadying his nerves. began again
very carefully now. A dozen stroke
and the knife pierced clear throug
the cake. There was nothing on tor
He listened for the roar of the eS
pected tide, but the only sounds II
7 heard We're the soft tapping OF tn
, waves at the foot of the jam and tn
l hoarse scream OF n raven whcelin
/ in the still air high overhead.
r Cutting out the opening to a siz
/ sufficient, he thought. to permit th
egress of his body, Hardman graspe
t the upper edge and raised himself unit
the top of his head was above til
= level of the ice. Then the breadth @
| his shoulders refused to let him e
farther.