Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1903-09-09
TRAPPED in AN ICE JAM.
By Laurence j. Yates:


alize the gravity Of his situation. H
felt sure that he could cut himself on
D with his jack knife, or at least make
hole through which ue could signal t
camp for help by thrusting out hi
coat and waving 1t. Tile sunlight I'll
te-lng in through chlnk gave promls
of this, and helped to relieve the semi
darkness of his prison.
lie inspected his camera in leis
urely fashion, glad to find that it hat
not been in the least injured by tn
fall. took out his knife and then looked
at his watch. 1t was 10 o'clock; til,
tide was due at three minutes of -
Then all ut once the peril Of his posi-
tion flashed upon him; the tide would
set the whole jam in motion, perhaps
dcmolish It, If he did not escape hl
would be ground to powder. One
movement Of cake would annihilatc
him.
For an awful moment sickenns
terror clutched him, but shaking 1t OF
he began to make a calculation. lie
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 more 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 t1e 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
4 depth of ten inches, he noticed tlat
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 hy
the time the cake was pierced. So,
beginning mt the bottom, he enlarged
its necessary convergence would stlii
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 auvan-
tage.
At last, judging that lie had cut
half way, Hardman looked ut his
watch again. 1t was seven minutes
past eleven. He had been siXty-seven
minutes in cutting the easier half.
Only fifty minutes remained; 1t seemed
useless to go on.
"Time and tide wait for no man,
the trite old aGage struck him with 4
new and appalling force. But lie must
and would get out in time. Ills de-
spalr gave way to resolution, and he
set to work with renewed vigor strik-
ing SO forcibly that the blade threat
ened to break a. every jaD
Although surrounded with walls OF
ice. Hardman's whole body driDped
with perspiration. Every muscle in
his arms and shoulders ached intol-
erably with the strain of clinglnS 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 he
no more than three inches left.
|. At this point he was seized with a
lurking fear that another block from
above would slip down and double
the thickness of the cover. In frenzy
of haste he struck recklessly. The
blade snapped short off at the handle
Not daring to look at his watch
Herdman opened the small blade, ant
steadylng 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
pccted tide, but the only sounds h
heard were the soft tapping of tn
waves at the foot of the jam and tn
hoarse scream of raven wheeling
in the still air high overhead.
Cutting out the opening to a 81
, sufficient, he thought, to permit tn
, egress Of his body, Hardman graspe
the upper edge and raised himself unit
, the top of his head was above tn
! level of the ice. Then the breadth @
his shoulders refused to let him
: farther.
$ AS he struggled va!nly, q sullen roa
4 far down the arm hcralded the comm
Z of the tide. 1t was now or never
L With a sudden inspiration Hardma
f dropped back, pulled off his thic
e outer coat, and then. with almost 81
n perhuman strength forced himsP
n slowly upward out of the vise-lili
r grip of the narrow opening.
II He rose to his feet, free Of an ic
,. tomb at last; but lie found there w;
# no time to cross to the shore befol
the ice-laden wave of the bore Wou
II strike. 1t was already within h'
II hundred yards of him.
p Knowing that it would take mal
l. times more force to move the ia
% resting on the bar than it would
10 move the field in the channel uar
% man quickly realized that the be
4, thing to do was to stay on the noun
le The safest place was at the SUNNI
20 so to the one big cake forming Il
X pinnacle he made his way, and crOuc
IS ing OIL its s!antin% surface, waited.
er Over 70 the southwest WAS the can
10 in the shadow Of the foothills.
* one was in sight There was no Il
~ I'm shooting to let his men know Oh
re danger, for above the roar oil 1
-.ata- his unicn Mnull not CarrN L: