Cañon City record., 1904-01-28

morse loose 10 unu It's why hohe oho
braced myself for the dangerous jour
ney across.
"For the first fifteen or twenty feet
was able 10 maintain an upright po-
sitIon OH the great log, carefully choos-
ing my steps to prevent the. slightest
slip. But as neared the deeper part
of the surging stream and the trunk
dipped down beneath the surface !
was forced TO proceed on my hands
and knees found, too. that my added
weight pressed the bending trunk still
deeper into the foaming torrent till by
the time l had reached the middle OF
| the stream the log WIS SO far under
water that | WIS compelled to cling
on with the strength Of desperation to
prevent myself from being buried into
the raging rapids as they swept by
me with q roar that was well nigh
deafening.
Il had accomplished about two-t thirds
of the distance when to my dismay
the top Of the long trunk released itself
| from the entaDglements on the opposite
shore and. springing upward, began to
swing round with the current. Glanc-
ing backward, ] saw that the butt was
l
| fibers OF wood. In all probability there
1 fore the foating tree would swing
round until il touched the bank | had
started from. and | waited for the
coming impact To enable me TO scram-
| bile back 10 the slope on which | had
| Lsft my horse.
-0ne 10y one the white splinters twist
ed and snapped, however. and before
the great log had accomplished more
than half the distance to the shore the
thick end rolled from the stump and
slipped into the surging waters Of the
torrent and | was adrift, helpless and
alone. In seething river Of white
foam. racing headlong TO destruction
down a wild mountain girt ravine.
"Helplessly and hopelessly l looked
| from elf to clin in a fruitless search
| for the means OF rescue or escape. All
who have seen the mad onward rush
and heard the dull, deafening roar of
| swollen mountain torrent will know
\ how great was now my danger. In
deed can give no adequate description
Of the terrible picture. SO magnihcentiy
ma jestic that even In those moments of
direst peril the wondrous grandeur OF
of admiration that all the terrors Of
my position could not queil
Nothing breathing could have lived
FOR ave short minutes In those seething
white waterr- Racing along down their
steep mountain bed over great Jagged
rocks and deep transverse gullies that
made the foaming torrent pause and
plunge and eddy and swirl. dashed into
fury by conflicting forces behind and
below. they carried everything before
them and made one wonder At the hay-
oc and devastation which the mere
dropping Of the rain upon the noun
tains could eject
Great trees. their founda tioos under.
mined and swept away, crashed into
the foaming torrent and went swirllns
on to final and still more complete de-
struction. Huge powders of black rock.
loosened In their sturdy settings. top
Piled and fell with a mighty splash into
the racing rapids
Il was many times compelled to
crouch down upon the flying log TO pre-
vent projecting or overhanging crags
from sweeping me OF. Sometimes. too.
the great log struck the mountain sides
as it dashed impeiuousiy round n curve
In the ravine, and the sickeninr shock
OF the sudden impact well nigh hurled
me from my seat. But even these mo
mentary and Violent returns TO land
were OF no avail since the towering
walls of the mountains were now far
too PERCEPTIONS TO afford me foothold
even for a single instant
When I had started on that wild
race down the mountain torrent tberr
had been but five branches remaining
on the shattered tree Three OF these
had now been torn away, and but two
remained TO steady my unwieldy craft.
The Significance OF this will be at once
realized when Il is remembered that
log completely stripped OF branches
rolls In its own displacement and in
water such as this would revolve with
such rapidity that no one could remain
seated upon IL for ten consecutive sec.
onds
Presently I became aware OF an
other sound. deeper and NOR. sonorous
than the roar OF the racing torrent
With n sudden dread peered anxious
iy ahead as I shot round each success
sive curve in the narrow ravines, but
for some minutes nothing was to be
| seen. though the sound increased In
volume as proceeded At last, when
l had grown almost sick with appre-
hcnsion and alarm. the scene 30 much
dreaded burst upon my view. The val
ley through which ! was being whiri-
ed had been narrowing pcrceptibly for
some time. and, suddenly shooting
round sharp curve in the mountain
side, l saw, TO my horror, that It ended
less than hundred yards ahead and