Arizona republican., 1904-08-22
A NIGHT OF ADVENTURE
Celestial Lighthouses a Poor Thins
 for Wheelmen to Depend On.

Bernard Huellmantell Steffen. well known young man of this city. protests against the short notice that Is being given lately of approaching elemental disturbances. The last big ram came mighty near making an an- gel of him, and all because it occurred without proper warning and the ad- vance notices gave no intimation of the severity of the storm
 MT. Steffen lives just beyond Five Points and chanced to be down town on his bicycle when the rain began The street lamps were out and the night was black as tar except when the lightning flashed. Mr. kSteffen of course wanted to go home as all young men do when there is a poor chance or getting there. but he was brave and started through the inky darkness. Go- ing west on Monroe St he did very well by the lights from the houses till hs reached point in the street in front Of the First M. F. church. Then he watched for flash of lightning and pointed his wheel in the direction he thought 1t should go. The next thing he experienced was a sudden shock which left him lying on the ground. He got up and felt around to see what he was up against and discovered that he had tried to ride his wheel straight over the Baptist church.
 Crawling back to the street again he place his machine in position and wait ed for more lightning. But he imag- med he saw a wagon coming, so he bore off to the right. The next thing he knew he was in the ditch at one side of the road.
 Again he strengthened himself out and shot out. into the night When he next returned to consciousness his wheel was on top of him, his hands and feet were madly paving the air. and he was screaming at the top of l his voice, Look out there. I'm under | here!" He has no idea how long be was in coma, but he remembers that he thought he was in a train wreck or a bad mixup of some kind, and that the rescuers were handling scrap iron 1 without regard to the human lives that might be struggling below.
 Another flash of lightning restored him fully and also appraised him that he was in the vicinity of E. Gang residence. There was still some vital | ity left in the wheel and another flash again set MT. Steffen on the right track. He made a spurt of three or four blocks this time, but the finish was a catastrophe. Where the road crosses the big ditch at Five Points a long bridge runs diagonally acros. the thoroughfare. At the end of it is a fence or railing across the bridge anC reaching some yards on either side ot the ditch, intended to keep the genera public on the bridge if possible.
 But Mir. Steffen is not the genera public; he is an aggregation hy. him
 self. When he reached the railing h, struck it diagonally and both he anC
 the wheel went over the fence. The!
 landed in a scrap pile below. tied up il a double bow knot. Fortunately thei ! velocity was not sufficient to throw
 them into the water, else it would hay,
 been a swim for life through the mar
 row channel with MT. Steffen's heaC ever and anon pumping the sleepers O
 the bridge.
 When he regained self possession af
 ter this incident, he sized up the whee and saw that if he had any furthe
 adventures that night they would b.
 on foot. The front and rear wheel
 were locked in the fond embrace O
 death and the saddle stuck up in tn air like dismantled mast on Rus sian warship. But the navigator wa
 then in sight of home and crawled int
 the harbor without further incident.