Canyon City news. (Canyon City, Tex.) 1903-1908, 1905-02-03

influence. lie told Wallace so. stand.
ing among the spectators on the cliff
top.
He Is all right" said Thorpe. II
wish l had more like him. The others
are good boys too"
Five men were at the moment tug.
ging futilely ut reluctant timber.
They were attempting to roll one end
of it over the side of another projecting
log. but were continually foiled, because
the other end was jammed fast. Each
bent his knees, inserting his shoulders
under The projecting peavey stock, to
straighten in Il mighty effort.
1t was fine spring day, clear eyed
and crisp. with n hint of new foliage in
the thick buds of the trees. The air
was so pelucid that one distinguished
without difficulty the struight entrance
to the gorge a mile away, and even the
West Bend. fully five miles distant.
Jimmy Powers took Off his cap and
wiped his forehead.
"You boys" he remarked politely,
"think you are boring with mighty
big auger."
my God!' screamed one Of the spec.
tntors OH top of the cliff.
At the same instant Wallace Carpen-
ter seized his friends arm and pointed.
Down the bed Of the stream from the
upper bend rushed n solid wall of wa
ter several feet high. 1t flung itself
fnt.,S-nrI xt,ifIi hn ,p
cascade. Even in the short interval
between the visitors exclamation and
Carpenters rapid gesture it had loomed
in sight. twisted dozen trees from the
river bank and foamed into the en-
trance Of the gorge. An instant later 1t
colided with the tail Of the jam.
Even In the railroad rush of those
few moments several things happened.
Thorpe lcnppd for rope. The crew
working on top of the dam ducked
instnctivcly to right and left and be-
gan to scramble toward safety. The
men below. ut first bewl,lcred and not
conlprchcnding, finally understood and
ran toward the face of the jam with
the intention Of clnmbering mp it. There
could be no escape in the narrow cnu-
yon below, the walls of which rose
sheer.
Thcn the flood hit square. great
sheet of water rose like surf from the
tail Of the jam Il mighty cataract pour
ed down over its surface lifting the
free logs; from either wing timbcrs
crunched split rose suddenly into
wracked prominence, twisted beyond
the sembIance of themselves. Here
and there single logs were even pro-
jectcd bodily upward, as an apple seed
is shot from between the thumb and
forelingcr. Then the jam moved.
Scotty Parsons, Jack IIyland. Red
Jacket and the forty or fifty men bad
reached the shore. by the wrisging
activity which is u river mans alone
they succeeded in pulling themselves
beyond the snap of deaths jaws. 1t
was Il narrow thing for most of them
and miracle for some.
Jimmy Powers. Archie Harris. Long
Pine Jim. Big Nolan and Mike Mo
loney, the brother of Bryan, were in
worse case. They were. as has been
said. engaged in "hattenng" part Of
the jam about eight or ten rods below
the face of it, When they finally uu-
derstood that the affair was one of
escape, they ran toward the jam. hop.
ing To climb out Then the crash came. 4.
They heard the roar Of the waters. the
wrccking of the timbers; they saw the
logs bulge outward IN anticipation Of
the break. Immediately they turned
and fed they knew not where.
All but Jimmy Powers. He stopped
short in his tracks aud threw his bat
tered Old felt hat deiantly full into the
face of the destruction hanging over
him. Then. his bright hair blowing in
the wind of death. he turned to the
spectators standing helpless and para.
lyzed forty feet above him
Ii was an instants impressiou-the
arrested motion seen in the fash of
lightning and yet to the Onlookers il
Continued on 18th page.)