Arizona republican., 1905-03-08

with the treacherous Arizona streams and got away with them. He is there fore afraid that his desire to get to Phoenix has made him incautious to the extent of losing his life. It is a mighty good rule to go by, never to cross an Arizona river in flood time no matter how easy it may appear to be. unless it is a matter of life and death or some cause in which a man would willingly hazard his life, for that's just what he does when he attempts it.
 The greatest danger in crossing the Arizona streams unless they be very high, is not so much from the water as from the quicksand. One can tell something about his ability to cope with the water alone, by looking at it, providing he knows he has solid river bed to operate upon but that is the thing he never knows in this coun- try and even when the water is very low an attempt to cross a channel out side of a well established ford, should be undertaken with extreme caution. Where the bed is solid one day 1t may be shifty the next.
 The above statement is well illus trated by an incident that occurred near Tempe and all the facts of which are we'll known to the writer. It was about fifteen years ago and before the days when Phoenix was provided with natatorium. Those who wanted to swim had to confine their sport to the town ditch, for that summer at least, there wasn't even frog pond in the river anywhere near Phoenix. Two young men on the fourth of July decid- ed that they wanted a real swim and thought there must be water enough to answer their purpose somewhere up Salt river. They left Phoenix on horseback, going to the river at the Gray crossing and following the chan mel clear to Tempe, without finding water enough to wash the feet of a polliwog. At Tempe they met a friend and told him their ambition. He said there was a good place to swim behind the butte for he had been there many times. so he saddled his horse and joined them as guides. Arriving at the place they found a little brooISlet about five feet wide and apparently about three inches deep. That is there was three inches of clear sparkling water above what seemed to be a nice solid bed of sand. Seeing at once that there was no chance for a swim they decided to cross the stream, cir cle the butte and return to Tempe.
 One of the three was about five feet in advance of the others as all ap- preached the little stream. The lead horse took a long step into it and the bottom fell out. He sank clear to the saddle. and as the forefeet went down he gave a spring with his hind feet that pushed him far enough for his head and neck to reach the farther side and save him from complete sub mersion, the rider in the meantime in- stinctiveiy drawing up his feet and Jumping over the horses head. retain ing the reins. The horse with mighty struggle managed to get out and im- mediately lay down exhausted for sew eral minutes. The other two horses had advanced too near the channel to retreat, but they saw the predicament of the first horse and gave d mighty jump almost clearing the pitfall, only their hindquarters sinking in the sand. IL is altog gether likely that had either of the horses stepped into the sand and water obliquely or nearly parellel with the stream they would have drowned, though the clear water was only three inches deep and that point was the only place for miles in the river bed that water could be found at all.