Alaska sentinel., 1905-04-06
oREGON's PAUL REVERE.
Leslie Matlock Rides Before the Hepp.
 ner Flood and Saves 700 Lives.

Leslie Matlock Rides Before the Hepp. ner Flood and Saves TOO Lives.
 Longfellow has immortalized Paul Revere. who made the mad night ride to Lexington, crying to the farmers a warning of the coming of the armed enemy. By that midnight cry they were enabled to prepare for the in- vader, and had 1t not been for Paul Revere the embattled farmers" could not have fired ar Lexington the shot heard round the world" The incident Is among the heroic events that are fondly referred to in the literature re- lating to, and inspired by. our revolu- ton. Every American lad has felt his pulses quicken and his heart beat higher when he has read the story, and there has been born in him the wish that some day. somehow, there may come to him the opportunity to initiate Paul Revere. To all such il may be said that opportunities are numerous. The lad who feels his spir- 1t crying out in warning that bad ud pAAS. sIpAu dl4AA MI way LAoA n
 ing down upon L.m 10 tie his hands and weaken his moral purpose and destroy his manly independence has a Paul Revere opportunity. The night rider is within him. crying with the voice of conscience. If he heed he is
 the warning and the warned, and the
 decision he may make to arm him.
 self against tine insidious enemy and
 strike for liberty and morality may in
 kind affect the world as did the shot fired at Lexington. Not only in this self-affecting sense does the Paul Re
 were spirit find many opportunities,
 but in the other sense. in the form of | Pauls own action as affecting others.
 there are many occasions upon which
 his brave initiative may be repeated. When the wall of water fell upon
 Heppner the hapless Oregon town,
 and gentle Willow creek, transformed
 into torrent. rose to be the dreadful agent of death and in ury to the sleep ] ing people, Leslie Matlock found with
 in his ribs the spirit of Paul Revere.
 Far down the canyon was the Oregon ! town of Lexington, where 500 people
 slept, unconscious of danger. Mat
 lock sprang upon his horse and put
 spur to outride the flood and save 500
 lives, nine miles away. Behind rose
 the pursuing wall of water Ii gath
 cred wreckage as it ran, and bore upon its crest the floating timbers that made it more dangerous and deadly. ! The road was dark and stony. and his horse leaped powders and ruts, urged
 forward by the young Revere of Ore gon. Ahead hundreds slept in the path of death Behind howed the flood as over the rough road he spurred. If i he could not outrun the destroyer and save others he was doomed, for his safety. like theirs. lay in the horses speed and sureness of foot. No more pitiless enemy ever urged forward a
 deliverer. and no soldier was ever chased by surer death. If his beast tripped or failed. At last he dashed into the single street of Lexington.
 crying ITO the hills" and the reused ! people fled to safety. and not life
 was lost. though in a few minutes only
 two houses were left of all the homes in which 500 slept when the deliverer came But this Paul Revere of Ore gon did not stop at the rescue of 800.
 Remembering that still farther down
 the canyon the hamlet of lone stood ] in the road that death was riding that
 night. before the waters came upon
 him he found telephone and warned
 the sleepers below. That night Leslie
 saved 10O lives. To him came Paul
 Revere opportunity, and, thoughtful of duty and thoughtless of himself. he
 grasped 1t and won like hero.-San
 Francisco Call.