West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1906-06-14
KNGWOOD PRESTON COUNTY WEST JUNEl 1905

shook their heads, dcnsed and turned
their faces 10 the mountains. They
stretched their arms straight out undor
their blankets, like strlngors. and put
out their palms, downward. and NUT.
tered TO HALEY;
Plenty snow"
Il reckon they're lying" said Bucks,
listening. There's some devlltry no
They're not tho kind 60 clear out for
snow"
Now, the Spider wakes regularly
twice; at all other times lrrcgulariy.
Once In Aprll-that Is tho foothills wa.
ter; once In June-that IA the mountain
water And the Juno rise Is like this
-. But tho April rise II like this
Now came an April without any rise;
that April nothing rose except tho
snow. "We shall get II all together"
suggested Bucks ono night.
"or Will II get us altogetherY" asked
HALEY.
Either way" said Callahan, 1T will
be mostly at once"
May opened blcaker than April; oven
the trackmcn walked with set faces;
the dirtlest half breed ON the line knew
now what the mountains held. At last,
whilo we looked and wondered, came a
very late Chinook; July In May; then
tho water.
Section gangs We're doubled and
track walkers put on. By-passcs were
opened, bridge crews strengthened. ey-
erything bucklcd for grief. Grilles
began To race, culvcrts 10 choke. creeks
to tumble, rivers to madden. From
the Muddy TO the Summit the water
courses swellcd and Loiled-all but the
Spider; the big river slept. Through May
and into June the Spider slept, but Hal.
leywas there at the Wickiup always and
with one eye running over all the line,
one eye turned always TO the Spider,
where two men and two. night and
day, watched the lazy surface water
trickle over and through tho vagabond
bed between Hniley's monumental
piers. Never nn hour did the operating
department lose TO the track East and
west OF us railroads everywhere clam
orcd In despair. The flood reached
from the Rockies TO the Alloghenies.
our trains never missed trip; our
schedules were unbroken: our people
laughed; we got the business, dead
loads OF 1t; our treasury flowed over,
and Hniloy watched, and the Spider
slept
Big Ed Peeto, still foreman of the
bridges, hung OH Hniley's steps and
tried with his staring, swearing eye TO
make IL all out; 90 guess what HALEY
expected to happen. for IL was plain he
was thinking. Whether sfhoklng or
speaking, whether waking or sleeping,
he was thinking. And as May turned
soft and hot into June with every ditch
bcllying and the mountains still buried,
IL put us MI thinking.
On the 30th there was trouble be-
yond Wild Hat, and all our extra men,
put out there under HALEY, were fight
ing TO hold the Rat valley levels where
they hug the river on the west slope
1t wasn't really Hailcy's track. Bucks
sent him over there because he sent
HALEY wherever the emperor sent Ney.
Sunday while HALEY was at Wild Hat
It began raining Sunday II rained;
Monday II ralned all through the noun
talns; Tuesday II was raining from
Omaha TO Eagle pass, with the ther-
mOmeter climbing for breath and the
barometer fiat as an ndder-nnd the
Spider woke.
Woke with the April water and the
June water and the rain water all at
once. Trackmen at the bridge Tuesday
night tagged No 1 and reported the
river wild and sheet ice running. a
wire from Bucks brought HALEY out
of the west and into the east and
brought him to reckon for the last time
with his ancient enemy.
He was against IL Wednesday morn
ing with dynamite. All the day. tho
night and the next day the sullen roar
OF the giant powder shook the ice jams
Two days more he spent there watch
Ing. with only an occasional thunder
bolt 10 heave and scatter the Spider
w0ter into sudden, shiyery columns Of
spray; then he wired, "Ice out" and
set back dragged and silent for home
and for sleep-ten hours out OF two
hundred maybe, wns all he reckoned
TO the good when he struck a pillow
again Saturday night he slept. and
Sunday all day. and Sunday night
Monday about noon Bucks sent up TO
ask. but HALEY was asleep. They
asked back by the lad whether they
should wake him; Bucks sent word,
mo"
Tuesday morning the tall roadmaster
came down fresh as sunshine, and all
day he worked with Bucks and the dis
patchers watching the line. The Spider
raced like the Missouri and the men
at the bridge sent I'm panic messages
every night and morning but HALEY
liz his pipe with their alarms. THAT
bridge viii go when the mountains
TO-" was al he said
Tuesday was his wedding date. old
Denis told Peeto II was Hailey's
wooden wedding. and when he found
everybody knew they were going TO
have a little spread over at the cottage
HALEY invited the boys up for the even
Ing Just n little celebration, HALEY
said. and everybody he spoke to wrung
bis hand aud slapped his iron shoulders
tili HALEY echoed good cheer through
and through.
II was 8 O'clock night. anl every
star blinking when HALEY looked IN
again a The Office for the trDcS walk
ers reports and The ruilwa. vcather
bulletins Bucks. Callahan a.i Pceto
sat about Duffy, who IN his shirt sleeves
threw the stun out on thc souudcr as
70 trickled !n dot and dash. dot and
dash over The wires The west wire
was good, but east everything below
Peace river was down. We had 20 get
the eastern reports around by Omaha
and the south good 1000 miles OF a
loop but bad news travels even round