The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-07-01

tracks. There was crash, and the
mules started forward at gallop,
dragging Mccullough with them, while
the auto remained in place. immovable
as a rock. The whiffletree had broken.
With the handle of a pick, Campbell
Then they hitched the mules directly to
the auto. There. was sharp struggle.
The mules tugged, the men pushed, the
wheels whirred thru the yielding sand.
The auto began, to move, an inch,
foot. The men painted. The wheels be-
gan to take hold. the machine gave a
jump and rolled forward.
the mules stopped, exhausted, and the
men rolled over, half dead. The per-
pendicular sun fell upon them like drops
Of molten lead. The shimmering sand
caught the heat and threw it back to
the sun, which promptly poured it
down again, till earth, sky and air pull
stated with binding glow. But ahead,
with their purple promise of riches.
Let s go on,' said Sullivan.
They went on. For seven miles, by
hundred-yard stretches, they heaved the
machine over the sand. And finally
they struck hard ground.
They left Mccullough there with the
wagon and the mules and supply of
water, They got into the auto and
buzzed on across the shimmering alkali,
a hundred feet below sea level, thru
an atmosphere that scorched.
The machine struck downgrade and
whizzed along. At the bottom Of the
grade, a faint, green mustiness was
visible. The. machine approached it
with. vertiginous speed. Suddenly,
with an exclamation, the chauffeur
l L., forward and put on both brakes.
hIJJ1 ~ +or
tured steel, the. machine skidded and
jumped, then came to a full stop, like
a cow pony that throws itself on it's
launches. The front wheels we're
buried in the treacherous soil.
With infinite labor, they pulled her
back out Of it.. They examined the
an aka swamp Over tn the 'o ooay dc dep y
crust that seemed hard, but broke to
weight, stretched like shimmering
Chafey went up on little knoll to
reconnoitre.. The heat waves, rolling
like gigantic breakers, caused strange
Illusions. On :. the top of the knoll,
{Chsa Cha seemed to be limping as if his
he began running in an extraordinary
fashion around in a circle. The rest
of the party called him back, afraid
He assured them that he had been
walking peaceably along the ridge
| They were in the land of delusions
and everything was false.
They held conference, and then de.
With only the chauffeur in it, the
auto was backed far up the grade it
had come down. The rest of the men
spread along the path thru the marsh
ready for any emergency. Sullivan
dropped his handkerchief: for a signal
and the machine, started down the hill
Right, away, the chauffeur put on, full!
speed. The steel flaps in front opened
shadow, She winged down; then, as she
caught the, full impetus of power and
grade, she began to buzz in a crescendc
that rose till she iroared like bomb
shell. Down she came a-roar, like q
meteor from the skies. An involuntary
cry came from the men in the marsh al
the first hundred feet as if with one
spring. She slowed, hesitated, waved
from side to side, then, the wheels
catching q bit Of harder ground
jumped forward again, thru an oozy
place, the wheels bespattering thu
skies. The men watched her, breath
/ less. She Struck a succession of hare
spots between mudholes. Each TIM
| the wheels, catching the hard spot
thus, by series Of mad leaps, sh
went almost across, the chauffeur risin,
and falling upon his seat like the ride
Of a dromedary. On the further edge
a few, feet from safety, she seemed t
mire for good, She stopped, the wheel
the men, alongside, frenzied, threw thei
coats, their hats, their shirts beneath
the wheels, and slowly, inch by inch
she at length rose upon the har'
ground ..
Everything afterward was easy i
comparison, tho enough to daunt will
forged of baser metals than those @
Sullivan, Campbell and Chafey. An ez
animation of the machine showed tn
frame that supported the engine to b
cracked. It was braced with dri
and shovel handle. Five miles fro1
Emigrant Springs the party ran out Q
water and the machine refused. to g
without it. Leaving Sullivan and tn
chauffeur with the small canteen tia
remained, Campbell and Chafey hike
| on afoot with the empty waterbag
With the desert sun pumping the waite
out Of their bones, it was a desperat
J almost out of their mouths before the
reached the little pool Of stagna1
water. They filled all the bags and r.
! turned to the machine. Again in worl
! ing order, the auto pumped slowly Il
the remainder Of the grade. and {
midnight rolled into the little cam
> at Emigrant Springs.
! Even then it was not time to res
;, Afoot the party climbed over the hill
: and. Just at sun up, they were standin
y upon monstrous, outcropping of gol
: bearing quartz, the mine SO desperate]
- won. Taking samples here and Their
!, they returned to camp, "panned
a them, and there and then Sulliva
y Chafey and the prospectors closed tt
y deal.
l. Hardly had this been done when tt
D puff-puff of an auto drew them outsiC
t Of the tent. Slowly, painfully a cri
| pied automobile was rolling in from tt
|. other side Of the mountains. Campbe
| recognized the man in the auto, a CO.
:. fidential agent Of Charles M. Schwa
f the great steel magnate. The race ha
b been won, and just won.
r NORTHWEST PATENTS.
Washington, D. c., June 30, 1906
Especial: 1.-The following patents we
IL