The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-04-15

# Fof the
III .=- life and
Id clock
incurred
:, u Belf by Ia
S.. 81 machine,
n and which
of mending.
If. a vacancy on
corner of a
tslzz: III boy bound for
.|sz ~ ached that ever
Niger brought him
oWS and compelled him
10 bed this means Of live
lihoOd Nm working, ne con-
tinUed at III developed in a few
years into #pictureSque a tramp"
as ever enlivey I'd rural scenery.
He was ~ vicious. only ignorant
and lazy. Sometimes, TO relieve ennui.
he would ork for a few days lays; but
contact /dh machinery. He was a
born Mechanic: but this expresses all
He knsNV by intuition things that sue
cessfuf civil and mechanical engineers
would be glad to acquire after years of
study, at the same time possessing none
Of the balance Of mind that makes us
respectable. In short, he was a hap
py-go-lucky vagabond, with an ever
increasing repugnance for work, and
an ever-decreasing community of in
terest with his fellow men.
At Buffalo he fired "A stationary en-
CINE, on trial. but displayed so keen an
interest in the engineers work as to
lose his job. Later. inspired perhaps
by f1eeting self-respect based on his
late usefulness. he secured another.
this time as engineer His employer
was suspicious at first of the ragged,
unlicensed aSpirant, but he talked glib
ly Of crate surface. eCcentrics. valves,
pistons. etc. CwOrds picked uD in his
~ NTrarnu-
peared. and the engine must run. so
he was accented
But a correct estimate of the tensile
strength Of red-hOt boiler iron in con-
tact with cold water did not form a
part of this mans genius. and on the
second day he sailed over two fences
amid a cloud of hot steam. while the
shattered boiler went the other way.
He was picked up scalded. disfigured
and unconscious and sent to the hos
pital, from which, in three months, he
emerged blind i'm ONE eye. minus an ear
and with his whole right side shortened
and weakened On stormy December
morning. hungry and cold, he slipped
as deckhand on a steam barge, the
mate taking on the fOrIorn applicant
for the same reason that had influenced
his last emplOyeT-nO other appeared.
He scrubbed decks. secured paint
work and helped trim sails as the shifts
Of wind demanded while the steam
barge dragged himself and two tow
hargeS up the lake. He soon understood
the proper angle that sails should bear
to the wind and the resultant force ex-
erted on the vessel. He helped the
second mate splice a TOpe and knew
how before the job was half done. He
had seen the rUdder at the dock. and
explained to his fellows the action of
the Slanting blade OF the water. Scrub
hing paint on the bridge, he heard the
captain say 10 the mate. Pull UP the
senterboard; she Sripes." and. being
sent to HELM. asked the gOOd-na tI1red
second mate what the centerbOard was
for and what gripping meant. The mate
explained.
BY the time he had assimilated this
nautical lore the boat had reached
Point Pelee. near the head Of the lake.
and here. as though misfortune was
still .'camred on MS trial" he fell
overheard
'.Ian overheard. rooster" yelled the
second mate.
Which one?' asked the captain. as
he rang the stopping bells.
The blind One-tha cripple"
Let the tow pick him up" growled
the captain. ringing full speed to the
engine But as u SaIVe to his con-
science he blew d few short banks of
the whistle to signify to the barges be
hind to Took out
Our hero. fathoms deep. as he
thought. barely escaped a blow from
the propeller as he was sucked under
the quarter, to come to the surface half
the length of the tow line behind Be
ing no swimmer, he gaSDed once and
sank, then arose. only to be beaten un-
der by the bow OF the OncOming tow
barge When next he appeared it was
behind the first tow barge, and the
second. approaching at a seven knot
speed. was almost upon him
Just as his head disappeared the out
or bobstay of the second barge struck
MIN in the shoulder. He grasped it.
got his head out and rested: then inch
by inch, he ragged his crippled body
up the pair of iron chains to the bow
spirit. thence inbOard to the deck. on
10 which he tumblcd an unconscious
heap. He WAS carried below. stripped
and brought to with much rubbing and
copious draughts of whisky. But not
being used TO this stimulation lately
he relapsed into q stupor
That night 81 showed so hard that
the mon steering the tow barges could
not see the steam barge ahead, and the
captains and mates took turns at stand
Ing In the bows. and. guided BY the
trend 90 the tow lines. believing Star
board Port and ''SteadyI'' to the
i1clmsulcn. The CAPTAIN of the steam
barge, too sure Of his position to an
.cncr yet not sure enough to go ahead
without sounding. slowed down. took
a east OF the lead and went on with
out being able to see through the snow
the position the second Of the tow
barges had reached. She had creDt
upon the first barge, but had given her
a Vide berth: and now. when the tow
Inc tautcned. it bore at right angles
10 port.
Hard a-starboard." sang out the
mate OF the second barge as he saw
the hawser lift from the water.
tt was his last speech. The terrific
strain broke the iron casting ON the
bow through which the hawser led ana
the mate, standing on the port cathead
was struck i'm the legs by the sween-
ing recOH Of the heavy line and swent
overheard. He did not rise ROpas
were thrown out. but the n.elcrn a..