Rocky Ford enterprise., 1908-05-15

down on my nose and face In the mud
and gravel. somewhat scratched and
soIled. but unhurt.
Fortunately. no one was there to see
my mishap. II there had been !
should never have heard the last OF II.
worked the 'scraper" with bare
hands after that. and when 1t went
over by reason of too heavy going did
not so with IL. ! am happy TO say. l
soon got the knack Of handling the
machine with ease and grace. and II
was not nearly SO hard nor 80 monot-
onous as swinging pick. II is won
dcrfui how much work gang OF men
can do In a few hours by sticking
closely to their task. The hillside.
which had looked so dangerous and
stubborn that morning. commenced to
assume the proportions and aspect OF
merely a steep incline. but perfectly
safe for travel.
There was one spring hole" in this
hill. and this we had TO dig deep into.
tile and then rock over with heavy
bouldcrs. The strength OF n spring is
something enormous. and good
spring In the middle OF n highway In
something that will cause more trou.
BILE than any one other thing. In that
country. with sheer descent OF hun.
drcds OF feet along the roads. the
springs sometimes wore away sections
OF the road from year to year, compel.
ling retreat further and further into
the fields. until great bays and inlets
would be eaten into the meadows to.
wards the sources OF the gushing wa,
tcrs.
The bridges In the country are gen.
orally very good or very bad. Some
OF them are neat Iron structures. well
! furnished with stone abutmcnts. cal.
! culatcd to stand for so years or 40.
Others. the great majority. are make.
shift concerns of heavy enough tim.
bcrs, but crudciy put together and
shorcd mp with brush and dirt that
the spring frcshcts carries on. leaving
the supports TO sag and drop as the
traiiic goes over them and the rains
undermine them.
We took hold OF this bridge Mt the
foot OF the hill and pried out the tim.
bcrE to the north. and set In. much
deeper than the original supports.
straight and massive oak umbcrs. and
bTar-d them with powders 10 that
| they could not wear or shake loose.
Then We filled In and back of them
| with more rock. and nailed them with
heavy pianka so that the entire square
OF support made one framework solid.
~ set In the earth. Then We rein.
forced this framework TO the top with
additional timbcrs spiked to the
square. and then laid on the road
t. 80 h.. Easa
or heavy upright ,imbcrs laid length.
wise on the bridge frame. Everything
was libcraliy fastened with spikes OF
huge sire. driven down with slcdgc-
hammers. and every point where
weight would possibly cause the struc.
tur. to say was shored up with rock.
so that the rains or high water could
have no effect In causing the bridge
to give" In any direction. Then We
nailed up stout side poles. braccd at
each end. to keep skittIsh horses from
tumbling down 40 feet to the bottom
OF the ravinc. and reckoncd We had
done good. clean job Of bridge
building.
At noon we halted In our work. fed
the teams and comforted ourselves
with n substantial meal of victuals.''
as the boss" put II. The boss" by
the way. ate more than anyone else.
! and did about n man and a halfs work.
After dinner several more men drlited
up TO where We were working and
some Of the morning shift went
home. those who had come with
teams being replaced by others with
more teams. In this way the dove.
colurcd mules passed from my sight.
got acquainted with a great many
men by reason OF the changing about
| Of the workers. and they were most OF
them curious to see a man from the
city handle an AK or pick. drive
team or carry and help set up timbers
Hut as my garb was about the same
rs the "scareCrows" wore. and entire.
ly Euiltless OF collar. cuffs. tic or any.
thing which might distinguish mo
from tramp. the novelty wore on
very soon. Indeed. I was so tanned.
and looked so mcuh like section
hand" that when ! was introduced to
the newcomers they must have been
unable to detect any urban signiti.
canoe in my attire or looks.
Being stuck up in the city makes
man hated: in the country. laughed
at and despised. II you will work in
the country you can dress as elegantly
as you please on Sunday. or on occa.
slons of social Importance: in fact the
better you dress then the more you
will be appreciated. But don't dress
when you go out to work. Just cover
yourself and no more. | had set
of hats that wore which were unique
in their tatters. For coats I wore
usually my hunting coats II II was
cold. For shirts. except on state oc-
casions. I wore the old.fashioned
hickory shirts. preferably blue.