The daily sentinel. [volume] (Grand Junction, Colo.) 1893-current, 1910-10-03
TO RIDE
THRO GUNNIS0N
Tunnel ON P q: !

Paul Phippeny has ridden through
the tunnel on a raft and shot the
drops on the south canal. In doing
this Phippeny has accomplished the
feat which has been the dream of all
boys and many men in this commun-
ity for the past six years. This trip
has called for an unlimited amount
OF nerve and great skill in secreting
his movements from the guards.
After beginning his raft he was
compelled to hide 1t each night from
the Others on the watch in order
that they might not have the chance
to give away his proposed plan.
Not a soul who was at the river
portal knew of the proposed trip and
the lad was able to float his raft into
the tunnel and get on board with a
light lunch, which he thought might
come in handy in case he should get
hung up in the tunnel. Once on
board and the cable holding the frail
craft cut the boy and his rough raft
shot into the darkness. For a short
distance the craft seemed to move
with great speed and then all was
steady and the occasion grating of
the timbers against the concrete
walls of the tunnel was the only evil
dence of speed, or motion. Phippeny
boarded his raft at eleven minutes
past ten and when he drifted through
into the light of the west portal, six
miles from his starting place il was
1881, thus the trip was made in ex-
actly 40 minutes.
Without accident or incident the
trip was made and the hero came
through with thoroughly drenched
clothing from the water which
streams through the roof in many |
places. Out in the open cut sailing
was easy for half mile and then |
the drop. These drops consist of a |
straight drop of some IL feet onto
series of steel rails which break the |
water into spray, thus preventing the |
wearing away of the bottom of the |
canal. AT the first drop the water
was deep enough to float the raft |
over and Phippeny went on down
the canal and shot the rapids in the
big cut, all without incident and rode
on to the big drop. Here he met his
Waterloo and would have drowned
had 1t not been for a farmer who
him out. In this drop the
raft struck the rails and went TO
f+~NNa'f ms TIE llutT lIllO the |
water, where il was boiling and
roaming over the falls. Being a good
swimmer he escaped into the auieter
water but here he was in no better
as the inclined slides of
concrete were too steep to climb.
Being thoroughly chilled in COM
ing through the tunnel and dumped |
headforemost into the icy water,
which he barely could wade he would |
have succumbed had not he been
discovered by R. f. McCollum, a
farmer living near the tunnel, who
happened along. McCollum found a
long pole and with the aid of this he
could reach the waters edge by
standing on the top of the concrete
wall With McCollurn s assistance
Phippeny climbed up the side and
fell fainting to the ground. Phippeny
is now in the hospital threatened
with typhoid, but the doctors think
they may be able to avert that
Phippeny who has been employed
at the tunnel for some months has
been secretly hoping for chance to
make the trip for long time but
was denied the chance on account of |
the large number of workmen about |
the intake who believed to make the
Smile trip an impossibility. When
the tunnel closed down a week ago
and Phippeny was given a place as
he began the construction
of his raft. In this work he was
right at home having lived on the
river for many years and
spending his boyhood days on RATS.
Press.