The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1910-08-06
After some delay. they boarded

| miles to the last crossing. Iney
I alighted in a dreary region. where
/ the houses were perChed here and
! there in the midst of vacant lots, with
/ an occasional factory below. along
! the railroad line. The Annexed Dis
/ trict was not beautiful at any time or
/ season, being neither city nor Coun-
/ try. but possessing many of the worst
\ features Of both. Now it seemed even
more unlovely than usual, for there
was not snow enough to hide a sin
gle ragged detail, and the sWirling
storm accentuated the bleakness of
the landscape.
Baker street was unpaVed. and the
sodden mud holes and ruts had sud
denly been hardened into stone by
the frost. The sidewalks were few
aud far between. and the progress
o, the two men was necessarily slow,
as they followed the rough roadway,
staring at the Six wires that ran par
allel on cross-arms at their right.
They had gone a half-mila when
Ross who was leading. suddenly
pointed upward. Blue sparks were
dancing about a splice on one Of the
outside wires. But nothing could be
seen at that point to explain their
cause. Crossing a I'LL" where the
new road had recently been extended
across a gully between two hills, the
men entered the cut by means of
which the way had been leveled be
yond. There they found the source of
the trouble.
wires of the power company ran
across those of the telephone sys-
TEN. The power wires were support
ed on low, thick poles, set near the
top of the raw earth-bank on each
side. The pole on the left had been
undermined by the giving way of
section of the bank during the recent
thaw, and had leaned forward till it
stood at right angles to the slope.
This had lowered the intervening loop
of electric wires till they rested d.
rectly upon the telephone wires. Rub
bling backward and forward, the heavy
coating had been frayed away, till
suddenly the bare metal came in con-
tact, and the tremendous current was
given a disastrous outlet all over the
district.
Practically every telephone wire
showed the little dancing flames
wherever the connections were in the
slightest degree imperfect. and at the
point of contact the splutterng was
audible as we'll as visible.
Its up to the power people to re-
set those poles in a safe place and
to pay all damages" said Tim.
That's all true enough" Big George
retorted, "but it's up to us to fix our
own wires quick, Slivers, and to do
that we've got to raise theirs first"
II guess l know that as we'll as you
d." retorted Tim. Get to work; you
won't find me backward"
Going into what had been pas
ture, they selected the two strongest
rails they could find in a dilapidated
fence.
With their air, Big George, exerting
his enormous strength, raised and
succeeded in bracing the fallen pole.
This elevated the electric wires, broke
the contact, and the sparkling ceased
instantly.
"Now." said Tim, you watch those
rotten old rails and I'll go up and see
how the wires are. Some of 'em
r-obably'n have to be replaced"
The first telephone-pole beyond the
"cross" was at four-corners, and
had been used as a test pole; hence
it was provided with spikes for climb |
ing. So Tim did not take the trouble |
to strap his heavy steel climbers"
to his legs. Selecting pair of pliers,
a coil of wire and test telephone |
from his kit, he swiftly climbed to
above the wires, and began the un-
pleasant task Of testing them.
He failed to get central after
cutting in," but was uncertain wheth-
er the trouble was local or at the
damaged switchboard, which might
not yet be repaired. Shivering and
buffeted by the wind, he at last de-
cided to crawl out to where the wires
had been in contact, to note their con-
dition there.
He had half-turned away from the
pole when Big George suddenly roar
I'd, Look QUIT" and at almost the
same instant he heard the crack of
,ne of the rails breaking. By instinct
.ather than thought, Tim leaped for
he pole, clutched it, and drew up
lis feet. Almost simultaneously the
,lue sparks resumed their dance be-
heath him, playing about the wires