New Ulm review., 1912-06-12
RECKLESS SPORT.
Rock Rolling Feats Of Marx
Twain IN His Boyhood Days.
A BAD SCARE ENDED THE FUN

The Final Prank on Holidays Hill
Was In . Fair Way Of Ending In .
Tragedy When the Danger Was, BY Q
Bit Of Good Luck. Narrowly Avsrtsd.
= Writing on MARK Twain In Har
pers Magazine. Albert Bigelow Paine
recounts some Of the scrapes of the
youthful Sam Clemens. Sam was a
recognized ringleader among his play.
mates. and one Of the pranks they
played nearly had a fatal termination.
Zone Of their Sunday pastimes was
to climb Holidays hill and roll down
big stones to frighten the people who
were driving to church. Holidays
hill above the road was steep. A stone,
once started. would 60 plunging and
leaping down and bouno across the
road with the deadly swiftness Of q
twelve inch shell. The boys would get
a stone poised, then wait until they
saw a team approaching and. calcu-
lating the distance, would give 1t a
start Dropping down behind the bush.
es. they would watch the dramatic ef-
feet upon the churchgoers as the great
missile shot across the road few
yards before them. ~.
''This was Homeric sport, but they
carried it too far Stones that had q
habit Of getting loose so numerously
on Sundays and so rarely on other
days invited suspicion, and the pat
terollers'-river patrol, kind Of police
Of those days-were put on the watch.
So the boys found other diversions un-
til the patterollers did not watch any
more. Then they planned a grand
coup that should eclipse anything be-
fore attempted in the stone rolling
line. ...... ...
"A rock about the size Of an omnibus
was lying up there in a good position
to go downhill, once started. They de-
cided 1t would be glorious thing to
see that great bowlder 60 smashing
down q hundred yards or % I'm front
Of some unsuspecting and peaceful
minded churchgoer. Quarrymen were
getting out rock not far away and left
their picks and shovels over sundays
The boys borrowed these and went to
work to undermine the big stone. It
was a heavier Job than they had count
ed on, but they worked faithfully Sun
day after Sunday. If their parents
had wanted them to work like that
they would have thought they were be-
ing killed.
Finally one Sunday while they were
digging it suddenly got loose and start
ed down. They were not quite ready
for it. Nobody was coming but an old
colored man In a cart, SO it was going
to be wasted. 1t was not quite vast
ed, however. They had planned for a
thrilling result, and there was thrill
enough while it lasted. In the first
place, the stone nearly caught Will
Bowen when it started. John Briggs
had just that moment quit digging
and handed VIII the pick. Will was
about to step into the excavation when
Sam Clemens, who was already there.
leaped out with yell:
"'Look out. boys; she's coming!
"She came. The huge stone kept to
the ground at first, then, gathering q
wild momentum. 1t went bounding into
the air. About halfway down the hill
1t struck a tree several inches thick
and cut it clean off. This turned Its
course a little. and the negro In the
cart, who heard the noise. saw 1t come
crashing in his direction and made a
wild effort to whip up his horse. 1t
was also headed toward a cooper shop
across the road. ..., -.
THE boys watched it with growing
interest. 1t made longer leaps with
every bound. and whenever 1t struck
the fragments and dust would hy
They were certain 1t would demolish
the negro and destroy the cooper shop.
The shop was empty. 1t being Sunday,
but the rest Of the catastrophe would
invite close investigation and results.
It was making mighty leaps now. and
the negro bud managed to get directly