Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1912-02-08
RECKLESS SPORT,
Rock Rolling Feats of Mark
Twain In His Boyhood Days.
A BAD SCARE ENDED THE FUN
The Final Prank on Holidays Hill
Was In q Fair Way Of Ending In .
Tragedy When the Danger Was, by a
Bit Of Good Luck, Narrowly Averted.

was IN q Fair way OF Ending In
Tragedy When the Danger Was, by a
Bit Of Good Luck, Narrowly Averted.
Writing on MARK Twain" in Har-
per's 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 fatal termination
Zone Of their Sunday pastimes was
to climb Holidays hill and roll down
big stones to brighten the people who
were driving to church. Holidays
hill above the road was steep. A stone,
once started, would go plunging and
leaping down and bound across the
road with the deadly swiftness of n
twelve inch shell. The boys would ge,
stone poised, then wait until they
saw team approaching and. cacu-
lating the distance. would give 1t
start. Dropping down behind the bush
es, they would watch the dramatic eff
feet upon the churchgoers as the great
missile shot across the road a few
yards before them.
This was Homeric sport. but they
carried it too far. Stones that had a
habit of getting loose so numerously
on Sundays and so rarely on other
days invited suspicion, and the pat
terollerS' river patrol, a kind of police
Of those days-were put on the watch
SO the boys found other diversions IN
I,., L
more Then they planned 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 Il good position
to 30 downhill, once started. They de
cided it would be glorious thing to
see that great howlder go smashing
down hundred yards or so in front
Of some unSuSpecting and peaceful
minded churchGoer QuaTymen 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 1t
was Il 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
"Finaly 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
coIored man in q cart. so ii was going
to be wasted 1t was not quite vast
ell, however They had planned for a
thrilling result. and there WAS thrill
enough while it lasted In the first
place. the stone nearly caught VIII
Bowen when it started. John Briggs
had just that moment quit digging
and handed Will 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 Il
wild momentum. it went bounding into
the air. About halfway down the hill
it struck 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 it come
crashing in his direction and made Il
wild effort to whip up his horse. 1t
across the road.
1.-The boys watched it with growing
interest. 1t made longer leaps with
every bound. and whenever it struck
the fragments and dust would fly
They were certain it would demOlSh
the negro and destroy the cooper shop
The shop was empty. it being Sunday,
but the rest Of the catastrophe would
invite close investigation and results.
1t was making mighty leaps now, and
the negro had managed to get directly
in its path They stood holding their
breath, their mouths open.
'Then suddenly-they could hardly
believe their eyes-the bowlder struck
1 projection a distance above the road
and. with a mighty bound. sailed clear
over the negro and his mule and land
ed in the soft dirt beyond. only fraS-
ment striking the shop. damaging but
not wrecking it. Half buried in the
ground. that bowder lay there for
nearly forty years. Then it was blast
ed for milling purposes 1t was the last
rock the boys ever rolled down. They
began to suspect that the sport was not
altogether safe.
"Limelight and the center Of the
stage was n passion Of Sam Clemens
oyhood, love of the spectacular that
never wholly died. 1t seems almost a
nty that in those old faroff. barefoot
days he could not have looked down
the years to a time when with the
world at his feet. venerable Oxford
should clothe him In a scarlet gown
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