The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1912-02-13
RECKLESS SPORT.
Rock Rolling Feats of Mark
Twain In His Boyhood Days.
A BAD SCARE ENDED THE FUN

Was In a Fair Way of Ending In a
Tragedy When the Danger Was, by a
Bit of Good Luck, Narrowly Averted.
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 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 a
twelve inch she'll The boys would get
a stone poised, then wait until they
saw team approaching and. calcu-
lating the distance. would give 1t a
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'-riyer 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 a glorious thing to
see that great bowlder go smashing
down hundred yards or SO in 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. 1t
was 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
c0lored man in a cart, so 1t 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 II lasted. In the first
place, the stone nearly caught viii
Bowen when it started. John Briggs
had just that moment quit digging
and handed VIII the pick. VIII was
about TO step into the excavation when
Sam Clemens, who was already there.
leaped out with a yell:
"'Look out, boys; she's comingr
''Ehe came. The huge stone kept to
the ground at first, then, gathering a
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 it 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.
1.-THE boys watched 1t with growing
interest 1t made longer leaps with
every bound, and whenever 1t struck
the fragments and dust would fly
They were certain it would demolish
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
a 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 frag
ment striking the shop, damaging but
not wrecking it. Half buried in the
ground, that bowlder lay there for
nearly forty years. Then it was blast
ed for milling purposes. 1t was the lasI
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 passion Of Sam Clemens
boyhood, love Of the spectacular that
never wholly died. 1t seems almost a
pity that in those old faroff, barefoot
days he could not have looked down
the years to time when. with the
world at his feet, venerable Oxford
should clothe him in a scarlet gown"