Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-05-02

to wrestle with the little god Of Chance.
In those days 1t had two kinds Of sto-
ries to deliver, one Of the lucky strike
Transforming a penniless tramp into a
millionaire, the other Of some mute
tragedy Of the wayside. wherein a dis
couraged adventurer wrapped himself
and his hopes in the SHOWS of the trail
side and left the remainder to Provi-
dence, says a writer in Popular Elec-
tricity. ~! a't "fb -
Today when the reckless giories of
that "wickedest camp. on earth" have
given away to standard Of respecta-
bility and q firm obedience to law and
order, the little Yukon telegraph tire
,lessly fulfils its duties. Now. however,
It flashes a new code Of success, the
code of the pioneer farmer whose cot
,tages are fast trailing up the northern
valleys, searching out the last choice
spots in Canada where the speculator
has not stuck his sign board. Last
year the Dominion government lost
10000 on the line, but as an old travel
er said: "It was the best $4,000 ever
invested"
The valleys filling up with pioneers
the Bulkley. the Kispiox and the Mas
are those through which the tele-
graph passes. Up in that land the
railway is short, but the telegraph il
long-and in the settlement Of the
earth one seems to balance the absence
of the other. For the thousands Of
white men In the scattered commune
ties from Prince Rupert to the Arctic
circle, the government wire forms the
only link with the great news events
of the outside world. On the occasion
Of the prize fight at Reno on July 4. two
years ago. when every Anglo-Saxon
between the 4sth parallel and the North
Pole was anxiously awaiting the result,
the fateful message, johnson wins In
the fourteenth" was received In Prince
Rupert within three minutes Of the ca
tastrophe. The same fash was receiv-
ed in Dawson a minute later, the wire
having been kept clear for the all-im-
portant climax Of that interesting
event
The route of the line is almost paral-
lei to that weird and abandoned survey
Of the Western Union half century
ago, when that company after the
breaking Of the Atlantic cable in 1853
decided to lay a land line through
Alaska and Siberia to Europe. Over
$3,000,000 had been spent on the line
when the company recalled the plans,
having in the meantime picked up its
Atlantic cable again. Some Of its en-
gineers and linemen were then so far
inland that 1t was nine months from
the time the order was sent until 1t
could be delivered to them. For many
miles portions Of the Western Union
wire are now being worked asian aux
iliary by the Dominion government.
At intervals Of from II to so miles
the operators live out their lonely and
dangerous lives In their roughly built
cabins. That each operator should be
an expert lineman Is necessity OF the
task, and those with the long sections
located on fat lands are given q horse
to assist In the inspections In the
mountain districts much shorter sec
tions are In an operators care, and In
the depth Of winter he is called upon
not infrequently to tramp on snowshoes
across treacherous areas to repair his
wires.
In some districts winter departs for
only two months in the twelve, so that
day and night, month by month. the
deadening loneliness Of perpetual snow
threatens to drive man into melan-
cholia. 1t Is a heavy test of human
endurance, not so much in the times Of
activity as when the monotony OF ex-
istence turns q week into an eternity.
Twice year the supplies Of food are
packed" in, and then the operator and
his visitors exhaust the possibilities Of
conversation. For the rest Of the time
1t is only break in the line that gives
a man a chance to meet his comrades.
When that significant accident occurs
he loads his tools on his back and
marches forth in search Of the inter-
ruption. ,....-... ......
Two of the worst foes Of the noun
tain operator are the forest fire and
avalanche. Again and again their dep
relations sweep away poles and wires,
demanding heroic service Of the line.
men to restore normal conditions.
Sometimes the official report to head
quarters sum up situation in this
fashion: I'VE had frequent breaks In
the line owing to fires on the Yukon
river and to storms between Atlin and
Dawson. but repairs were quickly eff
fected." An eyewitness Of one OF these
storms (scarcely mentioned by the su-
perintendent) described 1t as an ava
lanche of ice and snow that had swept
great rocks and giant trees like match
wood before 1t down the mountain
side. The slide measured 1000 feet
across and 80 feet deep. 1t could have
buried out Of sight a good-sized town.
Yet when 1t was necessary to re-estab-
lish the wires and poles ripped to
shreds in it's thunderous course, the
linemen took It as "a little incident
scarce worth writing about to head
Quarters, '..