The daily Alaskan., 1913-03-04
\ FLIGHT FOR LIFE.
Dodging Death In tse Path of an
 0nTushing ElOOd.
TIE FURY OF A tLOUDBURsT.

A soIis Wall of Water Swept the Cam
 yOn, UprOotIra Trsss end Toying With Huge Misunderstanding Race In storm on Iishttira Creek.
 To understand wlz blows you must know something of the country where the incident occurred Light niag creek, a famous trout stream of northern Idaho, rises among the gla- clers of the Cabinet EIountains and comes tearing down through narrow canyons heavily forested with pine and cedar. At all times tho stream Is swlft. in the spring. when the Ice caps are melting, 1t is torrent
 July 8, 1906. a fishing party of Eve were hauled from the nearest railroad station to the end of the wagon trah on Lightning creek. where we made camp. The next morning the professor and myself decided to ascend to the head of one of the creeks tributaries Shouldering our creels, we made our way through the timber toward the glacier, gleaming in the sunlight Five miles from camp we came to a fall where we began to Ash. There were plenty of trout. but they were small
 Let's see R there are larger ones above the fall" my companion sug- gested.
 Agreed" replied, and we clam bered up the steep rocky walls.
 Our hopes were realized. We fshed up the stream until past noon, when we sat down to lunch By the time we had finished eating a tiny cloud had crept above the mountain top and lowered over the glacier. In a few minutes another cloud crept up and joined the first, then another and an- other until the mountain top was GOV cred.
 'It is time we were getting out of here," 1 said 'I believe we are ln for a wetting"
 As if to emphasize my words a flash of lightning quivered through the black mass, and in a few seconds the thunder rolled down the canyon with roar ike a battery of siege guns
 As we hurried down tue creek the lightning became continuous and ter rifying in it's brilliancy; the roll of thunder was incesslnt We made all the speed we could and had nearly reached the falls when the rain came in a downpOur,
 Suppose we get under this spruce and wait until the storm Is overF my companion suggested
 Suppose we get Into more open country as soon as posslbleF rejoin. ed and kept oU.
 Suddenly the lightning ceased, the thunder died away, and there was DO sound save the dashing of rain, The sudden calm was startling, and 1 paus- ed and looked toward the mountain. I saw a great column of 6re shoot downward out of the clouds. The gla- cIer shivered as though struck by some titanic force. split apart and crashed down Into the canyon. There was a roar of thunder, and l saw the water pour from the sky as if all the windows of heaven had been opened.
 "A cloudburstr | cried. Run for your Hfer
 Fear lent wings to our feet We sped down the canyon, leaplng fallen logs, tearing through dense under brush. clamberiug over rocks, fleeing from the pursuing food that roared down the canyon, uprOoting trees and hurling great powders before it as It came. A few rods below small ba. settle cHT, with some stunted fr trees growing ou It. s,ood in an open space. To outrun the water was impossible; the cliff was cur only haven.
 I dashed up, with my companion at my heels. Behind us we saw a solid column of water that bore c tangled mass of drift and advanced with the speed of the wind We had only time to seize upon a tree before the food was upon us. It struck with grind Ing roar; the rock trembled to It's very base: the water surged over us; we were battered by the rushing logs scratched by the drift, Suffocated by tbe water, but we clung on desperate B. In @ minute, at the furthest the aood swept on. leaving ruin In Its wake.
 About the cliff the trees lay piled in tangled, broken beap. We crept down, drenched. bruised and bleeding, and made our way to camp. But the spot where the camp had stood was swept clean. We sank upon the water sos ked ground to consider what we should do. To a short time we heard the voices of our friends They had been fishing the main stream above where the branch entered and thus had escaped.
 There was rothlng left for it but to make our way back to the railroad sta ton, where we arrived after dark. For months fishermen discovered articles of our camp equlpsge scattered along the stream.-Youth's Companion.