The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1916-01-21
FINALLY SAVED PETS
THIS YOUNG CALIFORNIA NOUN.
TANNER a REAL HERO
Only Those Who Have Had Expert
e,lce in Snow-Bound Countries
VIII Appreciate Magnitude of
Work He Had to Do.

In the autumn of 1918. William Ru-
therford, a young California noun
taineer, engaged to remain alone as
caretaker at Fallen Leaf lodge, in the
Lake Tahoe region of the high Sierras
during the winter. Rutherford was
guide during the summer months, and
he kept his animals, a saddle horse
and pack mule, named Babe and Mike,
at the lodge, intending to use them to
haul firewood for the next summer
season.
On December %, two men came by
the lodge from the lake on their way
to the Sacramento valley. They were
anxious to reach their homes in time
for Christmas, and they begged that
they might take Babe and Mike to
carry their heavy packs.
Rutherford demurred, for he feared
storms; but the men persisted, saying
that unless they reached home before
the 25th, their children would have
neither presents nor Christmas din
ners. That plea was more than the
tender-hearted young man could with
stand. and he let them take the ami
mails exacting a promise that they
would return them as soon as the sled
road opened
The travellers started at daylight
taking the trail over the summit That
night a terrific snowstorm swept the
mountains. Rutherford was worried,
but tried to believe that the days
start had enabled the men to fight
their way to the lower country. On
January 3 he snowshoed over to Ia
hoe post office, where he found a
crumpled post card from one of the
men, informing him that they had
been caught in the storm and had to
abandon the animals to save their own
lives.
The next day Rutherford started out
to find Babe and Mike. He travelled in
the sticky snow across the summit to
Bryson's camp, and the next day two
or three miles farther. He had hardly
expected to find Babe or Mike alive,
but as he came round bluff he was
delighted to see the two animals stand
ing disconsolately side by side. He
yelled at them and Babe whinnied
back although he was almost too de
jected and weak to move.
The animals had trampled a place
about ten feet square under tama-
rack tree, and had never moved out OF
it. They had gnawed at the saddle
blankets and the hair rope. and had
even nibbled each others tails and
names. The snow was five and half
feet deep all around them.
Rutherford shoveled a trail to the
river. in doing which he fell through
the ice three times. He had to undress
and wiring out his clothes in the bitter
cold. Then he watered the horses.
and Immediately set out for Bryson's
camp. The animals were too weak to
follow. At the camp he got half bale
of hay and carried it down on his
back, travelling on skis.
The next day he went to shoveling
again, and worked at it all day long.
At daylight he got up. carried more
hay down to the horses, and put in II
hours more of shoveling.
1t was terribly heavy work, for there
were six inches of soft snow, then four
inches of frozen crust. and below that
a mass of wet snow. When he got
back to Bryson's he was so weary he
could hardly crawl up the steps.
Wednesday it showed hard and filled
up his laboriously made path, and
Rutherford changed his tactics. He
determined to make snowshoes for the
horses; but he could find nothing at
all of which to make them. Then he
thought of putting down board in three
sections, two boards wide moving the
horses upon the first ones and then
taking up the rear ones. Loaded with
hay and planks, he fought his way into
the blizzard. 1t took him four hours
to get down to the horses.
The next day he carried down more
planks and tried to put his plan into
execution 1t was a failure-the boards
simply shot out from under the horses
in every direction across the crust!
Just then two other men whom he
knew appeared, coming up from Straw
berry camp farther down the noun
tain. They told him it was no use.
and advised him to shoot the animals.
But Rutherford would not, and that
night he thought of the way out Of his
difficulty. There were some cowhides
and sheepskins hanging in Bryson's
camp. These he carried down to the
tamarack tree where Babe and Mike
still stood, and where his two friends
of the day before joined him. They
CHARTERED the cowhides, put the sheep
skins inside for filling, and bound the
clumsy bundles round the feet of the
animals-one to each foot.
About three o'clock they were ready
for the new experiment. Rutherford
says he actually cried when he found
it was going to work! Babe and Mike
wobbled down to the end of the ditch,
climbed out on top of the snow, and
made pretty good progress, sinking in
only a few inches. They reached
Strawberry camp before dark From
there it was not very hard to get the
animals down into the Sacramento
valley.-Youth's Companion.