The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1917-05-19


When they reached the other SIDE
Meade shouted above the storm:
Murphy. bring your pick and sh"V-
cI; take that iron ranEc-pole, TOO
Here, Funaro, you take your shovel
and these"
As he spoke he ran into the Once
shack ana wrecked Il transit tripod
ruthlcsSly separating the legs from one
another by main force and pitching
two of them into the little Italian
OutStrctched arms.
Without question, both men com .
piled with his directions. In huge .
crevice almost a small cave. in the /
spur of the mesa which overhung the
east end of the dam the explosives
were stored. The dynamite was KEPT
! ins oilSkin bags, the decorating caps IN
waterproof boxes. There were SIN
teen sticks or cartridges in each pAI'
Each stick was an inch and Il han III
diameter and eight inches long. Oho
bagful should be ample. Indeed, II
that did not do the work, the attempt
would fail.
The men waited while Meade select
ed a bag of dynamite, Il box oi detoha-
tors, and package Of fuses. Ii was
cardinal rule that dynamite cartridges
and decorating caps should never p'
; carried by the same person, because
. the combination SO greatly lncreaS'u
= the risk of premature explosion
, The illuminate of mercury IN the
. decorators was very volatile. Mghl! eA-
plosive and immensely destructive, con
. sidering its size. one such cap coulu
4 blow off a mans hand, or even MS
head. and in its explosion might deto-
nate the dynamite. Hence the sepa-
:. ration when being carried.
: Meade decided to take that RISK. lie
. knew how perilous was the undertake
. ing. how liable he was in his hurry u
!. fall against the rocks, slippery aho
, half submerged in that pouring ram
. He knew what the consequences Oh
: such fall would be. He would center
:. all risks in himself He thrust the Do9
- of detOnatOrs in his pocket, the pacN
b" ope of fuses inside his flannel shirt
and carried the dynamite bag IN nj
hand. He would need his free hama u
protect himself, so all the tools wer
carried by the other men.
The little Italian shook his head
~ he noted these preparations. He haE
~ pened to be one of the explosive force
=" those whose duty it was to do TN
~ blasting. In his practical way he kne'
- great deal about the properties an
possibilities of usefulness of the dyn;
- mite. Meade's. purpose was obviou
70 even to Murphy, who was only a Il
~ borer. though where he proposed
, work neither man had any idea at a
70 "Dynamita no work in zis weather
co said FunarO impressively.
ant probably not" answered Mead
tho hurrying his preparations, but it's OF
M only chance"
70 GIVE me re caps" urged the lta
ers ian CALAMITY.
he mo, I'll take both"
,ad at eeS danger"
tIv "Yes. but come On"
oSa Meade wasting no more wore
Of sprang at what was left of the ira
tier and the two men gallahtly lolio"
, of him. The hOgback at which he
his aiming was perhaps a little more IN
two miles from the dam. On the or
idlv nary trail and prepared for the RI
the he could have managed 1t in hfte
lrly minutes; as II was the! Ihaue 1t
, to thirty. The extreme possibility OF !
Ian life of the dam seemed to Meade
ond much greater. He went in the le
the and by his direction the others X
He some distance behind him.
1der IF / fall and explode this dynam
emily there's no need OF all three oil rs
rest ing blown up he had said, and it Y
,len- no reflection on their courage that d
TAX complied with his direction.
such Indeed stern command was net
# it. sary to keep the two men back. L.
lie of had caught something of the gall
h he spirit of the engineer, and the
AIRED freshman and the little Italian were
eager as he. Helped by a few HI
81 words as they ran, they had both
~ them learned what he would be
ISL They both realized that they were
S%NNl forlorn hope. that if they could
%$%l save the dam nobody and nOtl
50 could. And there was n trace of
49, age-long rivalry between the Celt
~ the Roman. The scion of the Legion
~ and the son of the barbarian who
~ fought together in the dawn of his
49, WED with each other then. Again
>MM1 again Meade had To order them b
$E%MM1 He was keenly sensible of his daI
>NEM He knew that if he fell, if the d
NM mite struck the ground violentl,
MINI might explode. He knew that the
shNNJ stable illuminate of mercury in
49, detOnatorS might go off mt any til
49, perhaps that was the greater dang
>seX hut he never checked his pace or
Insssx# tated in Il leap or sought nm easy
sSssS for second. His soul WAS rising
SSS<% his heart was beating as they
M never risen or beaten in his life.
#N the hearts of his men beat Will
\ - own.
- lie knew. of course. if the dam
k5ls3 out the railroad the bridge. the
the citizens, the women and chill
and everything and everybody y
Hed'' 20. If he could save them. hi.
might be set off against the loss {