Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1917-02-23

showing him ro"l,l or the subject of
POSSIBLE rs, VII we related the de-
velopmenC of thr Seauciful Rampage
Valley, one only 'ssolas ION, sand and
sage, now furnis, hg homes for 5000
thrifty, nome be nifty g contented
people. This wa, all made possible
by letter write. to F. esident Taft,
who sent live eminent engineers with
necessary equipment, scaled the lofty
mountain of the Holy Cross, looked
down on the Garden of Gods. But
below lay the dark waters of Lost
River, which was the mystery which
few men had dared to look upon.
A lone hunter had made the pass
over the snow capped feeders. Down
they climbed like Hannibal into that
grave, by means of long ropes. i'm
possible ever to climb out again. They
constructed Il canoe and in this start
ed down that mysterious stream to
find If possible whether Il tunnel could
be made to intcrsect with Rampage
Valley. Soon they encountered vast
falls, where they could only get ov-
er by means Of ropes. They would
first let down their Instruments. then
their canoe, and last they would
climb down the rope. On they went
making data until they saw they
were within so miles of the point
where the meridian would be inter
sected and 1000 feet of the level of
their object. But deeper and darker
grew the canyon. Before them was
4 fall with perpendicular walls on
both sides, and if they went over they
could never hope TO return Here
three of the five refused to go farther.
They summed up the results-impos-
Slhlc, impracticable and death byI
starvation. yet to say they. "Tell Pres
idcnt Taft we will send our reports
in possibly after eternity, and down
they sped $50 feet on their ropes.
Yet their comrads were reluctant to
leave them. Yet they went forth,
two for victory or death, three to
dcfat and shame. They forged ahead
until they reached the goal. They
took soundings and found that they
were 200 feet higher than the level
on the opposite side of the high
mountain. They cast angles and
found that the tunnel was six miles
under the upper spur of the Rockies,
yet their data was made and the
probability was a possibility, if they
could ever communicate it to the out !
side world. To get back was an i'm
possibility, they knew well. Yet they
had hopes that they could follow on
to some avenue of escape. Yet the |
walls seemed to close
above them and soon one appeared
before them, and Lost River was ex-
plcred The only way of escape was
to ride out at powerful crater or
suck hole. Tley saw their provis-
ions were short; they resolved after
their last meal that they would Sc
cure their data in their bedding and !
fastcn il securely to the canoe, and !
let it float TO the suck hole. They |
saw it go down the throat of some
vast animal Then they conjcctured
where this vast amount of water
must appear, so. soon they located |
themselves and decided that it must |
be the source of the Thousand Spring
district Of Idaho. They knew that
this was the consummation of n J
ground irrigation project, and men
were ut work at the source, so they
fed themselves to the suck hole and
were rescued almost unconscious by
those ut work on that retainer, so
TO these two heroes is made possible
that six miles of tunnel that made
Rampage Valley blossom rs the rose.
L. GROSECLOSE.
Juliactta, Idaho.