White Pine news weekly mining review. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1910-1920, 1917-07-15

which the terms Of the option mnde
impossible. Arrangements had been
made. therefore. to lay It on false
work. as the other spans had been
laid. risking everything upon the
weather.
As q matter OF precaution the south
ern half Of the span was connected to
the completed portion. but before the
connection could be fully made the re
mainder of the jam In front Of Jack
son glacier. which had caused 30 much
trouble heretofore. went out suddenly.
and the river Ice moved downstream
about a foot. carrying with 1t the
whole intricate system of supporting
timbers beneath the u~ncompIeted span
Hasty measurements showed that the
north end of the steel then on the
false work was thirteen inches out OF
line.
II was Mr.. Blaine who brought the
fidings of this last calamity to Eliza
Appleton. From his evident anxiety
she gathered that the matter was of
| graver consequence than she could well
understand
Thirteen Inches In LOO feet can't
amount TO much" she said vaguely.
| Blaine smiled In spite of himself.
You don't understand It's as bad as
thirteen feet. for the work can't 60 on
until everything is in perfect align
ment. That whole forest OF piles must
be Strengthened"
..Impossible.r she gasped. why.
there are thousands Of them"
He shook his head. still smiling
doubtfully. Nothing Is impossible to
| Mellen and Parker. They've begun
clearing away the ice ON the upstream
side and driving new anchor piles
above. They're going to fit tackle to
them and yank the whole thing up
stream. | never heard of such a thing.
but there's no time to do anything
else He cast a worried look nj the
smiling sky. Il wonder what Will
happen next. This is getting on my
nerves."
Out on the river swift work WIS 20
ing on. Steam from every available
boiler was carried across the Ice In
feed pipes. the night shift had been
reused from sleep. and every available
man was busted In relieving the pres
sure. Pile drivers hammered long tim
bers into the river bed above the
threatened point, hydraulic jacks were
put In place, and steel cables We're run
to drum and pulley. The men worked
sometimes knee deep In ice water. but
they did not walk: they ran. In an
incredibly short time the preparations
were completed. a strain was put upon
the tackle, and when night came the
massive false work bad been pulled
back into line and the traveller was
once more swinging steel into place
II was a magnificent feat, yet not ont
OF those concerned In II could feel con
fdent that the work had not been don't
In vain. for the time was growing ter
ribly short, and. although the ice seem
ed solid, II was rotting fast.
After the southern half of the spar
had been completed the warmth In
creased rapidly. Therefore the stee
crew heightened its hours. The me-
worked from ! o'clock in the mornin;
until IL o'clock at night.
On the 18th. without warning of an.
sort. Garfield glacier began moving for
ward. 1t had lain inactive eve durip,
the midwinter thaw which had startes
its smaller brother. but that warn
spell had evidently had its effect upoI
the giant. for now he shook OF hi
lethargy ard awoke. He stirred. grad
ually at first and without sound. as /
bent upon surprising the i~nterlopers
then his speed increased. As the gla
cier advanced II thrust the nine foo
blanket of lake ice ahead of It. an,
this in turn crowded the river ic'
down upon the bridge. The movement
at the camp site on the first day wa
only two inches. bur that was suffi
GENTLY serious.
The onset OF Garfield at this tim,
was. of course. unexpected, for no for
ward motion had ever been reportet
prior to the spring breakup The &C
tion OF the Ice heretofore had beer
alarming. but now CONSERVATION
spread. A panic swept the ranks o.
the builders. for this was no shor
lived phenomenon. This was the an
nual march Of the glacier itself. which
promised to continue indefinitely. A
tremendous cutting edge. nine feet IL
thickness. like the blade Of a carpen
ter's plane. was being driven against
the bridge by an irresistible force.
Once again the endless thawfng and
chopping and gouging of ice began, but
the more rapidly the encroaching edge
was cut away the more swiftly did II
bear down. The huge mass began tC
rumble; 1t .calved," 1t split. It detonat
ed, and. having finally loosened Itself
from its bed. 1t acquired increased mo
mentum. As the men with chisels and
steampoints became exhausted Others
took their places. but the structural
gang chung to Its perch above. aug
l----- ~. H. ~k~-. .ul Al.