Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-26
BY A. G.. BIRCH.

BY A. G.. BIRCH.
,cc.al TO The Star and North American
Newspaper Alliance.
DENVER, Colo, September 26.-Our
..st experience with the rapids in the
amp River Canyon made it easy Cor
5 to realize why five previous expedi-
.ons into this gorge had proved fail
Iros and several lives had been lost.
We became more cautious The cam
~ras when not in use, were placed in
.7e metal compartments and the
matches made tight. The rest of the
equipment was tied firmly to the floor
boards, SO overturning would not dump
/ out CT the boats.
We ran no more bad rapids the first
day in the canyon. Our whole days
progress was through rifles where the
entire bed of the stream was filled for
miles with sharp rocks. Often these
rocks rose several feet out of the water
and were so close together that the
BOATS could not be f1oated between
them. There was nothing to do but
get out into the water and lift the
beats over these Each boat weighed
trifle over 400 pounds, so this was no
light task.
TO make matters worse, these rocky
owing to the extreme diScolcration of
he water. could not be seen. We would
Dc standing on slippery rock, perhaps
L foot or two under the surface,
ctrain!ny at the boats, when our feet
would slip and in we would go into
I hole we'll over our heads. Often in
falling we would strike sharp stones
and receive painful injuries.
Sometimes the river would widen and
Become shallower, flowing for half a
mile or more over fields of boulders
lust few inches under or out of the
water. There would not be single nav
igabie channel through these stretches.
We had to wade and drag the boats
ever the rocks.
KonesCun Engineering.
Before long Mace hit upon a plan
which we referred to ever afterward
as winding EN- up"-that lightened
this work somewhat. If the bow of
G boat was stuck on rock we let it
rest there, as upon pivot, while we
lifted the stern around until that was
downstream; then we would place the
stern upon stone,pivot and carry the
bow around until it was pointed
forward again. Each time this end
for-end process was gone through it
would advance the boat a dozen or
Is feet. 1t was slow work, but made
less dead weight to lift
There was always one danger, how
ever, that kept up constantly on the
alert. Sometimes the upstream end
Of the boats would float free unex-
pectedly and. if the current was es-
pecially swift, the craft would swing
around on the men at the downstream
end before they could founder out of
he 1r-0--
rock. All of us we're hurt this way
b,fore we developed SUFFICIENT agility
10 escare.
The water Of the Tampa Fiver, down
in the canyon, is ice-cold. After
working in 1t continuously for several
hours we would be almost numbed. If
enc Of the frequent hard, cold winds
swept through the gorge, our teeth
would chatter like castanets.
From end to end Of the canyon
wherever the river bas any banks at
ell-there are beds of yellowish-white
eard, almost as fine as flour. The
wind, bowling across these beds. would
sweep up great clouds of sand and l1url
them into our faces, even in midstream.
C-scn we would De nearly blinded
<ust when we needed our eyes most to
pic1 our course through rapids.
1c3Cc AS SlOTs-IVeu.
1t was nearly 4:30 o'clock on this
first day when we finally reached the
end of the rocky stretch. It was like
heaven to us to glide into smooth,
fairly swift water, where we could use
cur oars to increase our speed. AS
far as We could see ahead-to the next
bend in the river. about two miles dis
tant-the going remained good
Using both pairs of oars in each boat
we speed joyously along, forgetting that
We were wet from head to foot and
sfivering. But our rejoicing was shcrt-
lived. When we were still half -a-rnile
from the sharp bend We began to hear
again the roar of rapids, the sound
growing louder with each stroke of our
cars. until 1t came to us like ceaseless
thunder. As we finally rounded the bend
ITSELF we saw long stretch Of the
worst rapids we had seen vet.
The sight coWed us. We had been
through much hardship. and all at cnce
W. realized that We were cold, hungry
end exhausted. My back. injured two
DAYS before, was painful. We simply
did not have the nerve to tackle more
bad water then.
Sand Completes Misery.
Close by was little patch of bank
sandy, but fairly level and supporting
few stunted cedars. We tied the beats
up here. A fire vas built to dry our
clothing. and then we cooked a good
not supper
But hardly were we thoroughly dry
and eating our supper than a furious
-ainstornl swept upon U.s. We had no
tent, and in two minutes We were just
rs wet as ever. The downpcur continued
for an hour.
Then, decidedly gloomy, we again
dried our clothing By the fire. spread
out our sleeping bags, and went to bed.
We estimated we had made about six
miles this day.
The night turned clear and cold
Sometime after midnight another of
those fiendish canyon hurricanes reared
10 the gorge. 1t picked up sand in
sheets and poured it down the necks of
our sleeping bags, filling our eyes nose
and mouth. 1t penetrated every bit of
food that was not alright. 1t went
through everything. And when morning
came our camp was a sorry spectacle.
(Copyright 1923 by North American News.
naner Alliance.