The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1932-08-11
LETTERS FROM THE
PEOPLE

: = = = = = = . = = = , I
Benton City, Wash
August 8, 1885,
Friend Ralph:
There's an old, old game-in fac
a very ancient game, for we feae
about it in the third chapter Of
Genesis when Adam played it IL
the Garden of Eden. Plate played
it st the trial of Jesus, and Nero
played it when Rome was burned
All down the pages of history W.
find it, and many famous chara-
cters were plainly adopts at the
game. 1t is still very popular. We
call it passing the buck" or the
good old array game.
I hear that the buck is being
passed to me for the recent break
in BADGER Flume, The fluma al
this point was in bad condition
there is no question about that.
Muldrow Is said to have caused
this condition by leaving the bands
too lose, or was it by cinching the
bands too tight?. It really doesn't
matter-that's the beauty Of this
game you get the same answer
either way. But / really must re-
fuse to accept this particular buck
he's not my critter.
The fact is that the condition
which must have caused this break
developed shortly after the Hume
was built. It was a bullying out
ward of the unsupported part Of
the side. between the top edge and
the tops of the saddles, space Of
over three feet. Fred Pyle showed
it to me when he turned the sys-
tenn over to me in 1922. / have
showed it to number of pipe and
flume men since then and none of
them have been able to say for
sure what caused it, tho most of
them laid it to over cinching when
the flume was dry. The swelling
of wood when it is wet is a power
full force; if the bands on one Of
these fumes are cinched so tight
that the cracks won't take the
swell when the water comes, some
thing has got to give. But I'll say
frankly that I'm not sure what
caused it. A number of men who
haven't had much to do with
fumes have told me exactly what
It was, but the trouble is that they
Ill told me different things. So /
I'm still in the dark. I have never
seen it happen on any other flume,
and 1 have examined nearly all
he fumes of this type that have
,een built in the Northwest.
However, the condition at first |
vas slight and remained about the |
anne for many years. It did not |
ause any uneasiness. The Board
ooked it over at least twice q
ear. Jim Johnston has watched it |
rom the start. But last summer
grew considerably worse, and
aused q sharp bend in the slaves
1here they passed over the up
er points of the saddles. show
d it to the Board and recommend
d that it be corrected. It was +
nipple thing to fix. / planned to
andsaw wooden collars, to be
olted to the upper ends of the
resent saddles and to extend
ew inches above the flume edge
here they would be tied across
le top with heavy wire. The bands
ould then be loosened and : the
ume would be drawn back to
.ue shape, when the wire ties
ould be twisted tight. The flume
ould then be held in true cir
e by rigid collars all the way
'und, and couldn't bulge. l made
sheet showing plans and esti-
ate of cost, and submitted it to
le Board. Some four hundred
BARD feet of timber, a few bolts
nd spikes and roll of heavy
ire. It sticks in my mind that
le cost for correcting some two
lndred feet of flume came to
,out fifty-five dollars. It was to
done last fall or spring. It was
IT, done.
/ am told that this condition be-
me worse this summer, and was
using some uneasiness. It seems
'obable that one of these sharp
bent slaves finally broke and
cked outward. A six-inch stream
lder several feet pressure would
en shoot down against the hill
de and quickly undermine the
,arest pier. The flume would
en- sag and the water come over
e top. Five or ten minutes would
plenty of time for the whole
lad to be pouring out, and a
zen men on the ground couldn't
I've stopped it once it started.
There is short section furth-
up Badger Flume where this
llge condition exists, tho it is not