Show STORY STOA ID 1 r 0 F Z 10 N CABLE ABLE 1 11 I obstacles finally overcome and success won by mountaineer through great faith grit and determination after many failures at the request of friends I 1 relate a few memories in connection with the zion tram or the wire as it was known in zion canyon the so called wire was regarded as a mys tery hy by man who were more or less familiar with its wonderful perform ance the story of the wire has never been told and perhaps the de tails never will be told the story of the wire had its be ginning with a remark which brig ham young was purported to have made at rockville some sixty years ago whatever it was that brigham young really said in this connection it was believed by the pioneers to have been a prophesy the pioneers of utah believed that utah was one of the choice spots of the earth that it was the will of god that this vastly rich storehouse of ad natural resources be developed and th that brigham young had been ap po pointed by god to lay the foundation t 3 fo for such development athe the pioneers of dixie shared in th this s general belief in regard to utah but they also believed that dixie was one of the very choice spots of utah when asked to give a reason tor for this belief some have said 4 brother brigham said so now get around that it if you can some have tried to explain some have said wait perhaps some day you 11 un der stand my parents were pioneers of dix ie le and I 1 believed as the pioneers be lieveld I 1 believed when brigham young prophesied pertaining to things material that he expected some one to prepare tor for action previous to 1902 1 I had thorough ly explored zion canyon in the hope of finding some natural channel through which timber could be re moved into the canyon this work was begun in 1889 and was continued whenever I 1 could spare a few days at a time tor for the purpose finally I 1 de A aided that perhaps a tramway would be the most logical means of obtain ing this lumber which brigham young was purported to have prom ased the people of dixie being unable to buy a cable alone I 1 suggested to a number of men that we unite our efforts and make the experiment the suggestion was de clineb I 1 decided to buy some cheap wire and make a cable in the spring ot of 1902 1 I bought about seven hund red pounds of common bailing wire for this purpose when my father and members of his family found that I 1 was going ahead alone it nee cessare they gave me all the support they could one hundred pounds of this wire was carried to the top and lowered more wire was drawn up by a wind less I 1 had availed myself of al the information I 1 could get on tramways tram ways in gheral but so tar far as I 1 could deter mine nothing had ever been designed to suit this location failure alter after failure was made wire was lost in the course of the experiment fin ally I 1 was compelled to admit that my theories had been fairly well brov en out and the results were far from satisfactory I 1 had lost faith I 1 had failed perhaps my state of mind caused me to take undue note of jokes and light remarks I 1 may have expected support and encouragement which had not been given I 1 believe I 1 felt that those who had supported and en cou raged me were disappointed tor for after all what had I 1 done to merit support and encouragement 7 I 1 was as trying to accomplish something which was considered impossible considering the means with which I 1 had to work opinion throughout the country was divided as to cheth er the distance was not too great tor for the very best of steel cable to operate successfully sf ully A careful study of all the tramways of which I 1 could learn from mining journals and other sources tailed failed to give me any enczur ager argement nent I 1 wanted to be alone I 1 was in zion food had been forgotten it was night and very dark there was bitterness in my heart I 1 thought of what we call the dark age when every shadow was supposed to con ceal an evil spirit was not this a dark age also I 1 thought of the race ot of people who had given to this place the name which means in thy presence I 1 weep why did they weep I 1 thought ot of the thousands of millions of people who had lived and died on the earth since this great stone monument was placed here who placed it here for what had all these people lived and dieda I 1 looked between these mighty walls of stone thousands of feet high s at these brilliant suns which we call stars thousands perhaps millions of them I 1 wondered it if they were div ing light to other worlds and other struggling races if so for what were these races struggling 7 what was the meaning of this vast scheme of things 9 what was one weak mor tal in the presence of all this I 1 tried to pray but had I 1 not prated and worked for fifteen years tor for this one thing which had not been granted 9 perhaps I 1 didn dian t know how to pray or work I 1 began to wonder it I 1 really knew anything or it if I 1 ever had known anything then I 1 wept tor for I 1 was overcome by the power of god by that simple sober careful process of reasoning which god had given me and which I 1 had not properly used and developed I 1 had been trying truing very hard to think and had just begun to understand my great physical strength which had been a matter of comment through out the country had been broken in an effort to develop false theories and ideas pertaining to details which had been arrived at after hasty and thoughtless consideration why had a primitive race said in thy presence I 1 weepy perhaps be cause thy presence inspired thought and with thought came re gret remorse and suffering but it is well for man to think and when he tails fails to think he is re quiren to suffer tor for when man vio lates the natural law the same na tural law which is the law of god exacts a penalty from which there is no escape I 1 now resolved to give myself over as completely as possible to careful concentrated thought for I 1 was now convinced that this was the power of god and that the ability of man to accomplish things worth while was measured by his ability to prop erly develop this power of thought which god has given him I 1 was now thankful for every con which had combined to bring me into this mighty thought inspire ing solitude this place called zion where the stars shine bright by day and brighter by night where the ages represented by monuments of stone are assembled tor for review that they may inspire from time to time a passing race where here one receive the impression that all things are re corded and that in eternity wil I 1 be found a careful record of what one thought and did while on the earth where earthly achievements and thoughtless indefinite desires appear as things not worth while it they are to be charged to our eternal account where simple silent thought comes to be regarded as the highest and most perfect expression of where man learns to tear fear god to pray to god to rely on god to question and discount the judgment of men to be slow to accept the opinions of his fellow men and slow to accept his own hasty and thoughtless ions where man learns to stand without the support of his fellow men when he feels that he is right where hope and faith in the universal scheme of things is inspired where man is made to feel that it if he Is any thing he is the humble servant of god and finally where a careful review if an attempt to explain some thing about zion is followed by a feeling of regret tor for here one may look listen see hear feel and think and live a thousand years in a day and why should one expect or be ex pecked to explain we were discussing a wire a very small weak interior inferior wire but this was destined to become a great wire and these were the elements which were to make it great this wire was so very small and weak it could not do the work I 1 had planned for it unless it was permitted to work in strict conformance contor mance with the natural law it had no great strength to be thrown away in misdirected effort I 1 went back to the work with re dewed hope and energy and finally succeeded in designing the tram so as to work in accordance with the na tural law I 1 had come close to this design long before but it took much careful thought to perfect the final details the capacity of this wire ram tram was ore than one thousand feet of lumber per hour vany man hun deeds of thousands of pounds of lum her and other material was transport ed by means of this wire tram and the wire was still in good condition one halt of this so called wire was five ply one half was three ply the five ply was somewhat smaller than the ordinary led pencil the five ply carried the load and the three ply guided the load into zion canyon thousands of feet below A in addition to one a million apo or more of lumber and other mater lal ial which was transported by means of this wire tram the wire was also useful in helping to determine the relative size of the two cables tor for the best results and for developing a practical design for this extra ordin ary location which did not permit of any supports except at top and bot torn tom and tor for which no precedent had been found when the great dis tance was taken into consideration there were many elements to be con during the experiment and the wire was very convenient mater lal ial with which to prove out and per feet the various details finally the design having been developed and proven out roads hav ing been built a steam saw mill amov ed and placed in operation near the tram and the wonderful almost un believable performance of the wire having removed the elements of doubt as to whether or not the tram could be made a success men could naw be found who were willing to re place the wire with heavier cable and they were in no danger of having their reputation or credit impaired by making an investment chich would not meet with the app approval roial of conservative men in the year 1907 the wire was re placed with heavier cable and the way provided whereby the people of dixie were to receive many millions of feet of lumber which the pioneers said brigham young had promised them D A FLANIGAN virgin utah may 1923 |