Show 0 adventurers CLUB HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELF the rolling stones by FLOYD GIBBONS famous headline hunter H HELLO ELLO heres EVERYBODY another yarn from a camp by golly it looks to me like those camps are swell places to go adventuring weve had a flock of yarns in this column from members of the army and all of them good ones too this one comes from john martocci of brooklyn N Y john went out to camp S near brigham utah and it was there that he ran into the big adventure of his life the adventure of the rolling stones it was one cold morning in november 1934 that john got up out of the hay bay to find a notice on the bulletin board the notice called tor for volunteers to carry water pipes to a stub camp about 16 miles away and john and his buddy bob greene signed up to do the work long hard trip around the mountain the foreman told them hed give them two days off for doing the job but before they got through with it they wished they d held out lor for a weeks leave and a couple of bottles of horse liniment in in the bargain they were given two 10 foot lengths of water pipe to carry one on each shoulder and brother those pipes were tough to handle the boys were all in before gone 8 of the 16 miles along the trail that wound around the side of the mountain it took them seven hours to make the entire trip and then they were confronted with the long hike back again it was late afternoon when they started back and they had gone only five miles when the dusk began to shut down on them they were afraid lose the trail if they get home before nightfall so bob suggested that instead of going all the way around the mountain they climb over it it might have been a good idea in m the theory but those two lads just have any conception of how big a mountain can be especially one of those rocky mountains like they have out in utah caught in a landslide it only looked like a mile or two across the mountain so the two lads started to climb they had only gone a quarter of a mile up the mountain when it started to rain the skies began to get blacker and N boulders bounced off the rock above them it became harder and harder to see where they were going but by that time it was too late to turn back for they would never have found the trail again so they kept right on going they climbed for two straight hours while the gray dusk deepened into night the mountain got so steep that they stop to rest just had to keep on climbing or roll down to the bottom again then in a flash of lightning they saw a pile of boulders up ahead of them those rocks says john were as big as cows one of them was sort of square with a flat top and stuck out over the side of the slope I 1 thought that if we could get on top of it we could get some rest I 1 grabbed for the top of the rock but my hands slipped off it I 1 yelled to bob to give me a boost and he did it was then that the fireworks started and boy those fireworks sure did start As best I 1 can recall says john 1 I felt something tugging at my feet and heard a noise that tha t sounded like the beating of a drum I 1 yelled to my pal bob bob where are you and then I 1 heard him answer im right here at your feet for gods sake let go of that rock and lie down under it itts its a landslide I 1 let go wondering if I 1 was going to roll all the way down the mountain but bob made a grab and held me we were no sooner under cover than the big boulders up above us began to move seemed like the end of the world john says he cant describe what took place after that but he thought the world was coming to an end A couple of boulders he says that must have weighed a ton apiece bounced right off the one we were under I 1 could hear the crackling and falling of trees down below when those big rocks hit them and every time one of those big babies bounced off the rock above us we wondered if our rock was going to hold or if it was going to crash down on top of us boy was I 1 scared for hours those two lads hung there or at least it seemed hours to them and then things began to quiet down again the slides ceased the ram rain stopped they clambered over the top of their rock and headed up t the he mountain again but they get very far for dead ahead and about feet above the mountain shot straight up in a tall smooth sided cliff it was as high as an ocean liner says john and we have climbed up it any more than we could fly we dare go back down the mountain either for fear wed get lost or caught in another one of those landslides so we went back to our flat topped rock and waited for morning 00 when morning came they heard shots they yelled and a gang of their own pals came to their rescue the lads had been missed and the whole camp was out looking for them they were taken back to camp exhausted and sick as dogs as john p puts ats it and instead of getting two days leave in town he 11 says we spent a week in bed at camp nursing colds and getting over our ex exhaustion ha copyright service |