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ADVENTURERS’ CLUB
HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES
OF PEOPLE LI KE YOURSELF!
“Widow Maker”
TJELLO EVERYBODY:
* 1 William Pellegrinetti of Chicago comes to bat today with
a yarn» about a place where tree stumps grow on trees.
You know, at first glance a fellow would be liable to say that
a tree is a natural place for a tree stump to grow. I ought to
explain that these stumps didn’t grow down at the bottom of
said trees, where they were supposed to. No—you found them
hanging in branches of other trees —trees they didn’t even be
long to.
The fellows had a name for those dangling stumps. Bill Pel
legrinetti will tell you about that later. But now let’s get on
with the story of how Bill won the reputation of being a man of
iron nerve.
Bill says he doesn’t deserve that reputation at all. It’s true,
he stood his ground when death came bounding toward him—
but Bill says he stood there for a totally different reason from
the one the other fellows attributed to his action. It was in
August, 1933, that it happened, and Bill was a member of a CCC
outfit in a camp twenty-three miles from the town of Mehama,
Oregon.
They were building a mountain road, and Bill explains
that the road builders worked in three crews. The first gang
to follow up the markings made by the surveyors were the
timber fellers. They went up the line cutting down all the trees that
stood in the way of the road.
Then followed the dynamiters, who blasted all the stumps and roots
out of the ground. After the dynamiters came the laborers.
Crew Ordered to Lay Small, Temporary Bridges.
Bill was with the laborers. He was with a crew whose job it was
to lay small, temporary bridges over all the mountain streams that the
road crossed. And now, before we go any farther, we’ll let Bill himself
take the floor and tell us about those tree stumps.
“When the blasters were dynamiting the stamps,” he says,
“large parts of them flew into the air. Often stumps, with the
roots still on them, flew great distances, and became lodged in
the tops of standing trees. We called those hanging stumps
'widow-makers’ and they were rightfully named. For a slight
breeze would often dislodge them, and when they came crashing
down, it was very bad luck to be on the spot they picked to
land on.”
It was one of those widow-makers that started all the trouble.for
Bill. They were laying a cedar log foundation for one of the bridges
they had to build when all of a sudden things began to happen.
The stream they were bridging ran through the bottom of a deep
gully. The mountains rose sharply above them and the trees, at that
It kept on coming, looking bigger at every bounce.
point, were few and scattered. Up that steep mountainside, there was
one tree, standing by itself, with one of those large stumps swaying from
its upper branches.
It was about three feet in diameter, and parts of its roots
were still sticking out like the tentacles of an octopus. Nobody
paid any attention to it until, suddenly, as the boys were working
busily away at their bridge foundation, they heard a loud crack
ling noise above them.
“Widow Maker” Crashes Down Through Branches.
It was the stump—crashing down through the branches. Once it hit
the ground it would come hurtling down that slope at express-train speed.
And it was right above the spot where that crew was working. One
of the men yelled, “Widow-maker!” And immediately every one in the
crowd started making for shelter.
That is, everybody started making for shelter but Bill Pelle
grinetti!
He was absorbed in his job and didn’t see the stump coming until
he heard the first man cry out. Then he looked up just in time to see
the stump make its first bounce.
“It came down that slope,” he says, “gaining momentum
with every fraction of a second. It bounded in enormous leaps,
straight toward me. For a moment it fascinated me. Then, I
tried to run and found to my horror that I couldn’t. I couldn’t
move a muscle!”
Afterward, Bill’s pals called it cool nerve. They told other
fellows in the camp how he stood still, never flinching, while
that great stump came hurtling right at him. But Bill says it
wasn’t nerve at all. In fact, it was just the opposite of nerve.
Bill was scared stiff.
“It kept right on coming,” he says, “looking bigger at every bounce
it took. Somehow those long spidery roots shooting out from its sides
looked like arms reaching out to grab me.
“It all happened in a few brief seconds, but in that time a million
thoughts raced through my mind. Already I was figuring that I was a
goner. I wondered what people would say about me, and recalled small
incidents, long since forgotten, about my parents and other members
of my family.
The Hurtling Stump Was Taking Its Last Bounce.
“Some folks say that when you’re faced with death you think of
all the evil things you’ve done in the course of your lifetime. Maybe I
had never done anything really evil.
“At any rate, all my thoughts in that long, ageless moment were of
my home and loved ones. I realized, then, how much I wanted to live.
But up ahead of me that hurtling stump was taking its last bound before
it would reach me.”
That stump was high in the air, and coming down again
straight at Bill, when all of a sudden, he snapped out of it.
In that instant the power of motion came back to him. He
flung himself down and to one side with the speed of lightning.
And as he fell, he could hear the stump whistling by in the very
spot where, a second before, his head had been.
The fellows all said that Bill stood his ground and dodged that
stump like a bull fighter would dodge a bull. Only Bill knew that he
stood there because he simply couldn’t move from the spot.
“Now, when things go wrong,” he says, “I recall that picture of the
‘widow-maker’ bearing down on me. I remember all the things I thought
I was leaving, and how much I wanted not to leave them. Then I say
to myself, ‘Bill, you dope, you’re not so bad off after all.’ ”
(Released by Western Newspaper Union.)
Atoms Are Reproduced
Reproduction of atoms over mil
lions of years keeps the stars shin
ing. Carbon throws off a few ergs
a« it restates.
World’s Finest Pearls
The finest pearls in the world are
found in the Persian gulf, mainly in
the waters around the islands of
Bahrein.
OUR COMIC SECTION
OH, JOY!
Fly—l thought it was a barber
pole, but it’s a stick of good old
fashioned peppermint candy. How’s
that.
BAKER COUNTY NEWS
Events in the Lives of Little Men
WISDOM
It was a known fact that Jerry
had his dad “wrapped around his
little finger” as the saying is, and
one day when the little boy was
unusually naughty, his mother
warned:
“If you don’t stop doing that, Jer
ry, your daddy will give you a
spanking.”
“I guess if there is any spanking
done around here, mammy, you’ll
do it,” he answered.
AFTER THE SHOW
9.
STAGt EWTKMut —
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If
“De you think that actor will
make a success?”
“I don’t think he has much of a
show.”
CLASSIFIED
DEPARTMENT
BABY CHICKS
BABY CHICKS (Mixed Bv^da) No C
Cripplefl] No Culls! We guarantee ww
Live Delivery! We pay postage. A 1—
ATLAS CHICK CO., St. Lexis, Ms. P'tpeH
HOSIERY
Ladies* Lovely Silk Hosiery, slightly Imper
fect, 5 prs. sl. First quality silk chiffon, 3 prs.
$1 postpaid, full fashioned 2 prs. sl. Ameri
can Hosiery Co., Box 562, Lexington, N. C.
HOUSEHOLD
QUESTIONS
— .
Treating Wax Floors.—ls dirt
becomes ground into a waxed floor
moisten a cloth with turpentine
and rub the turpentine well into
the floor until the wax is removed,
then wash the floor anew and pol
ish it.
• • •
When Shirring Cloth.— Lengthen
the stitch on your machine and
use ruled writing paper and stitch
over. The rows will then be even.
...
For Stains in Vase.— To remove
stains from a vase or bottle, put
into it two tablespoons of salt and
four tablespoons of vinegar and
shake well. Let stand for several
hours, empty and rinse out in hot
soapsuds.
Pull the Trigger on
Constipation, and
Pepsin-ize Acid Stomach Too
When constipation brings on acid indi
gestion, bloating, dizzy spells, gas, coated
tongue, sour taste, and bad breath, your
stomach is probably loaded up with cer
tain undigested food and your bowels don't
move. So you need both Pepsin to help
break up fast that rich undigested food in
your stomach, and Laxative Senna to pull
the trigger on those lazy bowels. So be
sure your laxative also contains Pepsin.
Take Dr. Caldwell’s Laxative, because its
Syrup Pepsin helps you gain that won
derful stomach-relief, while the Laxative
Senna moves your bowels. Tests prove tire
power of Pepsin to dissolve those lumps of
undigested protein food which may linger
in your stomach, to cause belching, gastric
acidity and nausea. This is how pepsin
izing your stemach helps relieve it of such
distress. At the same time this medicine
wakes up lazy nerves and muscles in your
bowels to relieve your constipation. So see
how much better you feel by taking the
laxative that also puts Pepsin to work on
that stomach discomfort, too. Even fin
icky children love to taste this pleasant
family laxative. Buy Dr. Caldwell's Lax
ative-Senna with Syrup Pepsin at your
druggist today!
Riches and Strength
Men seem neither to understand
their riches, nor their strength;
of the former they believe greater
things than they should; of the
latter much less.—Lord Bacon.
j i "i . j i
ruined eyes
by neglect; they get red and
sore and you let them go. Don’t
do it. Leonardi’s Golden Eye
Lotion relieves soreness in one
day. Cools, heals and strengthens.
LEONARDI’S
GOLDEN EYE LOTION
MAKES WEAK EYES STRONG
New Large Size with Droppei—so cento
8. B. Lessard i & Co. Inc., New Bor belle, N. T.
Falsehoods Our Curse
Liars are the cause of all the
sins and crimes in the world.—
Epictetus.
/NOW! CHAFE-IRRITATION SKI if trouble"
(6ETJREAL HEOICATEP PROTECTION.SOOTIIB
LCOOIS, EVEN PRICKLY HEAT RASHES. /
MEXICAN^POWDER
Acts of the Intellect
The proper acts of the intellect
are intellection, deliberation and
determination or decision.—Sir M.
Hale.
mbe miserable with
MALARIA
-nd COLDS
CCC check MALARIA fast and
UUU gives symptomatic cold relief
LIQUID, TABLETS, SALVE. NOSE DROPS
First Need
Self-confidence is the first requi
site to great undertakings.—Sam
uel Johnson.
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WNU—7 37—39
|| MEW IDEAS |
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