Democratic Sentinel, Volume 3, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 January 1880 — Sliding Down a Mountain. [ARTICLE]

Sliding Down a Mountain.

The trail leading to the Metamoras mine is both steep and narrow, and winds along the side o's Prospect mountain from the base almost to the summit. In places the descent from it is very precipitous, falling off almost perpendicularly for a distance of 200 and 300 feet. The snow fall had almost obliterated the pathway, making it peculiarly dangerous, and when James Aheam attempted to make the ascent he was forced to grope his way blindly, trusting to his knowledge of the route to carry him over safely. It was not sufficient, however, for when about half way up he slipped upon the icy crust, and, before he could recover himself, he was traveling down tho side of the mountain at a rate of speed only equaled by a meteor. While the snow was the immediate cause of Ahearn’s disaster, it was also his salvation, for it not only preserved him from contact with the rocks as he plunged down, but received him in its soft embrace at his stopping place, some 250 feet from the point of departure. As it was, his clothes weje rent and torn, so was his skin in sundry places, and, while no bones were broken, there were aggregate bruises that will painfully remind him of his experience for some days to come,— Eureka (Nev.) Leader.