team, which would amount to $10,080, making a total cost to the counties for labor of $46,805.44.

"The average cost of labor for the 157 miles built was $298.12 the mile.

"It is hard to estimate the immense value of these roads," the superintendent continued, "for the reason that the work in Mesa County alone would have cost, with free labor, not less than $25,000 the mile, since in places the rock had to be blasted for 75 feet in order to get a proper roadbed. In this work it was necessary to drill holes 25 feet deep and to drill three depths before the roadbed was reached, so you can readily see the magnitude of this work.

sarily have been very expensive work had it been done with free labor, and the counties would have been forced to pay big salaries for drillers, asters, powder men, masons and cement workers.

"Not counting what the contractor's profits might be, and not including any skilled labor except blacksmith, cement workers and masons, and estimating the cost of free labor at $2.00 per day, by eliminating Sundays and holidays, we may count 132 men working 610 days at $2.00 per day, which would give us a labor value of $161,040.

"We have, at times, worked an average of twenty masons and cement workers, which would have cost the counties

hills crowding closer about, trusties are working the road. Brown trousers, striped shirts, soft round hats, serve these men for uniforms and prevent their easy escape.

Smooth and gentle as is the road here, deserving of the admiration of the most callous, it isn't a circumstance to what is to follow. There is a stretch of this convict-built road that takes the very summit of a ridge of the mountains. Now you're descend

ing into a valley, now ascending, now descending, now crossing a plateau, and always at a point where there seems only just room for the road. At either side, the slopes descend abruptly to dizzying depths, and while there's a wee bit of stone guard at each hand, that's as nothing should your machine skid here.

Safe in knowledge of the splendid highway here, over the mountains, chauffeurs delight to speed, on and on and on! What should happen were a machine suddenly to skid it is terrible. to contemplate. Abysses, chasms, canons, gorges, each and all seem to yawn to engulf you!

But the convict-built roads are made not to be skidded on, and they even bear signs of warning as to curves and the like at roadside. Marvelous seems the only term that will fit them; and when one considers the aid that they give, the facilities offered and their comparative slight cost to the state, one wonders that every state in the commonwealth does not enter forthwith on a scheme of convict-built roads.

There was a "jack pot" at Green Hill that morning as five freight trains were there in a bunch, but finally we all got in the clear, and as we could not get out for the fleet of passengers, we all gathered about the switch near the Harvey House and were soon perched on rocks and ties and swapping yarns. Soon the Boomer came in from the east, where he had been out flagging against the Limited, and as he joined the group two whistles from different directions sounded the approach of a couple of the passenger trains. As one whistle was low and the other loud, it sounded like a chorus.

"Well," said the Boomer, "that reminds me of the duet I once heard two hogheads play down Red Narrows, out on the old Rio Grande Western."

"Tell us about it, Dan," we said at once. "Say, you fellows seem determined to make a professional story

teller out of me, but if you want to hear it, I can stand the telling, if you can stand the listening.

"One cold night in December, we left Soldier Summit with a string of S. P. battleships loaded with coal and we sure had a sweet time with those said cars down the 4 per cent grade to Tucker, for those Harriman hoppers were not braked heavy enough for the loads they could carry. We had the duplex retainers on our system cars, but the pops on the S. P. 'coalies' were only 15-pounders, so to keep on the holding proposition we used to sharpen matches and push in the release part of the retainers, and in that way we could hold all the atmosphere right in the brake cylinder. But we always had to keep our eyes on those cars to prevent them from skating, and a flat spot on a wheel was a hard thing for our T. M. to forgive. This night we

broke all our brake clubs coming down the knob, and at Tucker we filled out to the usual thirty-five cars, which was the standard dope for all freights except the preferred runs. I somehow got an inkling that we might have trouble leaving Tucker, so I went over to one of the Hill crew's caboose and the hind shack gave me an extra pick handle that he happened to have. 'Hoppie' Hall, the Big O. on my train, got the tissues and came by me on the run, like he usually went every place, and said:

"We've got a straight shot to Thistle from here. I'm going to ride the smoky end."

"We've only got 35 lbs. air." I told him. "Don't you think, Cap, that we'd better get a little more 'Westinghouse'

before we start?"

"Oh, I guess he'll have plenty of air by the time I get to the head end," he replied, as he left.

"I had turned up all the pops but about seven on the rear end, which I left down for bumpers to help start us when we stopped any place.

"We were

going to tie up at Thistle that night, and so I peeled some spuds and put on some rice to cook and was throwing the coffee grounds out of the door, when I suddenly noticed we were running very fast. I opened a window, and looking out, I heard the hogger calling for hand brakes. I grabbed my club and lantern and looked at the air gauge and when I saw it was down to zero I just tore out of the caboose and began tying down the binders on the box cars on the rear of the train. It was bitter cold and a stormy wind and little flurries of snow, and I'll tell you, lads, it was all I could do to get from one car to another. But I knew the head shack and the con did not have any brake clubs and that it depended on me to help stop the train.

I crawled from car to car and clubbed each brake as hard as I could, and I was tying down the sixteenth car from the caboose when we passed the Mill Fork mile post.

When the hoghead on that big 1100 saw my light out on the cars he let the train drift and pumped up as much as he could and then when we passed the mile board at Mill Fork, he gave her the works, and with the aid of the sixteen hand-brakes we got stopped between switches. As there were no trains near us, I did not go back and flag at once, but lit a fusee and waited for the captain to get back to see what he was figuring on doing. He came back on the run and told me to go back and line up for the passing track as the engineer would not take the train any further until he had more air and that he had sent for a second

engine, and that we would be there until daylight. He had told the dispatcher that 26 degrees below zero was too cold for any man to stay out flagging when there was a side-track that trains could run around us by.

He sent the head shack down to the other end to line up for the siding, so I went back as best I could in the blizzard and lined up the gate for the passing track, and then, as a caution signal, I went back six poles and put down a couple of guns. But I didn't delay long, I can tell you, for a temperature of 26 degrees below sure does make a guy love a stove.

As soon as I got thawed out, I went out with the bunch and we tried to find the reason why we didn't have any air. We could find no leaks, and slowly the pressure came up till we had the regular amount. the regular amount. Then the "jackdriver" set 'em up to see if he could recharge. They set in fair shape, but it took him one hour to get the pressure up, so we did not dare to try to go down through the Red Narrows until we had another engine.

So my buddy and I went over to the "King Snipe's" car house and swiped some pick handles to use on the brakes in the morning. The storm broke up about daylight and about nine o'clock the 1183 backed up from Thistle to assist us down the hill.

As a coal drag was heading around us just then, we let them go ahead,