108 miles west. Expect to
make it in four hours.

BANNOCK, 2:30 P. M.--Conditions unchanged. Passed moving settlers
all the way. They are going east with chattels. Wind from the east
has the pressure without the violence of a gale. Party in good
spirits.

SUNSHINE, 3:15.--Vast herds of wild cattle now impeding progress.
Wind increasing. Road otherwise clear.

AMERICAN FALLS, 4:40.--Signs of the exodus decreasing. Country
strewn with household goods. Reports here that all the teams that
went out on the roads west have not returned. Expect to hear
something definite from Minidoka.

MINIDOKA, 6:10.--Electrical and barometrical indications unchanged.
Signs of life disappearing. Party in excellent spirits, and eager
to reach the facts.

The next dispatch was from Cheyenne, and was sent at eight o'clock. It
simply said, "Nothing further heard from Government party. Wire in good
order."

Then followed two telegrams of gruesome brevity and significance:

POCATELLO, 9 P. M.--Nothing here.

CHEYENNE, 10 P. M.--Nothing has come over the special wire up to
this hour. Microphonic tests at Pocatello indicate that the train
is still moving. Electrical tests indicate that the current is
unbroken.

Finally there was a special message from the New York _Star's_
correspondent at Cheyenne, dated 11 P. M. It was about to this effect:

The current on the Government wire was broken at 10:40. Delicate
tests show that the wire is now grounded. The dire conclusion of
experts here is that the train ran from some point west of Minidoka
from about 6:15 to 10:40 without human control, and then met with
an accident. At the rate at which it was moving the train must have
reached Shoshone. Terrible excitement here.

My keen sense detected in the newspaper itself certain infallible little
signs that the news had disturbed the precision and routine of the
office. Lines of type were in the wrong place, and typographical errors
made it difficult to get the exact sense. Dispatch after dispatch, all
bearing the same import of panic, was huddled into the column. From St.
Louis the announcement was:

An unprecedented excitement here over the news from Cheyenne. The
authorities appear to have lost their heads, and are unable to
preserve order. Eastward-bound trains are carrying away people at a
mob rat