The Cecil Whig., 1867-11-16

| DRIVING THE RIVER.
We have spoken Of dririag logs, and to
make this clear, we will explain that asthere
is n tendency all the time in floating logs 10
drift ashore, especially in the windings of
| the river, il is found necessary to adopt some
mode of keeping them moving. TO do this,
the river is divided into sections from VIII
Transport down, and men living in the vi.
cinity are employed on either bank of the
river 10 watch during the season for driving
| logs and keep them floating, by pushing
them off into the current whenever they
come ashore in their several sections, and
watch against the river pirates, who, when
they can, manage to steal timber and help ii
on shore. The occupation OF these men
thus employed to watch the river shore is to
drive the logs or keep them running. and
this is called "d,iring the gicer." The ex.
pense, OF course, is considerable, hnt as it
takes the place of freight charges by other
modes Of transportation, it will represent,
upon the amount Of lumber produced from
the quantity of logs expected to be brought
down, only about Sl.5O per NJ, in place of
the present freight charges of Sc to s. per
LOG SACKS.
Capacous as are the dimensions of the
| side boom, it is by no means too large. In
deed a few days run will so crowd and pack
it that in many places the logs will pile up,
one upon another, to q considerable height,
and arrangements have to be made for pass
ing off the accumnlations, as rapidly as con
venient, to their proper destinations. For
! this purpose the owners of the saw mills, to
whom the logs belong, provided what are
called clog sacks to receive their logs and
convey them to mill. These sacks are form
ed of heavy timbers, united together by
chains so as to form an oblong frame sixty
feet in width and three hundred feet in
length. They are towed by steamers up to
the end of the side and made fast to
the piers. whilst the boom meu pass the logs
into the sacks of the respective owners until
each is filled. The logs being all marked
with the owners initials, or other characters
stamped upon the ends, the ownership OF
each piece Of timber is AT once determined.
SO soon as these sacks are filed they are
taken in tow, like so many RATS. and steam
ed round to the saw mills in the ncighbor-
hood, where their contents are passed INTO
the stationary boom basins of each mill and
the sacks returned to be filled again. Thus
logs are rapidly transferred from the boom
to their proper destination. The hoom-maS
ter, with the aid of his assistants, keeps "a
faithful record OF every log thus delivered
from the boom, and SO the work goes on
from day tc day whilst the season lasts, or
as long as there is any driving of the river
in progress. The Boom Company charge
regular rates Of boomaSc, which are fixed
by the charter, and i'll this way the resources
of the Company are derived and regulated.
As prccaAion against damage from drift
Ing ice in the winter season, the boom TIM
bcls are not ouls removed, as we have STA
ted, bat the piers are SO constructed ~ to
offer as little rrslaiauce as possible to the
passage OF the ice, l!AYln% their tops, which
project above the water, made sIoping down
toward the Currcnt So that masses of ,lrlttiu"
ice will readily run up their sopiug surfaces
and pass over to the water beyond.
We have spoken oil gaw mills that by
means of this boom are To be supplied with
material for manufacturing lumber. AT
present there is ouly one mill at flavrc dc
Grace, but at the
NEW TOWN OF UAKlyCTuH,
s;tuatcd about five miles south of llavrc lr
Grace, on the point Of laud known as Oak
iuctuu Farm, near where the waters OF Swan
Creek unite with the Chesapeake Bay, we
ind vast saw mills already erected, and 9th
crs in progress of Il capacity hitherto un.
prcccdcn,ed in Maryland. These saw.mills
constitute, Of course, an important feature
of the new town to which we have alluded,
which, although being n new place with
very old name, we found, on a recent visit,
TO b. characterized by IL spirit of energy and
thrift that mast soon put it far in advance,
both in population and wealth, Of many old
towns we could name in this State, OF the
"sleepy hollow variety.
CHANGES OLA YEAR.
The town of Darlington, although crea.
ton but OF yesterday, as 1t wee, IS well
worthy u visit. One year ago the spot where
most of the improvements have been erected
WAS, for the most, part solitary wood, and
the only buldinge near il q. stone. mansion
and few outbnildings. Now the woods
have disappeared, and the air of this once
very quite place daily resounds with the
hum Of industry and active life. A portion
lots, iniersected by avenBna, on the lines of
which are rapidly rising neat and comforla
BILE dwellings, for the accommodation of the
busy hives of industrious workmen whose
labor has achieved such wonders in the short
| space Of one year.
THE SITUATION.
Oakingtop 10 most beautifully situated on
high ground, commanding ini, view of the
bay. 1t has an extensive water frontage Of
some six miles, partly on the bay and Swan
Creek, with ample depth for vessels of large
size. The shore Ia bold, and rises almost
uniformly to a height of about forty feet
Gn these blnfiS are located large number
of mill sites, each including about sixteen
acres of land, for the storage of lumber
Three of the very finest saw mills in this
country have been erected, and are now in
full operation. A fourth is in progress Of
constructing, and others are projected, as
also other manufacturing establishments.
TOWN LOTS.
Some distance back from the water line,
the ground is, as we have said, laid off into
| town lots, with streets and evenues arranged
to run at right angles from an avenue called
Railroad avenue, the road to traverse which
will shortly be built and connect the town
with the Philadelphia and Baltimore Rail.
road, that passes only about two miles off.
The Company owning this tract OF land
are acting under charter procured at the
last session of the Legislature with the title
of the g MARYLAND Land and Emigration
Company" Their tract embraces about
400 acres, including, in addition TO Oak
| ingtop farm, the estate formerly known as
''Belle View" which, until a few months
| ago, was in possession of a Mr.. Davis, said
! to be cousin Of the leader ofthe rebellion;
| and also Plumb Point, Oh the south side of
Swan Creek, which gives the Company full
control Of the mouth of this stream.
SAw.MILl.s.
| Several of the corporatOrs have already