The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1867-05-23


ly sinks alone, and tho other breaks
loose aud goes rushing on. Woe be
TO the luckloss raitsmar that happens
to be on tho tail Of the piece that !
sinks, unless he gets on the othe
piece IN a hurry; once in the water
thoro is no climbing out on shore un o
less lie can ascend the smooth surfac 4
of perpendicular rock two or thrc'
hundred feet high.
The water here is very deep, ans !,
when the riyerriscs suddenly, it over :
aows a great surface OF country abov, n
the Dells. When wo landed AZ In,
head of tho Dells thSre we're man,
fleets tied up ready TO run them The
next day,--but get on raft with ul
aud see for yourselves. We tie loos,
aud are ahoat on the back water +,
which seems like large lake, has
scarcely any current at all; on either 1
hand are high blulls; az we drift OF
these come nearer together aud at last
We enter narrow opening Of perhaps
City yards wide, as we continue on
the river Is narrower aud narrower
wo look back aud are surprised to
6nd we are hemmed in with this high,
rocky wall; look ahead aud we can
sec no opening but all solid rock; go
little farther and tho same scene
again, now the water commences to
run some swifter,aud dashiug from the
side with maddouing fury, the walls
are still closer, when the stearsman
can be heard TO say. awe arc com.
ing nearer the notch, aud / want you
TO Le ready TO do your best. We
know what that means, and need no
second order to "3o your best" but
with strained sinews, at his word
grasp the oar stom aud pull for dear
life-hore we rush on the raft nearly
touching both walls at once they are
so close together, aud no opening
ahead that can be seen, but the pro-
cipitous walls all around us, two or
three hundred feet high, aud We
rushing desperately on; now the tail
Of the raft rubs on tho right, then a
clip or two and VIC swing around the
corner, dart tho dreaded "notch" and
are safe. No wonder the man on the
bow turned pale, it seem' as though
we wore riding into the jaws of death.
AS soon as We get safely past, we in.
stinctiyoly glance around TO SEQ that
VIC arc all alive, and draw n long
breath of great relief
There is no danger tho rest of the
way, but still the high grand walls
The scenery is enough to pay any one
to riss the trip through, aud run the
danger. 1t is grand, majestic, beau
tiful, and magnificent, aud extends
for twelve miles. The lower part is
much better running.
/ think it is in tho lower part Of
these Dells whore cave rock is All
that can be seen of it is pile of loose
rocks reaching above the water, but
il has been the scene ola sad tragedy.
1t once was a large cave in the rocks,
and one time there was small gov.
ernment vessel loaded with an i'm.
mense amount Of specie, believe for
the indians, and when in this vicini-
ty were overtaken by q storm, aud
put in this cave TO seek shelter, but
while there the whole mass of rocks
above fell upon them and buried them
all in a watery grave, forever out Of
the reach of human aid, and the
treasure will always be loss, as il
can never be recovered.
The eleventh day from the time we
started we run the Dells, which was
the last dangerous or exciting place
on the river, but the secenery most
of tho way is very beautiful, com.
posed of varied scenery, sometimes
high bluffs, aud hills, covered with
red cedar, then low timbered land,
then prairies,
There are some very beautiful and
enterprising towns along the river,
some few Of which | will mention
The first of Importance is Portage
City, large and han dsome place, and
situated midway between Milwaukee
and La Crosse, on the Milwaukee and
St. Paul railway, and is the center of
large trade from the surrounding
couatry. sf,a
The next Of Importance is Sauk
City, on the west side of the river,
and situated in beautiful country,
and regularly laid out, and is anoth-
or enterprising town.
River life on this part Of tho river
is pretty tough, as so many of the
RATS stick, aud tho men have to get
in the water to handspike them off,
Tho last night we were in the Wis
cons the Grew were about all right in
che water, handspiking off two of the
RATS that wero stuck and il was very
cold too. One of the suckers got so
near tired and worn out, that he went
to sleep in the water waist deep, and
hanging to a grub, perhaps dreaming,
verify this is hard for suckers.
The last town on the river is
Bridgeport, situated between two
high bluffs, and just above this We
spent our last night in tho Wiseol-
sin, Eve miles above the Mississippi.
We stsrted in time next morning
TO reach the Mississippi by noon;
soon after we started we could see
Iowa Bluffs above the tops of the
trees. We drilled along very slow,
owing to back water Of the Mississip-
pi, but the men were all in good spir-
It's. for We were making our third
goal. the Mississippi.
Aftera few hours we came in sight
Of the mighty river, and tied up a few
rods from it, aud coupled our RATS
together in feet. We had five RATS,
or ter rapids pieces, and when all
coupled together made our feet Eve
rods wide, aud fourteen rods long
nearly halfan aergf-aith the cook
raft in the center.
When the lumber is run to the low