Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1868-05-16
Log OF Steamer "Job Boat No. T.
L0m Mouth 0f Rasi foTk 20 Dallas,


J, u, McGarYey, commanding, az the neW
"l'oH sf Dallas, aud have the honor Ia
rtporl 10 you sohe Of ihe incidents OF the
difheuli ascent Of the river, iakeR from the
! steamers log, Immediately on the arTi-
val u your sable Mereury, the Ihirl day
after you len ms, aud upon receipt of your
welcome letter., ALI hands aud the cook
"Piisd ia for wool, and sunrise heNt mora
ing found the siauneh little erafi tearing
through drifI aud logs al the mouth Of Easi
Pork. Rain Was falling the river rising
but on We tore oar way, waking the echoes
of the river with an occasional steam
whistle, or bona dle Confederate yell,
hut the rain was too much for us, Your
own experience will tell you what a rain is
in the lay Of Naples, but IL was not cir
eumsiance 10 our rain; %, well drenched
aud thoroughly soaked, We hung uEon our
fdroriir grub, aud with a hearty supper aud
a hearller sigh OF relief We turned into
bed. Morning broke cold, dreary aud wet,
The river had risen three feet during the
iighl, aud was still swelling, The little
'Joh' with her powerful double engine was
working like beaver 'gainsi Wind aud
tide, crashing into logs aud oVerhanging
timber the ringing axe gave out It's sharp
HNNAAn Wv l"A"" ''fN's ~"
Il detached log from log and sent them
spinning down the swollen stream, The
men worked with will, aud the evening
of the second day found us halfway
through the lower raft. During the day
the chute We passed In coming down hold
| ing dead water, was pouring out food
from Enst Fork. Tired, wet aud weary,
yet with determined hearts, we rolled up
in our blankets; aud at day light next morn
ing, with axes aud saws, ropes, steam and
cnpslan, were tearing our enemy into
shreds with n rapidity and certainty that
made il look ashamed of itself. Logs 100
feet in length and 4 or ) in thickness were
dragged bodily out aud sent ON their way
rejoicing. One in particular te grOs leg
was greeted with dcrsivc cheers and per-
htps some bad anguage-"'cast said soon
est mcndcd.n Twice during the morning
large chuics opened on the let, carrying n
swift current to the lakes and Red Oak
creek on the west. Wooded. TuBBs POINT |
was passed at . r.M. midst great crashing |
and splintering of tree.tops, one Of which |
was impudent enough totear aplank off the |
open door where was writing and leave |
grapeyines enough to have planted n, abs |
vineyard (whcreScripture saysSc mad him |
self fool and exposed his internal pro- |
peusity in a scandalous manner, even |
maniiesting it cxtcrnally.) Rainl plashl |
plashl Yet nothing can detract from the
beauty of this magnificent river, now seen
at its flood. Capt. McGarvey, who speaks
with caution upon all points, says, "ltfar
surpasses Arkansas river or Red river,
Louisiana, and I'll run il or break n leg"
lie is even talking about reaching Fort
Worth! know one thing-if he attempts
it he will do it, in spite of Ben. Butler,
cor any other man." jim. Ran to raft;
short turn in river; the "Lady of Dallas
and "Lost Heir" both in the water with
men armed with axes and ropes. Willing
hands make quick work, and in two hours
our little raft was, like the lives of us all,
floating down the great RIVER of Time,
bound for the Ocean of Eternity. On
again, crashing into the drift, all hands
now in terrible earnest. Round swungthe
capstan, and the raft yielded up the ghost.
As yet no real difficulty which willing men
could not overcome had presented itself
but at PM we found bull-headed Eng
lishman. To say we gave him "its' for
eight hours. e. 0P.M, and by the light
of clear moon-to say we blistered the
hands of every man aboard on the Manila
lines; to say we got sullen and desperate,
and cursed the logs in scientific swearing, |
are parts of cur veritable history.
sour army swore terribly in Flanders
quoth My Uncle Toby. Could that innocent,
dear old man have hear the people of
"Job No. l" this night, he would have hung |
his head in shame and said the "army in
Flanders" we're moral people. Well, there
is limit to everything, except ladys |
fall nd ii iUh
out, used up, we laid to rest, previously |
having sawed one third through the "key"
of our position-key in a literal sense, for |
he locked our river.
Fighting mosquitoes half q night im-
proves no mans temper; so, when "Squlr-
rel" "Catfsh" and "Coon" crawled over
the log next morning with saws, axes and |
ropes-God help us ALIVE were bitter
enough; pers,nmonS are nowhere, even IN |
green state, but six feet logs are; and if my |
written dog were as easy to tear up we
would have had no trouble. AM. next
day saw us giving "IIail Columbia to our |
key. In the dull, cheerless, foggy morn,
just at break of day, it was hard work. A
log AZ inches in thickness was one-half
sawed. Into it again willingly and well.
Let me here, dear Herald, make one re-
mark. We could not have hired more
hard working, earnest set Of fellows, or
men who would do their work better, The
squirrel in running logs could but equal
Mr.. LIE Gros; the "Caifish' was as good
under water as out of it; "Coon" could go
up q tree and lop off a branch with the
same facility that his four.legged namesake
could climb one. Well, to return to our
muttons. Saw, saw, and she would not
ohnn .ha,, nd ha Nyau lI rive. |
Heaye capstan, and heave sturdily. Sud
denly a crash break; round swung the
raft and deft hands and quick work cleared |
the wheel of drift. Once more clear
river and relief to our blisiered hands.
An old Spanish proverb is: "Ey cato esedt
dado del aqua tria hue" literally, a scalded
cat runs away from cold water" | sup |
pose that is equivalent to "a burnt child |
breads the fire." but fire nor water can't
stop determined men, and we pushed on,
our trust in Capt McGarvey stronger than
ever. But "man proposes and God dis.
poses;" for in swinging around anobie bend
in the splendid river, we encountered the
"cross bars" .SeUen hours hard work. At
10 PM, as the last log passed us, we lay
down 10 rest, weary, tired, and with full
Hbread basket We "slept without rock
ing This, so far, was our hardest days
work. We tore huge roots from their rest |
ing places; we tore our pants In places not
to be mentioned TO ears polite; we tore an
old ramshackle, rattletrap Of a house into
the river and appropriated its dry raf!ers
and drier shingles for the benefit OF Mr..
Boiler, and tore everything in the shape of
shirts into ribbons.
Four AN. found us on our legs. Morn
ing broke clear and delicious. Everybody
in good spirits, but with sorrowful hands,
but on we went / suppose you, sir, have
not forgotten the upper rafi; well, we
struck il at 6 An For fourteen hours We
fought it, until s Pm, and she "caVed-' so
did we, and turned into bed well coniented
with the days work. No one who has not
had the handling Of a "raft in a river can
imagine the tangled position Of affairs,
worse even than the present Congress
Enormous logs are interlaeed with ihenormous
roots, 10 get even one Of which requires
.k