The Republican journal., 1874-08-20

inr pitches which make the lumber
men dread the West Branch (PenobScot)
worst Of all the Maine waters, there stands
p smooth, black spruce, in the bark Of
which are cnt the words
'JACh BuEprI\
nROWNTp HlRi
sFRINC 0i lNtS
six wear ago
The letters are 7till Ieglblr though The
tree has healed and will ere long, outgrow
the scar And thus The memory Of poor
Jack is fading out,
This spruce was hI5 only tombstone
the great noble-hearted boy who was lost
here
He had been OH the West Branch two
7pungs. Though only eighteen, he was
The most muscular man in the whole gang,
The tallest, and had The quickest eye and
the surest had and added 10 these heart
good and true as steel Every man on
the drive loved that brown, kindly face.
And the very way he lost his life, too, it
came Of his generous spirit, and his way
Of putting himself ahead to keep the other
fellows out of danger
We were on Churchill's drive--1hP last
drive OF the season. There was nign two
million feet Of lumber and we Were short
handed TO work SO many logs through all
the pitches, at once. it got strung out 4
good deal and that made it worse. Fort
weeks not g man of US had taken off his
clothes. We didn't get two hours sleep
night on an average; and We slept in our
wet clothes, anv where We could catch q
moment.
Jim Madigan, Jack, and / We're togeth-
er, when word was passed back that the
logs had damned on the ">Hck Hole"
pitch, about TWO miles below All hands
were called to break the ian We hur-
ried down the bank
This suck hole" Is one Of The worst
places on the stream. When logs Jam
there it is next 10 impossible 10 get down
10 them tor on both sides there are
almost perpendicular Lodges, fifty and
sixty feet high. The current here il Just
like Al arrow, and very deep for the
whole river flows through gorge not
more than eighty or hundred feet wide
The pitch" il at the foot OF this rapid.
1t is q fall Of thirty Or thirty-five feet. at
one plunge, into hole Of great depth
which whr3 Ike lnaelstrom. Logs Will
circle & month here unless pOled out
Right in the throat Of the rapid, lust where
the torrent bends over the ledge, there is
What the drivers call the 'center rock" a
point OF the ledge rising above water and
it is this rock which renders the "sucE
hole so troublesome and dangerous. The
logs are apt to strike and hang on it. So
downright and toroetul is the plu 1ge of
the waters, that logs thirty feet long have
struck against this rock and been rven in
halves from end to end All lumber
going down here is more or less ''hroomcd
up" at the ends.
When we got down there that day the
situation was bad enough. One Of the big
pine sticks, forty or fifty feet long and
four feet through, had hit against the
center rock and swung round 10 the north
side, The end had caught under the
edges Of the shelving ledge There it
hung with the foam flying over it, spring
ing and 'buckling' ike a steel bow The
drivers had seen it when ii first struck and
had let q man down the ledge, but the
water pressed on the log so heavily that it
was impossible 10 dislodge it with the
"peeyysn 1t completely blocked the north
side Of the channel The river above was
completely covered with logs. Every
minute they came driving down. and
striking with dull thump, added their
weight 10 the pressure When we got
LL4CLt lIIF " lpIt GIldIUtI IDI Il uuUulcU
rods above the falls was TANNED full of
logs, clean to the bottom Of the river.
And 50 swift and strong was the stream
That it kept rolling the logs, up. one over
another, I'LL the top OF the mass was in
many places twenty and thirty feet above
the water-level Here huge logs three and
four feet through, could be seen standing
endwise with their butts in the mir, slant
wise, crosswise and in every position. The
river white with toam-clots, ran through
and around the mass roaring like 81 score
of mills; and vast pond OF dead water
was thus damned and held back, all
pressing on the first logs in the throat Of
the falls
All the men were On the Lodges on the
north side, looking down into the abyss
and the Boss (Wleeler) was tearing
around like a mad man / could see his
lips fly, but not word could be heard
above the deafening roar and the thunder
of the logs, rolling and tumbling one over
another The rocks trembled under our
feet; and the spray and foam flew up in
a prodigious cloud The volume of water
is enormous at this time of the wear.
when all the six feet Of snow in the woods
is melting. | never saw wilder scene.
The Boss was calling for volunteers to
20 down and start of the big pine log.
There were plenty Of bold fellows in the
gang, but each one hesitated.
'ft's sure DEATH they all said.
When the Jam started it woald 60
through like an avalanche. There would
be no time TO climb back out of the gorge
Whoever was down there would have to
60 with it. The Boss did not like to order
men to such duty, yet the jam was getting
worse every hour, and he would probably
have done SO but for Jack BURDEN. Jack
had been looking at the Jam and had strucl.
out plan for cutting away the pine stick.
| have always thought the brave fellow
did it rather than see any of the rest of us
sent down there His plan was to stretch
warping-line from ledge to ledge direct
ly over the falls, with gang OF men on
each side TO draw it tight, or slacken it,
at the word He would take his aXe-he
said-and go out on the hawser, until he
was directly overthe log. Then we might
slacken the rope and lower him down to
it. He would cut it'll it broke, then catch
hold OF the rope and we could pull him
up and draw him ashore. After some talk
this project was adopted
One end Of the six hundred feet warp
ing lines was taken across the river and
twenty men sent over to handle it. Jack
then stripped to his shirt and red drawers,
took his axe and threw one leg over the
cable. | don't know whether the poor
boy had any presentment of his fate He
shook my hand and said, "Wish me luck p
We paid out the line and the party on
the other side drew him out over the
abyss; then slowly we let him down,
down under the rainbow, where hot, mad
mist few up in wild gushes. 1t took strong