The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1874-04-17


$40, 900. The owner of that raft was stuff
fling the reporter. No tioO Iarts ever pass
ed down the SuSquehanna ihat would bring
that amount. All the RATS, however, do
not reach Lumber City in safety; at least
ten per cent. of them are stove upon the
rocks and have to be gathered and RATED
mp again. From Lumber City to Clear
field town the river is quiet and easy to
navigate. At the latter place mountain
pilot aud two extra hands are taken aboard
and the raft enters the Alleghcnies.-
Now, boys, take off your coats and for
eight or ten hours pull like good fellows
For miles upon miles no human EaUitatiOn.
Only the river, with barren mountains ri
sing on either side-the haunts of deer,
bears. aud Tattlesnakes. For sixty miles
or more the river is rapid ana rocky
Abu!ment Rifle is the most shallow part
of the river in the mountains, and if a raft
passes over it without humping the bottom
She is good for Lock Haven Among the
many dangerous or difficult passages are
''W Whit4 Break" ''Sde Pocket big
Stepping Stoncs," ''Ninety Foot Cap
I ''Moshannon Falls, - Deer Creek Falls
big Tinker" Little Tinker" Catfish
Rams Horn" and "ButtermillI Falls"
When the latter point is passed. the tough
est of our mountain journey is accomplish
ed, and the pilot ard extra bands are paid
off and sent ashore.
At many OF the places mentioned above,
it would appear to the unintiated impoS-
sible to guide a raft through; but for the
clever mountain pilot, familiar with the
river from his boyhood the task is an easy
one, and We dash through the swift cur
rent amid the ugly rocks and around the
sharp bends as easily carriage glides
along smooth highway. From the foot
Of the ''Falls' 20 the ''Island" Uock
HAVEN the work is easy when the water is
high-nOt much to do except to steer clear
of the islands. Between ''Butternilk''
and Queen Run dam, the SinncmahOning
and Kettle Creek pay tribute to the Sus-
quehanDa, and down these streams RATS
are also run and swell the throng bound east
ward. Lock Haven Is the first timber mar
kct, and many ofthe Eastern Geale' come up
that far to buy. We glide aruund the long
boom into the dam and tie up in the crowd.
1t is tedious task to work through the
hundreds of RATS lying there, and some
times whole day is consumed III moving
from The head Of the boom to the chute,
distance Of one mile. Around HaEu's 5
Hotel, in LockpOrt, opposite the city, hun
dreGs Of raftsmen are collected The
straight haired ''mOssy- back" from the
mountains, in his butternut suit; the
pElegmatiC Dutchman, from Kettle Creek;
the vivaCIOus FTenchman, from the green
banks of French Greek. and troops of red
shifted logmen from the upper forests Of
Ciearticld. Hero is also found the ubiqui-
stool in front Of his den Of curiositieS pro
claiming to gaping crowd the merits of
bis shOw-''Ihe Fat Woman the Living
Skeleton and the " ondelful Happy Fam
lily ! That great phiiaHthrUpist, the pat
ent medicine man, Is also on hand with
his panacea for all the ills that flesh is
helI to. The three card monte man plies
his calling proftably, and, opposite bim,
the man with the sweat cloth and rings
and spIkeS-"Gb, yes, gents five rings
for fifty cents, and you win Eve dollar
bill, if you ring the centre spikes - But
we are through runners-our timber is
booked for Marietta-au0 stop not
here. With hard work we face our raft
through the crowd, and gliding rapidly
through the island chute, the longest and
safest on the river, proceed on our journey
downward. We pass Jersey Shore, a
sleepy looking village on the left bank of
the river, and reach Ni.HanspOTt dam.
with its five miles Of booms, that pay a
dividend each year that amounts to double
the cost OF construction. But little square
timber is sold at Williamsport-the mills
manufacturing most Of their lumber from
saw-lugs. We pass the chute through
breakers as high as house. The raft
dives to the bottom, rises again. and we
( dart under the wire bridge, shaking our
/ selves like wet dogs. Five miles below
/ WilliamspOrt, we come to Canon Hole Is
lands and the DEVILS Race GrouHo, through
/ which we pass swiftly and enter Muucy
Dam, crossing over to the left bank of the
river again to make the chute. At the
end of the sixth or seventh day we arrive
! at Northumb berlaud, where the north
branch joins its twin sister the west. At
/ ShamOkin Dam, opposite Sunbury, we
take another pilot aboard, single out ana
. dash through the chute, with the old raft
D.. straining, cracking and swapping as though
/ she would go to pieces every minute. We
! ''muskrat it, down the right hand shore
past Selinsgroye, Liverpool and McKee's
| Half Falls we pass Grid's Notch, running
close along the shore, and then dart across
| the river again through The Lazy Mans
! Cap" between two large islands, and en-
! ter Green's Dam, Is miles above Harris
/ burg. If the afternoon is on the wane, we
I will not go through the dam, as the river
! between this point and Dauphiu is very
/ rough. We paddle our ''sCds' in to
shore! cable thrown out is caught by
friendly hands hitch is taken around q
snubbing post, the smoke flies and the !
Shamokin pilot cries, ''Iold her hard" .
lhe don't buy the ropes The up river
pilot sings out, Let her render" Final /
~ she IS brought up standing and safely .
secured for the night. We have q shanty /
for our regular.crew and eat and sleep on .
the raft. In the grey of the morning the
ShamOkln man knocks at our shanty door:
| Now, boys, days breaking" We tumble .
I out OF our straw couches, unite our cable,
! dash swiftly through the dam, and pursue /
our way to market. At Coxtown, five
miles above Harrisburg, our Shamokiu
pilot receives his $50 fee and is conveyed
ashore. We arrive opposite VIII te House
about noon call for a pilot, who gets
aboard and runs us into Marietta where
our trip ends. The raft is inspected
measured and sold each man receives his
pay, spends a nighs at ball i'll Irishtown,
buys some candy for the babies, a new
gown for the ''old woman," and a broad
brimmed hat for himself, mounts the cars,
rides to Ebensburg and walks thence to
his home III the pines, happy enough.
1t costs II cents per cubic foot to bring
pine tree from the head waters of the
river to Marietta-to wit, p cents for cut
ting, p cents for hauling. and six cents
for rafting and running. We cut our raft
iii Cambria and tioated it itthrough Indiana,
Cleariield, Clinton, Lycoming, Snyder,