Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-04-28
A BRAVE BOY.

A BRAVE BOY.
The gnarled old spr uce which leans ou
ever the stream at the foot of the lake
still bears the pitchy letters IN. G." Gu
in it with an ak MAE years ago last spring
Nat Confer was as brave a lad as evel
worked in the numbering region: not ye
seventeen, but an expert waterman anc
"driver," always on hand for his duty
quick sighted and careful, yet dexterou:
and at night, the life and soul of the tired
camp, with his CHEEKY laugh and ever
READY song.
We could trust anything to Nat; whether
it was refractory team, or broken raft
of lumber, he would fetch it out right
somehow. His quick eye had repeatedly
saved men working with him from injury
and once or twice from drowning. But
most likely that old spruce is the only
tombstone that he will ever have.
We had been ''warping" raft Of logs
down the lake that night; for the nights
in May are generally less windy than the
days, and ''warping," or booming is
best done on calm water.
When, in getting lumber down to the
aw-milis, it becomes necessary to cross
lake. or any expanse Of ''dead' water, the
logs, many lu2dreds in number. are brSt
inclosed within ''boom.' or Gordon y
consisting of long logs connected at the
ends by huge, movable pines, termed
through-shots."
Ahead Of this great raft, often covering
number of acres is hitched as float, y
built of very large, buoyant logs, and
r<1,f foo ~ Law
by about twelve in width. Upon this
float is set up an uprigh: capstan, pierced
for eight levers, or "bars."
This float, with it's capstan, is common
~ called the head-works." To the whim,
or ''roll,' Of the capstan is bent one end
of a heavy warp. generally four inch
line, eight hundred feet long. to the other
end of which is attached an anchor, Of
about the size of those carried by small
schooners.
The anchor is first carried forward on
the lake in batteau, eight hundred feet
in advance of the head-works, and drop
ped. The men at the capstan bars then
commence winding. The anchor holds
fast to the earth at the bottom Of the lake,
and thus the heavy raft of logs is wound
up to the place where it has fastened
itself:
The anchor is then taken up, and again
carried forward in the boat to the end of
the warp, and dropped as before. The
process of winding up is recommended,
and so on, mile after milo.
It is tedious work, particularly by
night, when much OF it has to be DONE
On the head-works are commonly eight
men besides the ''boss," one to each bar,
and if the raft be very heavy, the bars
have to be double manned" Some
times, too, q relief-party is carried.
Steam-tugs are beginning to be en-
ployed ON the large lakes for "warpping,''
but in the old days no better way was
known than the one have described.
We had been ''winding' all the latter
part of the night, and got the raft down
to the great dam at the foot Of the lake
about nine o'clock in the morning. This
dam was strong structure Of stone and
logs, about hundred feet long, and hav-
ing ''lift'' Of thirteen feet; that is to say,
it raised the water in the lake that num-
Der of feet above its natural level. In
it were three ponderous gates, the center
one being the widest and having a "drift-
way" through which to run the lumber
into the river below.
Up to this time the gates had been
kept shut. The lake was full of water.
We wound the raft down within about a
hundred feet of the dam, then carried the
anchor end Of the warp ashore, and made
it fast to tree, thus securing the head
works from being sucked into the fumes
when the gates were raised.
off xr,ikh
foreman, then went on to the dam to
hoist the center gate. These gates were
immensely strong and heavy, being built
of hewn timber. Though made to play
free in their grooves, the great pressure
of the water when high rendered them
hard to lift, and for this purpose a "hoist-
ing machine consisting of strong levers
working on cog wheels, had been provid-
ed
The. roar of the out-rushing flood at
once drownen every other noise. A vol
ume of water thirteen feet in height by
ten in width was pouring through the
driveway and plunging down over the
log "apron' of the dam into the deep
pool below. The whole dam shook, and
the high, wooded banks on each side re-
sounded to the heavy roar of the water.
The order was given to "man the
BOOM" In O minute the men were skip
ping about the raft on the floating logs.
The boom was opened, to let the logs run
out and go through the fume.
We had now only to keep the logs
floating out steadily, six or eight at once.
But to do this required a good deal of
'peling," and moving about the boom,
for the lumber must needs, go into the
tlume end foremost.
There was a young man in the gang
named Alph Merrill. This was his first
years work handling lumber in the wa
ter. He did we'll for beginner, but to
drive lumber in deep or rapid water re-
quires practice. The logs on which the
men stood were all drawn by the current
towards the throat of the boom.
Merrill, while watching some of the 9th
ers, stood a moment too long on one log
till it foated off from the rest too far
for him to jump to them, or back to the
boom.
An old driver, using his handspike for
paddle, would have steered the log to