The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1883-06-01
On a Raft in . Freshet.

King, the hind oarsman, sat in the
smoking car on their way to Big Eddy.
from where they were to start down the
river with three-oared raft. The
train was booming along at twenty-five
miles an hour.
This is a gettin' over the groun'
pooty tol able scrumptioSA- I'm n takin'
on il" said the hind sArsman. IAN
ruther knocks the sawdust out'n raftin Z.
l reckon that VEIN scoohiA' long a
leetle bit faster thin the rlDtearinest
fresh on record ever druv hemlock
raft. don't yo' think we be, Curley?'
.'Not by pow rful sight, we hain't. "
said the steersman. II guess if you d
ben long O. me on a raft o. toggle-
timber that l run from the Gap to
Easton bridge, on the roarin' old fresh
ez come from the big June rain. back
in '62, you'd think this yer train o.
keers want more thin keepin' out n the
way of funsr'l procession"
"See yer. Curley," the front oarsman
put in, ..y' haint agoin' ter run us up
agin that baldheaded yarn. be We? The
las time y tole that lie. which it were
up in the Long Eddy tavern, don't "
reckomember that the tavern were
struck b lightnin'. an we was longer a
fotchin' you to thin eff y'd clum out
sid'n three drinks o the Eddy rum? If
you steer us foul o. the blame thing
again I'm afeerd they'll be a wreck on
this yer train. sartin ez hemlock. Head
year timber clear o. that snag an give
us a chance to tie up safe, won't y'?"
"Hain't tn yarn true?' asked the
hind hand.
Truce said the front oarsman.
True? They hain't no more truth in
it than they is sap in a forty-year-old
tombstoner'
10 Billings" said the steersman.
Eyer pinted dead wrong, fur if they
ever were a reg lar old seasoned-in-the-
log fact. warranted to cut four foot at
the butt an to work up without nary a
knot. this yer one is the stick o timber
es'll git the cant-hook fust, ev'ry time,
ant don't We furget it!'
That's all right. Curley," replied
the front oarsman. ''but eff | was you
and 'spected to keep on tellin' that air
story I'd git my life insured. Annynias
and Sapiry would a left their folks a
durn sight better fixed eff they'd done
it, too. But, pull out. pull out with yer
'tarnal ole yarn an jes' see whar We will
land us.
And 10 Billings lit his pipe and re-
signed himself to his fate.
q b'lieve | said ez how | run that
airraft from the Gap to Easton bridge"
the steerSman began, "but that WASH
the way on it. That raft run me an
done it durn han some. and no mis-
take.
:. They hadn't been sech q rain
know'd long the Delywar' fur forty
wears ez come dippin' through the
valley in June, '62. 1t jest came down
in hOgsheads full fur three days and
nights. The river begun to raise, an
it KEEP on raisin' till they want
scarcely no more land fur it to git hold
onto, an folks begun to give out con-
tracts fur the buildin' o. Noar's arks.
Long in the fall o 81 l had started
with fiveSared raft from the head o.
the river fur tide. but the fresh didn't
turn out to be nothin' but a scrub fresh.
an when we got to the Gap we run out
o water an had to tie up They didn't
come no water agin that season, an we
didn't git none o no conscience till the
big June fresh. Soon ez they want
no doubt that we was agoin' ter have
water 'nough to float the Great Eastern
clean to the startin' place o. the DEFY
war. | struck 'em in fur the Gap to
git my raft in shape fur gittin' her the
rest o. the way to tide. They were a
good fresh by the time | gat to the Gap.
an we overhauled the raft an frightened
her up. BY the time we had her in
shape the river begun to raise like ez if
it was a tub an some one were q
pumpin' water inter it through a six
inch pipe. 1t riz SO fast that when we
went to work on the raft at seven clock
in the mornin' she lay at the foot of
big buttonwoOd tree ez stood on the
bank. By ten o'clock we had to cut
away the branches o that tree so ez we
could stan up an work, an them
branches was thirty feet from the groun'
by actival measure! An it seemed ez
if that water was runnin' mOre'n
hundred mile an.hour. Wall. we see
they wal no use o thinkin' o. startin'
out on such water ez that, an we I'M
shipped the oars to wait for a fresh ez
'twere safe to run on. The two fellers
ez was helpin' o. me had left the raft.
an l were pickin' up some tools to carry
off when one o. the snubbin' ropes
snapped in two. Quicker'n lightnin'
tibet eend o. the raft swung down
stream, and kerbang! VENT other rope.
In two seconds that raft were maxim
its way down that liver at rate ez rail-
road keerS mebbe kin come up to one o
these days. but the fas' est time ez ever
were done VT on the best road in this
kentry is like an OK train long side a
2:40 boss when you come to talkin'
bout how that air raft went slidin'
long. An thar l were on the durn
thing, without nary an oar. an KNOWN
that when she stove up they wa mt no
more show O. me gittin' ashore thin
they was fur me to steer her with pine
shingle. The only thing 1 could do
were to jest set down an take in the
scenery an wonder how much they'd
find O. me arter the fust bridge pier We
met had got through with lis. All of
suddint | thort o. Foul Rift. which it
takes q man ez knows every rock an
bush they is on the shore an in the
river to steer inter without stavin', an
says to myself: We may run clear o
ev'rything till we git to Foul Rift, but
when we git thar Mrs. Curley Peters is
a widder, sartin ez sap in spring
'.Wall, we got to Foul Rift The
openin' to it 'twixt the rocks did't look
no wider n this keer, an the water
jest got up an howled. The raft ended
for the rocks, and 1 shet my eyes an
tried to pray, but, durn sing lar ez you
mebbe II think it, | couldn't git my
mind on nothin' but wonderin' who my
wilder would marry. While / We're