The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-10-24


Well. when old Sawlogs first located
in Oshkosh, he took job getting out
I, some logs up on the headwaters of Rat
/ River, and rafting them down to Wolf
River. He got some boys around Osh-
kosh. who were familiar with Rat River,
to On and help them, ana they tramped
from Oshkosh up through the woods to
the timber, Rat River Is little stream
about thirty feet wide. that runs
through the woods and marshes, and
has hardly current enough to float o
| feather down stream, except in the
| spring, when the snow melts, and then
| it runs about three miles an hour, but
it is as quiet and modest stream as
ever was, without rifle on it. While
| the boys were getting out the timber
and rafting it hey kept talking about
the Fa' Is, and wondering If any Of the
party would be drowned running the
raft over. until Sawlogs became inter-
ested, and the boys told him Rat River
Falls were the most dangerous falls ON
any of the logging streams of the State.
except the Dells of the Wisconsin, and
it stood q man in hand to make his
peace with his Maker before the raft
struck the rushing, foaming water, as
the raft was liable to 60 twenty feet
under water, and then take shoot up
into the tree tops. Sawlogs became
much interested. and his jollyways for
| sock hun. The last night before the raft
started the boys would not play cards,
| as was their usual custom, but seemed
serious, and two of them hunted testa-
ments out of their camp outfit. and
read passages from them, until Saw
logs got nervous and went out into
the woods and thought over his past
life. and wished the danger was past
If he then had any ambitions to q
United States Senatorship in the future,
that sleepless night of aroay, thinking
of the perlls of the morrow in running
the falls. knocked the ambition out of
him. He arose in the morning pale
and nervous, and when the raft was
turned loose and the start was made,
he acted as though he would give all
he expected to be worth if he had not
taken the oh. He could have returned
to Oshkosh by land. and let the boys
run the raft, but he would not finch
from any danger. Though new to log
ging and rafting he wa willing to
learn, and he wanted to stand by and
do all that any honorable man could
do, but he told the boys that he
would be thankful for any sugges-
tons they would make as to safety in
running the Falls. He SAID life was
perhaps as dear to him as anybody,
and while he was always prepared for
| anything that might happen, and
hoped he had led such q life as TO
be ready at any time to meet the
Great Judge, and he was not q
coward. he felt that it was the duty of
| any man to take all the precautions
that were possible to save life. The
boys had all they could do to keep
| from laughing, but they keep straight
| faces, and told him that the only thing
| to do was to lash themselves to the raft
before entering the falls, and trust in
Providence. II the raft was destroyed
and they were lost, their friends could
| find body easier if it was lashed to q
saw log than they could by dragging
for 1t in fifty feet of rushing water.
They said they would tell HIM long
enough before reaching the falls so he
could get himself liked, and he thanked
them, and looked up at the blue sky as
though it might be his last look at it.
| About four o'clock that afternoon, as
the raft was nearing the mouth, where
the Fat River empties into the Wolf,
the boys put little flour on their
faces, to make them look pale, and be-
| gan to prepare to run the falls. Each
had some re ,uest to make OF the 9TH
ers, in case he should be lost,
such as giving some trinket, a
pipe, or something, to some friend,
tn N
| livered to friends in Oshkosh. 1t was 3
irving time, aud when the raft pilot
said they were only half mile from
| the falls, and that it was time to lash
| themselves to the raft, Sawlogs felt as
| though it was the last act of his life
| The boys helped hiia TO lash him
to log, told him to stay there, what
ever happened, and then they retired
! to the rear of the raft to lash them
selves. they said, but really to have a
good laugh. All was still for half an
hour, and the raft moved along like a
snail. but every minute the man who
was dashed to log. felt that the next
moment the falls would be reached.
But the Falls were never reached, be-
cause there were none. Half an hour
more passed, when the man began to
look around from his position, nat on
the log. He was looking for the falls
Then he looked at the boys, who were
jumping up and laughing, and then
it dawned upon. him that he had been
sold. One of the boys came
along to unlash him, and he
asked what all this meant, and he was
told that the falls had been passed in
safety. and not man had been lost
He was united. and probably 8 madden
man never lived. He began to talk
sassy, but the boys told him he must
have fallen asleep and passed the falls
in that condition, but he knew better.
Well. the boys made it all right with
the old man, who was a boy then, and
he did not kill any of them, but it was
q long time before he could think of
Rat river without pain. Sin then he
has got rich, and the boys who played
it on him are now some of the most
successful on the Wolf" and the story
teller knocked the ashes out OF his pipe
and prepared to turn in, while the rest
prepared to explore Rat River for ducks
the next day. and perhaps go over the
very falls where Sawlogs was lashed to
the raft.-Pect's San.