The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-07-28
A COLOSSAL LOG JAN.
THE WORK OF BREAKING II UP
WATCHED sY THOUSANDS.

seuss 1iuh..NAny feAts VI sAits
Activity and Darins-Billy the kid.
The Whole jam Moving.
The Dallss of the ST Croix, as the rocky
gorge Is called through which plunge the fall
aud raphts II the river, ART marvel Of
scesry worth a hong journey at any time,
but just at present, for space OF three miles,
not particle IT water Is visible. nothing but
vast chaos Of bss jammel in between the
rurky jaws II thu gorge ami rpressnting
l5O,hOts1 feet OF luini-r. Huge trunks Of
trssss, Al t. a. feet kalg, they lh heaEsl In
every klnt al IIeie,sritat,le losition soIie bolt
upright like piks, sonls at ANGLES of - de-
grss.,, >alr' he;std down stream and others
Straight acr,s, it, Meanwhile, the whole
fore III the tails ami rapids II a great river
h,as T., WORK il way through AMI umler the
snotlla,,, nus, Of eour>e, the probtem il
how H. irtllse this tremendous block, so
that th b., ,'an iioat down Ia the Mississippi,
AMI ia @hol, work has To In done at the
lower ,n.i
AZ tn visitor camps down On the rocks
Ovcrhaa,,ihg the river 10 watch tho sight he
feels tAr all the world like IA spectator IN an
old l,oman alnpitheatrc about to witness =
Asht between nlen ami the ugliest specimens
Of thu brute creation. inlessi, the choice
between grizzly hears, lions and tigers,
and the terrible forces Of such huge tree
trunks with the pressure ot an avalanche
behind theni, AMI rapids that can make them
individually leap and spin like 81 many
bowling dervishes, is not one worth drawing
l,s, ~ H.. ,h.ata "A In ION In AT u
glance as a hundred OF more men, strong as
hons an,i spry NJ cats, clothed most Of them
from head to foot in bright red flannel, ami
armed each with a long pole, shol with a
stasl spike and hinged scmi-circular lever,
for clamping round the loss AMI rolling
them over Three hundred yards below tho
fam les powerful stamboat, with q
cslstan capable Of exertng u pull Of 40
horse power. AMI around which b wound a
hswser, the enl Of which is carried On 10 the
lam, and attached to xhat are called the
key stone lngs, that is, the L1gs that evincs
the most obstinate, dosg,d and absolutely
rebellious temper.
BEGINNING OF THE TuG OF WAR
And now the tug Of war hTgins The cap
stan slowly revolves, the hawser lifts from
the river, fine trts Of water spanning from It
under, the fierce tension Tue upright trio
trunks writhe AMI groan and twist their
anarchieal bark clothes torn OIL under the
Irresistible police grip In which they arr held,
till they are left all white and naked, AMI at
last slowly, sullcnly, ami with groans and
curxs Of despair, detachment Of PERHAPS
600 logs Is torn away from the main boiy
And nov the fun comes. Nimble as 81 many
cats. the red shirt.si rsltrouscred umi@r
n,en kap on il to break II up. Here dozen
ars shoulirring away with their levers to
roll OH huge trunk at the top, here they are
pushing down under water to hcai the right
way cr,~s-binlins l'x AZ the units OF the
mass get more AMI more disluig"l, huge
lol.s II trees shoot up from underneath, and
fairly leap like enormous fish nut ct tho
water Everything is now spinning AMI
plunging nnh an Wllstteral laynian would
ss lief attempt u promenade down hill on the
si.les of so many rolling barrels, rs essay the
leats t,le., agile fellows are easily up 10.
Down lsIow stands really ami manned
rowhont for the rescue ~ any who should
fall into the rapids But tn" thing is not to
fall IN. for the risk of drowning il as nothing
% the ri.k If being caught AMI ground up
betwecn the hogs only once dni W. se
man tumble otf, but while women shriekei
anil his nmtcs tore round TO loint of the
ledge where they could drag him out, tho
brave fellow himself seemed to take II a.
simple little incident IT the profession.
Every other time there were lo,,r enough left
between the torn of anl captured ietach-
mcnt ami the main army 10 enable the men
~ leap back from point to point. Billy the
Kid, rs the universal voice hal christenei
one 1.-the, graceful. yet powerful young lei
low, was always in the ltad. Tie wore a
white rose in his hat. leaping like n deer
from lol to log hc was always al the point
where effective work was to bc done and 81
great was the glow of admiration he awak
ene.i Ia every unlocking feminine breast tha'
he would only have hal to lap dripping
ashore and fling himself a soustd l|'ander,
at the feet If any Hero Of them oll to have
borne her on as his forever
THE FASCINATION or THE scENE
Very curious l. II 20 observe how. when
ever a chance IL given for s,sins sllend'diy
develolsd human lpiies IN vigorous action,
| a re,f,4t fas il,ation sets m for watching tho
sight There was one old lady, of singu
larly bright ami Intelligent face sitting on
the rocks, who said she could not tear herself
away from II, that she sat there all day long
AMI day after day. On my cra,enly and
materially saving to her that must really
10 M to the hotel to get something to eat sfia
broke out In the most reproachfnl tone, "Oh,
let your dinner go; the men may any m'lute
| Start quarter of mile of the jam, AMI then
II will h. the greatest sight in the worhl. I've
ordered my dinner to b. brought cut to ms
on the rorks" Such enthusiasm was truly
admirable
Contagious as was her example, must,
still in contrition. confess that did 90 up t.
the botel-sntne five minutes away-and had
just st down to bowl Of soup, some beet
and canned corn, when cry was raised
"The whole jam j, moving Billy the Md
himself would have leen put to It to make
better time than for the river ledge. What
q sight il was For fully quarter of mlf
In length and tO Or 80 feet In breadth, th'
vast press and throng Of the mob OF giant'
were in furious motion. could think ol
nothing hut a countless herd Of frantic b'lna
loe, kapinp over one another and trainpline
one anoshpr under foot the irresistible ava
lancbe IT motion and terror from f@hlnf
sweeping ly.fore it everything to the front
Indeed the tremendous jam, thirty to fiftj
feet Ia depth, was working peT1"ndieulari,
up and down a. well as forward along all II
lins Whenever a tt,mporary opening wa
made, enormous trunks that had been SUB
lat.