The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1886-07-29

only faint conception OF the immense bulk
network of posts and timber six or eight feet
above the ground, so that men can work I'M
derneath quitting in launch ways and pre-
naring to put the huge bulk OF timber into
the bay. Its general form resembles rain
er fat cigar slightly tattenea on n ieS Upper per
off ready for smoking. This. timber cigar is
four hundred and ten feet IN lehg5n' hlty
feet wide and thirty-five feet hlgn, ana is one
solid mass of timber, with the exception Oh
unavoidable interstices necessary ID tne
packing of round timber in trees cut as long
as they grow, from thirty to nearly. a nun
bred feet in length. This long timber IS
slowed with its small ends generally toward
the bows and stern of the raft, when helps
give the proper taper, and IL is SO lnter-
Tapped that great strength is attained 10 MN
der the long raft breaking in two.
The patentabie point in this system OF
rafting is the adjustment of the chains winch
are to bind the whole together. When Inc
raft had attained half its full height an I'M
mense chain was laid on the centre OF the
timber, running from stem to stern, ana Sc
cured, leaving surplus enough at the bow 70
tow the raft by. Then chains seven 1eet
apart were attached to this main chain at
right angles and carried out to the sldes OF
the raft, and asthese lateral chains approach
the bow and stern where the taper begins,
the placing of the chains assumes contln-
ually increasing herring bone form which
tends to prevent the Taft from working apart
longitudinally by the action of the waves.
After this main chain and lateral chains had
been placed the work of building the raft
above them went on until the top was well
rounded off, after which other chains make
the circumference of the raft and are at
tached to the side chains, so that there can
be no flattening out OF the raft when afieat.
These chains will be frightened with strain
fyun ant " a
as there will be some sixty of these wrap
ping chains with twenty ton strain on each
the raft will probably be pretty stiff. The
pile of timber will then be ready to slide into
the water.
The main chain which goes through the
center OF the raft is made of ,two-inch iron
with links eleven inches long by seven inch
es wide with bar across the center of each
and is monster; the other chains are of
inch and half iron. The total weight of the
chains is tifty-four tons, and they were made
to order in England and are reliable. The
launch was set for July End, but as the tides
of that date are not SO high as they will be
on the last of the month the ls as5 mIII
lines of launch way, which will extend down
the beach three hundred and fifty feet where
it is assumed there will be sufficient water to
float the craft.
If the launch proves successful a powerful
steamer will take it in tow and during that
ebb tide will reach Haute Island-anchor in
its eddy, and taking the first of the next ebb
get to Digby 1t will remain there one flood,
and by taking the southern passage of Grand
Manan another ebb will carry it clear of the
Bay of Fundy tides. On reaching Cape Sa-
BILE it will take the western current formed
by the eddy of the Gulf Stream and shape a
course for Cape Cod giving the land a wide
berth. 1t is thought that eight days will be
sufficient time to reach New York where
it will be broken up and sold in small lots.
If this scheme proves successful it will
reyolutionize the timber carrying trade of
the world and the huge pines
"Hewn on Norwegian hills"
as well as the huge frs of Puget Sound and
British Columbia will find means of con-
veyance to the ports of the world never
1t is believed that the whole cost of timber
by raft in New York will be less than the
vessel freight would be, and would not be
more than fifth part the cost of vessel
freighting The chains can of course be used
over and over again, and in building subse-
quent RATS much saving may be made by ex-
perience obtained on this. Mr.. Barnhill in
formed me that the experience gained by him
in making this raft would be worth five thou
sand dollars to him in building another.
The timber was transported up an inclined
tramway from the tide on cars operated by
an engine some two hundred feet from the
end of the raft and cars could be unloaded
just where the timber was wanted anywhere
on the raft. The timber in the raft sHr, vii
24 millions of feet and the weight -ef~lG VIII
be about nine thousand tons,~;. -, Co.. +ho
When we consider thai, tnls IS by lar the
heaviest structure o.,or launched from the
land into the 6 IS SINCE Inc w s6a bpga IL
f r. M in parts of these provinces and from
-fteW England will be on hand to see the
launch, and men interested in timber the
world over will watch this experiment with
interest, as its successful issue will show
n0ccibiIifiac in finn bar "a rrUipp bnrnfO-
fore dreamed of. I'll. A. MoRRELL.
Amherst, n. S., July l, 1886.