Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1889-04-05
OVER TIE RAPIDS.

renee. n few miles above COteau.
After doing justice to NJ Lalonde's
tempting meal. VIC were let loose in a
lovely old fashioned garden, and hidden
pluck all the roses we could carry.
In the meantime, uur raft was On its
way down from Cornwall. and vas ex
pccted AZ St. Zotique about II o'clocs
p IA.
But as the hours crept on and no raft
appeared. we entreated our host and
hostess to retire and leave us to watch.
But mol French polilcncas forbade any
such free and easy proceeding as that, so
we resigned ourselves to the inevitable
and made the night lively with music
and college songs. Al last, at 2 O'Clock
in the morning, the signal was heard.
and. taking leave of our kind friends,
we walked down the long pier, which is
over a quarter of q mile in length.
By the dim light Of one lantern. we
sttpycd or ..o-rd z .gcei crait hliDe
with mon who were 10 row Us 10 the
raft. The dead hour Of the night. OF
rather morning. the darkness. the mys-
tcricus figures moving around, the rattle
Of the chains and creak Of the oars in
TuwlUcks. and, above all, the silence.
Lave "A strange feeling. Oncof the party
ithc doctor remarked that he never felt
80 much ike q pirate in bis life. A few
strokes brought Us 60 the raft; we got on
board and then began our strange ex-
pericnce.
One raft is. strictly speaking. a mum
Der Of smaller ones. or what are called
drains. bound together with ropes and
chains. Passing through the lakes and
rivers. attached to n tug, these drains
"a ru fncfrrtsasN fnnnthnr ptrlfrr gfaa lnrrrr
Ono; but when nearing the rapids they
separate and each one goes through
alone. These drains are made of i'm
mense logs of oak or pine, as the case
may be, laid side by side and bound to-
gcther with cross pieces about three feet
apart. These again are fastened to the
logs by withes of some strong wood; the
withes are made pliablo by machinery,
so they are easily twisted and tied
around the logs. Each single dram is
generally about 80 feet wide, by 200 OF
800 feet long. Rowiocks are made,
raised about 3 feet from the surface Of
the dram, 8 at the bow and 8 at the
stern, Y at the sides. The oars are
about IS feet in length, and are fastened
with ropes, as they are easily lost in the
rush of the rapids. The drains are built
to about the depth of Eve logs, which OF
NO0AbC 1AG III hlkaGl hNNtl EANtDA IilN
top layer. II takes about fifteen men
one month to build one of these drains
Our raft. which, by the way, was worth
500. 600. consisted of nine drains. with
about twenty men on each, sixteen row
FRS, a pilot and assistant, a cook and one
odd man.
The men are paid about 49, 80 each. ex-
cept the pilot. who gets So. The rule is.
mo success, no pay"
On our particular dram was a shanty
built expressly for Us, as the pilot had
never had the pleasure of ladies' com
pany on board before. Our shanty we
dignified by the name Of Windsor hotel
1t consisted Of two apartments. with q
doorway, but no door. In each were two
berths. one above the other, as on ship
board. One bedroom did duty as a din
ing room, the other was the kitchen
Having no door, we hung up a blanket
as a portiere.
Just as we had settled ourselves for the
rest of the night, and we're falling into a
pleasant sleep, lulled by the soft wash Of
tho waves, our dreams were rudely dis.
PEELED by another kind Of lullaby.
Tho cook, having in mind an early
breakfast, proceeded to chop wood fo'
that meal within two yardso Of our bcrths,
at the sumo time favoring us with q
chanson, accompanied by an obligato Of
groans as the obdurate wood refused TO
yield to the Establishments of the AK.
The result was this:
ma RAni o ma eouslne-nAn! cousine angelo
HAHl
Being in a humor to see the ludicroun
side of everything we lay and laughed
till we could laugh no more.
About half after 4 in the morning
the mclodiOus cook sailed into our room
and gazed around for a moment. and
then walked off with our pitcher. We
were up and dressed about 8 O'Clock
being brought to time by the smell Of
boiling ham. Before leaving the cabin
we had been unconscious Of any move
mcnt OF the raft. but on emerging found
ourselves being tugged by the John A
Macdonald. We explored the raft from
stem to stern. and found that two Of Om
drains were Of oak and seven Of pine.
breakfast over, and finding that It was
only . o'clock, VIC prowled around again
and examined the style of cooking. Foi
ourselves we had a stove, but the hands
had Two large kettles. hung gypsy fash
ion, from cross sticks, over a large bre
The immense pieces of Boiling beef Bail
much for the appctites Of the men.
But now In the distance coUid be heard
the rom of The rapics; the men flew To-
draw UP the long ropes that held the
drains together. and Ia another moment
each one was entirely separated from.
the others. The John A. drew in hen
cablo and forged ahead, but keeping neal
enough 70 render assistance IN case OF
need. But John A. evidently didn't care
10 let us have all the fun ourselves. and
consequently ran aground the foremost
dram, the left paddlewheel sticking up
in the air in a most helpless
Nearly half an hour was spent before
johnny" could be induced to disembark
At last he withdrew his embarrassing
attentions, and once more our stately
procession moved on.
Ahead the long line Of curling white
fOamed-the o grew louder; faster
and faster went the raft. The ower
still labored at the oars. keeping their
eyes fixed on the boiling waters ahead,
and their ears pricked up for the voice Of
the pilot, which could be heard above
the din o. the waters. one moment shout
ing zen hautt"-meaning 10 row al the
boW-then "a derrierer-at stern.
Now w approach within a few yards.
and az a shout from the pilot the rowers
drop their oars and spring back drenched
with spray, not a moment too % Into
she seething mass we rush, the terrible
wares dashing up On either hand like